phil2

You really have to wonder where Nonglak got 60 million from in the first place.

Naka.

You are surprised that a thai can have that money?

Not that Thais cant have that money, but they wont marry Dutchman in Pattaya if they have that money in the first place.

A friend of mine used to brad about his wife's family being very rich. When I mentioned it to my wife, she said if it were true then the lady won't be married to a foreigner because her family would disapprove of the marriage. Today he's in the hilton with the wife and her family ripping him of close to a million. She's presently on the prowl for another "fool."

A 21 day visa ???

there really is no such thing as a 21 day visa.

What they used to issue to Africans in Ho Chi Minh was a 7 - day visa. It's actually a trasit visa with a comment "permitted entry for 7 days" but the immigration officers at the border normally stamp the passport in for 1 month.

Also, up till now, there's only one guy in Vientiane that approves visa for Africans, so when he isn't there, the poor guys always have to wait for days, sometimes for a whole week. All the Africans that were stranded in Cambodia 2,3 years ago do not even want to come back here anymore because they have peace of mind now. They can get a one year business visa for just $280.

Kopete works well on gnome,also. I use Ubuntu and have tried kopete and it worked fine I've used my webcam which happens to be one of those cheap ones from China and a mic without any problems. Try Gyachi, or just research on the Ubuntu forum for the know how.

Hey! why don't you upgrade to Gutsy?

and once again thai visa's armchair taliban gets a cchance to sound the call for the death penalty.

thank heavens we have you all as a moral compass to keep the rest of us on the strait and narrow.

now, go back to drinking in front of your computers and ignoring your wives.

I agree, just the rest of there life in jail is ok with me.

But think he will left Thailand within 2 years to sit out the rest of his time in the UK jail.

And she… she will walk the streets again tomorrow because she is a poor Thai who didn’t know what the mean farang where doing.

She will be walking the streets very soon because she gave him up. Happens all the time here. Only fools fall for these girls who have been doing this business for a very long time.

how do I get to Ban Laem from Chantaburi?

Head towards SaeKaew and the signs will be approx. 35min. out of town

I actually meant by public transportation from Chantaburi.

Some Thai girls are bad Mr Toad. And this is why I will never buy property through a TGF or wife.

If you can't trust someone this much you have no business marrying them.

Yes I agree. But there is a valid point in here somewhere - and a moral to the story too (also goes some way to hold up my theory that rich people are not necessarily intelligent - esp in UK and other class-based societies like Thailand and Japan - if they inherited their money - don't know if this guy inherited - so sorry in advance if offence caused).

I mean really, how long do you have to think about the fact that you CANNOT own property in your name in Thailand as a foreigner? If your wife "buys" the property, you must "accompany" her to the Land Office to "sign" a document that says it was "her" money that bought it - and that you have "no claim" to it??

NOW WHY WOULD THEY MAKE YOU DO THAT IF YOU ARE MARRIED? AFTER ALL - You cannot own the property that is for sure. But if you divorce, why can't you force a sale and split of the proceedings like anywhere else in the world?? The answer? Because the govt are actually HELPING the pattaya bar girl screw the foreigners out of their money - and keeping alive a false foreign property market. Is there any other realistic answer? To make this as clear as possible, I'm saying why make the foreigner SIGN AWAY ANY RIGHTS TO ASSETS IN A FUTURE DIVORCE? I'm not saying the farang should get the property, but why doesn't it become a 50/50 communal marriage asset????

It is a conspiratorial 'mug's game' to help releive foreigners of their savings - and the law is complicit in this. There can be no other explanation - unless someone has one?

It's the same reason u have to renew your marriage visa every year.

I suppose we should really show some measure of sympathy for our fellow human being. He now has <deleted> all - not a pot to p1ss in - he's 63 with <deleted> all hope of getting a job and even if he did how many years does he have to work to get a basic comfortable life? His only prospect is two years on the welfare until his pension kicks in then the rest of is life on a pittance of a pension (unless he's got a big private fund set up).

