mamborobert

31 minutes ago, KhonKaenKowboy said:

I have thought that the bogus letters would be the next shoe to drop...but it hasn't.  I think it does carry more risks of increased scrutiny than the lump sum, maybe more so for those barely 50, or the numerous untidy.  It would be hard to believe that a guy smelling like he sleeps in an elephant cage could have a 65k pension...but they even pave the streets with gold and everyone has an unlimited ATM card so anything is possible.

There is another thread now where the embassy require documentary evidence of income before witnessing the Stat Dec, similar to a few other embassies.

I use the Stat Dec method as I have the documentary evidence and keeping 800k in a Thai Bank account doing little does not make a lot of sense to me, even on interest rates I can get better in my home country.

II would think that the "next shoe to drop" would be in two areas, mandatory minimum health insurance, and an increase in income or bank balance requirements that have not changed for eons.

Of course that will be after the ten year visa no doubt 

Beats me why anyone would complain.  Where is the rational argument against this?

Saw this poster by PETA a while back

I know it was meant to make people think, perhaps a particular way but all I thought was horse meat in France was pretty standard when I was growing up.  Rabbits standard in UK and OZ when growing up.  Oz now sells Kangaraoo in most supermarkets as a healthy heart red meat choice, endorsed by Health depts. Used to be only for dog food.  Likewise Emu in some places.  Quails were sold in Harrods, could never work out the attraction there as it just seems fiddly.

As long as the Cambodians are cooking it very well let them rip

Sharky maybe aint gonna be happy.

59 minutes ago, taotoo said:

My old neighbour bought a brand new pick up. When it came time to change the running-in oil, they decided to save a few baht by doing it themselves. They were then most-surprised when the dealer refused to change the now-ruined engine under warranty. Personally I'd buy new.

And that sort of hits the nail on the head why reposessions are not a certainty.  People who cannot buy outright get loans, People that have loans have to make the payments.  They often do this at the expense of proper or regular servicing, and use cheap or inferior parts, and use mechanics that are not up to scratch on new vehicles.  They get driven over crap roads by crap drivers that may or may not have a license to drive in the first place.......and then they get reposessed.  Most reposessions I have seen have not had any service logs with them a all and often just new books.  

Besides the Toyota Sure dealers (which are not Repos) I am not sure who I would trust here as far as recent used vehicles.

A few years ago while living with my then gf (of 6 years) she was sent a photo by Line of me leaving a  massage place.  It was clearlly me no doubt about it, taken from the back, t shirt, shorts, thongs, slightly balding Farang.  The photo was sent by one of her friends immediately after they saw me depart the massage joint in CM around 10.00pm that night.

Now I was with my gf when she received the immediately messaged photo.  We were in Lamphun and had been all day for a Thai house warming.  

No matter how much I protested that it was physically impossible to be me, that I had never been to that massage place, that I was with her all day, that there was no clear head shot, that the photo was taken some distance away....it meant nothing to her.  You see her Thai friends had said it was me! that was the evidence, the photo was merely additional support of my errant ways.

She would beleive her Thai friend over her actually experienced reality of the last few hours!  It went on for months.  Every time we had an argument this was brought up.  Teh Thai "face" how could I do this to her, all her friends new etc etc.

I gave up and eventually gave up on her...This experience really put the nail in the coffin as I adopted the "might as well get hung for a sheep as a lanb" philosophy which I had never done till then..

The Coconut Telegraph is prominent in CM certainly, but it is a big enough place for a sneaky. An "affair" would be risky, but a romp is always available.  Having said that it is too easy, there is noting to be proud of, it is no accoplishment, it is almost like getting a bit bored and going out for a romp rather than a pizza.  unless there are exceptional romp prospects the pizza wins every time

59 minutes ago, bdenner said:

Only hope that in my case they have a CPA on the consular staff who understands my tax return (I can barely make head nor tale of it) and they understand that the days of paper bank statements are long gone. Being a Thai witnessing the Stat Dec wouldn't surprise me if she doesn't ask for my Aussie Bank Book!! 5555555

 

Looks like I'll have to take my NoteBook PC with me next year.

 

The gods of bureaucracy and hoops are alive and well.

The three times I have used the Stat Dec method and the Consular Outreach program have all had a DFAT A based officer ( that is an Oz official on a posting) witness and issue seal on a Stat Dec.  These officers are specified under the Act on the Stat Dec form.  Locally Engaged Staff (Oz or Thai) are not specified.

As a further example the Hon Consul in Chiang Mai despite the title, Thai govt accreditation, and the issued polo "uniform" cannot witness the Stat Dec.

