crazygreg44

in many offline shops, you can never be sure if the phones are originals!  Buying at Tesco Lotus is safer, and they also grant full warranty. Lazada will not allow copies to be sold through their online shop, which gives you some peace of mind.  Another trusted shop is https://www.invadeit.co.th/  for electronics & phones, i have bought numerous smartphones by them already, paid by paypal and there never was an issue

at Jaymart online shop you need to be able to read thai, also on their website there is no search function!  I wonder how they think you find anything you are looking for

you can buy an extension plus the single re-entry permit for 1900 plus 1000.

You can do 3 re-entries and still have saved 800 THB against buying the multi re-entry permit.

Only after 4 re-entries, the money you paid out for a multi re-entry saved you 200 THB, against using single re-entries only

12 minutes ago, Jim P said:

Actually come to think of it he has saved 100thb. 1900 for the single extension plus two trips aboard requiring re-entry permits at 2000thb, total 3900thb

wrong again.

If he bought a multi re-entry permit, his costs would have been 1900 for the extension and 3800 for the Multi Re-Entry permits. Sums up to 5700 THB total.

If he only bought the extension and a single re-entry permit, it would cost him 1900 + 1000 = 2900 THB.

A second single re-entry permit at the airport costs 1000 THB, adding up to his already spent 2900 totals 3900.- Baht. 

Against 5700 THB this is a saving of 1800 THB , not only 100.- !

16 hours ago, watcharacters said:

 

 

 

I'll answer that.    I have loads of saved receipts ATM receipts  as proof  of my funds received  in Thailand.    I have never received any form or notice from my Thai bank about any funds transferred to Thailand.      I have made several international  fund  transfers but  zilch from the bank so  that I'll  have no issue about having the funds exit the Kingdom.

 

But I have ATM receipts of 100K's  THB being transferred into the Kingdom.

 

I'm now  on a minimum  account level  funding  approach due to the difficulty in removing   money from the Kingdom.    MY money and  I want to be in control.

I would check those saved ATM receipts if you can still see anything printed on them.

After one year the print has faded into nothing !!

the Embassy claims:

• Proof of onward travel (confirmed air, train, bus or boat tickets) to leave Thailand within 30 days of the arrival date (**otherwise a tourist visa must be obtained).

How can they demand this ?  You can extend a Visa-exempt entry at any immigration office inside the country for another 30 days, allowing you 60 days in the country on Visa-Exempt.  I would have thought they allow your to show a ticket out of the country WITHIN THESE 60 days, not 30 days.

myself, I am going to do a  3-week trip to visit my girlfriend by June this year. Then by October, I will again enter Thailand for a four month stay.

I am on a One-Year permit of stay on retirement purposes.  During my last extension in January, I wanted to save money and left the extension procedure with an only single re-entry permit.  So if I want to keep my extension live, i will have to buy another re-entry permit before I leave Thailand in June.

I got two choices:  Buy the re-rentry permit at the airport and pay 2100 THB, or do a 140 Kilometer trip by my own car to visit Sisaket Immigration, for a re-entry permit stamp at 1900 THB.

I guess you don't ask me why & which option I will choose to be the better one

i think it is okay for Thai people who speak some english to say "thank you velly mutt" without all that crap

1 hour ago, scotsman said:

I have just been informed that my brother has got his Category -O visa in Penang so he is very happy. The process in Penang was very easy and well organised, nothing like Pattaya. So to all the people who read this tread you are

 

better off trying to get a change of visa in Penang than pattaya.  (note of me: he has NOT changed it in Penang!)

 

he lady in Pattaya immigration I think has been instructed to make your life very difficult in changing your visa as they want to push you to a visa agent,  Her requirements that she wants you to get are not given to you all at one time so you jump though her hoops one by one until she can trip you up or you get so frustrated you go to a visa agent, who will charge you anything from 25k to 16 k  even when you have all the money requirements yourself.  We are glad this experience will help others to get the information to be able to get a change of visa.  We thank all the people who tried to give us advice.   

 

Regards

Scotsman   

i hope your brother does not fall out of his cloud when he realizes that he has not "changed his tourist visa to a Non Imm O" in Penang,  but has received a "normal" Non Imm O visa as a first step individual visa.

This visa will eventually become invalid soon (90 days), and he needs to apply for extension of stay based on retirement at the wonderful Immigration Office in Jomtien, the place where he resides.

So actually he hasn't won anything that he could not have had in the first place, if he had gone out of Thailand to get a Non Imm O at any Thai consulate or embassy, or used an agent.

