bubba

2 minutes ago, rumak said:

bubba, cmon, dodgy or not what the point that many here on this thread are trying to get across is that

Immigration does not have the time and more importantly the knowledge to interpret the many forms of income that foreigners may have.   heck, even i can't understand the US tax forms !  Last time i did tax it was something like 10 different pages of various forms i had to complete. .  SO...i would say that the many different forms from different countries are NOT easily verifiable.

 

But an investment portfolio transaction statement is quite simple - far simpler than tax returns.

If I sell a share asset, it is in English and looks something like this:

Date: XX/XX/XXXX

Sold: XXX shares at XX per share.

Total proceeds: XXXX

9 minutes ago, mfd101 said:

Most likely a MINIMUM of 65K a month. An averaging system would allow for too many dodgy work-arounds.

Why would it be considered dodgy if you have an investment portfolio and sell off assets such as shares as you need the money? That is easily verifiable and for many, it works out to much more than 65K baht/month. 

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Ditto - as per complex tax-forms - doesn't seem remotely probable.  I think our only hope is that these get a cursory-glance, provided the bank-letter shows the min-income being transferred into Thailand.

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I think the new 'Embassy income letter' will be the 'Bank balances & incoming letter'.

Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe the requirement for income does not require funds being transferred into Thailand. 

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.      Concerning proof of income, the Embassy and CM Consulate will be conducting training sessions to explain the various forms of retirement income US retirees depend on, which are quite different from European national pension systems Thai Immigration is used to.

For those of us who are younger than retirement pension age (i.e. American Social Security benefits), I hope they can also explain to immigration other forms of income, such as capital gains and dividend income from investment portfolios.

Just now, Pattaya46 said:

You don't need to go back your country, but just to exit Thailand and send your documents home for a friend to get your Non-OA. With express mail service it's less than 1 week all, and then back in Thailand.

Yes, but you would have to also send your passport back. I don't think I would want to be in some random country for a week with no passport.

I cannot comment on a non-imm O, but I did a new non-imm B visa following a job change in Manila several years ago. I can only say that back then, the local Filipino staff were probably the least friendly and least service-minded Thai consulate staff I have encountered. Same day service was not an option. They were meticulous and all my documents were in order, so at least I was successful in obtaining my visa there.

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And imagine what would happen if the IRS got a hold of those affadavits?  There may be some legal-restriction preventing that from happening now, but that could change.

There is no way IRS could get hold of the affidavits from the Consulates, since they do not retain a copy. 

Although not on a visa run, I was up there this past weekend. There were no immigration queues for foreign nationals and the markets in both Mae Sai and Tachilek were completely dead and nearly devoid of visitors. 

On 6/11/2018 at 12:32 PM, lkn said:

The check-in staff are not agents of Thai Immigration so I sincerely doubt they’d prevent you from flying to Thailand just because they *think* that you may not be granted entry, they have no way of knowing this, and they are not liable for passengers who do not get entry.

 

Though as a courtesy/service, they will ask if you have proper VISA to stay in Thailand, etc. Has happened to me many times that they asked about my VISA situation and if I was aware I could not stay more than 60 days on my tourist VISA (before I had a PE) etc.

I would tend to disagree that asking about a visa is a courtesy. With every flight back to Thailand for at least the last five years, each and every airline check-in agent has noticed that I did not have an outbound flight and asked about my visa. I travel a lot and have a passport full of stamps, so they often need help in finding it. I have asked about this several times and they told me no outbound ticket, and no visa = no boarding the flight. Most recently, I have noticed that several agents (Asiana was the last) actually entered my visa details into the record at their terminal.

In your case, it appears you did have a visa, so no outbound ticket is required. If you were planning to enter on visa waiver, without a visa, you would be required to have an outbound ticket.

Just now, edwardandtubs said:

Not scared of needles but as I've never needed to in the past in spite of multiple claims on Thai Visa that it's necessary, I see no reason to start doing it now.

Ok, that's good.

So now you have a "claim on Thai visa" that the blood test was necessary. I have no reason to misrepresent that. I am only offering my experience in the hope that it might be helpful to others who may be headed to the same office where I do my WP, where I was told it was necessary.

2 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

I cannot find that info here. http://www.mfa.go.th/main/en/services/4908/15388-Non-Immigrant-Visa-"B"-(for-Business-and.html

I only mentions a work permit is required.

I believe those are the the requirements from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for a non-imm B visa.

A work permit is an entirely different application under the authority of the Ministry of Labour. They are the ones that require a medical certificate for their work permit application.

31 minutes ago, edwardandtubs said:

 

Clearly the customer facing people at One Stop don't actually makes decisions about whether to accept or reject an application. I've never heard of anyone who has been rejected in Bangkok with a medical certificate with all six diseases. It depends how strongly you feel about giving blood for no reason.

Really? You know of someone with all six diseases on their medical certificate and they didn't get rejected? I am surprised that the applicant was able to make it up to the counter.

Your statement "clearly the customer facing people at One Stop don't actually makes decisions about whether to accept or reject an application" is not exactly accurate. I am assuming you have done visa extensions and work permits a few time, as I have for 19 years. For most of those years, no medical certificate was required at all. So when you have done yours, did you notice how carefully they scrutinise every piece of paper and tick off each of the required ones? I do not know whether they are in a position to reject an application, but they are clearly in a position to not accept the application due to incorrect or insufficient paperwork. All I can say is that the last time I did mine (August last year), I asked the officer if the blood test was really required and she said yes it was. That was at One Stop Chamchuri and I have no experience elsewhere.

