MHM

I have just moved from Kanchanaburi to Bangkok. I currently have a Tourist Visa and want to change that as soon as the funds have been in the bank for 3 months.  My bank account is in Kanchanaburi, I cannot open a bank account with the same bank in Bangkok as I don't have a work permit. My question, do I need to go back to Kanchanaburi to get the letter I require?  Thanks

I would like to know the exact date as well, my application was approved in July. I got my Ed visa in the UK on 1st August and landed in Thailand on 8th August and started the course a week later. A week before my first extension of stay I'm told that everything has changed. 8 hours a week is not a big commitment, it's the 2 hours over 4 days that is a problem. I have consulted with other language schools and while they promise a flexible schedule now, I am concerned after I have paid (again!) they will not be able to keep to that and I will have spent even more money and be back to square one. (flexible schedule, I have been offered 8 hours in 1 day)

Have to agree with Paz. Every language school I have spoken to is sticking to the 8 hours a week over 4 days and attendance. Immigration are apparently doing spot checks and checking attendance on random students. Shame, I'll have to go back to teaching just when I was enjoying studying and having a night in Bangkok once a week. Thailand is very good at moving goal posts!

Thanks for your replies. I apologise for my incorrect terminology. I am going to Language Express this afternoon to discuss their schedule, I will let you know. I am required to attend class but am happy with that, I want to learn as well as having a legal way to stay in Thailand until I apply for a retirement visa next year. As for free classes, not a chance - they are offering a small discount. My problem with the new requirement is the 2 hours over 4 days and living in Kanchanaburi - it's just not practical and I would not have applied for an Education visa if I had know this.

I went to my language school to collect the documents to extend my Education Visa. I was told there were now new requirements and my 1 year visa was now only valid for 6 months. The hours of study had doubled to 8 hours a week and I would therefore need to pay for another course in order to complete 1 years study. Furthermore I was expected to attend for 2 hours over 4 days a week. I study in Bangkok but live in Kanchanaburi so this is not a viable option for me. I started the course in August this year, when did these the new rules come into force? My school says just a week ago, is that true? Thanks in advance for any information

Thanks Mario2008, the problem is that Rob isn't working. His wife has a Retirement visa and he wants to stay and live with her in Thailand as her dependant. If he goes to the UK, all he can show is her Reitrement visa and their marriage certificate. He has taken these documents to Laos and Camdodia and they have not been sufficient to apply for a Non O.

Thanks for your help so far. However a couple more questions:

1) How many back to back Tourist visas are you allowed?

2) What does a UK consulate require in order to issue a Non O visa?

Rob has tried to obtain a Non O in Bangkok, our local Kanchanaburi immigration office as well as Laos and Cambodia. Many different reasons but always the same answer, 'can not'

Your help is greatly appreciated, thanks for taking the time to post.

Lopburi 13, I hope you see this post and can offer some more advice or anyone else for that matter. Rob went to apply for his dependant visa in Laos this morning. Once again his application was rejected. He was told that the only way for him to change from a tourist visa to a non O visa was to either get a job with a work permit or be married to a Thai. The fact that his wife now has a full retirement visa with a 365 day extention of stay was dismissed. Rob will be coming back with yet another tourist visa and their status in Thailand seems very uncertain. How can Rob change his tourist visa to a non O and then becomedependant on his wife's visa? Please help, we feel we are going round in circles and getting increasingly worried. Many thanks in advance.

Many thanks for making this clear, we were mistaken and so it seems were the local immigration office. Where would you suggest Rob should go after September to get his non O dependant visa?

Sorry for my mistake - she has an retirement extension of stay until September - i have seen it in her passport. ( she was given 3 months to start with) and was told that would be stamped for 1 year when she went back to the local immigration office in September. The local immigration office then told her husband to go to Laos to apply for his Non O visa as her dependant and this is where the confusion started. Many thanks for your time and help. I have lived and had my own business here for 16 years. I thought I would never leave but in recent times i wonder why i just don't up and move to a nearby country who would actually welcome foreign investment and where I can get my business visa without jumping through hoops...

Doris has got retirement visa stamped in her passport but the consulate in Laos said that the 800,000 Baht now has to be in the bank for 6 months for Rob to be able to change his tourist visa into an O visa.

I am posting on behalf of some very good friends who have been of great personal support to me over a difficult time. I would like to return the favour and ask for advice from the Thai Visa community in order to try and help them.

Doris and Rob are both holders of British passports. They have both been in Thailand on Tourist visas but want to make there time here more permanent. Doris is 52 and therefore eligible for a Retirement visa and 800,000 Baht has been in her bank account since March 2012. Rob is 46. Kanchanaburi Immigration advised them to travel to Laos and apply to have their Tourist Visas changed into Non O visas. On arrival they were told they didn’t have the correct paperwork from the bank confirming the 800,000 Baht and they were told to come back to Thailand to get a different letter from the bank. They consulted the local Immigration office again and were told that Doris could in fact change her tourist visa to a Non O visa there and then they would issue a Retirement visa. (Why they weren’t told that in the 1^st place is unclear). Rob now needed to apply for a Non O visa and apply using his status as dependent on his wife. A Trailing Spouse/ Dependent visa – I have myself applied for that and it was very easy and unproblematic. This no longer seems the case. He was told to apply in Bangkok and both Doris and Rob went. Once again they were knocked back and told that Kanchanaburi hadn’t read the new regulations and that Bangkok could no longer do this. We went back to the Immigration office in Kanchanaburi and even took an interpreter so that we were certain to get the correct information. Rob was told to leave the country to apply for a Non O and was given a list of all documents required. This was checked by the local immigration office and confirmed as correct. Rob went to Laos yesterday and was once again knocked back. He had the phone number of the Kanchanaburi Immigration officer who has been advising him and even after she talked with the Thai consulate in Laos they still would not issue him with a non O visa. Ron is coming back to Thailand now with another Tourist visa.

