gerryBScot

I am no expert on these matters but you can get a non imm B- ED visa which is short for Education, I think, and enables you to enter and stay for the purposes of pursuing a course of study. That leaves you legal and presumably to get it you need a letter from the place you propose to study. However there are people here better able to advise you about this type of visa......good luck

Yup I came in recently on single entry Non B to work as teacher and have just recently had it extended for one year and given a form by Immigration to submit by post for my 90 day reporting; this is through Immigration Office in Kanchanaburi. So apart from submitting a form every 90 days, which the school says it will do for me, I have nothing more to do. If you have a job you might want to save yourself some dollars and just get a single entry visa. Good luck

4 days

Congratulations. I see no mention of Alcoholics Anonymus in the posts. That is the path I took in 1981, and it worked for me. I am now living in Ban Pong, retired, and very happy. It's funny because my Thai lady friend was recently telling me what a problem alcohol is in Thailand, and she was relating many instances of damaged lives that she knows of personally.

I will try not to preach about AA, but I will urge you to keep their number handy, and when the time comes that you are ready to bag the effort as not being worth it, give them a jingle and find a meeting. I believe I looked on the Internet and found some meetings in Bangkok. The one thing to realize about AA is that they teach and give you skills for living sober, not just for staying dry.

Another interesting thing, in my case, is that the 11th step of AA mentions the words prayer and meditation, and I have been wanting the meditation part for all these years but have not been able to get at it. When I was ready to leave Thailand in January at the end of a 9 month engineering contract and retire to Malaysia, my newly found friend suggested a ten day Buddhist meditation retreat, which I attended. I am now meditating every day, I love my life, and I know that stopping my uncontrollable drinking was the first step that made it possible.

You have quite an adventure ahead of you. Continue reaching out for support and know that whatever you have to go through, it is worth it. My thoughts will be with you today. If you want to get in touch with me, my**please pm poster***

You might like to know we have an AA meeting going in Ratchaburi which is not so far away from Ban Pong., there are three of us, and we meet Sunday lunchtime @1200. if you would like more details PM me. we will be going live once we are clear about venue. Good luck

Livinginexile great reading your story and long may you continue to be alcohol free. On 26th May it shall be five years since my last drink. If anybody had said to me at the time I quit that I would have the life I have today I would have thought they were taking the mick. I am just happy the war is over, I surrendered, alcohol won resoundingly, I quit. Today I have a lovely wife, a happy home, our first son is due July and I am working as a teacher here and am happy about my prospects. Tonight, Friday, I am at home just relaxing and not really a worry in the world and didn't feel any need to rush out and pore drink down my throat to start the weekend. I don't have much money, don't need much money, but I have everything I need and most of what I want. In my early days someone said something to me that stuck and made me laugh...now that you have stopped drinking there are three situations when you might drink again; firstly when you are happy and full of joy and everything is going well, secondly when you are angry and depressed, and thirdly every other second when you are neither happy or sad! Good luck and get ripped into life!

Dragon Hills Ratchaburi is in great condition right now thanks to rain and Mondays the green fee is 200 - two hundred - baht; add 200 for caddy and 200 for tip and your round will cost 600; you can add a cart for another 500 baht; there is a reduced green fee on Tuesdays, Wednesdays of 300; it is a bit out of the way but well worth the effort. It is a seriously challenging course, the back nine has 3 par fives and 3 par threes and you would be doing well to par one the par threes. The Monday promo is possibly the best golfing bargain in Thailand right now.

phew I am glad to hear that and so, I am sure, is the OP!! Just a shame he wants a visa for Thailand and not Cambodia!!

An alternative might be to consider flying by Air Asia from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to Stansted. Add .com on to airasia and you will get their web address. I did this in March when I returned briefly to the UK but did not have a return flight and did not want to buy a return ticket asd I am not planning a return in the next 6 months and I did not want to buy a ridiculously expensive one way ticket. In short I wanted to do it as cheaply as possible. From Stansted to KL I paid 283 GBP including extra baggage, meals, comfort pack and a preselected seat with extra leg room. A one wa ticket from KL to Bangkok cost about £43 GBP on the same airline with extra baggage allowance; it took longer but I reckon I saved a minimum of abut £300. The Airasia experience was fine even for a 12 hour flight and it arrived early.

Yup Hull is a dream for visa applications; they issued Non -Imm O multiple entry on basis of completed documentation downloaded from internet in 48 hours and recently issued Non-Imm B in 24 hours with letters from prospective employer. As I was only back in UK briefly to visit family they were happy to send passport with visa to my sister's house as opposed to my home address. If you are concerned simply send an email to the consulate and ask if any other documentation is necessary....you'll get a polite and helpful reply saying just send the internet documentation, your passport and your fee. really couldn't be easier.

I had a drive around the south recently from Surat Thani to Krabi and spent a few days in Phi Phi and a few days at Khao Sok National Park....end of April time. I though it was absurdly expensive. 75 baht for noodle soup on Phi Phi which can be bought here in Ratchaburi for 25. I am happy to pay a little more but 200%, sorry no. I thought the price of a hotel room was obscene ... 1000 baht for a 400 baht room elsewhere, no aircon, no TV. The only saving grace was it included a reasonably good buffet breakfast. Overpricing and overcharging really were the norm. Service appalling. My wife is heavily pregnant, offered no assistance with bags at one of Khao Sok's premier destinations. . We went to stay at a hotel in Krabi that offered a stay for three nights and get the fourth free. An internet promotion on the hotel's own website, in fact the only promotion it was offering. When I enquired about the promotion I was asked "Which promotion?!" The assistant said she would need to check with her boss. After one night the girl said "no promotion, sorry, but you can stay for 800 bat per night" which was the advertised daily rate. We left, took our business elsewhere. This assistant lost her hotel two nights of paying customers. At Ao Nang we saw something amazing. A beach side massage place with a sign offering "50 % discount". Guess what? It was full of people while the adjoining competition was empty. I suspect the best bet right now is to pay for a package and come in as a genuine two week visitor. However if you are an independent traveller I think the south of Thailand and I include Phuket is likely to be an unpleasant and expensive experience regardless of the outstanding natural beauty of the area. I would say the locals are doing a good job of killing off the business that has not already been put off by other events referred to in other postings. Sad really.

