watcharacters

On 11/5/2018 at 2:37 PM, Bredbury Blue said:

Watcharacters what is your interest? Curiosity or are you writing a book or something? Be good to know.

Sorry, Blue. 

I just saw your post and want to answer.     Primarily you're correct in that I'm personally curious and I had therefore searched Google for information on it for  myself   That search came up empty  and since I  know Google archives forums I thought what better way to provide that information for the future than directly from those people who experienced it.

Thanks for any contribution you can make.

19 hours ago, trawler said:

No in the older days you needed a tax return clearance certificate if you lived in Thailand and wanted to leave(every time).

Thanks  for that trawler.

Kind of funny in that Thailand is generally  so casual regarding the implementation of tax laws for Thais but apparently  was vigilant in doing so for foreigners

5 minutes ago, pookiki said:

have a number of concerns about putting 800,000 baht in a Thai bank account.

Overall, I'd be of the mind that as guests  to Thailand we're simply forced/required to abide by any and whatever program the Thai government chooses to employ as residency requirements.    I wish it weren't that way but it's just the reality.

I agree about being required to maintain an 800K balance.    I'm not so concerned about the banks solvency as I am about being able to remove the baht from Thailand if I want to do so.    I'm going to visit the KBank branch to get the information from them first hand.

5 hours ago, pookiki said:

Why can't they do outreach meetings on this issue and ask the expat community for input on how to resolve what appears to me to be a deadlock in negotiations?  

I'm as disappointed by the cessation of the income affidavit as the next guy/gal.

I don't use it but it was a nice "ace in the hole" to have available.

While I understand your wish to have an outreach  meeting to discuss this I wonder about the cost for doing that.   The Embassy staff don't move around on the cheap.

Wouldn't  letters and phone calls to the Embassy and one's  Congress people accomplish the same thing?

On 10/11/2018 at 5:06 PM, natway09 said:

I look forward to a full report on your return.

You will be very disappointed

I don't remember Sihanoukville very well from 6 - 7 years ago but as with most places rather than say  "you will be very disappointed", I think I'd say it'll be what you make of it.

8 minutes ago, moe666 said:

It was about 15 years ago when the amount was raised to 800,000b give or take a year or so. ten years ago walk into chiang mai immigration any time during the day and you could get your business taken care of. 2 years later good luck with that, just too many people living here now

The world's become a smaller place now partly due to the information we can all read about on the internet.

You've experienced that in Chaing Mai, moe666.

1 hour ago, delboy said:

When I told my friend about it a day later, he went to the same office to apply, and was told, by the same person that had issued mine, that they don't issue lifetime licences to foreigners.

Dont ya just love it?

Talking about "fluid" rules and regulations.   

4 hours ago, JimmyTheMook said:

Was the old immigration in Pattaya on Soi 7 or Soi 8?

 

There was a price list for extensions and you walked in and paid for what you wanted.

 

Indefinite was not available but sort of remember getting up to 60 day extensions for a

counter fee.

 

 

 

 

Wouldn't it be great to have a photo of such a sign?

8 hours ago, TunnelRat69 said:

1970 - I came in only US Military ID card, same as 72,73,74,75 - skip to 1980, they let me in on my Mil ID card but said I need a passport now - went to Embassy applied and passport was mailed to them I picked it up on my way out 2 months later (still have it, green passport) - had to 'donate' to the police school's soccer team  for uniforms- 2000 baht (20 baht to 1 $$)  almost a months pay - the US Embassy sent a Consular Officer with a 100 dollar bill and I had to sign an agreement to pay it back when I could.  I had a friend lived in Pattaya who came into Thailand in 1969 off a cargo ship, decided he had enough in 1992, had to go to Immigration Court - told his tale and the Judge just shook his head and said "Unbelievable"  fined him 4000 baht, the US Embassy issued him a travel passport, only had about 3 pages in it.......and off he went.  Why I remember shi'its like this is beyond me.

"Why I remember shi'its like this is beyond me."

Jogging the memory is good for the soul and for informing others about history.

Thanks for your informative post.

