Issanman

The income verification statements can also be gotten through the US Embassy Consular Outreach program which travels around the country to particular cities on certain dates. It may save some persons a trip to Bangkok.

Here is the link for this years schedule:

http://bangkok.usembassy.gov/consular_outreach.html

As UbonJoe said, it is a short walk. Keep to your left as you walk out of the bus station. 5 to 10 minute walk.

Or you can get a tuk-tuk from the bridge directly to the consulate right after you get stamped into Lao. They asked for 200 baht but settled for 160 baht in my case.

I got my O-A visa in the US in Jan 2013 and got nearly two years stay from it. I did not need to transfer any funds to Thailand. I got the police report from my county sheriffs office for free in about ten minutes. I went to my usual doctor and dropped off the medical paper in the morning. Picked it up that afternoon. No charge. Sent the required documents into the Thai embassy Washington DC. None of the documents were notarized. I got my passport back in exactly one week from the day I sent it in.

I had to post this because I am always seeing the posts about how difficult it is to get the O-A visa. Probably posts from persons who have never even tried to get it. It was not difficult at all and it was very fast.

This topic has been discussed dozens of times.

It is and unofficial fee not a bribe or any other form of corruption. The money does not go into anybodies pocket.

I went to Kap Choen 5 weeks ago to get two COR and my 1000THB Bank note was snatched and put quickly in the signing officer's pocket... I thought oh oh...

It was the first time i was getting this document and initially i thought it was the normal fee...

I am in the process of getting a Thai DL and will have to go again tomorrow to the same office as the DLT in Prakon Chai wants a new COR.

I read the forum about this 'fee' in Kap Choen and remember someone mentioning a new office or a new phone number for this kind of problem.

I did use the search tool in the forum but cannot find the thread, if somebody knows what i am after would they be kind enough to post the link?

I am applying for 2 DL (car and motorcycle), can you confirm i need 2 COR?

I got my COR in Bueng Kan in November for the purpose of getting a car and bike DL. I gave them one original and one copy at the DLT in Bueng Kan.

I paid 300 baht for the COR at immigration and was offered no receipt. But I did get a big smile!

The ticket they want to see for the shuttle bus is your airplane ticket. Took about an hour when I used it last year.

The reports are that no Lao VOA is available at the Paksan crossing, although that may change since the plans to build another bridge there were recently announced.

But the Lao VOA is available at the bridge just north of Nakhon Phanom. That is just over an hour from me. That's where I will be going for my border run coming up in three months.

Thanks to everyone for all the help and suggestions.

The best part is the realization that I won't need to go back to Bueng Kan immigration for more of their abuse for at least the next 15 months, or maybe even longer.

The visa pickup was a bit crowded at 3:30PM, but when they gave me back my passport, it had the non-immigrant O multiple entry just as I had asked for. Got the tuk-tuk back to the bridge, waited for the bus to take me across the bridge, got stamped in to Thailand, got in my truck and drove the three hours home. All done in one day.

This new visa will give me time to either adjust my finances to the way that Bueng Kan immigration wants to see them, or to move to another province where the 65,000 per month income is not required to be spent in Thailand every month as Bueng Kan expects me to do.

OK. So right now I am sitting in a French restaurant in Savannakhet waiting until this afternoon when I can go pick up my passport with my new multiple entry non-O visa based on marriage to a Thai. I drove to the bridge and only waited a few minutes for the bus to the Lao side of the bridge. I had my Lao VOA paperwork all ready to present and it only took 5 minutes to get the Lao visa. I then waited another 5 minutes to get stamped into Lao. No problem. No one asked me for money on my way through. I then took a tuk-tuk to the Thai consolate for 160 ฿ negotiated down from 200 ฿. I arrived at the consulate at 8:40am and there were only a few people standing in line. The sign said they open at 8:30 but they did not open the gate until 9am. I got to the window very quickly and handed them the bare minimum paperwork for a visa based on marriage. Showed no financials. He only asked to see the original marriage certificate, which I gave him. He examined it and then returned it and asked for 5000 ฿. He then gave me my ticket which allows me to pick up my passport in the afternoon. I heard him tell someone that the pickup would start at 3:30. So now that I have eaten, I shall go exploring in the direction of the river and see what interesting things I can find. I did bring my camera. Will update later today.

Certain types of automotive oils can cause clutch problems in a motorcycle with a wet-clutch. The problem oils are marked as "energy conserving". At least in the US, that is how they are marked.

Charles Schwab Bank refunds all ATM fees at the end of each month, so no fees doing it that way. I do have the BKK Bank NY arrangement set up for transfers. I will make adjustments to my money movement in the future to hopefully satisfy Thai Immigration, but this silliness with Bueng Kan immigration was unexpected.

