jostein

I will arrive in Chiang Rai next Saturday, June 2. Possibly not until 21:20, on Air Asia. Need to get to Pa Daet, preferably in a rental car. Difficult to find the right deal on the web. I would like:

- a service that is actually open when the evening planes come in. Some of them (all?) seem to close at 20:00

- would like to rent a pick-up truck. Mostly I find just normal cars...

Thanks!

Jostein

Well OK, I will talk to the embassy here and ask them for a tourist visa. If they wont give it to me I will just buy an onward ticket from BKK to Pnom Penh with AirAsia, it only costs about 2000 baht anyway.

Lucky for you if that works out, but I would not count on it for all embassies. In Norway they will not accept it, the return ticket has to be to Norway (or at least somewhere in Europe). With an onward ticket to Malaysia, no T-Visa is given!

Are Honorary Thai Consulates Authorized To Issue Visas?

They most certainly are! My feel-good story: After worrying for about three months if I would be able to stay in Thailand with my gf (knowing that she can not come to Norway for a long time, as Norwegian government are pretty afraid of people from other parts of the world wanting to stay in our cold climate voluntarily), I wrote a mail to the Hon. Consulate in Hull, UK. Asking if they could give me a mutiple entry tourist visa. Next day they answered: We can give you a multiple non-immigrant visa instead. Next question: what documentation do I need? Answer: Nothing! Made an appointment by telephone to come and get a non-imm. multiple visa. Paid £100, had the visa stamp in 5 minutes. In total this cost me about £400, as I had to visit UK from my home in Norway. But it is worth it. As the Thai embassy in Norway has a very simple policy towards people wanting to visit their country for an extended time: "We could not care less about you, your little shit...".

Happy man now .

Jostein

I am living in Chiang Rai province with my Thai girl friend. We are planning to marry soon, and to move to Norway in a couple of years. My girl friend does not have a proper education, so to get a job in Norway, we thought it may be a good idea to learn Thai Massage. Does anyone know where to learn Thai Massage in the Chiang Rai/Payao area? We live in Pa Daet, so the ideal thing would be a temple or school situated between Chiang Rai and Payao. Pa Daet is 53 km from CR and 45 from Payao. But of course it is possible to travel into town also, if needed. I have been told, by a Thai Massager in Bangkok, that the education is two years. If one can get a shorter education that still has a high standard, that may be good enough. But we are NOT interested in a two week farang course. I am talking about becoming a full-fledged Thai Massager... Any help most appreciated! Jostein and Pooy

One more guy needing advice on this:

1) How about a tourist visa for 60 days? Are you still required to have a return ticket/booking?

2) If so, could the ticket out of Thailand then be to a friendly neighbouring country where one could get a new single entry TV, and not a $1200 ticket to Europe for nothing?

3) Final Q: Anyone heard about a Thai engagement visa? I am planning to marry a local girl, but can not do that on current stay, has to be on next stay. In my country (Norway) that plan would probably earn me a 6 month "non-immigrant" visa to follow through on my plan. Anything similar in Thailand?

Thanx!

Hi Guys ,

some addl info

1. The six months starts from your first entry after Oct 1st last year.

2. The period is fixed it does NOT roll.

3. If you try to enter within 30 days of the end of your 6 months you may only be permitted to stay until the end of the period NO MATTER HOW FEW OF YOUR 90 DAYS YOU'VE USED .

4. Once your first 6 months is over a new period starts and you will be able to do a border run and return with a full 30 day stamp.

You seem to know what you are talking about. That is not always the case in these complicated matters. A simple (?) question: Why all this talk about the 30 day visa-exempt entries? Can't you just go get a tourist visa every two or three months and forget about the counting of days? Seems to me that there are several consulates close to Thailand that will give you a tourist visa with very few problems and at a low cost, in time as well as money. Why then use the visa-exempt at all?

No answer, sorry, just a simple question: What on earth does the "LOS" mean. See lots of people writing those letters...

Thanks for your answer! Though everything is still not clear for me...

I understand that business or Thai employment may not be the best way. I already thought as much. But I do not quite understand the nature of the non-immigrant visa, especially the duration.

1) I have been told by several friends that if you are married to a Thai girl, then it should be pretty easy to stay here one year at a time. Several of them have lived here for a long time, just needing to get a new extension once every year. But you still talk about going to Penang every three months. When I visited the immigration office in Udon Thani, although I did not understand much of what the officers said, I got the clear impression that 12 months extension was the normal thing to apply for by men married to Thai ladies. Also found this on ThaiVisa.com:

Applying for an extension for aliens who support or are being supported by a spouse with Thai nationality or who has residence in Thailand ...