The reasons for not issuing the visa are;

The 800,000 Baht must be in the bank for 6 months and not 3. Is this correct?

Rob needs a letter from the British embassy saying that he is retired! He cannot apply for a retirement visa – Rob isn’t old enough, he is blue in the face explaining this to immigration staff. All he wants is a trailing spouse or dependent visa given that his wife has been issued with her 1 year Retirement visa.

After a very long story – the key question is… Is it possible to change a Tourist visa to a Non O visa if you are a dependent of someone who has already been issued with a Retirement visa?

Many, many thanks to anyone who got to the end of this story or can offer any practical advice. It would be much appreciated.

Many thanks for you quick reply

I have just received my new British passport but my tourist visa is in the old passport.immigration say they could not transfer the visa, and to take both passports over the border, is this correct

A big thank you to everybody for your replies and kind condolences - they are a great comfort at this extremely difficult time. Following the vague details initially posted just to let you know that Helen, who is British,is planning to stay in Thailand (the place she loves) and develop the wonderful spa business that Craig and her worked so hard to develop. She has good family support in the UK and I am hoping that, with the right advice and some determination, we will be able to make things as easy as possible for her to carry on with her dream.

Thanks again for the extremely helpful suggestions, info and links.

Best wishes Sue (Helen's sister)

My husband very recently died in Thailand - he lived very happily over here for 16 years although he kept assets in the UK in a house, endowments and savings. He also has a UK pension. The situation is complicated by him not leaving a will and I am looking to apply for probate asap. My sister has come over from the UK for 8 days and will be leaving Thailand on 27/10/11 and I am hoping to at least make a start at sorting things out.

I am just wondering if anybody else has been through this process and can offer any advice.

Greatly appreciated.

A Pheu Thai pledge is to raise the minimum wage 30% to 300 baht a day, or 9300 baht a month. This is going to have major implications for small and medium business as their payroll will grow dramatically. Staff are likely to be laid off and unemployment will rise, while the increases will drive inflationary pressures in the economy.

How are small business owners planning and preparing for this? As a small business owner myself I simply cannot see how I can keep all current staff on the new pay rate, and they are staff I need and do not want to release. I need a minimum of 4 for the work permit, OK, but what of the others? Will staff incur income tax on 9300 a month? I find it very hard to see how to get around these changes and keep an effective and efficient business.

Sending good vibes to those trying to stop. Here's my tale.

My habit had crept up to 60-80 a day when I was diagnosed with bladder cancer in March (cause? you guessed it). After surgery I was so drugged for weeks & weeks that cold turkey was actually quite easy. Couldn't even think what cigs were. Now, 4 months on and my course of patches finished, I think of them a lot, still get rapidly aggressive, pat my pocket to check for packet & lighter, react strongly to passing smokers. I'm still not out of the woods, still get the flinches more than I should at 4 months.

But I don't want to go back to smoking.

I find it so disabling to be a smoker. Sitting outside at bars & restaurants when all my friends are inside. Terrified of long-haul flights. Unable to go shopping in malls as I spent most time in the car parks huddled round the ashtray (if any). Unwilling to ever visit Singapore (!). I bought cartons (10 packs) & got twitchy when I was down to 3 packs left. I'm glad to be free of that.

I'll never be a non-smoker, but I'm quite proud to be an ex-smoker of 4 months. Like others here, it took major surgery to make me stop (says a lot about the strength of the addiction). Guess this thread shows we're all different & followed different paths to getting to the same place. So here's raising a glass to all on the edge and thinking of taking the plunge. It's worth it, so jump.

Story here

http://kan71000.wordpress.com/

April Fool?

A bitter 15C in Kanchanaburi this morning.

You can vote on Mae Nam Kwae Rd in a poll here

http://kan71000.wordpress.com/polls/

Chapter 1 Drop all charges against me

Chapter 2 Give me back my money

Chapter 3 Let me return to Thailand

Chapter 4 Elect me Prime Minister

Chapter 5 Economic problems solved!

Thanks for your help.

I hired a gardener/driver on the 4th of this month - he has consistently underperformed. Coming late, taking extra long lunch breaks, using the business car for his personal use. In addition he works extremely slowly taking long breaks for chats on his phone. After 1 month he still cannot be relied on to collect or return customers in our taxi service - a key role for his job. He's been told that he has until the end of the month to get his act together - all the signs show that this isn't going to happen and I will need to ask him to leave. Is there a requirement of notice that I have to give for staff who have worked less than 1 month?

Thanks