But then I hear his words to his mates "Oh she's not like all the rest of them. She'd only been in Pattaya two days when I met her working as a cashier and had never been with a man. She fell in love with me at first sight and came back to my hotel with me because she didn't want to lose me to any other girl blah blah blah".

There are liars, damm liars and Pattaya bg's.

It's happening all over the country,not only in Pattaya. Just wish you westerners will get some sense into your head.

Was told I need a wp to transfer money out or even to buy a draft. I was treated like a criminal trying to rob them.

how do I get to Ban Laem from Chantaburi?

There is a yawning discrepancy between the financial requirements for a farang husband-Thai wife, and farang-farang couple retirees. What can be the basis for such inconsistency? It almost seems this is a campaign to encourage more farangs to partner with Thais and to bump their foreign spouses

The new policy will probably prompt emigration of retirees to Malaysia...and will certainly impact negatively on local Thai business.

I think you read my mind. Dump yours and take theirs...........but beware because you don't have too long to live

However, I think the outrage from us, all vulnerable farangs with very few rights here, should be against a system that throws some of us in jail for these relatively minor violations.

Compassion is all good and I do feel a little sorry for the guy, but I honestly don't know of any country that would not detain an overstayer. Do you?

The visa regulations are for real and it is not that difficult to follow them unless you're incapacitated or in a coma.

Russia,Ghana,Nigeria,Belarus,Poland,Cambodia,Laos, and many other countries.

It's nice to know there are other people using Ubuntu here in Thailand.

Can I ask if you know of a DVIX plugin for Linux ( Ubuntu )?

This is the only reason I'm still having windows on a small partition.

Look for Mtec mobile phone or some of the other cheap pda phones from china. You can get one for less than 9000.

This is the first time I’ve posted on Thai visa news although I’ve been a lurker for quite some time. I’d like to clarify my situation before I report my experience. I’ve been coming to Thailand for the past nine years and I use it as my base. I don’t work here and I’m not a visa runner. I work in Taiwan. I spent about 5 months a year in Thailand, 4-5 months a year in Taiwan, maybe 1 month in the states visiting my parents and maybe another month traveling in the region. I’m not old enough for a retirement visa; I’m 42. Just so you know this will be a very long report on the enforcement of the new 30 day visa exempt rules.

When they announced the new visa restrictions in September, I made sure to get a tourist visa. However, the Thai embassy in NYC would only give me a single entry visa as a matter of policy (that’s all they give anyone). In a way, this visa was useless to me because it was only valid for 3 months and I would not be hear for an extended period of time, but I was playing it safe as it would still be valid in the beginning of 2007 when they said they would be enforcing the new rules. I then plunked down the 3800 baht for a multiple re-entry permit (something I will never do again-a complete waste of money for someone in my situation) on it so I would get as much mileage out of the visa and minimize my days in Thailand on the free 30 day entries.

Now here is where my story gets interesting. I arrived in Thailand on March 14th from a trip to the PI after they had started to count the days spent in Thailand on the 30 day visa exempt at the airport. I arrived first on October 4th and spent 8 days. Then I arrived on Oct 31 and spent 9 days. I arrived on November 30th for a 21 day visit. I had two visits on my tourist visa for a total of 21 days, but these were not counted (Jan 11-Jan23 and Feb 19-March 6) as they were on the tourist visa. The visa officer was unsure how many days to give me on the stamp, which was strange. I was talking to him and the visa officer next to him in Thai. The office next to him said that I had only used 38 of the 90 free days so to give me a full stamp. Eventually he did.

On the 17th I left to Honk Kong and returned on the 20th. When I came in at the airport, the immigration office was only going to give me a stamp allowing me to stay until April 3rd even though I had only used 41 of my 90 days. She and the officer next her said that since my 6 months were up that I would have to leave on that day. I began to argue and pushed to get my full 30 days. I had only used 41 days, and it would only take a very cursory look at my passport to see that I wasn’t living or working here and that I was just a frequent visitor. They took me to speak to a supervisor.