As for "giving blood", no I do not have a problem with a 5 cc blood draw if it will ensure that my application is not turned away, which would result in wasting another day getting the test done and going back to Chamchuree. Are you scared of needles?

53 minutes ago, edwardandtubs said:

People have been saying the same thing for years ever since syphilis was added to the list. All I can say is I never had a problem with a form that included syphilis but not the blood test results.

 

Anyway, I'm sure Bumrungrad know what they're doing so I would just go there and accept their expertise.

But requiring a blood test for syphilis has nothing to do with Bumrungrad and their "expertise". It is all about the Employment Department officer looking at your paperwork, his/her interpretation of the requirement and whether they will accept your medical form without the blood test. As I mentioned earlier, the officer at Chamchuri One Stop told me it was required. I would rather just go ahead and get the damned blood test rather than risk being turned away and having to waste another day going for the blood test and then queuing again at One Stop.

14 minutes ago, edwardandtubs said:

 

The whole thing about requiring a blood test for syphilis is based on a misunderstanding of medicine. The rules very clearly state third stage syphilis and there is no blood test for that distinct from stages 1 and 2. The third stage of syphilis is the final stage before death where you would be showing obvious symptoms like loss of balance and insanity. The last time I got a work permit I brought in a blank medical form with those six diseases to a clinic. The old doctor knew straight away what he had to do to test for third stage syphilis. He asked me to look up and down, stand up, walk to the door and walk back. Anyone with third stage syphilis would be stumbling about all over the place. This doctor was actually very thorough, carefully doing his best to establish that I was in fact free of those six diseases. It cost 80 baht and was accepted by the work permit office. This was a couple of years ago.

 

However, I did go into two other clinics and they refused to fill in the form I gave them, instead insisting they do their own form which included an overpriced syphilis test.

 

This was all in Bangkok. It's obvious that in some provinces you definitely need a blood test.

 

A few years ago I went to Bumrungrad Hospital and the doctors there are knowledgeable enough to know there is no blood test for third stage syphilis so they will give you a physical examination and a form that certifies you free of all six diseases. It cost about 800 baht but if I had to get a work permit in Bangkok right now, that is what I would do.

I know exactly what you are saying and I even brought it up with the clinic doctor. He assured me that the blood test was required (this was almost two years ago) although it had not been previously, so I did it. Later, I asked about that from the officer at One Stop Centre in BKK and she confirmed the blood test was required, although she may have said that because I asked. I did the blood test again the new renewal, just because it would be a real PITA if they refused to process my renewal without it. 

Who knows what the requirement is at other locations or how it is interpreted. 

4 minutes ago, natway09 said:

You will find now that only some hospitals are allowed to do the check.

In the bad old days any clinic but not now

When did this start? I did a renewal in August of last year using a medical form signed by a doc at a local clinic.

I always did mine at a local clinic. There is an older, semi-retired doctor there who would take my pulse, draw some blood for the syphilis test, tick off the boxes on the form (and of course ensuring that I was not suffering from elephantiasis) and then have a pleasant chat with me. All for 200 baht.

Up until a couple of years ago, the blood draw was not required for syphilis, at least for me. Also, until several years ago, I was not required to have a medical certificate at all for renewals. 

Yes, but I didn’t actually go to the consulate myself, so I’m not sure how it worked. Our office there sent my passport down with one of their couriers. 

I’ll admit it was a few years ago, but my passport was in when the opened the doors and they turned it around while waiting. Wouldn’t hurt to ask. 

I have done non-imm B for WP in Hong Kong and Manila, although it has been years ago for both. In both cases, my office carefully reviewed everything to be certain that the paperwork was complete and even in the correct order.

Hong Kong was a breeze – very professional staff and got my visa stamped while I waited. It was in and out in about 30 minutes.

Manila's local staff were incredibly rude and unhelpful, called me up twice with questions and then told me to sit back down and wait, and I didn't get my passport back until the next day.

But then again, that is sort of how everything works when you compare Hong Kong to Manila.

One hour after UbonJoe's post, I just checked and the Captcha is broken again.

6 minutes ago, dpdp said:

 

 

It's good when vegetarians are not too picky. These people will never understand that by being too extreme then do not inspire respect.

I am a vegetarian and find vegan people mostly boring and even sometimes stupid extreme people.

They just deserve the teasing and all jokes that they receive.

 

 

 

Well, I am one of "those people" who prefers to eat vegetarian. Personally, I have never found a person's dietary preferences to be a determiner of their intelligence or whether they should be an object of ridicule. Conversely, I can see how a person who takes such a view could be considered shallow and boorish.

On 15/08/2017 at 0:52 PM, eezergood said:

any new updates for curcumin sources - preferably in tablet form

As others have recommended above, I am ordering curcumin from iHerb in the USA. Shipping cost is very reasonable and as long as I keep each order value below about 1000 baht, my shipment is not caught up by Customs.

BTW, and also as others have mentioned in the thread, curcumin is very poorly absorbed by your digestive system. Consider curcumin phytosome, which is the fat soluble form that has been shown have better bioavailability and absorption. 

Reference: 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24461029

I think you are confusing the practice of food during the vegetarian festival (thetsakan kin jae เทศกาลกินเจ),which does not allow strong flavours, with mangsawirat. Mangsawirat does not exclude spices or chilis. Just have a look at this site: https://www.mangsawirat.com

"Jae" means vegetarian. It does not exclude spices or chilis, as is obvious if you have visited many restaurants with a "jae" sign out front.