recom273

Sorry to hear of your problems caused by passport application process, but actually there is a link that jumps to supporting material.

The whole process caused me many sleepless nights, would my proof be accepted, explaining to the photo shop they couldn't photoshop my wrinkles, booking flights to cover the 2000 km + round trip, the extension that immigration wouldn't grant me then change their minds, even the worry that my passport would be kept there and the wait of 15 mins they spent looking for my envelope.

So I do understand. I could have easily been in your boat or in the IDC because I tried to navigate around a 500b / day overstay.

It's just a real shame that someone is paid to facilitate this process in Bangkok didn't do their job and didn't warn you, instead just took your application and smiled.

The rental agreement should be good, you could take a photocopy of both as I'm sure there was room on the document receipt for multiple proofs.

Doesn't the proof have to be within the last 6 months ? Is there a date issued on your license.

I used an employment contract, it was in English but I could have made it myself, so I think it's not hard as long as its in English with maybe an some type of rubber stamp.

Yeah, all is good, was there today, no kr2 required and I placed my original certificate at the bottom of the papers and the guy handed back immediately .. The guy was so busy he didn't even look at me or care that I hadn't shaved for 4 days, it's just a 5000b earner for the consulate.

They haven't got the gate situation under control like Vientiane so it's a mad scramble.

You can either arrive at 8.30 and form an orderly queue or rock up at 8.59 and stand next to the big gate while everyone else is queuing next to the small entry and get ready to elbow the Asian teachers out of the way.

Pickup was a bit mad, lots of people waiting/frying in the sun, unless you are in a hurry maybe better to wait until 3.50-4.00 and walk straight up to the counter.

Would anyone have any numbers of agencies in Issan ?

I know the direct approach seems popular here, but we currently live in the deep South (for 5 years,) so riding round a few schools with my belongings in a rucksack isn't an option.

I prefer to work for an agency,if anyone has some firm details I would appreciate a post here or a pm.

The wife has been working in a nursery caring / teaching for pre-anuban so I'm hoping she could continue, although no family ties comes from KK and struggles with the southern culture from time to time.

I'm sitting here at the bridge now, what a completely different experience for those of us in the south.

I got 4 flights for 5,500b, the cost of the flight transfer from Don muang to mukhahan via nakon phanom was 1300b + 1500b.

The minivan is easy to find, print your ticket, report to limo service first, then escorted to luxury van ( not like a southern junker ). There were 6 others on my bus, driver careful for an arrival in Muk at 6.30 PM on the dot.

Bridge immigration were the friendliest and politest I have come across after 6 years in the south.

A fortune, I think not .. It's hardly worth taking the bus.

Reports, reports ... How long have you guys lived here ?

The reports may be filed, there may be a 1000B / complaint fine, and then after 6 months or a year. A deal will be negotiated, to obtain a lower figure, a percentage will disappear to the person who "helps".

This is not just Phuket, we have "meter" taxis here in Hat Yai. Yet, they will never use the meter, you can't hail them, you need to book a day in advance.

When questioning the drivers, they think they have a choice to use the meters, just as we have a choice not to use the taxi if we feel that its not fair.

Does anyone know of a city other than Bangkok where the meter system is in operation and is used ?

I dont understand what the problem is .. I would say they got it the wrong way around.

If you want to learn to speak Thai

a) study for less than 5 months, you should study 5 hours a day - If you want to study the language over a longer period, lesson hours should be less, but you study at university and provide coursework / self study and assignments.

I have been through Thai school because I wanted to learn to speak Thai, I studied 4 hours a day, and a further 2-3 hours homework. Within 5 months at 4 hours a day, you should be able to speak/read/write Thai to a pretty good level.

But that wouldn't suit your long term holiday - would it ?

If you flipped the scenario, if you were an immigrant in the States or UK, learning then English 2 hours a day isn't going to do anything for you. The language school would come under scrutiny of some education depart and the school closed down.

Why would anyone want to learn Thai is beyond me ? unless you are married and living here ( where there are visas available to you ) or retired ( where there are available visas ) then the Thai ( along with Indonesian ) language has got to be the most useless language in the world.

