jayboy

Many successful PR have considered the investment route and discarded it for reasons outlined several times.The issue however is not whether the investment route is feasible (for all I know it may have happened occasionally and it's certainly covered in the rules) but the property rights it is supposed to convey.These could not be granted at the whim of some government official but would need in a country like Thailand to be enshrined in law or some kind of statutory regulation.This seems not to be the case or at least there has been a failure to produce them.In the circumstances, though I'm happy to reconsider if convincing evidence is provided, we must I'm afraid conclude you are mistaken.

In answer to your own question,you would want to cite a law to persuade members of the forum - particularly those who are very familiar with PR - that you are not talking complete cobblers.There is no need to scan title deeds, merely identify the relevant part of Thai laws or regulations. Like many with PR I looked into the investment approach but it soon became clear in consultation with my very experienced lawyer that it was sub-optimal and in practice almost never feasible.However if you are able to identify the relevant enabling regulations, I should be glad to seek my lawyer's opinion and share it with the forum. However if you have no response or just a flippant dismissal, we can safely draw our own conclusions on the matter.

He also inaccurately describes the multiple re-entry stamp as a "renewal" which it obviously isn't.I'm also not sure getting the necessary stamp represents a restriction on freedom of movement: it took me half an hour last time.Having said that, I tend to agree the whole PR set up is rather creaky and all too clearly is a sclerotic arrangement designed for another age.Unfortunately I can't see where the pressure to reform - as opposed to tinkering about at the margins - will come from. Interestingly, an American friend recently pointed out to me that holders of green cards (a kind of supercharged version of Thai PR with the right to work) needed to be careful if they were out of the US for more than a year since the Immigration authorities tended to get suspicious, sometimes aggressively so.US green card holders aren't cut off at the knees as Thai PR holders are in similar circumstances after one year's absence - but it indicates the logic of the thinking of all immigration bureaucrats on the subject.

Just to confirm your point, like many other PR holders I haven't traveled outside Thailand since mid 2019.Since then I have had no contact with Immigration, haven't reported to any other branch of the Thai government.I haven't in fact had to give my residential status in Thailand a single thought.If there was any doubt in my mind about the advantages of PR it's been dispelled in the pandemic.

Rather unusually I paid for an item on Lazada via my bank account rather than cash on delivery.Anyway seller cancelled the item because couldn't supply.Lazada advise refund paid into my Lazada Wallet.But foreigners - as far as I know - still can't hold Lazada Wallets.So how do I get the refund paid into my bank account? I suspect many will have had this experience.

As unfortunately all too usual a worthwhile question - what does fully vaccinated now mean? - has been swamped by mainly irrelevant responses.Returning to the topic and specifically to booster jabs in Thailand, I haven't seen that much about the Thai Government's position but I assume that policy will be to recommend booster jabs to all which is in line with international practice.Most expats I know have received their first two jabs in the Thai public system but have booked or intend to book booster jabs from private hospitals.The recommended time between the 2nd AZ jab and booster (preferably Moderna or Pfizer) is 5 to 6 months.Does anyone have information on Thai government policy on boosters - I may well have missed it? I doubt whether it's realistic to expect most Thais to go to private sector sources for booster jabs.

It's my understanding that this would certainly be acceptable.If anyone thinks differently it would be useful to know on what basis they disagree

That's reassuring.Nonetheless on this particular policy there's provision for people on different kinds of visa but nothing for a PR.

Thanks but it's still not completely clear to me.Should I take it that a PR could buy this insurance to cover a return to Thailand?

You are misinformed.He is extremely well connected with the Thai establishment and is regarded as Thai in every sense that counts.He is also highly intelligent, a talented businessman and thinks/behaves like a Thai Chinese tycoon.Having said that he has not shown particularly good judgement is some of his political utterances.It's unfair to say he supported the coup (he didn't) but he did make some foolish comments justifying it after the event - basically echoing the yellow line which only fools take seriously these days.

As schools begin to open parents will be asked to administer weekly (or more frequently) Covid tests with ATK, and then email results to the school concerned..It would be helpful to know of recommendations for particular kits which are as child friendly as possible.I don't think saliva tests are allowed.

Not really.You are still confusing the criteria for tax liability and residence which are not the same thing at all.You are also wrong to suggest that in most countries it amounts to the same thing: it doesn't.In short your sneer at Thai logic seems misplaced.