I suspect you had a case of an immigration officer not accustomed to handling extensions with an income affidavit and/or one like yours where you had been here on a OA visa.

Since you have some time before you have to leave or get an extension i suggest you try again for the extension.

Organize all your ATM transfers and put them on list with a grand total and make copies of your transfers to your bank account highlighting them on them on the copies. Also make a transfer to your account in the amount of 65K baht or more.

Also try to explain to him that you did not understand the requirements.

It would help to have your marriage certificate and copies of your wife's house book and ID card attached to the application. Even a letter from your wife might help.

Thanks, Joe. I may try again with very explicit paperwork and highlighting as you have suggested. I should at least call my friendly immigration officer that I usually deal with and ask him if it would even be possible to try again. They have already applied a large red ink stamp in my passport that says that my application for extension has been denied.

It's kind of a big slap-in-the-face after being married to a Thai from this area of Thailand for over 38 years and having a house here for 20 years already and then having immigration suddenly telling me I have to leave in a few weeks. It's not an experience that I would enjoy having again.

The only amusing part of this was when one of the other officers quietly asked me to go complain on the internet.

This is why I and I think many retirees use the 800,000 in the bank. As much as they might like to, they just cannot refute that income qualification.

It sounds to me like the "big boss" at your immigration office has a burr up his butt about falang or he is trying to show his power by puffing up his chest to show you who is boss or as someone else said he is looking for a bribe. Unfortunately, in Thailand they can get away with this especially in an office where they see very few falang. It might be worth complaining to the NCPO.

If you can afford it, your best bet, to avoid this crap in the future, is to move 800,000 into your bank 3 months prior to your extension renewal.

And as UbonJoe said you can setup a BKK Bank account. Since they are the only bank in Thailand with a branch in America (NYC) you can transfer money from your American bank to the BKK Branch in NYC into your BKK account. This is how you should go about getting your money anyway. Personally I do electronic wire transfers and keep my account at 800,000 for 3 months prior. Taking it out of an ATM with all the associated fees is not very practical if I understand you correctly.

Charles Schwab Bank refunds all ATM fees at the end of each month, so no fees doing it that way. I do have the BKK Bank NY arrangement set up for transfers. I will make adjustments to my money movement in the future to hopefully satisfy Thai Immigration, but this silliness with Bueng Kan immigration was unexpected.

I would be interested in hearing about any difficulties experienced at the Nakhon Phanom immigration office. I could rent a house there. It's only a 15 minute drive from my house here in Bueng Kan province to a small town in Nakhon Phanom province. I would rather not abandon this area completely. We have owned this house for 20 years and I have some friends here that I would miss.

Maybe I should go to Vientiane. I still have my original income letter, which was returned to me.

Thanks for that information. Is the marriage visa OK for stays of one year, or does it require leaving every 90 days?

Paz, I had heard that it was being done for visas on the basis of a Thai wife in Savannakhet, but as I stated previously, the wife is not in Thailand right now and I only have unsigned copies of her house book and ID card, so I am unsure that would work for me.

The Thai wife is in the US right now and will not be returning before I need to get my new visa. So there is no long-stay option available to me without returning to the US for another O-A visa?

Has anyone utilized the services of one of the "help you get your visa" companies? If so, were they able to help? I have everything to meet the requirements of a retirement extension, except at the Bueng Kan office, where they are wanting me to show transfers of at least 65K per month into Thailand. Previous to my recent experience, I did not know that 65K monthly transfers had become a requirement, at least in Bueng Kan.

I am starting to think the same^^^

Yes, the marriage certificate was something that I did not show them the first day because I had never heard of showing it for a retirement extension. I did have it with me and could have showed it if they had asked on the first day.

They know my address information already. They had allowed me to have a certificate of residence in order to get my Thai DL only one month before this happened.

Since it is a very small office and I go there at least every 90 days, we are somewhat used to seeing each other and are not strangers when we meet. Very friendly service every time I have been there in the past.

I would like to know if I can get a long-stay visa on the basis of retirement in Lao by showing the statement of monthly income that I got from my embassy.

I do have a Bangkok Bank account and they looked at and copied every page of the book. But I did not think I would need to show transfers amounting to 800K for the year. I am also married to a Thai for 38 years now, but she is not currently in Thailand and we are unsure when she will be able to return. Thanks for your response.