16 hours ago, VYCM said:

Wow, what a great article.

First time I’ve read every post, as usual a few that aren’t genuine but all in all lots of good reading.

I can’t imagine how you guys can spend so long here. There would be a big percentage that go back home occasionally, what about the ones that haven’t been back home for decades, how do you do it? I love Thailand but I also love to get away regularly.

I’ve been living here for 16 years but working offshore, so most of the time here for a month and away for a month.

I have teenage children and always avoided the family/marriage visa, couldn’t bring myself to drag the kids out of school to sit with the odd balls (foreigners) at immigration.

I turned 50 a couple of years ago so now it’s a retirement visa / extension for me, what an ease.

I’m off to the rig in a couple of days, the internet is slow and the work is hectic so when I return I shall look forward to checking out the posts I miss out on whilst at work.

 

Cheers and well done watcharacters

In another 10 years you can think back about how Immigration "used to be".

Good luck..

19 hours ago, scorecard said:

I was assigned to Thailand about 1985, for the first seven or 8 years I was on a WP, never heard of any reporting etc. Then I got PR, then no 90 days etc.

 

But there was a requirement to get a tax clearance certificate before you could exit the country.

 

Even to go to Singapore for the day for a meeting I had to go to a Gov't office (I forget where) with a bag full of documents to get the tax clearance, often took at least 2 hours waiting and often the officers would say 'I don't believe the income Baht numbers on your form' and some would up the number / double the number, no discussion possible, then you lined up to pay the tax number and get the clearance certificate.  And you had to attend personally to get the tax clearance. 

 

One of the positive things about PR is that there's no annual renewal, no 90 days reporting, no showing money in accounts etc. 

 

 

I'm not sure what you mean  by PR?    Are you referring to Personal Recognizance?     I don't know how that applies to immigration.

21 hours ago, tgeezer said:

These ‘grandfather’ clauses must reveal the history of the income and cash requirement increases.

Absolutely..

On 11/4/2018 at 11:31 AM, HAKAPALITA said:

I can remember when it was fun. Years ago there was always a German in front of you arguing they were right, a friendly Thai IO would fill in forms for me cause i thought they were printed by an idiot. You got a Coffee off them if you were early.

When was the last year you'd consider immigration fun?

On 11/4/2018 at 9:36 AM, VYCM said:

Too right.

 

Back when I arrived (2002) the police would knock off at midnight and wouldn’t be back until 8am. I couldn’t believe it, my girlfriend would say don’t worry about your helmet it is after midnight – no police.

If you fell over because you were drunk the police would help you back on your bike (this is what encouraged the bad behaviour). Now the police take advantage of the expats, probably a good thing considering how many low life’s are here.

 

In traffic expats are first to jump on the horn and abuse someone, these people need to grow up, drive passively, if someone pulls out in front of you let them in. 

 

I'm embarrassed to be a foreigner sometimes when i see this immaturity.

If you've lived her a while, VYCM, can you recall any immigration changes you've experienced?

On 11/4/2018 at 2:28 AM, PoorSucker said:

Thanks, is this a current notice?

On 11/4/2018 at 12:03 AM, balo said:

200k , 250k, 400k and then 800k . 

 

Now its time to raise it I guess, 1.2 million baht next. 

 

balo, can you add anything regarding your experiences with immigration and its changes  over the years you've been in the country.

Many thanks.

On 11/3/2018 at 7:59 PM, rickudon said:

Not really 'old times' but 10 years ago (2008) you could get a visa for Thailand in the uk from a consulate easily, didn't need any proof of funds, just sign a form saying you had enough to support yourself. And if under 50, triple entry tourist visas. This was a period when the GBP/Thai baht rate was at a high and the imminent recession in the UK saw a lot of people taking early retirement.

 

The internet was really opening information about Thailand up, and many of these retirees took a calculated guess that Thailand offered prospects of a really comfortable retirement. When i came in 2008, about half the British people i met had been here less than 3 years. 

