IsaanAndy

They are very crude devices, no INS here, and the smaller ones can be seen being launched out of people's hands, usually while drunk, which 2 years ago in my village (40km Sth of Yaso) cost a teenager 3 fingers when it exploded in his hand and they still continue to do it ... amazing Thailand, amazing people.

You must provide original Embassy letter as it contains the embossed seal within it, at least UK one does. They always retain it when forwarding on your papers for marriage extn for consideration. Copy is OK to go with wife's statement.

I've done all my extns at Amnat and have never been asked to provide any other Thai other than my wife at the visa application extn interview.

I know of no other local expats who have done marriage extns there (Amnat) that have been asked to bring along local officials to verify the application but then perhaps they are changing the rules for new applicants ...

Good luck.

I would recommend one of the new motels that are springing up everywhere on the main roads.

They are cheap and you can usually find one within a couple of Ks of most towns, just requires abit of driving about to select the one that suits you best.

30,000 Thai Baht for a one way flight is " outrageous " LOL I don't know anybody who has paid as much as that! one of the best deals around most of the year are with " Srilankan airways " ( great service!!) BKK - Columbo - LHR from as little as 12,000 Thai Baht.( inc taxes )

Suggest you read the post again as I state you have to book 4 tickets therefore indicating it is a return fare.

Norwegian are currently offering flights from BKK to London Gatwick via Stockholm and Oslo for under 30000 THB during late Aug early Sept on email alerts I have received.

They are on Skyscanner.co.th

The only inconvenience is that you have to book each leg seperately and therefore buy 4 tickets.

Wow. Thanks for that. Much simpler than I thought. I think I have to go to Chacheongsao or Pattaya from Chonburi area I might do the first time in person & then by mail..

You should report to the Imm' Office that covers your address, e.g, I live in Roi Et but have to report to Amnat Charoen which is the official office for all in Roi Et province. The only time I have reported outside of Amnat is when I have been on holiday (in Thailand) and I have had to take proof of my hotel address along when submitting my 90 day report to the nearest Imm' office.

I needed photos of myself and wife around the inside and outside of the house.

I also had to have a form signed by 2 neighbors with photos of them signing it, and photo copies their ID. They can of course come in with you as witnesses. This was at the Korat office.

I also needed a Thai national to attend as a witness .Required to be someone registered locally.

Witnesses are not needed at all immigration offices. In fact there are a very few that do it that way.

I have never heard of a Thai witness being required to attend an application for extn of stay based on marriage, the only Thai who needs to attend is your wife as she is part of the interview process along with her documents, house book, ID card.

But then different rules for different offices ...

It seems to be inevitable for many foreigners, who live in Thailand, not to understand Thai practice regarding the law. And the practice is very simple. They do whatever they want. And because of this discussions among foreigners run high. We have all our story to tell.

This is from my previous link. And this is, so far as I know, what Thai law requires.

What you will need when applying for your thai drivers license:

• If you can not read and / nor understand the Thai language, you are allowed to bring a interpreter to fill the forms and translate the possible instruction class and tests.
• Valid Passport with Valid Non-immigrant Visa
• Signed copies of the passport's first page, the page with the current non-immigrant visa, the page with the last entry stamp and the TM-card.
• A certified letter of address from the applicant's embassy, or from the Immigration Bureau (document can not be older than 30 days).

Tip: The letter from the embassy is the fastest option, but the immigration office will provide this service for free. However, it will take them 3-6 weeks to complete and an officer from your local police station will visit your place of residence for verification.

If you are working in Thailand: the blue workbook, better known as your work permit, can replace either of these documents and serve as address verification!

• A doctor's certificate stating that the applicant is in good health, both physically and mentally (standard forms are available from most clinics and should not be more than 30 days old)
• 2 photos, 1 x 1 inch and not older than 6 months (photo service is available on the premises).
• Valid international driver's license plus signed photocopy or translated regular driving licence from the applicant's home country, certified by Embassy or consulate. (if available).
• Note that 1 set of these documents is required per licence applications. However, when applying for both a car and a motorcycle license, an extra copy of the doctor's certificate and the letter of address will suffice for the second application.

