think_too_mut

Just spoke to another Oz colleague. He married his Thai wife october 2013. Applied for her visa a week later. Granted "provisional PR" in March 2014, now with him in Oz.

Took 5 months. No kids involved on either side, only 2 of them. She had been to Oz 3 times prior to that, on 3 months toursist visa.

There was an interview, 2 dumb questions. Whate they were after is that she is of a good character and that their reationship is genuine. He is low 50s, her I don't know but not in 20s.

Along those lines, that could possibly explain how my gay friend and his partner were served so expressly. Somebody might had had an ear for him. Never occurred to me until now.

Just wondering, 11 year since I left oz, I could have married anyone, an American for example, have kids and settle in Japan.

If we were to move to Oz, and apply in Tokyo for her papers, would that not be technically the same to Oz Immigration as if I married a Thai national and had family the same way? What if I applied for wife's papers in Washington D.C and she was an American?

Is it the Thainess (and possibly the sheer number of applicants) that is making it so slow? Or, no difference?

Samurai, you may well be right - it even says that all applications from Japan are processed in Seoul nowdays.

But for that gay friend, i spoke to him just before posting, he confirmed it had taken him 2 weeks back in 2008.

JP permanent residency is far easier since July 2014: now it takes only 3 years of stable life and paying taxes, permanent job and salary of 3 mil yen up. No interviews, no kanji, they don't even have to see you - an agent can submit on your behalf. Doing that for my daughter to give her one more choice atop of Oz and Thai.

But 6 months that you said it would take for wife...not unexpected, she can sit it out in Japan, we are all together here anyway without any visa renewals or reporting.

Yes, just asked him...it was 2 weeks visa processing to bring his gay partner to Oz, done at Oz Embassy in Tokyo. That included medical check and police check in Japan.

The visa was 2 years "permanent provisional", after 2 years they check if they are still together and then it becomes "permanent" permanent (happened in 2010).

Now, sifting through the Oz Immigration site, i found there are categories of applicants, subjected to yearly quotas and that may cause the delay. For some family categories they don't accept any more applications, half year through.

I wonder if gay unions come from a different quota and not many applicants and it went so startlingly quick?

Or not many couples from Japan apply and staff is not overloaded?

could it be "visa is on page 9"?

I remember that a friend, a gay, took his partner (a Japanese) to Oz in 2008. Applied at Oz Embassy in Tokyo , kind of remember him telling me "two weeks and all done", triumphant to show his partner how cool and efficient Oz Immigration are for something that Japanese would not have done, ever, at all.

The week after, when they arrived to Sydney, I was told, his JP partner was in awe how easy it was to get Medicare and open a bank account. So it must had been a permanent residency visa for him, if he could get Medicare.

Can't see him online to confirm.

This should be in the same tread but a bit peculiar situation.

- Left Oz 1. September 2003. for Japan, has not returned since. Have had 2 passports issued (2004. and 2014.) in Oz Embassy in Tokyo.

- Live and work in Japan on "Special Engineering Skills" visa since September 1. 2003.

- In the meantime, legally married a Thai in Bangkok, have a 10 years old daughter with her. The daughter has Oz passport (second one now), marriage also reported to Oz Embassy in BKK. Neither daughter nor wife have ever been to Oz nor attempted to get any visa,

- We, as a family, with Japanese "house papers", live in Japan together since September 2008. They are on "dependant" visa with health insurance and all social services and eligibilities through my employment.

- We have all gained (in 2 months from now) Japanese Permanent Resident Status.

If i retire and want to move back to Oz, would that be a 6-8 months wait for mother to get her visa, as you guys are experiencing?

The house registration is not required if applying abroad. See: http://www.mfa.go.th/main/en/services/1415/21482-e-Passport-Application-for-Thai-Nationals-Living-A.html

Above statement was not true on July 11th 2014. when we applied for new Thai passport for my 10 yrs old daughter in Osaka Thai Consulate.

The officer demanded that we produce Thai house papers and marriage certificate. That the passport is 2nd time renewed (re-issued) at the same place did not help.

Wife phoned in-laws and they faxed the papers to the Consulate within minutes and it was all fine.

This will be 2nd time my daughter (and wife too, same situation but different timing) would be travelling to Thai on virgin passports with no departure stamp. The immigration officer at Souvarnabhumi can probably see on the screen the passport was issued after last departure.

UbonOz, googling something else I stumbled over your question. Hopefully you have fixed it by now.

Same problem as yours: iTunes install messages all in Thai.

Fixed it by Control Panel - Clock, Language and Region - Region and Language - Administrative - System Locale

That was Thailand, I changed it to Australia and all fine ( I am not in Australia).

It is a rule among hypermarket retailers (Tesco, Carefour) that a regular size shopping mall comes at every 120 thousand people.

