mosan

I am a military retiree. I have no real debt to speak of, and me and my Thai wife (who is also a US citizen) have a home in the US. We have decide to adjust the amount of time we spend in Thailand. My pre-existing health conditions would mean paying for a useless insurance policy. TRICARE for Life payments ($260 or 8040 Baht) are deducted monthly from our Social Security--I haven't checked yet but I've yet to read about payment plans from Thai insurance offerings. 

My O-A issued in Washington, D.C. is due to expire in January 2020. I was planning to do a border run about mid-January to get my second year.  Now, just to be safe, I'm going to dash across the border next week.  Hopefully, the IO's at the border will just stamp me in for my second year. But, this is Thailand and someone may decide to ask me for health insurance.  In any event, I'm prepared to fly or take a bus to the nearest consulate and apply for a Non-Immigrant O.  I'll play it by ear from there...

Are you really on a Non Immigrant O-A, or are you on an "Extension of Stay"?  Also I'm guessing you've heard about the new regulations coming into effect on the 31st of October concerning O-A visas and needing health insurance...

They wouldn't have to put up with the vocal minority any more...

Plenty of copies available for purchase on Amazondotcom

14 minutes ago, Caldera said:

You're wrong. My history - in my current passport alone - is far more extensive than the OP's friend's history. That didn't stop Hanoi from issuing a SETV to me. I don't think they would mind his extended visa exempt stays - I have 4 of these in my current passport, plus 3 SETVs from elsewhere. To be clear, each and every one extended.

That doesn't mean that it's a good idea to recommend to this guy to keep on pushing the system. You may just have been lucky and overlook by the immigrations officers on this end.  The prudent thing for him to do is to quit while he is ahead.  

4 hours ago, HHTel said:

Although I'm still 'afloat', I certainly didn't plan to live on half of what I was getting when I arrived.  The pound was getting 73 for a while and now it's half that coupled with rising prices.

 

For those (myself included) that bought a house then and if planning to leave should make a massive profit on the sale.  My house cost around 7 mill to build which was a little under 100,000 pounds.  If I get 10 mill for it now that converts to around 270,000 quid!

Of course that only works if you're planning to leave the country.

It would be really nice to see what you got for your 7 million Baht back then.  How about a follow up post with some pictures?

2 hours ago, tlandtday said:

not entirely true.  the reason is called a vacation whether it happens for an extended period.  i would be more concerned about the masses of "tourists" many young and broke arriving from china and india and trying to start businesses here and probably never reporting and on overstay.  

Why exactly, are you so worried about the Chinese and Indians?  Are they actually affecting your lifestyle in some way?

26 minutes ago, jsmith22 said:

Definitely wasn't a moral issue. Knowing what I know now, I'll do it next time if it's ever offered again.

So, what's with the new passport.  Did the old one expire or was it just full?

I'm guessing you've have some type of electronic device (smart phone, tablet, laptop, etc.) and have heard of Google Maps.

However, if you're electronically challenged, then just ignore my suggestion...

31 minutes ago, Tayaout said:

It takes my wife 5min to do from her phone. I have sympathy for those who feel they need to do it the old fashioned way and drive for hours to meet an IO face to face. 

Good for you. Not everyone has that luxury just yet. I'm sure this will be a non-story in due time.

Cheers

@Seafarer124 I hope you asked permission to post the guy's email on here.

Two things that stood out from the original post: This guy tried to present a SSA statement (American?) and he didn't have his wife (interpreter) with him. So we really don't know what was said and what the "real" reason is for the refusal.  

Ask the guy if he'd like to come on here and provide more clarity as to what was not accepted

Never going to happen.  It's not really about the money.  It's about the difference in attitude and actions between people who are in their twenties, thirties or forties and people who are 50 years of age and older.  One only has to look at the amount and type of incidents by younger folks compared to older folks.  Once 50 something person gets past hanging out in bars they, on average become quite docile. And if they are married, even more so.  Nothing personal...

53 minutes ago, Max69xl said:

When were people visiting Thailand on endless ED-visas ever  "valued" guests? 

For the record, I was generally referring to all foreigners. Those from the western societies seem to think they're valued more than other groups.  That may have been the case in the past, but that ship sailed many, many years ago.  Disclosure: I first came here in 1972. Visited frequently (at least every other year since and move here full time in 2000. By the mid to late 1980s the new trajectory was already in place.  Anybody that's been here less than 5 years would never see the changes coming unless they were really paying attention.

Just now, Caldera said:

Back in the day when I went to college in the U.S., I had to enroll with the college first, got paperwork from them and subsequently used that to apply for my student visa. That seems to be the procedure all over the world, so Thailand doesn't stand out in that regard.

Ah, but did you pay x number of dollars, for an entire year up front, and in cash to enroll and leave the country only to be refused the student visa and or refused entry back into the country because your other entries "may" appear dodgy???

