Konini

Hot off the press from Chiang Mai which has not always been great in the past but has improved substantially in the last year.

Arrived back in Thailand last night, sent an email to our landlord who then did the online reporting.  Long wait at immigration this morning, but the officer wasn't interested in seeing the screenshot the landlord sent us.  She said all on the system, don't have to come in UNLESS you need to do something in the main office (I presume extension or 90 day report).  If you have to do anything in the main office, come upstairs and I'll stamp the slip in your passport, otherwise all OK as long as you know that the landlord has done the online reporting.

Already got it - the very nice IO that helped me had someone doing a re-entry permit whilst she was explaining it all to me.  I just didn't get the part about how long I'd be stamped in for.

Edit - no forms, photocopies or photo's, not that I'm complaining.

OK Joe, thanks for that - you are a real star.

Apologies in advance, mine are never straight forward.  I'm on a Non-O (spouse) visa\extension.

I got our marriage certificate verified by London and Ministry Foreign Affairs here so I can do the extension from here, and I almost got it a few weeks ago; all of my paperwork was in order (she sent me to get a copy of our lease) and it got to the point where the IO put the stamp in the passport ready for the senior officer to sign.  Senior officer knocked it back - even though my visa expires late May, we'd just come back from Vietnam and I was stamped in for 3 months, she told me everything was OK but I have to come back closer to the stamped in date (24 July) and do it then.  Problem is, we're going to England in a couple of days for 5 weeks.  She assured me that they will let me back into the country on that visa because I'm stamped in until 24 July.  OK, I trust her, but I don't so much trust the IO at Swampy being as switched on.  

I could just get the extension from London as I have done every year, (I'm a bit weary this time because there is an empty stamp in my passport that is crossed out which looks a bit dodgy) but I really would rather get it from here because if I get it from London I can't do 90 day reporting, I have to physically leave the country and it will bring our extensions up to the same date.  We end up doing a border hop at Mae Sai maybe once a year, but it's always at the most inconvenient time and it should be so easy to change that.

So, visa extension expires May, and I'm stamped in until July 24th , does anyone know how long I'll get when I come back in late June?  Hopefully, they'll just stamp me in until 24 July and I can do the extension as soon as we get back.  If I get stamped in for 3 months again though, I won't be able to do the extension because again the stamp will be too far from expiry. On top of that, we do a lot of trips out of the country and we're away the end of July for a couple of weeks then again the end of August. If they keep giving me 90 days, I could keep this up forever but I don't think that will happen, I think I'll get stamped in until 24 July and can do the extension when we get back, but I need some confirmation if anyone knows please.

On 5/16/2019 at 8:26 AM, SEtonal said:

O-A =/= O

O-A is not O.

Immigration can only issue an O.  Immigration cannot issue an OA.  An OA must be obtained at a Thai Embassy or Consulate in your country of citizenship or permanent residency.

Small correction - we live in Thailand, husband is on a Non-O (retirement). For some crazy reason our visas/extensions got out of sync; his extension is due in January, mine is due late May.  I get a Non-O (Spouse) visa from London every year.  I use my British passport for this, but on the form I fill in I put my address in Chiang Mai.  No problems at all.

We have used the 800k in the bank for 7 or 8 years now and we would like to change to income.  As the extension is due in January, if we start transferring money this month we will only have 9 monthly transfers by the time it is due.

Chiang Mai office; is this do-able for the next extension or do we have to have the 800k and start transferring money in December so we have 12 monthly transfers when it is due the following year?

Thank you Joe - you really are a star.

EDIT: - Sorry, scrap that question, but one more if I may.

We've just decided to apply for the extension here, I have our marriage certificate all authenticated and stamped ready to be used, so presuming that they bring our dates into line with each other, I'll only get 6 months on this extension, I don't mind as it'll make things easier in the long run.

We know that the retirement extension can be done up to 45 days before it's due; can I assume that the spouse Non-O will also be able to be extended 45 days before due date?  We just want to be able to go at the same time, Chiang Mai immigration is now, dare I say, an absolute pleasure, and on Christmas day it is totally empty.

Sorry, I'm having a bit of brain freeze. Husband has a Non-O (retirement) that he's just renewed here, I have a spouse visa which I usually send off for while we're on our annual trip to UK.  I've attached a JPG image, (on which I've blurred the exact date to shield my identity) so there's no confusion in case I don't explain well.  I'm 99% sure that I will be OK, but 99% isn't a guarantee of being an overstayer.

We want to change the month of our visit home from the usual May to June, and need to know exactly when my visa is valid to.  My Non-O is dated X May 2018 and says it must be utilised by X May 2019. Does this mean I can enter for 90 days so long as it's prior to the May 2019 date, or will the visa be finished on the exact date stated? 

Confused?  You will be  ????  As I say I'm 99% sure, but need reassurance.

