mokwit

Exactly this. So many businesses with one foreigner and no sign of the wife and two other employees or a ratio of non Thai employees to Thais that the regulations only allow for priority BOI companies. A Westerner would last 5 minutes doing that.

Presumably the guys who stand outside the hotel coffee shop opposite Foodland were checked and found to not be competing with Thais or selling anything illegal.

The current crop of vendors, primarily "marital aids" sellers etc are not Thai. Not sure what Nationality they are.

.....but it is best to have it with you in case it is....................

Collective punishments.

In my country all forms for free healthcare and welfare benefits have been translated into 26 languages and they must provide interpreters. Note: I don't approve and I think Tony Blair should be sent the bill for this.

Anywhere that changes the financial terms of visas/extensions without grandfathering is NOT a retirement destination. Look at the angst on this web board amongst retirees here due to ever shifting visa/extension sands.

The Thais expect that they can play one off against the other, but I think they will find China can make them make a choice, and the US can't.

Heads up for anyone transferring retirement (and assume marriage) extension at CW - you will need your bankbook, updated on the day. Bank letter and statement also might be good to have.

Don't come on holiday to Thailand?

Photo evokes someone being led away by a 1970's South American death squad. This OTT assault rifle armed, masked, black fatigues look that came in during the Military govt is not a good look.

typo/old age: 'party's'

My solution was to just leave 800k in the bank but that required me to transfer an additional 800k to Thailand. I am nevertheless disgusted by what was done. We didn't hear about any witch hunt to sniff out the other side of the agent business which is the corrupt IO's/the system. Business carried on as usual, they just punished us. Likewise TM30 - I didn't hear about them going after property owners who may be harbouring the undocumented, they just punished us, refusing to process extensions if a TM30 was not done and making us dependent on a third parties cooperation. We should not be penalised if a property owner has not filed a TM30*. Meanwhile masses of people come here taking advantage of the easy entry with the intention of going underground. *yes, I know there is the "possessor" category, but you still need documentation from the owner.

A VERY bad precedent of changing the terms without grandfathering was set. Even Thaksin govt grandfathered when they made changes.

Indonesia and Malaysia being case in point. Maybe Cambodia added retirement visa recently?

I think there is a catch with Portugal - If I remember correctly it is that you have to pay a large upfront amount for healthcare, so walking away when the tax free period ends is costly.

They were targeting law breakers in the Nana area. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_eagle They just named it after a bird - similar to calling it 'Operation Pelican' or somesuch.'

What is happening? Any more details?

Cambodia. Better check still current not outdated web page. https://bangkokbuddy.com/thai-visa-services/

No mention of this new and petty rule on their website. I got caught out as have others. Wasted journey for them. For me, letter and statement was not enough, needed bank Book updated on the day - so take all of those. Surprised Bangkok Bank issued letter and statement without bank book. They refused to do something for me once because I did not have bank book with me, even though it just said "passport" on the website. Causing a wasted journey and lot of inconvenience to people for what? To catch someone who forgot the ATM card fee would take them below 800k? Anyone planning on renewing their extension will have the money in the bank/use an agent to bypass as they did with extension. CW has gone 'Provincial'.

Do we know how far back the Immigration entry/exit database goes?

Hi please PM me with that - need to know how to do that with set up account.

As a general principle that might vary with office, (CW in my case), they want hard copy of TM30 and TM47 (90 day) signed hard copy. They could see mine in their system but they asked for hard copy and checked one against the other. Better to have hard copy/printout available.

Bank book seems to be a requirement now and I had to file a new TM30 - don't know if that was because mine was old, or because the passport number had changed.

TM30 not asked for?