I went there on December 25th in the morning with everything that might be needed to extend my O-A visa, as far as documentation of income. Mainly, I had my notarized statement of monthly income from the US Embassy, but also carried along documentation for each of my income streams, totaling to more than the required 65K baht monthly income stream. I presented all of the documents that would normally be asked for in order to receive the retirement extension. My first extension, by the way. I have already gotten nearly two years stay out of my O-A visa.

The Bueng Kan office seems to have a problem with having the "boss" actually being present there because most of the time, when his signature is required, in my experience, he is never there and I am asked to return a few hours later. So they told me to come back after lunch and it would be finalized at that time. Sounded routine, so far. I came back at around 1 PM and after waiting for the "boss" to finally come back from lunch, my immigration officer, that I see every time I go to that office, advised me that his boss had rejected my application and my one year extension was being refused by the big boss. Of course, I wondered and asked why. He said that his boss didn't believe the statement of income and wanted to see some kind of evidence. No problem. I produced the documents that I had anticipated that they might ask for in order to verify my income. My immigration officer said that he would show them to his "boss" and call me back later. But they would keep the passport for now and would return it to me by mail, in any case.

I live one hour away from the Bueng Kan immigration office, so I drove back home and later in the evening, my immigration officer called me and asked me to return in the morning with a marriage certificate and some proof of ATM withdrawals. Be there at 9AM. I said OK and then went to print out all of my ATM activity for the last year, and there was plenty of it to show. I felt quite confident, at this point that I had sufficient evidence to satisfy the "boss" that I had enough money to live in Thailand.

By 9:30, the following morning, everyone involved had shown up at the immigration office. A while later, the "boss" ask me to come to his office. He asked me many questions for about 30 minutes, mainly "why are you living here?" and "What do you do every day?". Then he asked about how I get my money in Thailand, to which I answered that I mostly used the ATM. He then spoke to the immigration officer I had been dealing with and told him to add up all of my ATM activity to see if it would be sufficient for me to stay in Thailand. The officer spent about an hour adding it all up and it came out to roughly 650,000 baht from what I could see of all his figuring. I had to wait until after lunch again, since the "boss" had left the building again. So after lunch I came back and was told that my application had been rejected again. Apparently, my ATM activity was insufficient for me to be able to stay in Thailand. My Passport was stamped that my application for extension had been rejected and I would have to leave the Kingdom by Jan 20, 2015.

While I was sitting there waiting, a fellow from Norway showed up to file for an extension of stay, and he produced the statement of income from his embassy. They asked to see his bank book also, which he did not bring. He stated that he did not have a bank in Thailand and they said they wanted to see the information from whatever bank he had. So they decided that he would have time to come back after the new year and show the bank book then. He did protest a bit, saying that his embassy had already verified his income before issuing the statement of income before issuing it. His wife or girlfriend told him that this is Thailand and they want to see the proof.

At least they returned to me my original, notarized, statement of income when I left. I am thinking this may be useful to get a new visa in Lao. I only live 15 minutes from Nakon Phanom province, so I think next time I need to extend my visa, I may have rented a house there, which will not require me to return to the Bueng Kan office for my extension. I have had enough of the Bueng Kan "big boss" and his interpretation of the rules. Of course, the 1900 baht I had paid for the extension was non-refundable.

But I would like to hear from anyone about my possible visa options, at this point in time. I don't like the idea of leaving every three months. I would like to get another one-year visa, extendable. I am qualified, according to the written regulations, to obtain a retirement visa or extension, but somehow, not in the province in which I live. Maybe one of the Lao consulates would be able to do so. I am within a two or three hours of three of the bridges to Lao.

Would especially love to hear Ubon Joe's opinion of my options.

Looks more like a Spacy to me, also, but the Spacy has 14 inch wheels.

Looks like the CB1100 made it to Thailand. I rode one belonging to a friend in the US last year. Very nice bike. The picture of the Honda price sheet is a little difficult to read but it looks like it is priced at 605,000. I would definitely have to remove the ugly windshield and bags that someone has put on the one in the picture.

Nice work, LL. Thanks for the updates.

I stayed in Buriram last month at a resort less than a 10 minute drive from the track. The rooms are bigger than normal and the covered parking spaces are larger than usual. 400 baht per night. GPS coordinates of the resort are 14.960871 x 103.047226.

https://goo.gl/maps/GG2kt

Google Maps calls it Ban Suan Resort. Garmin BaseCamp calls it Ban Suansak Resort.

While in Buriram, check out the little pizza shop run by a French guy on the small road that runs on the west side of the Big C shopping center which is on hwy 218 southwest of the city. Very tasty pizza and French bread.

I would like to know if foreign ownership is available in all condo developments in Thailand or is it only available in specific condo developments which have been designated as eligible?