TrippRitter

Yeah after lopburi3's last post I decided to play it safe. I am going to my school today and they are going to start the process of getting my paperwork for me. Probably go back to immigration on Monday and get an extension as well as a re-entry stamp. Thanks for the advice all, I appreciate it.

No they could not as you would need a non immigrant visa entry to extend your stay. I have seen reports that immigration recently considers an extended visa, even if multi entry, as used so believe you are indeed taking a bit of a chance.

Keep in mind I know nothing about how this stuff works. So what it seems is the day that I went in and extended my visa, on November 5th, I basically converted my multiple-entry Visa into a single entry visa that would require paying $1900 baht every 90 days to continue extending as well as a $1000 baht fee to get a re-entry permit if I ever want to leave and come back in?

You all have inspired me to go for it. I am going to return and attempt to use what should be a valid visa, whats the worst that could happen? They ignore it and give me a 30 day tourist visa? If that were to happen I would imagine my language school could give me paperwork to get things correct at immigration right? I hope so. I shall report back in about two weeks time, hopefull with good news

Well, now I am faced with the decision to be a guinea pig and get denied by immigration or continue paying out the wazoo for extensions. What to do?

@beechguy - the visa is not marked used.

@Lite Beer - I originally thought that was how it worked. However, my school gave me a folder of papers and told me I would need to visit immigration back in November. Thats what I did, I was informed by immigration at that time that I would need to pay $1,900 baht for what I assume to be an extension as well as a $1000 baht (if remember the price right) re-entry permit to leave and come back into Thailand from Cambodia.

You do not do 90 day reporting on a visa entry as a visa entry would only allow a stay of 90 days regardless of it being single or multi entry.

On an extension of stay (which it seems you are using) you must obtain a re-entry permit prior to travel and on return will be stamped to the previous permitted to stay date (which will also be the date on the re-entry permit.

So if you attempted to travel with your current 9th, even if obtaining a re-entry permit it would expire on the 9th so new entry would only be a visa exempt 15-30 day stamp.

I really don't know much about this visa stuff, it confuses the heck out of me so I will explain exactly what I have done.

On July 22nd 2010 I got a visa from Portland Oregon which reads:

Non immigrant visa

No: XXXXX

Category: ED

Good for MULTIPLE journeys...

Utilize before July 21, 2011

On the 12th of August I landed in Bangkok and utilized the visa and got the following stamp:

Visa Class: M-ED

12 August 2010

Admitted until: 9 November 2010

On the 4th of November I went to immigration with official paperwork from my school. I also applied for a re-entry permit so I could leave for holiday in cambodia the following day. I received the following stamp:

Application of stay is permitted up to 9 Feb 2011

Applicant must leave the Kingdom within the date specified herein offenders will be prosecuted

IMMIGRATION OFFICER - Signature - 4 Nov 2010

PLEASE CONTACT IMMIGRATION OFFICE FOR REENTRY PERMIT BEFORE LEAVING THAILAND

As well as the following re-entry stamp:

Valid until: 9 Feb 2011

Number of persons: 1

Number of entries: Single

Length of stay until: 9 Feb 2011

Date of Issue: 4 Nov 2010

Category: non-imm

And also a white sheet was stapled to the back page of my passport telling me to report back to immigration for 90 day reporting on Feb 1 2010

On the 5th of November I went to Cambodia and when exiting Thailand got a triangle stamp which reads:

DEPARTED

5 November 2010

Upon re-entering Thailand from Cambodia on the 12th my re-entry stamp was stamped with the following:

USED 12 Nov 2010

I also received the following stamp upon re-entry:

Visa Class: non-re

12 Nov 2010

Admit until: 09/02/2011

Went to Chiang Mai immigration today to do my first official 90 day reporting on a one year education visa. The officer told me that my current visa stamp was about to expire on the 9th which is correct. I told him I was going to Singapore on the 9th the day it expires and would be re-entering on the 15th. I figured rather than doing a border run I would checkout Singapore for a few days. He told me this would invalidate my 1 year visa because I would be re-entering after the expiration date of my current stamp. I was under the assumption that one just needed to leave before the expiration date and that the re-entry date was irrelevant. He told me to go to my school and get an official letter from them and he would give me an extension on my current stamp so that when I re-enter Thailand from Singapore my visa would still be valid and immigraton would give me another 90 day extension when re-entering. Does this sound correct?

The whip snake looks identical to the one I saw from the head down, same exact color really thin and long body. I didn't get a good enough look at it to confirm the features of its head, it was moving along pretty fast and I didn't have a good perspective of the head. I bet it was a whip snake.

The vine snake doesn't look skinny enough.

I know this isn't much to work with but I figured I would see if anybody had any ideas. I was on my motorbike up by the little waterfall in Chang Kien village and this 3 foot long snake scurried across the road. It was BRIGHT green, really really thin, almost disproportionately thin for its length. Didn't have any noticeable head features like glands or any type of shape. Probably just a tree snake of sorts, figured I would ask. It was a really pretty snake.

Thanks for the great advice. It looks like I fought this one off with vitamins, rest and of course manliness. After one week of feeling really bad I think I have turned the corner. I don't think I will need the antibiotics this time, but it's good to know for the future. Thanks again.

In the U.S. I get a sinus infection every December, like clockwork, for the past 5 years. I try to fight it off with manliness and such for about 2 weeks before going to the doctor, and every time he gives me a z-pack. Is there an equivelent here in Thailand? I found some Zithromax 200mg/5ml oral suspension but have no idea on dosage. I really don't want to go to the doctor I know what I need, I just need to find an equivalent. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Why don't you have to deal with visa runs? What happens after three months?

