fozzy58uk

Rather like the chicken and the egg, or the tourists cause prostitution arguments.

Songkran many years ago was very different but who started the water fights. Thai kids did , they loved em and perverted the old way of Songkran, the idiot farang (sic) among the tourists then saw them enjoyed it and copied it. Most expat farang avoid songkran like the plague, I know I did during my16 years working there. You were a target for the corner street gangs, older Thais just gave em a withering look and were left to pass peacefully or received a 'proper' respectful blessing if they allowed it.

The hundreds, nay thousands, of Thai road deaths over my many years there were not caused by idiot farangs but by idiot Thais.

The most appalling thing I ever saw at Songkran was when an emergency vehicle was stopped in the street by a group of Thai youths , who then opened the rear doors and hurled a bucket of water over the patient in the vehicle.

On another occasion, i had arranged my visa run to miss Songkran, I had a bucket of water poured over me as I left my accommodation by the reception staff soaking me and my luggage 3 days before Songkran, when I asked why they said , I wouldn't be in town and they didn't want me to miss the fun.

On my return as the train pulled into the station kids were hurling water through the windows,.... you can guess the explanation.

miss pronounce following misspell now that has to be the laugh of the day.

So Joe. Lets say for example you received 2 tourist visas from Vientiane and went and got a 3rd from another country could you go back on your 4th to Vientiane and they would consider it as your 1st from them.

Since they look at back to back visas from them getting a visa from another location would break the chain of visas.

Not sure I would call it the 1st visa but it would start a new chain of visas.

Having been in said situation and having failed to get situation resolved. It's almost certain no embassy or consulate will not look at the previous two from Vientiane and come up with the same answer, you are not a 'tourist' under their definition of tourist and will insist you obtain the correct visa for your situation.

Unfortunately for some folk, there is no correct visa, as they don't fit any category. Over 50, retired, married to Thai, Thai family etc.

BTW I managed 6 back to back before I was presumed to be working by the consulate staff and red lined.

This came around first time 10 years or so ago, at that time I was teaching in a Thai Government school. With a little digging around with some Thai friends we found that the idea was proposed and initiated by a retired Thai school director and her cronies.

I forget now how many teachers there were in Bangkok alone but it was a substantial number.

The course cost 20,000 baht, with 25 on a course that was 500k a week per course.

Massive earner. Submit plan to Ed ministry, half for you half for me.

Big smiles all round.

I refused to go but some friends were forced to go by their schools at risk of losing their jobs.

They were taught to count to 40, how to say hello, be krieng jai and never to say anything bad about Thailand , the king blah blah blah.

Times are hard time to bring out this lovely earner again.

Ker ching and welcome to Thailand.

What a total prick. I lived in Thailand for 16 years. It was glorious for the first 5 and went steadily downhill. When I left Thailand many of my friends could not believe it. They all thought I would stay here the rest of my life. But as I became more and more aware of the REAL Thailand and it's vicious nasty underbelly I realised that it for the dunghole it really is.

We all know the British police have never fitted any one up nor have there ever been any corrupt coppers in the UK. The rich in UK are treated just like the poor.

Haha.

The difference is the RTP have always done these things without being questioned

The boys in blue however have mastered the art of skullduggery while under massive scrutiny.

Whose eyes are being opened here?

Perhaps the General had a word with call me Dave to ascertain the best way to fit people up and get away with it.

Why are people complaining this perfectly sensible safety strategy which is already in place in Europe and the USA.

How dare farang come into our wonderfully safe paradise and complain about this.

If they buy the correct visa which costs a mere 1 milllion baht per week then they wil of course be exempt as they are QUALITY tourists.

Trinity college London are reputable.

http://www.trinitycollege.com/findacentre/

This link will help you find an exam centre.

http://www.trinitycollege.com/site/?id=2094

here is a link to see which exams are necessary for citizenship and visas.

I am sure a quick call will verify exactly what you need.

Hope this helps.

Quick edit on reading further down the second link page it states the test is speaking and listening only and this meets Home Office requirements.

What I find surprising is , there have been English teachers in this country for I don't know how many years .

If the system and the teaching was on such a high standard , I would have thought that all English teachers here now would be Thai nationals.

I was a teacher in Thailand for many years. A large proportion of my ex-students have excellent jobs in multi-national companies in Thailand and in Europe and the USA.

There are not enough QUALIFIED or at least DEDICATED native speaking English teachers in Thailand mostly due to the pathetic wages on offer and/or the ridiculous hoop jumping necessary to acquire a WP.

Of course it is easy enough to marry a Thai national get a visa and work illegally, or get a retirement visa on dodgy grounds (any long standing expat knows how to do this) and work illegally.

Pay peanuts get monkeys.

QED.

There never has been a restriction on back to back to tourist visas announced.

Only visa exempt in/out visa runs are being restricted. As far as I know there are no changes yet for them.

Don't wish to argue, but I am one of many now at home after having a tourist visa application refused because of too many back to back tourist visas.

Considering that 99% of Thais are flabbergasted when a farang can actually eat authentic Thai food, it is hardly amzing that they believe we can't cook it.

@ JL Crab

I repeat I mean no ill will to anyone. Your response seems to me to show the very fact that you know you may well be next. Perhaps not personally but others in the visa pigeon hole that is currently safe.

