TaoNow

Others will have more knowledgeable replies, but here is my view, after scanning the TV Forum over decades:

At some point in this century, Immo started to tighten scrutiny of single, non-retired ex-pats who were trying to live in Thailand as residents, but without the proper visa or permit to extend their stay.

Some people were doing visa runs to neighboring countries and coming back in on visa-exempt entries. They had to do this every 90 days or so.

Others were staying on with "education" visa extensions in collaboration with 'sympathetic' schools who facilitated the extension process for a fee.

Then there are the Covid extensions, which are probably coming to an end this year, and only for tourists who were trapped here.

I am sure there wer/are many other work-arounds that are much more affordable than the Elite Visa, but those loop holes have been closing over time.

In sum, in your case, can't you get by with legitimate tourist visas and returns to your passport country until you can qualify for the relatively-simple retirement extension?  (Finances permitting  - but retirement in a foreign country should never be cheap.)

Thanks, skatewash, for replying.   

Even so, even a red, two-line notification in the passport (for missing the 90-day address-report deadline) is too much.

In other words, why are they keeping track?   

Perhaps, if someone has two (or more) infractions, then the fine goes up from 2K to somewhere up to the maximum of 5K.

I guess my point is this:  Immo takes these (redundant) 90-day reports seriously for some reason.

  And it's not just about collecting fines.

As I reported to this Forum (years ago), I forgot to do my 90-day address report, although I had complied for many years.

I was a few days past the grace period, and I was prepared to pay the fine of 2,000 baht (at Immo/CW).

What I wasn't prepared for was the big red stamp in my passport, which took up nearly a whole page, stating I had failed to report staying beyond 90 days.   

That was spooky, and made me wonder why they had to warn other Immo officers of this mild transgression. 

Mind you , it was NOT overstay of the permit-to-stay date -- which I will never overlook.

Just a slightly delinquent address report. 

I am still wondering why the red stamp in my passport was necessary.

Anyway, I got a new passport and the red stamp disappeared...

...never, hopefully, to appear again.

I have repeatedly entered Thailand on a variety of visas, (tourist, non-O, non-B, etc.) but never changed my (Immo-reported) address in Bangkok since the beginning.

Over many decades.

And, I have never filed a TM30 form.

What am I missing?

20 minutes ago, meatboy said:

i have had a fixed acc.for over 10yrs.mostly ,2 and 3yrs. which i used for my ext.800k.i have had over 1.5million in this ac.but you cant have a card of any kind.never had a problem with immigration as they know how it works,that was untill 2020 when they started useing imm.police volunteers to check your paper work.they dont even know what a fixed acc.is.when you explain they lose face and go running to the boss,so to give you a hard time.the last 2 extensions i have been at imm.for 8hrs.and last one 5hrs.

i have just opened a normal savings acc.so i dont get any more aggrivation.if you do use a fixed acc.make sure you have an acc.to show what you live on.

Which immigration office do you deal with?   

I use the 800k fixed account.  Immo/CW (Bangkok) has never asked how I cover living expenses.   

As has been pointed out numerous times in this Forum, the 800K is not to cover living expenses for a year. 

The purpose is to separate out those with a certain level of financial security and those with less. 

Same for the 65K/month threshold.

While many of these examples are frivolous, there are some scenarios that could cause trouble.

For example, let's say you are a retired expat who is a fluent English language speaker. 

You might think it would be nice to invite some of the local high school students to your house at certain times outside of school to let them practice English conversation with you.  At no charge.

Now, if those students had been paying the local Thai English teacher for tutoring after class or on weekends...well, there might be an anonymous tip sent somewhere.

Word to the wise...

Something doesn't add up.

The victims started drinking at 9 p.m. and continued until 3 a.m.?

How many beers can one consume in six hours without passing out?

1 hour ago, toolpush said:

What is the downside of not doing 90 day reports? I know that you can get fined between 2000 and 5000 baht depending on circumstances. Can you get deported? Can you be refused an extension? If you are on a 1 year extension for retirement and you don't bother to report until the next extension is due, do you simply get a 2000 to 5000 baht fine and then another extension? What is the worst that can happen for simply not reporting?