For the more logical amongst you, and I know I'm not laying this out very well (as I said, brain freeze), just say those two stamps read 01 May 2018 and 01 May 2019.  If we do a week-long trip overseas returning mid April, will I get 90 days when we come back (meaning I'll be OK to stay in Thailand until the 01 June 2019 when we go to UK) or do I have to have a new visa in place on or before 01 May 2019 which is the utilise by date on the visa?  i.e. Will re-entering the kingdom before the utilise by date give me another 90 days?

EDIT: - I've just noticed it doesn't say 'Spouse' on it.  All previous visa's from London have been the full page printed sticker type and all said 'Spouse'. Last year was the first to get a stamp instead of a sticker, I wondered at the time why they'd changed.

Even better - that's much preferable to sending the licence off through the mail and risking it going missing.

Thanks again.

That's correct - my husband's retirement extension and my spouse non-o visa fell out of sync a few years ago for reasons I don't remember but and as we're usually in UK when mine expires every year, I just send it off to London when we arrive. It's been one of those things we never got around to sorting out, because I'm lazy to be fair, but this year we may not be there at the right time.

Thanks for the link to the info and the forms, I'd much rather send them off.

Finally, from reading that link it seems that turnaround time is good - does anyone know what the turnaround times are at the moment? We are going away again in 6 weeks or will need it to be back by then. Sorry if that sounds over the top, Chiang Mai experiences colour my view.

EDIT Sorry, I didn't read the info properly. It seems it's only a couple of days.

Thank you again Joe, you're a legend!

Haven't been able to find any up to date info on this one.

I've had our marriage certificate certified by both Foreign Office and the Thai Embassy in UK, but need to have it verified by the ministry of foreign affairs to be able to use it here legally in Thailand. Do I have to go in person, or is this something done by mail? Also, if I can do it by mail, what forms would I need and where would I find them (presumably they would indicate the fee)?

Hope someone will be able to help.

EDIT: We're both British citizens if it matters.

We've moved into a house today - the agent has forwarded a screenshot of our names/passport number entered onto an online form that appears to be a TM30, but she is asking us to go to immigration with passports etc - can anyone confirm that we have to do this? My understanding was that the owner of the property reports to immigration but the tenant doesn't have to do it as well as it's just doubling up. If it matters, visa type is non-o (retirement).

I've got conflicting info, so would really appreciate anyone putting us straight on this.

(I know that the owner is supposed to notify our return if we are out of the province for more than 48 hours, but I don't think this has been done for us so far in the years we have been here in condo's. We don't do 90 day reports as we are never in the country for that long and just fill out the arrival card with our address when we fly in.)

I saw a short documentary type thing from what looked like a current affairs program.  This has been really big business in US for a while and now Asia, don't know about Europe.  The dolls are freaky; they look so real I got the shivers.  And of course, they cost an absolute fortune.The one in the picture above is a bit old from the norm;the most popular are ones made to be 3 to 4 weeks old.  

They are anatomically correct in every way, ears and fingernails and even genitals, incredibly realistic to the point that just watching it on TV freaked me out, the mostly childless, middle aged or over single women had done out their spare bedrooms as nurseries and had the cot and pram and changing mat and musical mobiles above the cot and everything else.  They treat them just like they're real.

And I thought trainspotters had a strange hobby.

(Also reading an article last week about a certain kind of male having these dolls, babies and the older ones, for, shall we say nefarious use.  Disgusted me, but I suppose doing the doll means that they won't take a kid off the street).

I recently ordered a rather snazzy laptop stand which was a fair bit cheaper buying from the overseas vendor (China of course, the local bod had just done the same as me in larger numbers and was onselling with his mark up) and not something I needed particularly quickly. I was very surprised to receive it in 4 days, was expecting a lot longer, although ordering from Aliexpress I've occasionally had the package within a week of ordering. I've also ordered something I needed quickly and went for the local seller but the noticed when the package arrived, also quickly, was from China.

As said, buying cheap crap is always a gamble, but like Amazon, Paypal and Ebay, Aliexpress almost always side with the buyer even in cases when it's obviously the buyer pulling a scam; the goods being not worth enough to return or when they are returned the old switcheroony has been done with the buyer keeping the new item and the seller stuck with the older, broken or less valuable item returned. Personally, I wouldn't want to be a seller on any of these sites, but I buy from them knowing that I have protection and it will all turn out well for me if there is a problem.

Well said. From reading around this morning it seems that power was off in a lot of districts last night, ours was unusually off for about 4 hours. All said, with the total lack of preventative maintenance, it's a wonder it doesn't go off more often, and they are really good at getting it back on again.

You can go to immigration and extend it by 30 days, but then you will have to fly out of the country and back in if you want longer. Mae Sai is only good if you have a visa with a re-entry permit such as Education or Spouse. They quite literally won't let you exit Thailand because they won't be able to let you back in.

