lioness

Ravip.

Did I say it wasn't safe? why ask me why I am here. I certainly didn't complain about anything, just stating the facts.

Perhaps you can't read.

My girlfriend is different, she loves me not my money. (How often do we hear that?).

or

She never sold sex, she was just the cashier there, Yeah.

It will not matter beard or not, just make sure to have plenty of money.

Money overcomes most situations in Thailand, ranging from finding a partner, to murder, if you spend long enough here, you will know how true that is.

Well I find that interesting and have noted all the comments which basically agree.  Thank you all for taking the time to reply.

There has been quite a bit of news recently about people teaching on line and not having work permits.

If a person wanted to teach on line and 2 scenarios here, one working for an overseas company and the other working privately, how would one go about getting a work permit? especially if it was a variety of students as per the second scenario, I thought one needed paperwork from a company or such to apply for a work permit. Has anyone been through this, any advice appreciated.

Well, the poster is right onto it, whatever he's drinking, I have been in the same boat quite a few times over the last 20 years, the last question I asked was after I went to the fridge and found my bottle of baileys with less than a teaspoon in the bottom, it just came out automatically, without me thinking "who's drank my Baileys? ( thinking it might have been my son who likes the stuff as much as me ). Mistake, my partner immediately turned that around to mean I was accusing him of stealing it.

The great outcome from this is that he hasn't spoken to me since, just over 3 months now, and it's absolute bliss.

I believe he doesn't have a work permit, still up to him, if caught out he will probably be sorry he didn't go about it the right way.

Are Thai employers not responsible for making sure there foreign staff have work permits, just a thought.

Thanks for that Mark 5335, question answered.

I saw this chap in the immigration office, he had been back to the old country for a holiday, I said to him when are you back at work, he went bright red and tried to avoid speaking to me. Later I was approached by a friend of his who told me I had  inadvertently opened my mouth about something he was doing illegally. They are trying to tell me you can't work in Thailand on a marriage visa.

Doesn't matter one way or another to me, if he's legal or not,  just wanted to clarify the situation.

Just a simple question. Is a man who is legally married to a Thai woman and living in Thailand on a marriage visa, allowed to legally work or not?

Yes, this question is a result of two people with differing opinions.

Thank you

So its still open and business as normal? Its enough to cause depression.

Yes, it's still open and still reeling people in. They are constructing a new building which looks like a colusseum, it's huge and from what my friend could see of it appears to have an arena. The mind boggles at what this is for.

I,ve found quite a few different rideon mowers here, ranging from 300,000 up to 800,000 THB. In Australia they start at 1,000 AUD about 26,000 THB, the average for a quality one would be about 3,600 AUD, so less than100,000THB.

Even if one paid 100% tax it would still be reasonable although I haven't yet checked the shipping costs.

A visiting friend wanted to see the tiger temple in Kanchanaburi yesterday.

He paid his 600 baht entry fee, then went in, as soon as he was in he was told that if he wanted to see the tigers it was a further 1,000 baht. No mention of this outside and virtually nothing to see for the 600 baht just a "few" other animals and birds.

No, he didn't pay the extra 1,000 he left.

I am considering bringing in a rideon lawnmower from Australia, mainly because they are a mere fraction of the price of Thailand.

I expect I would have to pay tax, has anyone any information on this that might be useful.

Many thanks in advance

There was a front and rear locomotive, as you can see from the picture, they had seperated the engine from the rest of the train. It finally got underway from Kanchanaburi about 1.30pm yesterday.

Looks like the OP could get an income letter from his embassy and go to Savanakhet for a non-imm O visa which would give him plenty of time to get the extensions sorted out at his local immigration office.

As a retiree you will have plenty of time on your hands to read through a few of the threads on this issue. The rules have not changed for a long time, just some tweaks to the mechanics of the system, such as Bangkok becoming the only place that will convert an existing visa to a non-imm O. As a few others here have said - it's up to you know the rules and work out how you're going to comply. Going to the immigration office for "advice" probably is not a good idea since a lot of them don't actually know all the possibilities, or they're too busy to take the time to walk you through the regulations.

I'd love to get an income letter, the problem is I don't have an income.

I do agree you never get the whole thing when you go to immigration for advice, Thai Visa is good, but then if you look through this thread there is some info that doesn't match.

Also replying to someone else, you don't necessarily need to be "retired" to get a retirement visa, just over 50 years. And obviously not working here in Thailand. I know a few people that work on the Internet from Thailand and 2 of them earn fantastic money, and Yes, they are on retirement visa here.

Steve

I went to the Kanchanaburi/Myanmar border. once through departure, a car picks you up for the 5 minute drive to the other side, you don't even get out of the car, it took 2 minutes and then we drove back. The whole experience costs 910 Baht, that includes the Mynmar stamps and the car and driver. I had an elderly Canadian guy in the car with me, and when we got back, he just stood in the middle of the road and said "Is that it?" he couldn't work out how it could all be done so quickly.

I did notice an increase in Departures since I last went there so it might be better to get there early. I was there at 7am and apart from wasting about 35 minutes trying to pay the 20,000 overstay it all went quickly.

Well it was too late to change my plans this morning, so I have completed the border run to Mynmar and am now back in Thailand on a 15 day tourist. Yes, I paid the 20,000 Baht overstay, I also had to sign a declaration that I was aware that should I overstay again then I would be banned from Thailand for 12 months.