When I went to speak to the supervisor, there were about 6 officers there. I pushed my case. I showed them the stamp when I arrived on the 14th and was allowed to stay until April 12th. Why would they only give me to April 3rd when I arrived on the 20th, only 6 days later. They said there was a new rule that at the end of the month period you must leave Thailand regardless if how many days you have spent in the country if you are using the 30 day entry. They showed me the memo in Thai. It meant nothing to me since even though I could speak ok Thai (my vocabulary is not so large) my reading skills are weak. I said that this was not convenient for me and was there anything special they could do for me. They said no, but that all I needed to do was to go to Aranyaprathet. I didn’t need to spend money on a plane ticket out. I will say that I was quite polite to the officers and they were very friendly. Also, my appearance was quite neat and proper. I’m 42 years old and don’t look like a bum or sleazy sexpat (not there is anything wrong with that

I was quite miffed by this new unannounced rule and decide to go to Suan Phlu and try to get this changed or at least some decent explanation. When I arrived in Suan Phlu I first discussed it with a officer at the information desk. They saw that I had only used 41 days and sent me to the counter to get my stamped changed. When I talked to them(as I said before my conversations were in Thai except for a few words in English to make up for some of my deficiencies in vocabulary), they said that there was a new rule that at the end of the 6 months you had to leave whether or not you had used your 90 days. I complained. I said I had done everything by the rules. I only used 41 days. I had gotten a tourist visa because immigration had wanted everyone to get a background check. I wasted 3800 baht on a reentry permit. I don’t work. I’m not a visa runner. It’s very obvious from my passport. On one day they gave me until April 12th and then 6 days later they gave me until April 3rd. They said the 1st officer had made a mistake. I then pointed out that if someone came into Thailand on Oct. 4 and left on Oct. 5 and then came back on April 2nd using the 30 day visa exempt stamp that person would have to leave on April 3rd. They said yes that person would. I said that this wasn’t fair. They agreed. I said I wanted to complain. They sent me to room 205.

When I got there, I repeated the whole story. They said yes I had done nothing wrong and that it wasn’t fair, but I had to leave anyway. They said the best they could do for me was to give me a week extension for 1900 baht. I said that I didn’t want to pay this. They told me to go to Aran. It was only 4 hours away. They said I would have to wait until April 4th to reenter and get my next set of 90 days on my 2nd 6 month period. I told then I didn’t like Cambodia so they suggested that I overstay one day. I said that I was concerned that Aran might have different rules because immigration was decentralized and could they give me a note instructing Aran immigration to let me in. They said they couldn’t because it was a different chain of command. They only have authority in BKK. Aran was in central command. The airport was also a different command (I believe there are 6 different commands in total). I had already known this so I asked if they thought I would have any problem getting in. They said no. They told me that 3 or 4 other people had already complained about this. I asked them how things would be 6 months from now; they said they weren’t sure.

April 3rd comes along and I take the trip to Aran. I decide not to overstay since I know that sometimes there is a problem with this. Manage to find the casino bus by Lumpini to take me straight to the border. It was a little confusing because I haven’t left Thailand by a land route in 3 or 4 years. When I get there, I go up to an officer who is free and ask him about my situation, being very polite. I ask if I can return on the same day. He says no problem as long as I have a forward air ticket out of Thailand. It’s a new rule. LMAO! I was shocked, but not terribly. TIT! I then went to talk to the supervisor. There were two other westerners there with the same problem. They were speaking to him in English. I spoke to him in Thai. I showed him my passport and told him that both Suan Phlu and the airport told me to come and renew my stamp at Aran. I showed him my stamps which clearly show that I’m not a visa runner, didn’t work here and was just a frequent visitor. I told him I followed all the rules. He said that this was a new rule-ANOTHER UNANNOUNCED NEW RULE! He was sympathetic and said that the government didn’t want people crossing back and forth at the land crossing and that I should go to the airport. This was funny. I would have laughed if I weren’t truly disgusted. I now was forced to overstay by immigration. I told him I didn’t want to do this. He kind of gave me a sad look. I turned straight back to BKK. I talked to a Thai sitting next to me on the bus. I was so upset I told him how the new government doesn’t like foreigners anymore. He was surprised as have all other Thais I’ve mentioned this to have been. Most Thais don’t even realize this is happening.