Yes I did.Hence my point that despite your remark about "Thai logic", residence criteria for tax purposes and immigration purposes are not necessarily connected.

The definition you quote is for tax purposes only and I see no lack of logic that the Immigration Department has its own definition of residence.A permanent resident might be in Thailand for less than a week each year, but he would still be a permanent resident.

Unfortunately the lawyer I dealt with has recently passed away and his firm no longer has a specific immigration section. If I was in your shoes I would familiarize myself with exactly what's needed.There's a lot of info (to much really) on this forum's Camerata thread.Arkady is the moderator with expertise, far more than me.This will give you a clear idea whether you meet the criteria or not.Salary, tax paid and at least 3 year correct visa status are the main points.If you do, then consider initially doing it yourself or through delegation of the work to someone in your office, preferably an efficient secretary (incentivized informally perhaps). It's mainly a document collection exercise If this isn't possible go and have a talk to a lawyer in the Employment Department at a reputable legal firm.I will mention Tilleke and Gibbins as an example of the type of firm.N.B This isn't a recommendation for I have never had any dealings with them, just a pointer of the type of firm.

Not quite; there are are number of different views from well qualified people.It very much depends on the circumstances of the applicant.You incidentally make a very good observation, often overlooked, that if you meet the criteria for PR you will almost certainly obtain it. The first thing to note is that PR can absolutely be obtained without the support of an agent or legal firm. I know several such people - the common factor is that they had a good knowledge of the Thai language.Furthermore many of the legal firms touting for business with foreigners are in fact to be avoided like the plague. The second thing to note that assembling the paperwork can be the proverbial pain in the neck.There are some people who have plenty of time on their hands and like nothing better than a challenge of this sort.Other applicants will often use legal firms already in a relationship with their employer.In practice the lion's share of the work will be done by a decent Thai secretary.Even a legal firm tends to use legal associates to do the running around, not qualified lawyers. So in summary it can be done by yourself and you will save on legal fees.But for some (generally the busier, less cost sensitive, corporate types) using a legal firm makes sense.Finally (it's such an important point I leave it to last) do NOT use a lawyer/agent unless you are are absolutely sure of their integrity/competence/experience and who will not <deleted> off the Immigration officials.

Sorry - probably a silly question. In what form does the vendor - eg your vet - produce a QR code containing the necessary payment information?

I was reading on Twitter that many outlets in Thailand increasingly only accept cashless payments. But what are the best ways of making cashless payments in Thailand? Apple Pay isn't available and though Samsung Pay is sometimes possible, I cant use it on my iPhone. So what's left? I don't like using credit cards for small payments. Paying by debit card to my Thai bank account is fine.But I suspect I'm missing some other ways of cashless payment.Any thoughts?

Yes but it is the policy of the UK government that determines action by the airlines on this issue.At the moment Chinese and Russian vaccines are not recognised by the UK.If or when that UK government policy changes, the position of the airlines will change accordingly.

My understanding is that various private sector Bangkok hospitals are accepting payment now for Moderna vaccinations to be administered in first and second quarter of 2022.That fit's in well with your time scale estimate (or at least it does for those of us who have had our second shot in the last few weeks) I'm guessing that a third booster shot will in practice be difficult to arrange for foreigners though the government run programme, at least initially.Therefore those of us wanting the third booster will be considering using the private sector I note that authoritative Western studies suggest the AZ/AZ/Moderna sequence is very effective. As a minor point I wonder if a private sector administered booster can be incorporated into the Thai government's certification arrangements.I see there is specific provision for a third dose in my Thai Government certification so perhaps there are in fact plans to cover booster shots in the government programme next year.

Thanks.Very useful summary

No it's not.In the vast majority of cases it's not even necessary to go to hospital

Unfortunately none of these are steps towards PR.

Looks as though you were mostly right and I was mostly wrong.See BBC's Jonathan Head's tweet. Jonathan Head @pakhead Question for @AstraZeneca and Siam Bioscience. The European Medical Agency says Thai SBS vaccine is not approved because it has never been asked to inspect the SBS plant. Also AFAIK no clinical trials were run on locally-made AZ vaccine. So, harder for it to be accepted overseas.

Some of this is bound up with certification issues.But unless you have evidence to the contrary, I doubt whether scrutiny will extend to such matters as procurement, handling and storage.Thailand has an excellent medical infrastructure and is certainly not in the group of countries where delivery systems might be suspect.In short I doubt whether the whole Thai program needs to be checked.