ILOOKFORWORK

Poor guy ... I hope he gets back into care and on the medication he likely is normally taking.

Shiraz... If your girlfriend is from the Philippines, she can actually work in Thailand without any hassles now (according to the AEC 2015 agreement). If she works in any job, she can come and go (and stay) as long as she wishes (as far as I know).

Working online does not require a work permit in Thailand.

Perhaps those who have issues with reporters' language use should take it up with the original source.

ThaiVisa just re-prints news and does not write it and commenting here on language issues serves little purpose.

It isn't an issue about what was posted. It's an issue of prejudging. It is a social issue. Therefore it's something everyone should be free to discuss it. Awareness. That's all.

"Thai-Indian Girl Commits Suicide In Burning Car"

"......they found the body of Ms.Pittasnan Darsing aged 44 a Thai-Indian"

Interesting choice of words used in both the title and the article. First of all...44 years old can hardly be considered as a "girl".

Secondly, why is it necessary to use the word "Thai-Indian" ? (by the way, it should be written as "Indian-Thai", not "Thai-Indian")... But would you ever see someone use the phrase "Chinese-Thai" or any other nationality or ethnicity, if the person were to have Thai citizenship? For westerners yes, but you rarely see westerners with Thai citizenship. Indian-Thais are like the 2nd most common minority in the country. Perhaps in this article they're trying to say this lady was born outside of Thailand but immigrated? I don't know. But it's rare to see anybody that wasn't born in Thailand getting a Thai citizenship.

Are they sure the husband killed his wife and then himself with the gun? Is it not possible that she killed him and then herself? After all, it was her gun.

Fair point, but if the statement from the security guard in the later news report in this thread can be believed, that seems unlikely:

"...The condominium’s chief security guard, Wacharin Sukthongsa, told police he was driving his car immediately before the killings and saw Castellazzi fire several rounds from his balcony, one of which hit Mr Wacharin's car..."

Simon43, Good, at least you're thinking about this much more realistically than the media. Many people know the official news story isn't reliable in this particular case

High-society woman shot dead by Swiss husband: police

"High society"? What is it with the need to label people like this?

The Swiss husband died too, but this is mentioned only at line 5 of the article

It's all about "face" and "perceived status".

Yes it is... And it's also about sometimes hiding things from people who are outside the family circles

A suspicious Thai family banking murder.

Photographs of the crime scene make it highly unlikely that the story the press and family are telling is what actually happened. The stats related to murder suicides indicate that this had very few characteristics of such a case. The man likely didn't do this action, but is rather a planned scapegoat. The family has also reported at least 2 conflicting details within their stories, based on what has been reported on the television news and the printed news. The online Thai news sites were reporting this as a murder suicide only 2 hours after it occurred, making it even more fishy. The physical crime scene evidence gathering and analysis, followed by the autopsies would normally take at least a few days before anything could even begin to be concluded - and even at that stage, it is very preliminary. This was a case in which the police obviously reported the family's word of mouth as irrefutable evidence, in spite of seeing clear physical evidence that would support otherwise. But it's only 6 days and the cremation of the lady has already occurred. These types of cases are not so rare to be honest. I feel absolutely terrible for their only daughter, who is 14 years old. Truths very often have remarkable ways of eventually revealing themselves, regardless of the circumstances of an event or whoever was or wasn't involved.

 

 

Almost nobody will comply with this passport requirement, especially if they have visas which are going to take a considerable effort to replace.
 
If I lost my passport right now I believe it could take a few months and several trips to Bangkok just to get a replacement, once I've got that I then have to think about getting my visa replaced.
 
Not going to happen.

Exactly, and depending on circumstances you could easily end up on overstay.

I understand the need for ID and a Thai DL is exactly that. This reqmt to carry a passport when you already dib dib dib every 90 days is an absolute nonsense

 

 

It is complete nonsense.

 

What do they do if you refuse to pay the fine ? Can you choose to go to court instead ?
 

 

Maybe it's internment camps.. or .. one of those reconciliation / behavior-modification camps that were created in the north and northeast (supposedly).

 

The "new" regulations are totally in line with International Practices.  In Indonesia, if stopped without your original passport, your next stop is the Police Station.  You can wait for someone to bring you your original passport then they slap a fine for not having your passport wih you.  I'm all for having original documents with you all the time.  It may help weed out some undesirables.  Just my 2 Baht worth.  Flame if you wish, but the Law's the Law.

Depends what you consider 'International Practices'? Very different in military states and third world countries compared to first world democracies, depends what you consider Thailand to be?

 

..... Exactly. 