When I first approached them at the border I was told that I couldn't pay the 20,000 Baht there but would have to go to Bangkok, I explained that I had been told by immigration in Kanchanaburi that I could do it there, after over half an hour of phone calls they did accept the overstay payment.

Now I ask myself do I go to Bangkok for the non-O 90 days which I now learn from a poster is 2 trips and a possible extention, or is the option still available for me to do it in Laos, and if I do it in Laos do I still need financials.

You see nothing is straightforward, it's all twists and turns, like yes, you can do this, but... No wonder people end up confused.

Well, you needed then and you need now ... the "two step process" as you are entering Thailand without any O visa.

Step 1: Conversion of entry stamp or tourist visa to 90 day O visa

Step 2: Application for ANNUAL extension of stay based on retirement (usually applied for during the last 30 days of the 90 day stay).

Step 1 is granted based on showing eligibility for the later Step 2 which is a retirement EXTENSION, thus explaining the stamp saying RETIREMENT.

Actually, neither one of those two steps is technically a "retirement visa" but you don't need a retirement visa and a retirement visa is not even available in Thailand.

Sadly yet another case that shows that learning more about precisely what you need and the ability to determine YOURSELF that you actually got what you need prevents nightmares like this story.

Also, a number of local Thai immigration that USED to offer Step 1 (CONVERSION to 90 day O) now no longer offer that service which explains why it was offered before but not now. If your office doesn't offer it, you must do the conversion at Bangkok.

ANOTHER excellent alternative to doing the conversion at Bangkok is to go a Thai embassy/consulate in Laos or Malaysia and apply for a single entry O visa there (my latest info on that says you must show proof of income qualification for that). If doing that, that's your Step 1 and you do the annual retirement extension back at your LOCAL immigration office.

Many thanks for this, and yes you are quite correct, I shuld have learned more about what I needed, That was the reason I went to the immigration office to find out. What they neglected to tell me was that it was a 2 step process. I will do the Myanmar run today as it's more convienient for me. Then go to Bangkok for the "conversion". Based on what you are saying it seems I ned to take financials with me they never mentioned this at immigration yesterday, but I shall be prepared anyhow, after reading this. Thats assuming they let me back in today... The other thing I don't understand is why was the last Non O visa stamped from the 14th May to 30th July, was this actually a mistake or not?

Actually Mr Beechguy I am not trying to blame anybody, just stating the facts.

nzexpat

scanned and attached. Many thanks

Copy of Visa stamp.doc

I have been in Thailand for many years and am particular to "do the right thing" when it comes to visa.

However I finished working last April, so I visited my local immigration office to see about going onto a retirement visa. I was told this was simple, leave the country and come back in on a 15 day tourist visa, and then go back to the same immigration office and take all the paperwork, bank statement and supporting documents with me for a retirement visa. This I did and was duly given a visa stamped RETIREMENT.and I paid the required fee. I never checked the dates on the stamp, an error on my part.

Anyhow they has stapled a slip into the passport which asked me to go back in on the 30th July, the issue date of the visa was the 14th May, I couldn;t work this out, so in early July I returned to the office to ask them was this correct. The woman said no, you don't have to worry about that and she removed the slip and binned it. just come back when the the visa expires. remember that I didn't check the dates and in my mind it would have been May 2015.

All my friends on the same visa and reporting every 90 days, and I am worried, so come September I again attend the immigration, pass over the passport and ask them do I need to report, same reply, no, come back when your visa is up. I have witnesses to both these visits.

Today, I actually attend the immigration with friends who are renewing their retirement for another year, I decide to have another go as to my not needing to report like my friends. The woman looks at the passport and I am told I do not have a current visa, I go through the scenario several times, but you know the story you can never get anything across that they don't want to hear. When I said that the first visit the woman had torn the slip out and thrown it away, I was told that was impossible and in fact they went to great lengths to tell me that I had applied for and been given a 90 day Non O and I should have gone back in and applied for the retirement visa.

By this stage the supervisor was out and so was the head woman who followed me outside.

I am now 8 months overstay. They told me to do a border run to Myanmar tomorrow, (my closest point) come back in on a 15 day tourist visa and then go to the immigration in Bangkok get a 90 day Non O and 60 days into that go and see them with all the necessary paperwork for a RETIREMENT visa.

Not only that they tell me anything over a 90 day overstay can lead to being banned from Thailand for 12 months, but this won't happen to me tomorrow as they are just introducing it and not enforcing it at present.

The other thing I can't understand with this new request is why do I have to travel to Bangkok to get a 90 day Non O when they are saying thats what they gave me in Kanchanaburi last year.

As you can appreciate I am quite worried aout going to Myanmar tomorrow, as I am not at all sure they will let me back in.

I firmly believe they put the incorrect dates in the passport, and if as they say I had only originally applied for a 90 day Non O why did I have to present the bank statement and financials adding up to the 800,000 requirement.

Has anyone any sensible thoughts?

ubon joe

Thanks for that, I love it when I occassionally get it right.

A friend and I are currently discussing this, please clarify for us? does this permanent residency qualify the recipeient for a Thai passport, one says No and One says Yes.

Her bag caught on the doorway and she got dragged under. same as happened a couple of months ago to another person..