Hua Hin itself is less than 100K but with Cha Am, a full size mall may be possible in between. Could be, the spending power of the locals is calculated not to be sufficient (Pattaya region makes 1 million cars a year, lots of other industry and jobs non-hospitality related) and has 3 malls that I remember (Lotus, Carefour and .Big C).

Hi

Thanks for all the answers, appreciated.

I`m going to buy one, seems as though it would do what I want.

Just need to decide on type.

edwinclapham, Thanks for the links, interesting.

Cheers.

While you may have found what you want, be aware of how usable the machine may be.

I have something similar, have not seen it for 3 years. Sits burried somewhere, whenever it comes to it, nobody wants to bother and dig it out.

If you qualify for a visa on arrival then there is no need to apply for a visa prior to the journey...

http://www.immigrati...se.php?page=voa

and yes.. the info being shown of the official thai immigration site is outdated... is why I linked wiki...

next...

That is what I am saying. The net can be informative but can also be debilitating if you don't understand what it is saying.

15 days on arrival had Russians had but then a queue, pay 80EUR and they indeed got it on arrival, not prior.

No more, 5-6 years already. Since then, walk in, 30 days as US, Oz and many other citizens, no pay, no queue.

Are you saying that Thailand is the only country that allows russians to visit without obtaining a visa prior to the journey?

Even the communist Chinese can come to Thailand without obtaining a visa first. Or do you consider them part of the free "us"?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visa_policy_of_Thailand

Since I'm not russian I have very little experience with these things.

No, if you have looked to the junk you dragged from the net, "blue" means 1 month with no questions.

China is 15 days with paying for visa on arrival and queueing. Or an agency does that, if you don't know, Chinese don't travel just like that.

Crappy thing this net is if one does not understand what he has stumbled on.

Aussies don't need visas? You sure about that? I know plenty of aussies and they all go back to OZ to get their type o non-imm.

Enter Thailand with nothing other than a valid passport. Same as Russians.

That kind of "visa".

Oh you mean same as Americans, Canadians, Brits, Germans, and 41 other countries... I thought you meant something special.

What you (we) have been enjoying, is available to Russians too. A rare country to where they can just pack up and go on a whim.

Just like "us" from the "free" world.

Aussies don't need visas? You sure about that? I know plenty of aussies and they all go back to OZ to get their type o non-imm.

Enter Thailand with nothing other than a valid passport. Same as Russians.

That kind of "visa".

Pattaya should look at Vagas !

in the 80's they tried the family friendly route and lost customer base.

They switched back to what happens in Vagas stays in Vagas !

And adult play town. Go have fun, spend money and go home.

Worked for them.

Pattaya why don't you be true and stop trying to kid yourself and everyone else

Thais have been trying that for 5 years. Some streets I could not recognize - all cyrilic banners.

All the Dmitries and Olegs, with their families, to change the shape of Pattaya. Middle class Russians need no visa, same as Aussies, a rare place where they can just go.

Some portals report that Pattaya is losing it's charm as a sex destination.

An Asian way to fight something widely disliked (by Thais) without new administrative barriers. Even relaxing some visa rules (for Russians).

There are several thousand falangs in CM who work from their computers who do not have work permits. This number is dwindling as one by one the Thai authorities are tracking them down and deporting them.

Good luck.

Can you name me one example? I'm a Sys Admin by trade and I know that tracking people down for something like this is darned near impossible. I'm gonna call BS on this. The only tip off might be a steady stream of income into a bank acct which isn't the case here.

With programming or game design I could mostly unplug my computer from the internet and still get my work done. Other than encrypted file transfers, There's no suspicious data coming in or out. Even Sunbelt's advice was that this was mostly an exception to the rule. The Thai police would literally have to walk into your house and see you working on the computer.

The more I think about it, it may look better on paper to have a regular day job with a work permit and do this stuff in my spare time.

However the labor laws may be archaic, not even this very child of the Internet (ThaiVisa Forum)can grasp the novelty.

SunBelt Asia are qualified but what else they have to go by other than current laws?

It's a flux. There you can do work on your PC with "don't ask don't tell". The laws are far behind, not only in Thai.

What "work permit"?

For what? Nobody in Thai was paying me, they were receiving my services while my company (IBM) was paying me to do that, into my Australian bank account.

Irrelevant where you are paid and by whom.

If the work is done inside Thailand, you need a work permit, else are breaking the law.

You have admitted to breaking Thai labour and VISA laws on a public forum.

Now, you know something about law. I need shute permit.

Pretty much as you know anything about anything.

You've never picked up a shop/supermarket/7-11 worker and subsequently paid them for sex?

You don't even need to visit Pattaya to do that.

Nurses and government workers ....... yep, my pals have done them too ......... the dirty dogs.

Not that I don't believe it is possible (what you said) but still majority of Pattaya local folks are not like that. Your word against mine, no data and graphs.

My pals have flown to the Moon. Or at least they thought that's what had happened to them.