The next day after I got back to BKK, I booked a flight to Singapore on Tiger Air. I also called my travel agent. I told her about how I was turned back at Aran and asked her to find out the new rules. When she got back to me she told me that the people at immigration weren’t sure and that the rules were changing rapidly. They didn’t know how things would be in the future; she asked them to stop doing this as it was losing her business many customers. What a disgrace to run a country this way. I guess the head of immigration is behaving autocratically now that the CNS is in power and changing the rules on his own whims.

When I got to the airport on the 6th, I had to pay a 3 day fine. While paying the fine, I discussed my case with the officers there. An older officer with some rank came to discuss things with me. I talked to him for about 20 minutes. Again the officers were very sympathetic. I told him the rules were not fair now. He agreed. As all the officers I had already talked to before had said, he had told me these new rules were a headache for them. He complained that the manual counting of days on a rolling basis at the airport without a proper computer program was a problem. We agreed that it wasn’t an intelligent policy. He said that the person who is making the rules now has never had to take care of an immigration office and deal with people coming and going from the kingdom. He had to send an evaluation report every month to his superiors and every time he complained about the new rules. He also talked about the uneven enforcement of the rules. He asked me whether the days on a tourist visa and the 30 day visa exempt days be counted together. I said no. He said that some officers do and some don’t depending on where you are. I know that the immigration policy is to be decentralized and allow officer discretion, but THIS IS LUDICROUS. TIT.

When I came back on the 9th, I had a copy of my reservation at the end of the month, but was not asked for it. I told the officer I was starting my second period of 6 months and showed her the relevant stamps. She very quickly gave me a new set of 30 days without asking to see a forwarding ticket so this rule is not being enforced at the airport. I’m now back in Thailand.

Many people on this board always say that the rules are the rules, and the only people who will have problems here are the bad ones. This is rubbish. I followed the rules and still was forced to leave. They just change the rules like we change our shirts. Right now they are changing the rules at the drop of a hat. Maybe they are posting them on the Thai Immigration website or maybe you need to call the different posts or commands to find them out, but immigration is making no effort to make them freely available on this website or in any papers. The officers themselves are not sure what is happening and in many cases disagree with them, but have to follow them. It seems clear that this is done on purpose by the person in charge to make foreigners so frustrated that they leave, or that the person in charge is a petty dictator or incompetent and does things by the seat of his pants.

I see some posters saying that the new rules must be done logically and that the people with problems are ones who are up to now good. However, with a cursory look at my passport, it is easy to see that this is not the case. Yet, the officers don’t have the discretion to make an exception. Thus, the logic appears to be that the person in charge wants foreigners here out. Maybe you are here on a non-immigrant, retirement or work visa, and your rules will be changed without notice and you will be screwed or have to jump through hoops to stay as well. I think things here will get worse before they get better. Periodically in Thai history they have accepted foreigners and then expelled them. It appears that we are at a stage when some diehard anti-foreigners are in charge now, and attempting this.

In the past, being polite and neat in presentation when dealing with immigration would help one. The officers could use their discretion and decide who to be tough with and who to treat well. Although all the officers were polite and sympathetic to my case, they had nothing they could do even though they agreed with me (or at least said they did). This approach seems to no longer work.

This whole experience was very frustrating. I hope that sometime in the near future there will be some consistency and coherence in the immigration rules. Unfortunately, I think that things will only get worse.