27 minutes ago, sanemax said:

To apply for an EDvisa at an embassy , you need to have enrolled into a year long school.

The school will not enroll you until youve paid in full

My position still stands.  Considering you may be refused a visa or even refused entry even after you have the visa just seems like a gamble to me.  It is an ass backwards process-one is simply taking a chance that things will work out...

4 hours ago, Caldera said:

Then why approve the schools and their programs in question? This is ultimately a scam. People pay for courses that do have the Ministry of Education's stamp of approval, but then fail to get a visa based on that extensive paperwork.

Somehow the sequence seems backwards to me.  Why in the world would anyone pay for a course prior to knowing you're going to be allowed to stay here!  Something is not right.

I think most build because of sheer ignorance of the real estate market here.  Most foreigners build before they realize that they can't really own anything and believe they can pass this property on their heirs in their home country-not true. The only one that can inherit the property is the "Thai" significant other or members of his or her family.  Also most foreigners do not understand that there are no restrictions on what can and cannot happen to the property surrounding theirs.  They eventually fall victim to bad neighbors, a factory, a club, a large hotel/condo or an auto garage. There is no limit to what you'll be living next to in the coming weeks/days/months/years.  Additionally many areas look horrible after about 5 years due to lack of maintenance. Last but not least, most are pressured into building to please others.  Unless you've got money to burn, just rent. 

A friend of mine wrote me an email just two days ago outlining his a problems living here...this was my reply edited ever so slightly for consumption here on ThaiVISA:

The myth of ownership and peaceful living in Thailand was dispelled years ago.  Anyone thinking this was going to be the case forever just wasn’t paying attention to all the stories and rhetoric going around. 
 
I have relocated from village to town in search of peacefulness.  And I’ll be relocating back to the open spaces again in the near future.  
 
I’m used to being the “Black Sheep” in the family—be it my Thai family or my American family.  It’s quite disheartening to know that you’re not the favored person that you pictured yourself as.  Trust me when I say you are not alone.  Many foreigners here are learning that they are “like a fish out of water”.  Unless you are very wealthy and can command attention because of said wealth--along with a good handle on the local language--then you’re probably better off  in you’re home country.   You should be in a place where you are respected, served well and afforded all privileges just because of who you are.  If you choose to remain in your present environment, it is of your own making.  And as such, you should stop complaining and accept it for what it is.  Many people in this world do not have a choice, and most will never have a choice!

18 minutes ago, lkv said:

Well, they bought the "girlfriend" excuse when asked why did I extend a particular SETV last year to the max.

 

To be noted, I spent way less time this year in Thailand.

 

It is quite ridiculous to question previous years, hence a new passport is coming up in about 10 days (home country, where I am).

 

Yes, I know it's "all in the system", but fresh passports invite less scrutiny, both in Thailand and other more developed Asian countries.

 

Back to the point, the gf excuse is viable, if you don't stretch stays to the max. On a tourist visa. You come, meet someone new, you stay longer to see "what's what".

On the contrary, I think that a fresh passport invites "more" scrutiny because immigrations is now aware that many returnees are getting new passports, changing their names and doing various other tricks just to get back in.  You I think will be arriving with a target on your back.

27 minutes ago, tjo o tjim said:

Personally (as an American) my go-to solution if you have one thing that gives you problems is an isolation transformer that can make sure the one device is properly grounded.  Poor grounds are hard to reliably address with too many things interconnected.  Bonding the enclosure to a new ground might solve one problem, but create another somewhere else.

 

Fixing everything is GREAT, but sometimes isolating things has a better ROI.

I hear you.  Had a new bathroom added to the house and personally ran the wires for the shower heater--to include a separate wire for grounding straight to a 1 meter copper pole that I pounded through the concrete into the dirt outside of said bathroom. I just couldn't bring myself to trust anybody else to do it as the red lights on the shower heaters in the other two bathrooms occasionally kept popping on and need to be reset.  Didn't stop until I completely rewired them also...

Here is an idea.  If you have a printer, or at least access to one, you can do a "screen print", or if using Windows 10 on a PC, do a "screen snip", and print out the picture. Then you can use Google Translate on either an iPhone or a Android phone and snap and translate the picture.  And there are online translator websites that will read and translate a photo/screen print--they can be a little unwieldy, but they work.  A quick search will bring up several.   

They do ask for a map to your residence. And, by the way, you are applying for an "Extension of Stay. Not a Non Immigrant O.

6 hours ago, Eric Loh said:

He has lots to learn on the correct terminology. It is call Guard-rails. What an embarrassment for the Transport Minister not knowing the correct term. 

It is not he who should be embarrassed.  He's talking about road dividers and road islands...look it up, you can make dividers and islands out of (hard) rubber--just like in parking lots (car parks) where rubber can be used instead of concrete to make bumpers to stop cars from mounting curbs and walk-ways.