Your post is an example why Thais (a conservative, almost a feudal society) have imposed visa rules that border with humiliation, at foreigners.

Humiliation?!

Have you ever been to America?!

Guess not! Getting a Thai visa is a walk in the park!

God forbid you even remotely resemble someone from the Middle East

America?

3 years on and off. Still, the same thing: doing work, cutting code, back to Oz to port it, back to US for more.

Not even America was questioning anything (no visa for Aussies for up to 3 months).

Had I tried something from public services, they could have questioned my status. Fortunatelly, as in Thai, it was covered by "business trip" and I needed nothing from them.

Your post is an example why Thais (a conservative, almost a feudal society) have imposed visa rules that border with humiliation, at foreigners.

Interesting POV, seeing that in another post you admit to working in Thailand without a work permit.

Have you confused the words 'your' and 'my'.

What "work permit"?

For what? Nobody in Thai was paying me, they were receiving my services while my company (IBM) was paying me to do that, into my Australian bank account.

Why did not anyone haul me in chains and deported me? Contrary, I was welcome to come back to the sites over and over again, month after monh, year after year.

What I dislike in your tone is a whiff of disrespect for Thais as a nation.

Still, that is my opinion, I am not a Mod here to impose it on you.

You've never picked up a shop/supermarket/7-11 worker and subsequently paid them for sex?

You don't even need to visit Pattaya to do that.

Nurses and government workers ....... yep, my pals have done them too ......... the dirty dogs.

Not that I don't believe it is possible (what you said) but still majority of Pattaya local folks are not like that. Your word against mine, no data and graphs.

My pals have flown to the Moon. Or at least they thought that's what had happened to them.

Your post is an example why Thais (a conservative, almost a feudal society) have imposed visa rules that border with humiliation, at foreigners.

I have been to Thailand on numerous occassions for corporate conferences, 100s of people working day and night and nobody had any visa other than on arrival. All those congresses and conferences, 10s of 1000s of people every day like that, is anyone chasing and deporting them?

Unless they square on you for something else, even then, how could they tell you were earning money? Torturing you and forcing you to sign you were working?

The whole spirit of the labor law is to prevent stealing jobs from locals or compete unfairly (Burmese, Khmer illegal immigrants). The law is ancient and I doubt it would even have a slightest provision for the Internet age.

To turn the table, who would prevent or chase a Thai programmer earning money by doing work for an American company, not even paying any tax in Thai as long as the money is not flowing in?

Several times I went to Thai to do work, a heavy duty work, like installing massive systems at Thai airways, Kasikorn or Bangkok Bank, never heard any hint of any visa other than on arrival. No Thai company was paying me and that was it. Insurance and the rest was through corporate travel policy, no authorities were informed nor asked. Could be thousands of peopel like me every day coming in and out. No any visa other than arrival. And I was clearly doing business, I was on business trip, not as a tourist.

And the work was not hidden or remote, it was a full blown access to heavily guarded data centres.

Kids will enjoy Koh Chang, Koh Samet much more than Pattaya.

Koh Chang and Samet have the beach and nothing else. Even that can be polluted with jets skis and their fumes and noise.

Ah, maybe each island has 1 convenience store each. And are good for 3-4 hours and never again.

Nothing man made that woudl keep children engaged or even contribute to their education. Just think of Pattaya Ocean World, the same company that runs the aquarium at Sentosa island in Singapore.

Pattaya has at least 2 weeks worth of atractions for kids without even coming to the beach nor seeing night life areas or people involved. Without really trying.

Surely you know that he doesn't mean Pattaya has the largest brothels but the town itself is a large brothel. People go there for paid sex.

Comparing Pattaya to London is crazy.

I'd estimate London has approximately 0.004 % prostitutes in the female population.

I'd estimate Pattaya has approximately 20% prostitutes in the female population with another 50% involved in the sex industry,

Rather a large difference?

Better get your numbers right. At least something belivable.

It is like comparing places Amsterdam red light district to Pattaya Klang where bars are. Then the difference diminishes.

Can I go to London and never hit Soho?

Pattaya is 2nd largest city in Thai, bigger than Khorat, 250,000 ppl.

While it does have larger % of sex workers (coming from all over Thailand) than other places, I doubt it is 20%. For simplicity, if you are right, that would mean 25,000 prostitutes (and then you added another 50% doing something in sex-related industry).

Who is then working in all the shops, hospitals, supermarkets, goverment, all other places?

Hypermarkets in Pattaya were not built for cheap charlie tourist but for Thais who, behind the hills, churn 1 million cars a year. That's where eager workers are, many women too, do the real work that nobody can nor is interested to see.

Thanks to them, Pattaya will never have sank into de-civilization as Detroit has.

That's the real, shithole worth avoiding at any cost.

While Pattaya is still a tourist powerhouse and becoming bigger and better at that.