I have read reports where they have turned down tourst visas (would not even take the application) for local people also. But they may be ok for other visas.

Thx Joe and thx to others for advice. Really useful to know this stuff, something about forewarned is forearmed. I mean these procedures are potential minefields and it is important to try and get it right first time. So grateful thanks.

When your mother in law enterd Tailand she received a stamp in her passport, satting till when she can stay in Thailand. She must have at least 21 days left before she has to leave Thailand, if not, then immigration will not allow her to covert to a non-immigrant visa and she will have to leave the country and apply from a neighbouring country.

Thanks Mario for clarifying that. Thanks to you all for your assistance with this.

thanks for your help with this. so if we get all the paperwork, signed sealed etc translated legailised etc we could take it all to our local Immigration Office in Kanchanaburi and apply for a single entry 90 day Non Imm O and then extend that when it is about to expire? I am not sure I understand the thing about having less than 21 days of her visa waiver left......I would be grateful if you could explain that to me. Many thanks once more.

1. Are you and wife on extensions of stay or on 90 day visa entries?

2. Is MIL over age 50?

both of us are on extensions and MIL is over 50

thanks Mario in first instance she'll probably apply for non O multiple entry to visit family and friends. I presume we will need to provide letters of income etc and statement we will support her etc....can you or anyone explain what the actual process is for making the application for the visa?

My dear mother in law, a filipino, is with us in Ratchaburi on 30 day visa waiver and is likely to want to stay on either to work if she can get a job or to assist with our new born baby, due July. My wife and I are both aliens, teachers on Non Imm Bs. As I understand it my mother in law can apply to Immigration for a Non Imm O without having to leave the kingdom. Any one able to advise on what she would need to do and what the qualifications/requirements are? Many thanks

Thanks Mario we will be registering the birth in the same amphur where we registered our wedding.....we had an interesting time registering our wedding, largely because they had never dealt with the registration of an alien alien wedding. I am sure they will remember us well!! Good to know I have to do it in 15 days.

You have to register the birth at the amphur where the child is born. You can not choose an amphur where to register.

Yeah they will remember us:) we live in same amphur we registered our marriage. It took three trips to get the wedding registered!

That is interesting to know about the Manila embassy. My wife got her original Non Imm B there without any problems; maybe they might be more accommodating when they are dealing with pinoys. Maybe Junior's first passport will have to be from the Philippines! it will probably cost a lot less to get it as well.

Thanks Mario we will be registering the birth in the same amphur where we registered our wedding.....we had an interesting time registering our wedding, largely because they had never dealt with the registration of an alien alien wedding. I am sure they will remember us well!! Good to know I have to do it in 15 days.

Thanks Joe. So if we go to the Philippines at Xmas apply in Manila for a Non Imm O then get it extended on return to Thailand? I take it that so long as we do not take Junior out of Thailand between birth in July and Christmas then he does not actually need any form of visa and that if we do take him out of the country then wherever we go apply for visa there? thanks

Junior is due to come into this world mid July to Brit father and Filipino mother both Non-Imm B Visa holders working as teachers in Ratchaburi. Can anyone advise on what we need to do and within what time limits to regularise Junior's stay in the Kingdom as we both intend to stay here for the forseeable future?Presumably at some stage he needs a passport and a visa? I know what we need to do in terms of registering his birth locally and with our respective embassies etc but would welcome a steer on what we need to do to make sure Junior does not inadvertently fall foul of immigration.Many thanks.

As always very helpful advice. I don't think there is an issue for her applying to Manila Embassy for either Tourist 2 month or Non-Imm as my wife did this a few years ago and got a Non Imm B without the slightest difficulty. Many thanks

My mother in law, no jokes please, a filipino national, is coming to visit us in Ratchaburi, where I, a Brit, and my wife, a Filipina, both work as teachers. The m=in=law is also a teacher and is interested in the possibility of working here with a view to increasing the profits of Western Union. She hasn't got any offers rather is coming over on a visit and will see how she gets on. If she comes in on visa waiver and gets 30 days can she apply within Thailand for a Non-immigrant B in the event that she gets a job? Or does she have to leave to do this. Your expert advice and any suggestions would be very welcome. Happy New Year to Yall. GerryB

Thanks that is good advice; I reckon I'll pay someone to come in and check/service them as am none too familiar with the inside of these machines. The leaking is when the units are switched on!

Hi I live in an old rented concrete shell in Ratchaburi and our upstairs rooms have old a/c units installed that use up lots of electricity but struggle to keep the place cool. The external units also discharge water which isn't really a problem as the garden likes it. Anything I can do myself to improve their performance? Your help would be much appreciated. Chok dee krap

Thanks for help. Just planning a little tour to the south and not really sure about the lie of the land or the sea ...

Hi if I get my car over to Ko Tao from Chomphon what are my options for onward travel by ferry? Or do I have to come back to Chumphon? Many thanks for your help.