The fastest IMHO option is to obtain your own yellow house book, (if you have the visa to get one, in my case Non O, 1 year extn, X5 now based on marriage) no visit to an Embassy several hundred Kms away, no waiting or driving to your nearest Imm' office in my case another 200 Kms round trip.

The yellow house book only takes a couple of hours to obtain depending on how busy your local government office is on that day, at least that was my experience, provided you've lined up all your ducks, e.g headman or other local official to vouch you live at that address etc.

I now have my yellow house book ID on my driving licence, instead of my passport number and now use this when checking into hotels and for other activities and it seems to provide a better option to the Thai's when dealing with my transaction as it's a Thai issued ID.

There are only 2 ways to drive legally in Thailand to my knowledge.

1) is by having a Thai driving licence and for that you need to sit the test and produce your passport, yellow Thai house book whicj contains your name and the address you live at in Thailand and driving licence from your home country.

2) International Driving Permit issued in your own country, usually valid for 1 year.

Thai police, especially in the the bush will very often just wave you through on production of your licence from your home country but they have the right to fine you.

Just ask all the tourists who get stopped in Pattaya without either of the above and have to pay a fine, usually riding motorcycles they've rented. Easy money for the the police.

Oh, and you need a another Thai licence for motorcycles so if you want to cover both car and bikes then you need 2 separate licences.

Scratch number 1 as some LTD's do not accept a yellow house book.

Then ask to sort it out at the counter or to call for their boss.

The yellow house book is nothing else than proof of residency and an official Thai document which has to be accepted.

Bye,

Derk

Although an official Thai document (The yellow HB) it is only confirming that you reside at that address, I don't believe it has any value legally.

Forgot to mention that you also need a medical certificate, 30 THB at the local pharmacy, at least where I live.

As mentioned already, everything in Thailand is subject to interpretation or should I say dependent on the (lack) of knowledge of the official you are dealing with as nobody will admit they don't know the rules due to the prospect of "losing face'.

There are only 2 ways to drive legally in Thailand to my knowledge.

1) is by having a Thai driving licence and for that you need to sit the test and produce your passport, yellow Thai house book whicj contains your name and the address you live at in Thailand and driving licence from your home country.

2) International Driving Permit issued in your own country, usually valid for 1 year.

Thai police, especially in the the bush will very often just wave you through on production of your licence from your home country but they have the right to fine you.

Just ask all the tourists who get stopped in Pattaya without either of the above and have to pay a fine, usually riding motorcycles they've rented. Easy money for the the police.

Oh, and you need a another Thai licence for motorcycles so if you want to cover both car and bikes then you need 2 separate licences.

I went to Amnat yesterday to do my annual 1 year Visa Extn based on marriage with a Non 0

and instead of being given the 30 under consideration stamp I was given 20 days under consideration.

I was told the process had now been speeded up by 10 days.

I'm not aware of any m/c rental place in Roi Et, suggest you go to one of the farang owned bars by the central lake and ask or try one of the hotels before you arrive, Roi Et city hotel might be the best bet.

In a recent interview the CEO of AIS said that the 3G rollout for 2013 would center on major areas of population first before being extended in 2014 to the "bush". I suspect this model is being followed by all the carriers as it will cover most businesses in the first wave with the smaller communities following.

Nice to hear of a Imm' officer using some common sense and also being pleasant about it, something rarely found in amazing Thailand, common sense that is.

I was on holiday once in Pattaya when my 90 day report was due in Amnat Charoen, I live in Roi Et, I went to the Imm' office in Pattaya and they stamped me up for another 90 days no problem.

I suspect not all offices would do the same.

I'm a 23C a night man but with it starting to get to that temp at night here now I usually then just use the fan.

I was there in September and stayed at the Room Hotel, 450 THB a night and I had a big clean room, no breakfast but they offer free coffee in the lobby.

It's located at the Northern end of the town just off from the road running along the river the turning after the Chelsea riverside restaurant which serves very good farang and Thai food and great views across to Laos.