I talked to a Thai sitting next to me on the bus. I was so upset I told him how the new government doesn’t like foreigners anymore.

It was THE LAST government that actually made the new rules not this government.I'm affected too,but the truth is they made the rules before they were kicked out and this new government haven't actually had the time to change anything. Just Imagine showing 400,000 three months in advance before applying to renew your marriage visa.They are going to start giving a 5 year visa in Malaysia to people married to citizens.

Don't see why you would need those guys if you are just filling out a forum for a tourist visa -save your money!!

Don't see why you would need those guys if you are just filling out a forum for a tourist visa -save your money!!

Is the word FORUM or FORM?

I hope you see why you may need to pay those guys to fill out the form correctly.

I got the first 18 right and the last 2 wrong. So presumably I can't ever go home.

There's no way my wife would be able to pass that test. Its more Constitutional Law than general knowledge. I think most English people would score about 50%.

Agree: this test should be no qualification for obtaining citizenship. Its foolish and pointless

Can you become a Thai citizen if you want to?

It's good for Thais to go through the same hassle we go through here. 400,000,every year,show up every three months e.t.c...........

And no one saw who carried out the hit.

Unbelievable.

I hope he wasn't teaching also!!

Hello

I am 32, not married, with child, at the moment I hold a non immigrant B visa, not extendble, expires on the 15th of February.

I decided not to open a business here no more, I am beginning to dislike the situation.

I have a daughter about 3 and half months old, her birth certificate state that I am the father, but in Amper they told us that untill she is not old enough to declare that I am her father, lives togheter and etc, she keeps her mother surname. I think is crazy, but they said is because I am a foreigner, child of both Thais old the surname of the father.

But aniway, before she was born me and my girlfriend tought that was one of the visa possibility( we dont want to get married) also if look like to be the easier. (But my Embassy asked for tons of documents, that has to came from my country, my both parents are not alive no more, no friends, is more than 12 years that I left, been working abroad since then, I dont have even an address, so I think get hold of all the documents they want is a long process, and very expensive too, they dont provide the service).

I work here in Asia( no Thailand)my clients dont have interest, I am a freelance marketing consultant, for a foreign company, so part of the year I travel, and a good other part of the year I relax and now I just spend beautifull time with my daughter.

So on the 15th I am going to the Thai Embassy in Laos, wich kind of visa I can request. I think only a tourist or one to vit a family member,

Documents that I have:

Passport( holding a non immigrant )

Birth certificate of my Daughter( with mother surname )

TabienBan( not mine)

Statement from the Bank for the last 6 month showing money coming from abroad( multiple transfers from companyes), this are the fees paid to me, about 800,000 baht.

Multiple contracts from the company for my service, for the above fees.

I think is all.

Thanks in advance for any Help.

English is not my first language, sorry for any mistakes

I am very sorry to say this.I think you were lied to.I have a daughter from my ex-girlfriend bearing my surname in all her papers.I know of another guy who was scamed this same way,and now the wife is dead her family told the guy he is not the father of the child.Good luck anyway.

I suspect that the marriage visa financial requirement will be doubled shortly as it is very low

A friend of mine just got married and was told last week Friday to show 400000 before he could even apply for the visa.

On Monday,which was yesterday,he did,but was told that the money's been doubled to 800000.

I agree with you.There is an election coming up pretty soon.

Another thing is that it's only those retailers who want to make SUPER NORMAL PROFIT that are conplaining.I do know a shop opposite the Bangrak Police Station that's competing with a 7-11 shop next door.This shop is actually wining by selling cheaper than th 7-11.If this shop and others ( one near the Indian temple along SIlom rd. ) can break even,then those retailers who are afraid of competition are simply cheats.

Who was the guy that was arrested in London Heathrow Airport last week,then?

The same guy was reportedly arrested on arrival in London last week.

I would really appreciate it if i can get a list of cable tv service provider in bkk.