Actually not. I used Thai and Bahasa Malay/Indonesian for my degree in Southeast Asian Affairs and this was in 1996. Those 2/3 languages covers 60% of ASEAN and until now I am grateful that I learned those languages. I still remember my daily trips to AUA and later used Lingua School for one on one training at 300 Baht per hour for learning the Thai language.

PS: I would like to add that I never had a problem in finding employment in Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore, Indonesia or Thailand and I always got paid on a good package.

Sorry, I didn't want to appear to be belittling your qualification. For someone who has probably invested more than 30,000B a year into their studies there are probably greater rewards, but I'm sure you are just one of a small number here.

I dont understand what the problem is .. I would say they got it the wrong way around.

If you want to learn to speak Thai

a) study for less than 5 months, you should study 5 hours a day - If you want to study the language over a longer period, lesson hours should be less, but you study at university and provide coursework / self study and assignments.

I have been through Thai school because I wanted to learn to speak Thai, I studied 4 hours a day, and a further 2-3 hours homework. Within 5 months at 4 hours a day, you should be able to speak/read/write Thai to a pretty good level.

But that wouldn't suit your long term holiday - would it ?

If you flipped the scenario, if you were an immigrant in the States or UK, learning then English 2 hours a day isn't going to do anything for you. The language school would come under scrutiny of some education depart and the school closed down.

Why would anyone want to learn Thai is beyond me ? unless you are married and living here ( where there are visas available to you ) or retired ( where there are available visas ) then the Thai ( along with Indonesian ) language has got to be the most useless language in the world.

Some reports say immigration were sympathetic and helped by squeezing in an extension stamp into a gap usually not big enough .. My local office weren't interested in the receipt from Trendy, they said wasn't their problem.

No, your not going to avoid an overstay penalty with this info.

What visa are you on ?

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Getting an online v-card is very easy if you have Internet banking and a Thai bank account .. Alternately, just write a load of numbers down and an autograph so that trendy accept the form.

Then at the beginning of next week you will get an email, followed shortly by a phone call from the revenue dept ( people with sense ) you email your mum the number and the case number, she pays it for you - it's a direct line to the department, no waiting, no additional call charges.

what's a v card...visa card?.....i don't have internet banking...and time's running out...im just going to get my friend to sign my mums signature (so the hand writing looks different) and use her english debit card..im guessing this is better than leaving it blank or is it ok to leave blank?

v-card or virtual shopping card .. If you don't have internet banking, and you have a Kasikorn account you can set it up in 30 seconds at the ATM machine 24-7. The virtual card takes less than 25 hours to process and its just a series of digits.

Trendy don't really care .. whatever you think makes it easiest, but If you start explaining things to Trendy they are going to take the company line, maybe reject your application. All trendy want to do is check the paperwork has been completed in the right boxes, check the dimensions of your photo and get you to sign your passport photocopies. They aren't going to do handwriting analysis on the signature.

However, like I say, I would use my own card ( or imaginary card ), knowing its going to fail, then let your mum call the revenue department and pay it for you over the phone. Stupidity isn't a crime, impersonating someone else could be.

Honestly, the whole thing has been a king size pain in the sas, for me, but the nicest most helpful and confident person was the lady from the revenue dept. in Liverpool.

I paid mine with a wrong card, the card was rejected, i got an email asking me to contact them with a solution asap, within a couple of hours someone from the UK was enquiring if i had received the call and anything they could do to help. I set up the V-card, rather than fork out for the cost of a phone call, I emailed my father who called them .. he said they were still helpful and polite.

Getting an online v-card is very easy if you have Internet banking and a Thai bank account .. Alternately, just write a load of numbers down and an autograph so that trendy accept the form.

Then at the beginning of next week you will get an email, followed shortly by a phone call from the revenue dept ( people with sense ) you email your mum the number and the case number, she pays it for you - it's a direct line to the department, no waiting, no additional call charges.

You can bump up your dropbox to 10GB by recommending friends ( for free )

I never realised that these cloud services checked the contents, I never had problems with dropbox but i also use googledrive for word documents and excel files, and will continue to now i know that google delete your items.

Yes .. If you are referring to a wave or some other scooter ?

Cathay Guest House have scooters for rent (I met some young teachers who hired one from there), or at least they used to, and no reason to see why they would have stopped.