Enjoy the life you presently have, I certainly hope you do. I have many friends in similar situations. I would hate to see them split from their families or have their hard earned retirement plans thrown into disarray.

I always thought my future lay in Thailand but unfortunately that was not the case.

It was a blow but not insurmountable. I miss my friends greatly but I will survive and I wish them all the best of luck in this time of uncertainty.

Further to my previous post, many TEFLERs work illegally without WPs on non imm visas based on marriage or retirement.

Watch out they will be coming fo you next.

Will they kick out all genuine marriage and retirement holders to 'get'  the illegal TEFLERS who have made a life in Thailand.

Keep looking over your shoulders. 

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

I read with great interest from people who have no idea of the qualifications necessary to teach in the UK spouting that a first degree is necessary to teach in the UK.

I am a TEFLER, I have a CELTA but no degree. I teach in colleges and uni in the UK. No problems at all.

My sister who left school at 16 with only CSEs not even O levels has been teaching in the UK for quarter of a century. She is also on the board of directors at her present school and last year was voted the best teacher at primary level in the county.

One of the few countries in the world that I am supposedly unqualified to teach English is Thailand. Piffle.

Visa running was also stable for many many years, that is my point. Just because it is stable today is no guarantee it will be so in the future.

I hold no ill wishes to anyone, I would just like some members of TV to come down off their high horses and just be thankful that their circumstances allow them, at present, to live as they choose.

Be careful you don't jump out of the frying pan into the fire. I have recently returned to UK after 16 years in Thailand because Thailand was getting worse for me. With a family you must remember to take into account the lack of free education and health care in Thailand and the extra costs this will entail . While I sometimes miss the weather and undoubtedly my many friends, I am pleased I made the decision to return.

I am not a Thailand knocker, I greatly enjoyed my years in LOS and look back on them with great fondness.

Whatever you decide, all the best.

If you don't jump through the hoops in the right order on cancelling your present WP and visa you may have nasty problems when applying for your new one. When I left my last job at the end of my contract, I turned in my WP and went to immo, They insisted I needed a letter confirming the end of employment from my employers. I pleaded nicely with them, but all to no avail. I went back to my employer got the letter and then had to pay 1900 baht for a 7 day extension of stay. I then left and got a double entry tourist visa.

Hope this helps.

Got to do a visa ext next week, due on Fri 11. Obviously immo is closed on 7th and 10th, does anyone know if they are definitely open on 11th or are they making a long weekend of it. Thx in advance.

As posted before, I received a double entry TV and the red stamp. No questions asked, no appeal, no evidence that I have been working illegally. The stamp merely says I have entered multiple times. If the reason for my red stamp is multiple entries, then why is there no posted limit? If the reason for my rejection is supposed working, why no interview? It is true that Thais have some problems obtaining visas for "western countries" but they are granted interviews and the rules and reasons for acceptance and denial are given. Appeal is also allowed. Again, as I have previously posted, I have no problem with Thais setting the rules for immigration into their country, I would just like them to tell the rest of us what criteria they are applying when they make these decisions, so that I can make an informed decision as how to proceed instead of entering what appears to be a lottery. To tropo, really bad deal for your GF, she appears to be the only outright rejection we have heard of on these forums.

To maestro, interesting point. But what criteria does the consulate use in deciding whether someone is working illegally. Many posters have opined it is dress code or age or some such. The only criterion on the red stamp is the number of entries. In my case 6. As I did not present my application personally, I used an agent hoping that I may not get a red stamp, it certainly was not my dress. I am over retirement age. Is the idea to push me into applying for the "correct" visa that is a retirement visa? I don't have the 800k in the bank or 65k a month pension which is why I am on TVs. My visa agent is extremely confident that this is indeed about money. TVs are free until March 2010. If I were to apply for a non imm O I would have to pay. Will the situation revert to normal when Vientiane is back to collecting 500k baht ++ per day in TV fees. As I have lived in the Land of Smiles for close to 20 years, I strongly suspect this may be the case. But all this is pure speculation. I eagerly await news after next March. I have six months to peruse my future options. So not too worried. Slightly off topic I remember an interesting exchange a couple of years back when an acquaintance of mine was applying for a TV ext at Suan Phlu where the immo officer asked him how his gig was going, he was a singer in a bar. Pleasantries all round and visa extended no problem. Not hearsay I was standing with the guy.

To tropo, if you prefer to do your own calculations that is up to up to you. You are discounting the entry stamps I had before the issue of the first visa in my present passport. Why? They are plainly there for the immigration officer to see and count. I have entered Thailand 7 times on a tourist visa in this passport not 6 and my next entry will be my 8th not my 6th. This is not based on passports I have not seen nor reports of other people I do not know. This is based on my passport and my personal experience. Therefore I am reporting a fact not an opinion. Are more entries possible, I don't know, some posters have reported that it is. Would less entries receive a red stamp, I don't know. Surely if someone was applying for a new passport outside of Thailand it would make more sense to apply for a non-imm O on grounds of visiting friends. The reason I am on back to back TVs is that a don't plan to visit UK at the moment. When I do that is the visa I will apply for.