.... This guy's talking about Indonesia as if it follows in strict accordance with international policies. East Timor, Trisakti University 1998. 

 

The "new" regulations are totally in line with International Practices.  In Indonesia, if stopped without your original passport, your next stop is the Police Station.  You can wait for someone to bring you your original passport then they slap a fine for not having your passport wih you.  I'm all for having original documents with you all the time.  It may help weed out some undesirables.  Just my 2 Baht worth.  Flame if you wish, but the Law's the Law.

 

 

There is therapy for Stockholm syndrome you know ??

 

hehe. Nice

 

Law? Uhmm.. Right now there is no law, because there is no constitution - people can't even vote on approving or rejecting the new constitution. However, there is still Marshal Law, if you want to count that as ... well "law"... And only one party that gets amnesty according to the draft constitution. So, yeah I think everybody is basically forced to attach their PP to their body 24/7 and hope that it doesn't get lost or stolen.

Nice job of spooking more potential tourists while just following orders  

Thailand's economy is already heavily tied to China's. Get ready to have more of China's massive debt poured into Thailand. Chinese teachers are here on tourist visas teaching without qualifications, degrees, training or work permits. Thailand will become a financial slave of China if the current trend persists.

Most tourists have onward or return travel documentation. Produce this and I imagine you will have no problems. 28 day on/off workers also have onward documentation and payslips, so I see no problem. When the dust has settled those with legitimate multi-entry tourist visas will have no problem. Those that will have the problem are the visa runners abusing the 28 day tourist visa exemption scheme. Well hard luck boys and girls, get legitimate!

I agree with this.

Come with a triple entry,return flight,bank statement and stay 60 days.

Leave to another country for xx days and come back for the next 60 days.

Repeat again for 60 days then go home.(Using a double TR and extending both COULD cause problems when using the 2nd entry.maybe maybe not as this is allowed)

This will not be back to back as it is just 1 visa.

However if you had 3 or more 28 days exempts(back to back),then tried to get a double TR and came back they probably would refuse entry.

If you used a triple or double,and then went to get another (back to back) and came back they probably would refuse entry.

The main crackdown seems to be multiple 28 day exempts back to back,and back to back TR's.(understandable)

Speculation and mis-translation is not helping the situation.

I think you may be right, as it makes the most sense. This is what I also have been anticipating as well.. However, if someone was already allowed entry on a Single-entry Tourist Visa...would they still be allowed to extend that visa 30 more days at immigration? It would guess they would be allowed to, as the crackdown seems to be directed at people that are still trying to obtain Tourist Visas after August 12th when they have back-to-back Tour visas anywhere in their passport..any ideas on the 30-day extensions of Tour Visas at immigration?

Is it ED visa still ok?

Non-Immigrant Visas are apparently still okay, but I believe they may change something in terms of the ED-Visas (or perhaps other Non-Imm visas) that are being used for extended stays - especially if they decide there is a problem with people working without permits. The system should have been organized a long time ago, but as many know nothing is stable in Thailand. Just keep yourself within the law and you'll likely have few problems.

i am so excited about the new numbers of arriving tourists in the second half of this year...i predict a huge drop...

Tourist numbers have already fallen off a cliff with the coup, they are only making things even worse for themselves with this "crackdown". I'm highly sceptical that there is a huge problem with farang working here illegally on tourist visas in the first place, to be honest.

For the last time, sorry but this crackdown was initiated by the previous government and tourist numbers were already way down before that.

Sent from my iPad so Please excuse any typos

It was not initiated directly by the previous caretaker government.

Does any of these changes mean that people with back-to-back Tour visas from several years ago, but who currently have a Tourist Visa already and go to immigration for the 30-day extension of the visa will have problems getting the 30 day extension of their Tourist Visa at local immigration offices?

There are no announcements, no reports, and no rumors about that.

Of course one can always start start speculating, for no purpose,

Yeah... just seems things have been changing every two weeks and there is no date given.. I asked because I already have the plane tickets for the flight home scheduled to be in line with a 30-day extension. Thanks

Do any of these changes mean that people with back-to-back Tour visas from several years ago, but who currently have a Tourist Visa already and go to immigration for the 30-day extension of the visa will have problems getting the 30 day extension of their Tourist Visa at local immigration offices?

People are getting confused.

For me, this is further confirmation on the story Thai Visa posted yesterday - http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/742573-tourist-visa-holders-denied-entry-to-thailand-and-left-stranded-in-malaysia/

It's a crackdown on people who abuse the visa exempt system and tourist visas, that's all.