The downside (in my personal experience) is having a big, red 'violation' stamp printed on a full page of my passport describing my failure to report within 90 days -- I was 3 days after the 7-day grace period.    While having multiple red stamps may not be a threat to an extension of permit-to-stay, I do not want to explore that possibility... 

So, would this allow someone here in Thailand on a retirement extension to work for pay as a moderator of an online forum (such as aseannow.com or other entity) without the need for a work permit?

It's an honest question.

10 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

The Senate has kicked the can down the road to December 3rd. Now waiting for the vote in the congress.

https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/senate-vote-lift-debt-ceiling-default

My esteemed ubonjoe:  Please reassure us that you and your colleagues do not rely on Fox for your news.  Please.

1 hour ago, BritTim said:

If you get the opportunity to speak with the agent again, ask which immigration office is being used for the extension. By the way, what type of extension of stay is involved? If it is one of the simpler extensions, even an out of province extension should not take more than a week. However, if it is, say, a marriage extension, or if it is a "conversion" visa to switch from a tourist entry to a Non Immigrant entry, then a month or more is not unusual. The agent will want to hold onto the passport until the under consideration period has elapsed, and the final stamp inserted in your passport.

I believe OP said it was for a Non-B extension.   

In any case, I think the lesson for all of us ex-pats is to do your extensions BY yourselves. 

And never let someone else take your PP out of your sight unless it is an Immo officer. 

This was an interesting thread, am I am glad it worked out for OP's friend.

However, I have a slight disagreement with some of the poster's who insist that it is the visitor's responsibility to spot an error on a permission-to-stay stamp.

As, all of you have demonstrated, the terms of stay are complicated, and the rules change. 

Besides, the Immo officer at the airport is the ultimate gatekeeper and can deny entry if s/he deems so.

Similarly, it is reasonable for the average visitor to Thailand to assume that the stamp in his/her passport is authoritative. 

I think that is why Immo/CW did not fine the person for overstay -- it is Immo's responsibility to know the rules and stamp the proper permit-to-stay date.

12 minutes ago, Scott Tracy said:

5 million foreigners in Thailand, I am told. I

54,000 registered in this site. Where are the other 4,946,000? Already vaccinated?

You are forgetting about the millions of migrant workers in Thailand who come from Myanmar, Cambodia, and Laos.

It all comes down to how much you value the everyday lifestyle in Thailand, compared to other countries in Asia, or anywhere else.

If the infrequent (legal) dealings with Immo are too much for you to bear, then you were never in Thailand for the right reasons anyway.

23 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

Why would he want to do that and take a chance on being caught with a overstay that could result in deportation from the country.

I do not, of course, know the stage of illness that OP is in. 

But the people I have known who suffered from end-stage ALS did not leave their house much.

Thus, I am thinking that OP would not be at much risk of attracting the attention of Immigration if he rarely left home -- or even if he did.

My understanding is that Thai Immo is more concerned about foreigners who are breaking international criminal laws, not those on overstay.

So, at age in my 70s myself, I am trying to put myself in OP's shoes. 

I think I would prefer to risk the chance of being caught for overstay and IDC, or deportation, compared to having affordable end-of-life care in Thailand. ...

...with the freedom to divest myself of my funds and assets as I sought fit and while still of sound mind.   

That is the risk I would take IF terminally ill and in the final stages, while living here in Thailand. 

Thus, I am not promoting overstay for any ex-pat here.  I am just wondering if I were in OP's shoes.

It could happen to me.  It could happen to others.  Food for thought.

If OP is terminally ill and not intending to leave the country, why bother with Immo?

I am waiting

21 minutes ago, dinsdale said:

I understand the analogy but if there is less than a spoonful in the bowl how can you appreciate the meal.

Dinsdale, buddy, I think you missed the point:  How could there be less than a spoonful of a 70 million bowl of soup?

33 minutes ago, redsongthaew said:

 

If you had 70 million bowls of soup, from tens of thousands of different kitchens, made by constantly changing chefs using differing ingredients, how would you determine which bowls of soup were too salty?

 

The definitive way would be to test them all. Or you could test a percentage and extrapolate your results.

 

Testing a few thousand bowls of soup and then using the results to form an opinion about the remaining 69,900,000 bowls of soup is probably not a truly representative way of doing things.

Ahh...but it all depends on which indicator you are looking for.  Does dinsdale want to know the national prevalence of Covid?