The host there, Nicholas knows all there is to know about NP.

I visited Ho Chi Minh's house which only a small house doesn't take long to get around and also nearby is the Thai - Viet Nam cultural centre and they are located several Kms West of town.

Evening action is located around the bus station with some live music and other drinking establishments as well as some along the river road nearer the centre of town.

I did it by post once too and it was returned within a week, I guess they quote 2 weeks to cover themselves.

I'm going to use the new service operated by Key Visa as I will be in Pattaya next month and don't want the overnight trip to BKK.

I shall report on it then.

I have used key Visa and things went very smoothly all for the princely sum of 300 Baht + the cost of the letter. Good service.

Thanks bkkrick for telling that the Key Visa service is operating efficiently, good to know in advance. Cheers.

I did it by post once too and it was returned within a week, I guess they quote 2 weeks to cover themselves.

I'm going to use the new service operated by Key Visa as I will be in Pattaya next month and don't want the overnight trip to BKK.

I shall report on it then.

If you are on a UK passport then go to the Embassy with your pension statement one morning and return the following day to collect your letter confirming you have at least 40000 THB a month income, you can also do this by post paying with a Thai post office, postal order. The UK embassy website has details of this and the fee involved.

You could also do this at the Consulate in Pattaya but no longer. The service in Pattaya is now operated by Key Visa for a 300 THB fee and saves the trip to BKK, look at their website for details.

You will need to submit 2 copies of everything, 1 copy for your application and 1 copy for your wife's statement.

They will keep the original of the embassy letter but not other originals but they will usually (in my case) like to see the other originals before accepting the copies.

An income statement from an embassy does not prove anything.

It only proves that you stated to the embassy personal that you have income (which you do not need to proof) and they make that statement official with some nicely designed piece of paper with a stamp on it. And then charge you money for it, of course.

The immigration officer is aware of this and sees this statement from the embassy as just a piece of paper confirming what you stated. Which could easily be a lie.

My personal strategy is to just do the 3 month visa runs until i am 50 (which is soon) and then apply for a retirement visa with 800k in the bank.

That should be the easiest as the requirements are simple.

If that fails, i am falling back to be a perpetual tourist, welcomed everywhere in the world.

This post is INCORRECT - The British Embassy income letter is NOT a worthless peice of paper issued without evidence of income.

To get mine I had to prove income with a copy of my annual Pensions Office letter. the annual P60 from my private pension and 6 months UK bank statements showing the money arriving on the due dates before it was issued.

As stated in a previous post I never have more than TB50,000 in Thailand and would never pay TB400,000 or TB800,000 into a Thai bank.

Given the uncertain and irrationality of the Thai political scene etc. anyone that does so might just as well kiss their money goodbye - I keep my money in the UK

Yes if a British citizen you must provide income, like a company pension statement, documents that the embassy can verify before you get any letter to support your extn, that's why it takes 24 hours to get a letter.

I keep the bulk of my money in the UK too and not in a Thai bank save for a few thousand Baht.

A sorry tale indeed.

I agree that you should only submit documents based on one critera and no more, if they then ask for more then have copies to hand or you'll have to get them if you don't.

On the one occasion I've missed something I was allowed to fax a copy the next day for a small consideration and thereby saved another 200 km trip.

Helps when you deal with the same people every time but suspect that obviously you can't expect that in BKK.

The British embassy letter to do with income only confirms who you are, pasport nbr and that you are a British citizen.

It then uses words like, Mr X has 'stated he lives at', stated 'he recieves a monthly income of X' and has shown us documents to that effect.

It then finishes with, 'would be grateful for any assistance you can provide'.

Try the Kasidis Apartments on Sritava Road, 043528064 I believe you can rent there for around 3000 THB a month.

I haven't stayed there so I don't know the actual arrangements or facilities but a Korean friend of mine stayed there for about 6 weeks 12-18 months ago and said it was OK.

Try the Kasidis Apartments on Sritava Road, 043528064 I believe you can rent there for around 3000 THB a month.