An alien must apply for a non-immigrant visa "code O" at a Thai Embassy or Consulate abroad before entering the Kingdom. Duration of first permit: As warranted by this visa, permission is given for a period of 90 days. Duration of extension: The Immigration Office will grant him a maximum extension of one year at a time.

2) The multipe entry non-immigrant visa then (if the 12 month extension is not possible): The Web-site says this is best obtained in Europe, or Australia. In my homeland, Norway, the embassy says that a non-immigrant Visa is for 90 days. No mention of multiple entry-visas whatsoever. So if a Thai embassy in Europe does not give this, would a consulate in Australia do it, for a European citizen?

Also, if you have to go out of the country every 90 days anyway, what is the real purpose of a multi-entry? Isn't it just as easy to get a new single-entry non-immigrant visa every 3 months?

3) You say it is not worth converting a tourist visa to a non-immigrant. But if I am not married to a Thai (after I am divorced, but before I get married the second time) I would not get the non-immigrant, right? I would have to go for a tourist visa and then either convert this to non-immigrant inside Thailand or leave the country after I get married to get a new (non-immigrant) visa?

Thanks again!

Jostein

Hi!

I am from Norway, 39 years old. Loving Thailand more and more. Especially the ladies of course... Was not so lucky in my first attempt at love in Thailand though, so I am about to be divorced from my first wife. She lived with me in Norway for three years, but then went back to live in Thailand. I am currently in Thailand (with our three year old son) on a 3 month non-imm. visa, based on being married to a Thai national. I have thought about trying to extend that one to a 12-month, but am afraid that could stir up serious problems, as I am getting a divorce soon, and would not be married to her for the whole period that I want to stay in the country. I understand that my son should have no real problems, as we can probably get him a Thai passport quite easily. But I will need to find out the best way to be able to stay here myself.

I have a new girlfriend, and I want to marry her. But don't know exactly when. And - as I have already had a marriage to a Thai national, Norwegian authorities are quite cautious. They will probably not let her come to Norway without personal interviews, etc. Could take a year, or more. In the meantime, I want to stay in Thailand, of course. My question would be then, what is the easiest and best way to be able to stay in Thailand for a year or two?

1) Get married ASAP to my new girlfriend (will be officially divorced form my first wife in a few weeks) and apply for a 12-month stay supporting my wife.

2) Go for a tourist visa 60 + 30 days, then 3 * 30 days without a visa. Do the same thing again for next 6 months

3) Try to start/move a business to or get a job in Thailand and get a business/work visa

Important details:

a) my non-imm. three month visa expires end of April. I will not have time to get divorced AND re-married by that time. Also, I need to go back to Norway on a business trip for a few weeks anyway, so I expect that the best thing is to get a new visa from Oslo. But then, if I get a tourist Visa, will I be able to apply for 12-month stay from here, after we get married? Or is it a requirement to have a non-imm. visa first, and so I may need to leave Thailand again after I get married and apply for a non-imm. visa (in Oslo or maybe in Burma)?

I do not have a salaried job currently. Neither does my girlfriend have any income. However, I do work as an IT consultant over the Internet, and I do make more than 40k baht from that per month. I understand that making the money abroad is OK, but how to verify this income? My customers have all signed open-ended service agreements with me, with a three month clause on ending the agreements, not very different from an employment contract really. But it could be a little (lot) of hazzle to get English, or even Thai records showing this. Another way would be to show bank statements of some kind? Also, I would be able to show maybe 2 mill. baht in cash, but that seems to not be important anymore? Surely, I would be able to care for my family very easily for months with that kind of money in a Thai bank...

c) my business is registered in Norway. I could, maybe, move this business to Thailand. But I assume it would be lots of difficult paperwork? Maybe not worth it. Also, my girlfiend and her sister are comtemplating starting a business. I could invest in their business. However, I can not see them being able to pay me a salary of 40k baht per month very soon.

d) last resort? Have been told that anyone who knows English can get a job in this country. Maybe not all correct. But I do know that there are lots of people teaching English in this country with much less proficiency than myself. So is that a good option? Have checked with A.U.A., but they seem to pay teachers only by the hour. So that would probably not be good enough for the 40k limit (steady job).

Thanks for any advice! Know I have lots of questions, but then immigration in this country isn't easy

Regards,

Jostein