In Chiang Mai, tourist visas are done at Promenada, suggest you get there by 8.30am at the latest. Some days not many people, other days lots of people. Early is better, I've passed there at midday and seen dozens of dreadlocked-types vying for a place in the queue. Such people seem not to be early risers.

You're not wrong, in fact you were lucky, I don't think we got a single drop on the river. I've just turned the lights back off, so the waiting game continues.

Right, right.. although rice paddies take a tremendous amount of water, a lot more than corn. And then the rice stubble gets burnt in the end, too.

That's why it sounds so strange to me when people start huffing and puffing about a water park, located in the middle of rice paddies that have consumed lots and lots of water basically since forever. Water isn't actually too scarce in this region, if there is a drought then we all know who will be hit hardest: The Isan plateau.

Fair point, but the rice stubble doesn't create the horrible smoke and pollution that the corn stalks and husks do from my (admittedly little) reading about it.

And yes, the north east will be harder hit than us. Doesn't Burma have loads of water from hydro projects that could be piped here apart from a little tiff the governments had about it a few years ago? Not cheap to build a pipeline, but surely better than all the rice farmers going hungry, as they certainly will unless there is substantial rain this year.

Man, that is one sexy little graphic. It's amazing how it just seemed to come out of nowhere. We had strongish winds on the river for 2 or 3 minutes about 45 minutes ago, then it calmed down.

Let's hope we have a good downpour. If not for the sake of putting out fires or managing to fall over water catchments, just to cool things down a bit.

But my point is, we all knew about it, we all knew how serious it was, we all took it seriously.

Because it was indeed serious. What tells you that it's equally serious in Thailand right now?

It's a monsoonal climate: a long dry season, followed by a very wet season. You do normally get at least some rain on occasion, but not enough to make a difference either way.

If there is a problem or not will depend on the coming wet season.

No, I possibly worded that badly. I am quite sure it is serious and getting more serious than many may imagine.

My question was does the average person in the street here realise just how serious it is. Another huge difference to the water shortages in Melbourne is that they depend on rain for the rice crop here.

(As I wrote that I had the image spring into my mind of more land being turned over from paddy to corn, the husks of which make for such lovely fires).

Do the Thai's understand the seriousness of this? It's not a rhetorical question or Thai bashing, genuinely interested.

When the water levels reached a certain limit in Melbourne during an awful 14 year drought, water restrictions were gradually brought in. We started at level 10 restrictions. No watering driveways (lazy person's sweeping) or lawns. Then hoses only if they had a trigger gun on the end of them. Then watering flowerbeds only, only between the hours of 6am-8am and a couple of hours at night. Then watering flowerbeds on alternate days. Then 3 days a week. Then one hour 3 days a week. Then no washing cars - you were allowed to wash your windows, mirrors and lights only. Commercial carwashes were exempt provided the recycled their water. Windows had to be cleaned by hand, not with a hose. Some people thought it was a joke. Wasn't so funny when the water board came and welded your water meter so you could only get the tiniest trickle, 30 minutes to fill a glass of water, and a sizeable fine. The crisis didn't happen overnight, it took about 10 years for level 2 water restrictions to come in - very close to level one restrictions when the drought finally broke. About the same time they started building the desalination plant.

But my point is, we all knew about it, we all knew how serious it was, we all took it seriously. There were blokes out patrolling day and night catching people watering their plants. Bore Water Used signs were springing up on all of the lawns that had the slightest bit of green on them, and the patrol blokes checked to make sure it was bore water. Had we got to level one, it would have been water turned off for so many hours per day. I've known just by watching the river level and knowing how much rain has fallen since the floods a few years ago that we were heading for water shortages and quite possibly restrictions. Perhaps it's because I lived through that drought that I'm more aware, I really don't know. I never leave the tap on when I'm cleaning my teeth, I don't put more water in the washing machine than is really needed, just little things like that which have stuck with me, and I suppose always will.

Were there any restrictions prior to the level zero three hours a day? Thankfully, by day 3 Songkran was pretty much over apart from a few small children, so that would have saved a lot of water, but the whole thing would have been cancelled in many places. A little splash onto someone's hands and that's it. I wonder if the average Thai person, going about their daily business has any idea how low the water storages for the city are?

Droughts are awful, lived in Melbourne for the 'official' 12 year drought, really 14 years. They had to commission a desalination plant because things were so dire. Of course the drought ended around the time they actually broke ground to start building it, but I read that somewhere possibly South Australia was wanting to use the desal plant, so at least some money is being made from it.

I hadn't realised that things were quite that bad here. News reports usually exaggerate, but having to go elsewhere to fill containers is not good. The government really needs to do something, But they would rather send 20 soldiers to arrest someone who had created a Facebook page from my reading of what happened today.

Priority's, eh?

RAIN..

WRONG THREAD!!!! Wrong Thread!!!!!

It stoped.

That's because you have to take all of your clothes off when you do the rain dance. No shyness, Free Willy.

Just this minute been out on the balcony as saw lightning to the west. Hope you get some rain to go with it.