With a one year non-ed you don't have to worry about visa runs. At 3 months Walen gives me a folder of paperwork, I take it to immigration, pay them $1,500 baht if I remember the price correctly and walk out with another 90days. Easy stuff.

When looking at the website though it seems more like a visa-ploy than a language school? With big phrases "Free Ed visa for up to 10 years!" and "Unlimited stay in Thailand!" instead of highlighting the merits of the study it kind of makes me wonder what the aim is. The Baht bus ads in Pattaya also took this line, focusing more on ...using visa laws creatively... than actually learning Thai.

I am a student of Walen, I have been going since October and I really like it. The teachers are very professional and they take their jobs seriously, it is far from being just a visa school. It's a bit daunting at times as they move really fast and cover a lot of ground. I would recommend it for anyone who will be living here long term as you will learn to read and write as well as speak. Short term less than a year, I would probably go with a conversational school instead and skip learning the reading and writing.

I think it's understandable that Walen advertises visas. The visa hurdle is one of the most intimidating things you have to worry about living in Thailand. Not all schools offer this, not having to mess with Visa runs and Visa paperwork is fantastic and is something that should be advertised.

If a mod could delete this thread I would appreciate it, after using google search I found this post which answers my question: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/366751-where-to-buy-leather-and-leather-craft-tools/

Looking to make some leather running huaraches and was wondering if anyone knew of any places in chiang mai to get leather supplies or even leather scraps. Thanks in advance.

Yep, no problem at all. They didn't ask me any questions about my school or anything. Pretty easy experience, got me another 90 days!

I have been in Chiang Mai for close to 90 days studying Thai. My Thai is horrible due to a horrible memory, I am posting this in the Chiang Mai forum because I have heard that CM immigration tends to quiz people on education visas to see if they have been studying. So if I fail miserably what can I expect? I have a 1 year visa, hopefully they will show mercy on me

Not sure if still the same but they use to close at 6pm

Thats what I was afraid of, thanks for the reply.

You are pretty much forced to use a short time hotel after about 8pm.

We aren't all sexpats.

It would be quite nice if it opened at night, by lamplight.

Yeah, thats what I was hoping for, oh well.

I really love the food and atmosphere at this lake. I was wondering if anybody knows if they are opened during the evening? I was thinking of going tonight, watching the sun set and eating some good food. Don't want to drive out there though if they close at sun down.

I have the least expensive premier and it is 1160 Baht per month.

Thats much more reasonable. I think I may upgrade. I currently have indy and it is a complete joke, i guess i can't complain much for 590 baht. I assume upgrading will be as simple as me going to their offices. Hopefully they won't have to come out and fiddle with anything.

Should be noted theres 3bb indy and 3bb premier.. Get the premier..

Is my Google translator working correctly? 2,500 baht per month for the base premier package?!? Good god thats expensive, it better be really good.

I have been calling and emailing the Portland consulate for almost a month now with zero response. I was wondering if anybody has used them within the past week or two for visa services? Want to make sure they are still around before sending my visa app to them.

I am attempting a non-imm ed visa and these are the questions I would like to ask the consulate, maybe some of you with experience can answer a few of them, here is my email that I have been sending to the portland consulate:

I have enrolled for a one year course with the Walen School of Thai Language and they have provided me with the necessary paperwork to apply for a 1 year visa. I want to make sure I do everything correct to get my visa and have a couple simple questions.

1. Will a regular monthly financial statements from my bank be okay to prove financial assets or do I need to get notarized/certified statements from my bank?

2. I am applying for a multiple entry visa asI would like the option to travel to some other countries if I have the time. Is this possible or should I play it safe and apply for a single entry?

3. My wife has a job arranged and will be applying for a visa at the same time as well. Can we mail both of our applications in the same Fed Ex Air package or do we need to mail both ofthem in separately?

4. All of my visa paperwork supplied by my school is in Thai with an exception of the main letter. I have heard that some consulates do not have employees who can read Thai, will this be a problem?

Purchase a cheap web host, anywhere from 5.99 a month up to 12.99 a month USD, make sure they have fantastico. Fantastico is an app that most web hosts have that automates the installation and default configuration of commonly used CMS and blog platforms. You can use fantastico to automagically install wordpress, joomla or drupal, i listed them in order of complexity. I would probably look at wordpress as it is very flexible and easy to use and has a ton of 3rd party add-ons. Find a good book or scour the web on how to utilize the power of the framework you choose, like I said, wordpress is probably your best bet.

PS

If you are serious about learning Thai at Walen, memorise the Thai alphabet and vowels BEFORE you go to school

Gaw Gai, Khaw Kai, etc

sara aaa, sara 1, etc

Thanks for the tip, I am serious about it so I will take your advice, thanks!

Moving to Chiang Mai on August 12th 2010 and have paid for and received my paper work from Walen. Not sure if it is a problem but on my letter they state the date as July 12th 2010 to July 11 2011. It seems that they missed the date by one month. I sent them an email informing them of the date issue and this was their response:

Regarding to the starting date in the school paperwork.

Our authorized paperwork is still valid if you apply the ED visa before the date shown (May 31st) in the body of the letter.

Please remember that the ED visa itself is valid for 89 days. So you should not have any problem with that letter.

Once you obtain ED visa, kindly inform us.

Kinda confused by their response, not sure what the May 31st response is about as I didn't get my paperwork back from then until June 8th. Are they talking about May 31st 2011? I am posting my concerns here because I hate to bother them again, I have emailed them quite a bit asking many questions as I don't want to miss anything important following the process.

Am I also correct that my one year visa will start the day it is approved which means I should apply here in the United States close to my departure date? Any recommendations on a consulate in the U.S. that I should go with? I live 2 hours away from the consulate in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma so I could go there in person. What are my chances of getting a multi-entry?

Thanks in advance for any advice!