ETS: Im sure they paid 200B a day.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/386787-narathiwat-visa-run/

I haven't been to Narathiwat town for many years now. You can buy your car insurance in Hat Yai and also in Sungai Kolok, from agents around the train station. Im sure you can buy 3 month policies. No reason to think there wouldn't still be an agency in Narathiwat.

You will also need a translated number plate, I'm sure the insurance agent can suggest a place.

I don't know the route of the train, but looking at google maps, Tumpat is the end of the line, then KB then onto Pasir Mas .. Pasir Mas is closer to Sugai Kolok and maybe a more convenient crossing.

If you want to drive to Malaysia then leave your car in a carpark, then I would suggest Pasir Mas to be a safer place. There is a taxi office ( not far from the station / next to a small market ) out of sight of the road with a large car park by the station, the guys there speak Thai, maybe they could hook you up.

Im sure the agents by Sungai train station also offer secure parking - then you could just motor down there, walk over and catch the bus to KB, its about 50 minutes in a bus.

Im sure Kolok is more set-up for this kind of request, things seem to be pretty calm there, but as you move closer to Narathiwat town, you will see things change, more army foot patrols, people leaving their bike seats up to show there are no bombs under the seats.

Yeah .. He's Burmese.

He just says he's sorry, some words are hard to make, but it seems he was instructed by the owner of the deck chairs to go move the lady.

Ouch .. I would try Bank Of Bangkok on Nippatuthit 3 or 2 ? 2nd Floor .. They seemed to be pretty clued up with currency and bankers drafts, but I have a feeling they will have to order GBP in, maybe they could do it asap for you.

If you have nothing in Thailand, you are on an Ed visa - Why not get married ? What's to loose ?

Is the OP aware, just by marrying a national, doesn't mean you will get a visa ? There are a couple of options, with 400,000B in the bank, for two months and forever more, you can get a year and a succession of 12 month extensions. 40,000B a month coming-in will also work. The other option is a 12 month multi entry which will get you 15-17 months, and but will need to leave the country every 3 months.

The marriage procedure is pretty easy. just allow yourself time to do it, after the first translation, you don't need an agency to do it, its peanuts.

If your going to be thinking about staying for longer than 3-4-5 years, how long can you keep on studying ? You may as well take the plunge, save some money by not paying for the constant schooling - its good to take a break. 4 years is a long time for a Thai to be living with a partner, my missus didn't stop moaning after 3 years ( after marriage she just moaned about doing something else ).

I would say go for it.

Maybe this can help someone,

I received my last 90 day, non-O from Malaysia, arrived promptly and within a couple of days called Trendy to organise an appointment, which turned out near on a month later, on the eve of a 4-day weekend in Thailand, i don't think the passport was dispatched immediately.

I seemed to wait a long time, reports are funds are taken 4-5 days after submission, I messed-up my payment which delayed the process for 4 days.

Nothing else until i enquired last Monday, my passport was passed for printing on 21st August .. Delivery to Trendy would be around 7-10 days.

I got a call from Trendy today (11 days after printing) .. to go and collect. Im currently on a 30-day extension, so after waiting for a cheaper flight, I guess it will be 4 months to complete the process.

My advice would be a) leave 6cm gap in your passport to get a final 'life saver' extension start your application well before 3 months.

Don't know if this is indicative of things moving quicker or if we got lucky, but my son's passport is ready for collection now making it just over 6wks start to finish.

How long will Trendy offices hang on to passports? Does anyone know? I'm planning to go to BKK mid-October with my other half for him to apply for his visit visa. Would be nice if we could collect the passport at the same time to get it done all during one visit....

Just email them the date you want to pick it up....

I just got a call from them telling me to go pickup - I told them it would be 3-4 weeks before I did, "o-kay-we-will-hold-your-passport" .. The time doesn't seem to be an issue.

Thanks UJ - You are like a all-year round father xmas.

Why not go to a welding shop and get one made ?

I have speaker stands and projector mounts made down here, i would never be able to source them from any retail outlet here at a fraction of the cost.

If I leave Thailand via the Mukdahan bridge into Laos, will i need a letter from the UK embassy ? I will call Mukdahan immigration in the next week, maybe i could drop in there first.