When he applies for the extension of stay, he will have to bring up the same documentations and all the same paperwork, again, which he has been asked for in the first place when he tried to change a tourist visa to a Non Imm O.  

The residence certificate seems now to be a crucial document for Pattaya Imm, and he should take utter care in order to comply with this requirement. 

Actually another run of the mill. Maybe this time using an agent instead of going himself, again, will solve the issue.

I advice him to be calm, well mannered and don't tell them what their job is.

Good luck!

On 25.2.2017 at 9:28 AM, madmax2 said:

Just make sure you have more money than the minimum amount required by 5% and you will not have a problem

exactly this is me thinking . .  just place a few squid more into your account and stop worrying.

If you are such a short Charlie and out to migrate to Thailand, you shouldn't ask here for pennywise solutions

yeah that's what I am trying to say . . .. don't be shy to create some splashes and you will be surprised how many well tasting ones you can get from a fair budget.  Nobody needs to buy overpriced imported wines in Thailand.

i have started to drink the chinese made plum wine they sell at Tesco Lotus, a bottle for 180 Baht. The wine is very sweet, so I pimp it with some Schweppes Tonic water and boost the alcohol content with a shot of Absolut Vodka.  

Makes a perfect sundowner on the rocks and probably a nice alternative budget wise

I cannot be tempted to drink thai "fruit wines" but i guess one could give them the above treatment.  When in Thailand i don't buy the overpriced wines, yet stick to Gin Tonics or a good Scotch or Bourbon Whisky.  Sometimes I like to create 3-5 liters of splash, made from fruit juices and white MontClair wine, boost alcohol with either Gin or a good Vodka and try to be everybodies good guy . . .

On 6.1.2017 at 3:58 PM, Angus123 said:

Thanks, Donutz. Looks like option 1 is the best and easiest option. 

here in Bangkok you can get notary certified translations of documents which need legalization or else. They can also give you firsthand expert advice on your requests:

https://www.thailaendisch.de/

you should make up your last will and move on.  If you cannot have a life under the sun, then whatever planet you are going to make your escape?

the last half hour of sunset belongs to the mosquitos anyways, so don't you talk about sunburns during sunsets

On 20.1.2017 at 3:07 PM, loloal said:

It was in Lyon. Second and only choice is the embassy in Paris, but it seems like the directives flow down from Paris to Lyon so I would expect the same answer.

 

Flying straight to Penang would not be my favorite option because my flight to Bkk is already booked.

 

So according to your posts so far I understand I'd better fly out after ~29 days, try to get a visa, and if declined go back with another 30 days (+ 30 days extension). Right ?

 

Is Penang the most obvious destination ? should I stay 2 or 3 nights there or is it ok to just go in/out ?

correct!  This is the best and most convenient way to do it.  Penang from out of Ko Samui, nearest destination.  Yes and why not stay two nights or three?  It's got a beachlife, too

DELETED . .wrong topic

14 minutes ago, SnackmasterB said:

Hi, I have a Non-Immigrant O visa, single-entry, based on volunteering. 

 

My Non O visa expiry date says 24 Jan 2017.

My stamp from Chiang Mai Airport upon entry says "Admitted until 31 Jan 2017" (I landed/entered on 3 Nov 2016)

 

1) Is it possible to get an extension on this type of non-imm O visa?

2) If an extension is not possible, do I have until the 24th or 31st to leave the country?

3) Can I make a land border crossing at Mae Sai and go into Burma for the day and receive a 30 day visa exempt stamp (that is extendable by 30 days at the end if I so wish?) Or is flight in/out the preferred option?

 

Thank you in advance for any insights.

 

D

1)  No, as your Visa is already "used"

2)  You are allowed to stay until the 31st

3)  You can get a Visa Exempt entry for 30 days, but be prepared to show 20,000 THB in cash at a land border.You also MAY BE questioned to show a proof of onward travel within the 60 days . . . 

21 minutes ago, xerostar said:

 

Yes I supplied the copies of the  landlords Tabien Baan and ID card with the TM30 form as well as her copy of her ID card - signed.

yes you did, but appararently 1 year too late!  You have already quoted this in your post No. 6.

From the very beginning when you first got issued a stay permit,  there should have been a paper containing your reported adress clipped into your passport. Was there ?

