I have been reading thaivisa for a long time but never have I heard of this. 1st off I would like to give a shout-out to David Lam and his crew at TSL & Associates. There office is right across the street from the American Embassy. I went there to ask about a marriage visa. The next morning I went to his office @0800 hours and at 1330 I had a retirement visa in my passport. I came into Thailand on a 30 day visa I got at the airport. The only  requirement was a little BAHT!!! It can be done and please don't ask me how much it cost. Great Job!

Let me guess, your name is David Lam?

How much does it cost and do you also get the entry stamp, or do you have to leave the country after getting it?

Why should we law-abiding, genuine retirees even bother having money in the bank or getting a letter from our Embassy if it is this easy............AND ILLEGAL?

A mate used an agent in Bangkok and it cost him 42k. No need to leave the country.

I agree with vgdanson, why bother when all kind of people can just come pay up and stay..But some day, some immigration-officer when these uys come for stamps or whatever reason, one of these imigration-officials will add one and one together and see the bullshit in their passports...

 

Be aware,, hard times are coming for you guys that do NOT have the money or the means to stay legally in Thailand...

 

glegolo

@bookstore - to lend credibility to your story, kindly provide scanned images of:-

 

(1) the full-page "30-day visa" which the immigration officer at BKK stuck into your passport upon your arrival there; and

 

(2) the full-page "retirement visa" which was subsequently stuck (or conversion stamp which was subsequently plonked) into your passport.

A off topic post has been removed.

And in reply to a report I do not think this a promotional post. Just a happy customer IMO.

10 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

A off topic post has been removed.

And in reply to a report I do not think this a promotional post. Just a happy customer IMO.

But was it legal?

2 minutes ago, giddyup said:

But was it legal?

That is not relevant to what I posted.

But the legal or not question has been asked in many other topics similar to this one.

Regarding the legality of these things we had another thread not too long ago. The laws are not like "you must 100% have money in the bank or an income and without this it's impossible", the laws leave some room for the IOs. So giving it to him just like this would be possible by law. Doing it for money is of course illegal, but impossible to prove.

If this corruption is being caught by the immigration/police it is NOT according to the law. But if they are not being caught, I guess it is OK by the law...

 

glegolo

I wonder what will happen when the OP attempts to secure an extension of stay? -- Perhaps he intends to continue paying exorbitant sums of money for something that costs 1900Bht if applied for in person at an immigration office.

so a 30 day visa exempt to a non O conversion in 5 hours, as posted i would like to see the stamps and while at it, receipts

A off topic inflammatory post has been removed.

2 hours ago, steve187 said:

so a 30 day visa exempt to a non O conversion in 5 hours, as posted i would like to see the stamps and while at it, receipts

It is not that far-fetched.  Corruption is rife in Immigration.  The "Bad Guys" get treated much better than "Good Guys," in some offices.  In some cases, only those willing to use "Bad Guy" agent-methods can get service at all. 

The nice thing about Chang Wattana, is there is at least a clear-path for "Good Guys" who do things the proper/legal way.  In this case, that process would be showing income or money in-the-bank to apply for the Non-O stamp (2000 Baht), then returning a month before that stamp's 90-days expires, showing income or 2-months seasoned money in-the-bank, to apply for the 1-year extension-of-stay (1900 Baht).

 

3 hours ago, Swimman said:

I wonder what will happen when the OP attempts to secure an extension of stay? -- Perhaps he intends to continue paying exorbitant sums of money for something that costs 1900Bht if applied for in person at an immigration office.

Some have reported being told at CW, "You Go Back To Agent," (to keep the brown-envelopes coming in).  They might need to go out of the country for a fresh Non-O and start all over to get out of the trap.

5 hours ago, glegolo said:

I agree with vgdanson, why bother when all kind of people can just come pay up and stay..But some day, some immigration-officer when these uys come for stamps or whatever reason, one of these imigration-officials will add one and one together and see the bullshit in their passports...

 

Be aware,, hard times are coming for you guys that do NOT have the money or the means to stay legally in Thailand...

 

glegolo

 

Because you have no idea how much money is involved.  They are not going to chop the head off what feeds them.

There will never be a crack down on this.  It has been going on for years and it is huge money distributed widely across immigration.