I have a 90 day non-O that has been extended for 1,900B at my local immigration office.

Last time, I received a passport directly from Hong Kong, I took it directly to the Malay border and the immigration officer took an hour or two to question me and check the passport.

Rather than spend the night in Bangkok, and visiting the embassy before 11.00 AM the next day, I would prefer to be en route / in Laos.

Can anyone confirm either way, I'm trying to organise a string of flights to get me from Hat Yai to Savannakhet and back without wasting too much time, I'm sure its going to take over a week to accomplish. Any help would be gratefully received.

Padang border post: Wouldn't confirm that i didn't have to stay out a night, didn't confirm 100% i would be asked to show 20,000B. Were totally confused when I suggested I would depart at 11.00 PM and return to Thailand at 1.00 AM.

So did you cross after all? And then got a 30 days extension making 60 total ?

No man, on Monday my back was against the wall, no news of where my passport was at, HY immigration playing hard ball.

I was prepared to run the risk, tonight .. a mission into Malaysia.

But, I had a thought that I wouldn't be able to return tonight (or at all) and stay out a dirty hotel in a dive town on the other side of the border, or even an IDC, with my shiny bike sitting in the border car park. Im just sick 'n tired (literally, i hadn't slept all week) of pleading for the help of some immigration officer.

When I heard my passport had already been printed and on its way .. I had a rethink. A 7 day 'refusal' extension gave me 7 days leeway, then I could suffer the overstay until a call from trendy.

With a 30 day, it should be plain sailing, I'm hoping to get a call at the end of next week.

I just hope it gave every immigration official one big hard-on to put me through the mill, throwing 'crown' property around, insulting my wife in her own language .. just because i applied for a passport 3 months ago.

Just to put this to bed.

Monday

HY immigration office : Refused 60 day extension with the wife present, between us we explained the situation politely. In return, coated off, abused, told to get a new Kor Ror Song and that they could only issue 7 days because of 1x prior extension to visit my wife.

Padang Bezar Immigration : Politely refused the 60 day extension, offered 7 days - and advised to speak to the border post, do an in-out to get 30 days.

Padang border post: Wouldn't confirm that i didn't have to stay out a night, didn't confirm 100% i would be asked to show 20,000B. Were totally confused when I suggested I would depart at 11.00 PM and return to Thailand at 1.00 AM.

Tuesday

Got confirmation that my UK passport was printed on 21st August - Reports suggest that i should get a phone call from Trendy to pick up the passport around 14 days after printing, give or take.

I then came to the decision, that if my passport hadn't been printed I would risk a in-out border hop, but considering i was 90% of the way to owning a new passport I woulnt risk it, go to immigration on Friday, 29th ( visa expires on Sat. 30th ) and cough up the 1900B for the week.

Wednesday

Visited the ampur with wife to get a new Kor Ror Song - The woman didn't even look at me, i was a ghost, my wife produced her ID, asked for the paper, 5 mins later we had a new print out of a worthless piece of paper, that we didn't even sign in front of her.

Friday

Let the wife do her job and went down to Hat Yai immigration alone, paperwork in hand, changed date on application form, threw it in the hole without a word.

Walked away, 10 mins later, a worker asked for a photo which was pinned to the passport page and told me i would get 2 months ( result! ) another 10 mins a student asks for a copy of the entry stamp.

10 minutes later another assistant walks out, literally throws my passport at me and says 'no room mister' and walks off .. i run after her trying to explain the situation, and the same guy who was rude on Monday asks whats up ? She shows the passport he shows her there is enough space to stamp, takes the passport and does it for her. (wt..?)

All this time, I didn't say a word to anyone, no one said anything remotely resembling a sentence to me.

5 minutes after, miss po face is back at the counter banging my passport on the counter .. cough up 1900B .. get outside .. check the passport .. 30 days extension.

OK, its not the 60 that I should have got but its enough for the passport to arrive, long enough to get a cheap flight to Bangkok, pick up the passport, and get to Sav for a 12 month, multi-entry O.

Why couldn't this been done on Monday, saving me a few sleepless nights.

These people have got a problem with people abusing the system .. hmm i wonder why ?