This has also been my experience at other Oz embassies in the PI, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Malaysia

4 minutes ago, bangkokorbust said:

I have income from property rental but have no idea what they want as proof.
A copy of the lease maybe

or a copy of the bank deposits for the rent...or a copy of your tax return showing declared rental income.  It has the potential to get very ugly if the next move is to link data with ATO or Centrelink.  Best flick an email to consular outreach.  They reply pretty quickly.

11 minutes ago, Stevemercer said:

Thus requirement sounds dubious to me (although I guess it is not possible to challenge). As many posters have said, you sign a stat declaration to testify that this is a true version of events (at least from your perspective). There is no need to provide proofs unless challenged in court. I assume the embassy staff will not check with whomever the money is coming from to verify your 'letter of proof'. Most banks, super funds, financial institutions etc. are not going to provide this information to a third party. If they did, then there could be all sorts of privacy/tax/pension implications.

 

 

I would have thought you must obtain the desired document...not the third party, and you must present it when you want Stat Dec signature witnessed (as in present to the third party).  You cannot appeal to say an  Administrative Tribunal or an Oz court for someone failing to witness a Stat Dec in Thailand, apart from no grounds there are jurisdictional issues. A Stat Dec is legal in Australia or legal when submitted to receive an Australian benefit or with submitted with say an Australian Visa application.   It is not a legal document in Thailand (as such) but a document that is accepted by Thai Immigration as proof of income in lieu of the alternate bank balance method.  Thai immigration could just as easily ask to see some other evidence or source documents but the Stat Dec makes it easier all round.

4 minutes ago, Evilbaz said:

Your pensioner allowance card is not valid overseas.

It was a joke...that humour stuff.  I am self funded.  The only thing I get from the OZ govt is a fresh air sandwich.

53 minutes ago, logon1 said:

it is gone blissfully. it is a subsidised venture from the owners of classic burgers which is closed as well.

Classic Burgers is due to reopen tomorrow.  Not sure about the link to the kitchen you allude to.  Did not think Craig and his wife had any links to that at all.

They had signs on the rolladoors and on their web site for quite a while advising of temp closure (see below from FB)

Classic Burgers

24 February at 16:26 · Chiang Mai · 

And he was well behaved......I have been known to end up more like this.

1 hour ago, NancyL said:

Yeah, if Robert Redford would let himself be seen in khaki cargo shorts, sandals (thankfully without socks) and a loud Songkran-style shirt.  In other words, the uniform of a well-dressed expat retiree.  No Chang singlets in Hubby's wardrobe.

Like this ?

17 minutes ago, Preacher said:

 

As has been mentioned, a stat. declaration  is no more just witnessing a signature. Thailand has complained to the embassies and now demands that embassies check the income and just witness the signature. Another problem is, at least for Dutch citizens, the declaration will now state nett income, not gross. I understood that was on agreement with the Thai government.  With the low Euro and now going to nett, I imagine that will put a few persons in trouble.

Do other embassies now demand proof of nett income?

 

For the Americans it might be a little bit different, because of the difference between the federal governments and the different states. The individual states do not like it when the federal government treads in their jurisdiction. For them it might  be the case that they will have to provide evidence at immigration instead of at their embassy.

 

t

The Oz have been ok with declaring a Gross Income.  Now that they want evidence I do not know what type of info you get on a Centrelink statement for example where the OAP may just put you into the initial income tax threshold.  It would be odd to do net as for OZ most would only know that from the annual tax return statement from the ATO.  You could conceivably be paying tax on a gross income and then get it all or partially back through rebates or franking credits or deductions etc when you put in your tax return.  Some with multiple sources of income would not know their true net until after their tax return is done, having said that those people are more than likely not to have an issue with the 65k per month.  

Guess this will become fine tuned as people apply.  Maybe even best if Embassy provided a sample or template Stat Dec in teh future...fill in the numbers and source and sign type thing.

I really do hope this turns out well but it is looking pretty grim at this stage and the BIB on the Island do not have a good track record.

Equally, as international pressure and media coverage increases  I hope this does not turn into "round up the usual suspects Burmese"

Gotta feel for the family.

This simply cannot be true.

I distinctly recall Harold advising me, "Mate, she's not like the other Thai girls.  It's not about the money.  I am not a walking ATM.  She says our age does not matter and she really loves me".

I am crestfallen at this prospective break up. I mean ...how will TAT explain this to a confused world.

Hopefully there is still sufficient time for the PM to give a Section 44 Order to avert this potential tragedy.

50 minutes ago, lensta said:

My friend did his in Bkk last week and no such documentation was needed

As far as I can see the "change" only came through on the embassy web site in the last few days of the week.