The method of the agent was very dubious from the very beginning,  because you normally do not receive a Non Imm-O Visa for retirement purpose in a neighboring country nor from an agent inside Thailand, but only from a honorary consulate or the embassy of Thailand in your home country, together with a police clearance and a medical certificate.

in the recent 7  years I have gotten the Certificate of Residence at the Sisaket Immigration for four (4) times already, for different purposes.

I did my extension of stay for retirement, five days ago, maybe they just were fed up with me because I also needed a single re-entry permit,  and I noticed all in all it means a lot of paper shifting for them.

You are right, normally the Immigration of the area you live, is the correct place for the application of a Certificate of Residence.  I  guess you  must be knowing what to bring with you for the application.  I had to pay 200 THB the previous times, and they said that was for all the copying they did with my passport, housebook, etc.

I wish you Good Luck, and please report here, should there be an issue

just five days ago at the Sisaket Immigration, when I asked for a Certificate of Residence,  the offcials working there said that they do not issue them any more.  

When I asked, so who is going to issue the certificate, as I will probabyl be needing one  on my January visit to the Department of Traffic in Phetchaburi (800 km away from us) to apply for the re-issueing of my lost car's blue book,  they said it is not needed on any offices any more, since now all foreigners are registered with a central computer, and the traffic departments got access to these files.

I relented from asking much more, but I have the strong feeling that this was a load of <deleted> BS, it just can't be true.

Now i am sitting here trying to solve the problem.  Going back to the Sisaket Immigration (67km) and ask again, or go to our Amphur with my girlfriend in whose house I live, and apply for a yellow housebook

5 hours ago, zeichen said:

" Extend your stay in the United States by filing a visa extension request with the U. S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) using Form I-539 "

 

Yes, technically people are extending their stay, but it is a common expression to say extend one's visa and even used on US government websites.

actually the Visa you entered with will have been used upon entry - and rendered invalid AFTER your entry. So technically you cannot extend an invalid Visa any longer

1 minute ago, jeab1980 said:

No not at all your saying people who get non o visa somehow do not fit the requirements. My husband could and has over the years had reirement/married extensions but every year you go to immigration there is always something new not standard through this country as can easily be read on here. So when I said whims and swerves it was aimed at local immigrations making up there own rules putting obstacles in way it's not smooth anymore as it was. So my husband decided on the non o visa route only immigration you talk to is at borders. 

just today I went to the Immigration for my annual extension.  I got it, all was well.  Then I asked them for a "Certificate of Residence"  which I need in January on a visit to the Department of Traffic.  Immigration then told me,  that the certificates of residence have been discontinued, and nobody needs them, and all Immigration Offices in Thailand have stopped issueing them.   

I relented to argue it with them and drove home.  Now after some conversations I have had with others, all I can say this was just rubbish from Immigration officials who don't know it better or thought up a reason to refuse a CoR for me.

5 hours ago, EddieBaBaBoBo said:

From the Thai Immigration website: *****

(i didn't see others had already answered to this)

www.thaiimmigration.net/extending-your-thai-visa.html

 

***** THIS is NOT from an official Thai government Website, and it is NOT from the "Thai Immigration" website. this is a privately set-up website and just expresses the opinion of it's authors.  Who, by the way, are using the wrong term !

5 minutes ago, overherebc said:

 

You 'grant' them 500,000 or 1,000,000 baht and they 'grant you a visa, but, you still have to do 90 day reports if you live outside Bangkok. If you live in Bangkok they will collect your passport and do the 90 day report for you and return your passport.

Google it for more info. ☺

thank you, yet I have already read about the Elite program years ago. All i asked for is, how do you call this type of permit of stay?  As there is nothing such as a "retirement visa", does this also go for the Elite Card?  Is there an "Elite Visa"  or is this term wrong, too?  Should it read "Permit of stay under the Elite program" or do you "hold an Elite Visa" ?

9 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

True but you have to qualify for an extension of stay of some kind and not all extensions qualify to get one. Also the visa is only valid for the date it is issued and is immediately used when a 90 day entry is stamped.

Immigration does also issue the PE visa for Thai Elite.

Joe, i have a question. Is there such a thing as the "Elite Visa", or is ELITE just the name of a program under which somebody gets granted a 5/10  year "permit of stay under the Elite scheme"  

8 hours ago, autoc said:

By low quality vegetables I mean chemical poisoned vegetables as everybody is eating here. Of course, they look good, but cocaine also !

then please explain, why you think that 7/11 isn't also using vegetables that have been sprayed with pesticides and herbicides during their growth. 

Does 7/11 use purely organically and pest-free grown vegetables in their frozen meals?

I strongly doubt it!