This is aimed at people who get tourist visas or just nip in and out every few months and end up staying here for a couple of years or more.

The line from Immigration yesterday was "you are a tourist for 30 days, no more" which is right IMO.

You can't keep on getting tourist visas just so you can stay in Thailand, it isn't the correct visa for that.

Times are changing.

Will it be ED-Visas next?

Those that have a visa already and are inside the country, will they still be able to extend the visa 30 days at immigration? Or is this only for In/Out?

I'm on double entry tourist visa spending a week in Vietnam and arriving back to Thailand on 14th for second half of my visa.

Wonder how this will go. I don't have any back to back visas in my passport, and I don't have any visa exemptions. I do have multiple double entry tourist visas over many years. Visa was acquired from home country, not a border country in Asia.

I think you should be okay, especially if you're flying back in. On Thai Visa.com yesterday there was a confirmed article about one border in the south that was refusing people re-entry even though they had a Tourist Visa. I believe it said the reason was related to back to back visas.

While many have posted on this and other topics that the current 'crackdown' will have a major impact on Thai Tourism arrivals/expenditures, the data from 2012 is that average length of stay for ALL arrivals to Thailand is about 10 days with those from Europe staying an average of about 16 days. Those 'tourists' who stay for months or years may have a negligible impact on the overall tourism scene.

(2012 Thai Dept. of Tourism numbers)

Yes and those tourists from Europe staying 16 days. They spend more in those 16 days than the average border runner do in 5 months.

What a load of c**p

I spend as much as six months a year in Thailand touring about - I bet I've seen more of the country than guys that have spent twenty years there.

My annual spend in Thailand is about 500,000 baht, easy - probably closer to 800,000.

I bet you there are 10,000 tourists like me - easy - if you said 100,000 I wouldn't be amazed. Go get a calculator and work out how much we are worth to the economy - far more than the scrabbling pensioners getting by on 25,000 a month. They've cast a fine net to catch a sprat - and pulled out the big fish too.

Idiotic.

Very true.

A friend of mine comes here every other month, few weeks at a time. doesn't drink or join in the party scene much, often rents a boat that waits for him at Samui or Koh Chang depending on the season. He is a poster boy for the quality tourist Thailand wants, better yet he's a repeat customer. Now he could get hassled for of all the exempt and tourist stamps in his passport. If you don't read TV you don't know about the PE card, it isn't technically a visa anyway only a card that gives you visa "privileges". not something the average visitor would know. the tourist visa is the visa he needs to come in legally, in fact it is the only LEGAL visa he should use.

_______________

Precisely. But don't tell that to those that believe they're really doing the best for the nation..they won't hear it. The same thing happened in late 2006, early 2007. Crackdowns on tourist visas, border stamps and a scramble to eagerly try and get rid of those that might be working on a Tourist Visa. Punishing the people working rather than the businesses and other entities that need to employ these people, but they refuse to help them with proper visas or work permits and fees, etc. And yes "privileges" is the perfect descriptive word that sums up how things work. The PE card, much like the society, is a system based on "privileges".

I have stayed in Thailand for 1 and a half years on tourist visas in the past (an indefinite tourist) without working here. I am now on an education visa as I am studying Thai. My girlfriend is pregnant at the moment and I am worried about when my education visa runs out. I make enough money back home to support us but not to qualify for a non O visa. What can I do? I realize they won't have any sympathy for splitting up a young family and I am worried I am going to have to leave my wife and young child here. Any ideas would be much appreciated.

Marry and you ought to qualify for non-O/marriage visa. Actually why not bring the then wife to yiur home country andvguarantee your kid a good education?

MC, Either do one of the following... Continue studying Thai language and renew your ED-Visa for another 12 months, or work on finding a way to immigrate your girlfriend and child to the country which recognizes you as a citizen.... You could also do both of those options (continue studying while also working on immigrating them to your place). Getting them out of Thailand is the smart choice, as the situation is not stable right now.

"Previously, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs circulated information to the foreign Embassies and Consulates in Thailand and to the Royal Thai Embassies and Consulates worldwide that individuals with back-to-back tourist visa entries will be refused entry into Thailand from August 13."

Why are Thai Embassies issuing double and triple entry visas if it is known that they do not allow a second entry. If this were really an honest attempt at prevent people from working while on Tourist Visas, multiple entries would not be issued,

"Immigration officials at Sungai Kolok, as well as at several other border checkpoints in the south, have been ordered by the Immigration Bureau in Bangkok to deny entry to foreigners holding 60-days Tourist visas."

And who orders the Immigration Bureau in Bangkok?