TaoNow

A foreigner can own land in Thailand.

After my Thai wife died in 2011, my name was added her two chanote (land deeds).

I am not a Thai citizen.

I consulted with multiple government officials at different times at the district land office in Bangkok.

They all assured me that I could now sell the land whenever I wanted.

The catch was that I could not sell the house which sits on the land which I now own.  

Only Thai nationals can own a house, as indicated by their name on the House # Form.

Word to the wise...

The ley question OP needs to ask himself is this: If he plans to return to his (current) home country for a visit in the future, which passport will he use? Be careful about that choice.

Let me re-phrase my question:  Why is it assumed that your local immigration office can verify your address?  And, hence, the 'fee' charged.

How does Immo determine that the address you put on the form is valid?  At least at the embassy (usa) you had to swear an oath.

Unless I missed it, no one has responded to the solution to OP's dilemma other than TaoNow's post of about 1 hour ago.  

Any takers?

If, in the past 20 years, you were 50+ years, and you wanted to live in Thailand long-term, and you could scrape together 800k baht to deposit in a fixed account in a Thai bank, and you could legitimately establish a residence in Bangkok (regardless of how much time you spent there during the year) -- then absolutely no new requirement has been imposed on you by Immo/Bkk other than one additional statement from your bank.  What is so hard about that?

If you have to ask yourself whether living in Thailand long-term is worth it (e.g., the money, the hassle with Immo, etc.) then you probably don't belong here.   

What this discussion doesn't address is how the format of short-term visits to Thailand will change in the post-Covid era.

If there is widespread vaccination and no mandatory quarantine, then the "snow-birds" from northern Europe and the 0-GDP-gain Chinese tour groups will return in probably the same or similar numbers.

However, the biggest transformation (and the biggest loss to Thailand's tourist GDP) will be among those who viewed Thailand as an "anything goes" destination (i.e., what happens in Thailand stays in Thailand).

Starting at the top, this will affect the short-term business travellers (mostly East Asian, but also heavily from Australia-NZ, Europe and North America) who loved to come to Thailand multiple times a year to mix business with 'pleasure' in equal proportions.

The second group are the annual or semi-annual sex tourists who fueled the nightlife and low-brow tourism sector in Bangkok, Chonburi, and Phuket.

The third group are the budget, world travelers who were attracted to Thailand for its lax enforcement of minor drug offenses (e.g., weed).

The first group of high-end business visitors will wither as the volume of night clubs, 'members' clubs, and escorts dwindle to a trickle given the uncertainty of lock-downs at any moment's notice.  They will shift to other countries in Asia with more consistent and less draconian disease-control measures.

The second group, (male sex tourists) will be drastically reduced in number given the decimation of the bar-fine pubs and cheap massage parlors in the wake of sustained closures.  This group will be diverted to other countries with pre-Covid-like amenities. 

The third group (modern-day hippies) will no longer find Thailand a safe haven as Khao San, Pai District, and Koh Phangan shift to family-friendly vegan paradises. 

So, in sum, Covid-19 will not only reduce the volume of short-term visitors to Thailand each year, it will drastically transform the reasons why foreigners come here for a few weeks or months at a time.   

The TAT can either wait for that transformation to occur, or beigin to lay the foundation for welcoming it.

During 2008-2011, I maintained two legal residences:  A house in Bangkok and an apartment in Phuket.  I spent most of the year in Phuket and did my 90-day residence reports at the local Phuket Immo office at Saphan Hin.  Then, when my annual extension was due, I returned to Immo/CW to process that, based on my house address in Bangkok.   There was never any problem. 

The situation may have changed however, since I have done both 90-day reports and annual extensions at CW since 2012 to the present.

Thanks very much for this information.

Could you also name the branch of SCB that you went to?

Much appreciated.

If this question is off-topic please ignore.  Since the SCB branch at CW immo has closed, where are folks going to get their bank letter, if it is done on same day as application for extension?

Some commenters are using the term "Ugly American" to refer to this chap who complained about the corkage fee in Koh Chang.

Please understand that the so-called "Ugly American" in the book by that name was, actually, the hero.

Read up...

As to why Immo/CW moved some services to MTT:  I asked a (seemingly) knowledgeable Immo officer at CW a few months ago, and he said that the plan is to move all of Immigration Division 1 to that complex of buildings in MTT.  So this is a work in progress.

One question I have is this:  Now that Bangkok folk have to do 90-day address reporting (TM47) at MTT, do you also need an appointment?

Or can you just walk in to do the 90-day report as was the case before at Counter A at Immo/CW?

I cannot do the 90-day report on-line because I haven't entered the country since renewing my passport in 2014 -- hence I'm not in their databse for that service. 

Plus, I don't like the postal approach since that means mailing your original receipt of the last 90-day report.  I prefer to keep that in my passport at all times.

Advice please, from anyone who has recently done a 90-day address report at MTT:  Appointment or no appointment required?

Thanks

During a period of 50 years dealing with Immo/Bangkok, I have never been approached or pressured to bribe an Immigration officer to arrange my visa extension if I didn't have the proper documents or supporting information.

The only way to combat corruption is to stop being part of the problem. 

@Olmate:   "You, and me," and anyone else who does extensions with Thai IMMO.

@ Max69xl:  using an agent to get around the requirement of funds in the bank/income for either a retirement or marriage extension is absolutely illegal.

Some like to naively claim that the faulty extension application is signed off by an Immo official and, therefore it is legal.  What is not said is that Immo officer took a handsome bribe to ignore the lack of financials of the applicant.   If anyone thinks that the Immo officer approved the bogus application out of the kindness of their heart needs to pull their head out of the sand.

Based on reports here, only a small minority of Immo offices/officers pressure expats to go the agent route to get around the financial requirements.  In my decades of experience with Immo/CW, they never have.  If your Immo office is problematic, then get a residence in Bangkok and do your extension at CW.

It is in ALL of our interest to reject the agent option when an applicant does not have the required financials or supporting documentation for an extension.  Only that way can we put the corrupt Immo officers out of business.

It is up to you and me.   

@Bender Rodriguez:   I don't understand why you can't get a retirement extension.  You seem to say you are 50+ years old, and that you have seasoned well in excess of 800K baht here in a Thai bank.  If so, your ex-wife, housing situation, and child need not be involved in your application for extension (for purpose of retirement).

Folks here have done numerous retirement extensions (at least at Immo/CW) without having to show proof of residence.  All you need is the bank book, statement for past year, TM47, map to dwelling, passport copies, and the Immo form for annual extension.  Then pay 1,900 baht and you are good for another year of residence.  There are very few reports of Immo home-visiting people on retirement extensions in Bangkok.

Covid-19 and the amnesty has not affected the ability of people here on retirement extensions to renew, either.

Even though the Immo/CW appointment system solves the early-arrival problem, it does not address the difficulty of the requirement of having the bank passbook up-dated on the day of application to re-extend (i.e., for retirement, using the funds in the bank method).  That is problematic for the (many?) retirees who keep their 800K in a fixed account year-round -- and, therefore, whose bank passbook can only be up-dated by an over-the-counter transaction.

In other words, extenders need to calculate the time it will take to go to their nearest branch to get the account verification letter before proceeding to Immo.  And that might not sync with the appointment system at CW.  So, back of the line, I guess.

And 'Max,' once there is a rotation of Immo staff who are not in on the scam, then the game is up in that particular Immo office. Increasingly there is evidence that Immo authorities are starting to crack down on rogue officers and offices.  Caveat emptor.