Now includes :

"If you are signing a Statutory Declaration in support of a retirement or other visa, you must provide proof of income such as a bank, Superannuation or Centrelink statement. "

http://thailand.embassy.gov.au/bkok/Notarial_Services.html

It was certainly not required by Embassy staff before and in fact the DFAT related site has not been updated and still reads the "old" understandingof Stat Decs:

"By witnessing your signature, the consular official is simply confirming your identity as the person claiming to make the declaration. The consular officer is in no way attesting to the truth or veracity of the content of the statement. "

http://smartraveller.gov.au/services/legalising-documents/pages/overseas.aspx

There is no mention of supporting evidentary documents being required.

Still, its changed, and that is the reality.   Its is certainly going to affect the single fully dependant OAPs and prospective retirees in Thailand.

I always thought this was a rather meaningless measure after the initial visa...I mean it does not confirm that you are actually spending that money in part or total in Thailand.  Perhaps another boom in some of the creative accounting and borrowing by some agents in Pattaya will be spreading further afield as people opt for the bank balance or combination method.

2 minutes ago, evenstevens said:

all mine (stat decs) so far , have been done in thaibaht (65.000 ),not A.U.D.

its a Midnight Oil good morning to all

 

Same here

Are they equal.....of course not

Are all lawyers, mechanics, surgeons, chefs equal? Regardless of equal skill level, relationship and interpersonal skills will always play a part. The old " it is not what you know but who you know", even in the west, even in government agencies.

A connected lawyer can get you more favourable court decisions or your land registered quicker. A connected mechanic can get you parts quicker, and original parts much quicker. A connected surgeon is going to get you admitted to a better government or private hospital and quicker....etc etc.  People are willing, and do, pay a premium for those connections.

That  covers the topic title. The body of the ops post would require asking Immigration (on any changed staffing levels), or a policy change on priority

For the elderly or infirm

Nancy was in a position to update via camping out there for long periods. Nancy, and presumably no one else, does or can do this anymore. So the main broad update source is gone.

someone may for example respond that the appointment system for old/ infirm served them well. Whereas Nancy may have observed a bigger picture of x number elderly waiting inordinate lengths of time. These people may not be TV posters or have English as first language so you are not getting the broad empirical picture that Nancy would/could provide.

i do not think you can get such a broad updated status as Op seeks. Everyone will have their own unique experience, which could change Day to day with client numbers, and probably change again by the time when the Op does his extension in some months time. We may even have the mythical 10 year visa :)

it it might be better if people posted a NEW or different experience resulting from some procedural or policy change rather than what is "usual".

2 hours ago, sfokevin said:

Here is my take on home made hamburgers... I opt for a Parisian sandwich baguette from Rimping along with 100 baht of ground beef from the meat counter... I quarter the baguette and butter itcan sprinkle a little garlic salt on them and grill them with the meat which has been covered with freshly ground pepper corns... serve open faced with a baked potato slathered with butter... ;-)

Looks great. 

Will you marry me? Or at the very least teach my significant other how to cook this. She has been known to burn water, and the daily papaya salad made available will never be a suitable substitute for your creation.

And a cleansing coke chaser with ice tops it off perfectly.

27 minutes ago, Gonzo the Face said:

In definitely have lived past my 'use by date'......  I was under the mental fugue that today was  the 17th........ time for the guys with the white coats   thanks for that M..Bo..Bo

Surely not past "use by date" but perhaps like a lot of us past our "best before date". 

You are not Robinson Crusoe on this. I can remember dates important to me no problem.....but please never ever ask me what day of the week it is.

Growing up as a kid in Ireland it was never a big thing ....went to Seattle and Boston when older for St Patrick's Day at it was crazy, nothing like Ireland at all. Painting the streets green, singing Irish songs I never heard before ( I suppose all yearning for Ireland type stuff while I was at the time yearning to get out), green beer etc etc  I heard the Irish traditional "40 Shades of Green" for example, written by Johnny Cash!!!!. 

We tended when young to celebrate Easter much more from both a religious and nationalistic viewpoint, as in 1916 Easter Rebellion so would sing songs like "Boys of the Old Brigade" and "Kevin Barry" , and toast Éamon de Valera  (born in New York and representations by US consulate were a contributor to him not getting executed with the other leaders).

Now it is a much bigger thing in Ireland. I suppose it's like contrasting Songkran in CM now with Songkran in CM 50 years ago.

Early a bit what. So I will <deleted> ...St Patrick's Day is the 17th.

yet nothing for St David's Day since Old Belle passed away ( that was March 1st).  

Cymru Am Byth

Ps might as well throw Tiocfaidh ár lá, for the six counties still in bondage