 

Over the next few years quite a bit changed - more sex tourists rather than retirees, the friendliness of the locals, the exchange rate and the embassies/consulates racked up the requirements on the visas practically every year (first by imposing financial requirements on the longer term visas, the upping the limits, and also get rid of triple entry and then double entry tourist visas). The number of long term expats in Udon plateaued around then, and has remained pretty static, or only grown slowly since. The local sex industry, limited as it was, has been driven largely out of sight, and the sex tourists do not come here anymore.

 

Although the rules on extensions haven't changed during this time, certainly scrutiny at immigration and enforcement has increased. There has also been a tightening on the visa rules at Thai embassies and consulates in neighbouring countries so very few 'loopholes' left.  And now we have the embassy letters. 

 

Many applauded the crackdown on illegal workers, visas runners and over stays. But now one does wonder where it will end up? Who will speak for you when the rest have gone, one category at a time?

 

 

 

rick,    I'd call you a modern "old timer" but considering expats have been coming to Thailand for the past several decades, during your relatively shorter  time here, you've already seen  a host of changes.

On 11/3/2018 at 8:52 PM, thedemon said:

From a booklet published in 1953

 

 

This is a treasure,  thedemon.    Do you have any idea what a TCS is?   Is  that a local country currency symbol?

20 minutes ago, Humid said:

I remember doing the Hat Yai/Penang runs in the 80s in big old American cars fitted with small diesels!

Few beers windows down stretched out in the back...

good times

Sedan/saloons?    555

63  red chevy impala super sport  with black interior?

back on topic..

On 11/3/2018 at 2:57 PM, trawler said:

I first visited in 87 and then worked here from 92-96.The tax return onleaving had stopped around 91 I think.

I do remember after check in with your boarding pass you went to a booth to pay airport tax of 500B for international and 50B for domestic.

Only just recently has my wife done our first TM 30 report as I never stayed longer than a couple of weeks and nobody bothered with it except as others have mentioned in the bigger hotels.

There were a lot of people who filled there passports relatively quickly but never left the country although the passports had high mileage.????

Thanks trawler.

When you say "tax return" are you talking about the  sales tax refund offered at the airports?      I'm unclear about  this.

"nobody bothered with it except as others have mentioned in the bigger hotels."

They certainly bother about it now, I'd say.

On 11/3/2018 at 2:55 PM, gamini said:

I came to Thailand in 1963. They gave most nationalities three months visa and it was easily renewable. Immigration officials were really nice. But so were the expats who were mostly well educated , cultured and well-behaved. Things started to change with the massive influx of tourists and would-be residents, many of whom were poorly educated, uncultured sexpats. Also there was a huge amount of criminals on the run and other undesirables pouring into the country.

Good golly Miss Molly!     gamini I'm led to believe you must be one of the longest expat visitors in all of Thailand.    Congratulations!!   do you currently know of anyone who has been here longer or who came here prior to you?

 From your post it's not clear to me if you've  had Thailand as a home   base since 1963.  Perhaps you came here  intermittently from that year on or made it your home?

Besides "Immigration officials were really nice." can you recall anything else about immigration  and its  policies?

On 11/3/2018 at 2:27 PM, delboy said:

In 1997 I only had 170,000 baht, not enough for a year extension, so they gave me an 8 month extension (8 x 20,000 baht per month).  After 8 months I had 40,000 baht, so they gave me a 2 month extension until my pension started to be paid.

 

Do I hear 6 1/2 months for ฿130,000?   555    Great post delboy!     Certainly shows immigration in a lighter tone.   Tons of information.

"I needed a certificate of residence in 1990 for a lifetime driving licence, and that was issued straight away, no charge."

delboy, does the administration still honor your lifetime driving license?     I'm guessing you must have been among the handful of people in thailand at the time who even had a driving license.

Thank you very much.

On 11/3/2018 at 1:37 PM, Toosetinmyways said:

In the late 70s the visa exempt was only 15 days. Staying one month at a time had to pay 100 baht a day fine. Imigration used to laugh and joke about it.

Trying to be legal they said why bother just over stay much easier.

Changed days for sure

Moving from a fairly small fine for overstay  to jail time is quite a change in attitude.