Staying away from home in Thailand

[JTXR]

Seriously?

 

If I have renovations done on my BKK condo and stay for a night or two in a hotel, I need to submit a TM30 to immigration when I return to my condo?  (I have a one year extension of stay based upon retirement).

 

Seems a bit nuts, doesn't it?

[ubonjoe]

4 minutes ago, JTXR said:

If I have renovations done on my BKK condo and stay for a night or two in a hotel, I need to submit a TM30 to immigration when I return to my condo?  (I have a one year extension of stay based upon retirement).

Immigration in Bangkok do not ask for TM30 reports. You have nothing to worry about.

[seajae]

I have been going out of the country every year with a re entry permit and have never reported being back in the country, only gone in for my regular 90 day reports. No one at immigration  has ever said to do otherwise and none of the staff have said anything to me about it. Same when we go away for a few days, never had a problem

Edited August 6, 2018 by seajae

[gaff]

How can some people accept to live here in these conditions is beyond understanding. I have some sort of pride and would never report even if the idiots would ask me. Really, it's time to grow some !

 

 

[Monkeyrobot]

I have never done this and I am in and out of the country all the time. 

[Kadilo]

If you want to live here why not just do what they ask? All this Johnny big bollo* talk will come back and bite you on the arse one day when you go to immigration and they sorry Sir..........

Everything is great until something goes wrong.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect

 

 

[55Jay]

I never knew about this until the past year or so, reading about it on TVF.  Recall the warning flare was shot up by TV member(s) using the Pattaya/Jomtien Immigration office, and it was a confused cluster <deleted> for weeks thereafter.  But it seemed to fizzle out, some members down there reporting Immigration seemed to have given up on the whole thing as it was (possibly) too much work. 

 

So I never acted on it and decided not to worry about it unless an IO from my Immi office said something.    In the interim, we've moved to a new house (same province/same Immi Office), bought a re-entry permit and left Thailand for 2 months, hotel stays in BKK/Patts, did my annual extension and many 90-day reports since then - not a peep from my Immigration office about any of it. 

[Lacessit]

1 hour ago, ubonjoe said:

Immigration in Bangkok do not ask for TM30 reports. You have nothing to worry about.

Can you imagine how many warehouses in Bangkok would be stuffed to bursting with TM30 forms if every hotel there was required to submit them?

[ubonjoe]

4 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

Can you imagine how many warehouses in Bangkok would be stuffed to bursting with TM30 forms if every hotel there was required to submit them?

They do enforce the reporting for hotels and etc. But they do them online which means there are no forms to store. They are stored in a database.

[NoshowJones]

12 hours ago, BritTim said:

Every immigration office has its own rules on this. At Jomtien, it even depends on which desk you will use for your next visit to their office! It is best to ask your local office what their rules are, and hope they do not change them. Worst case, you will at some point be hit with an affordable fine.

"Every immigration office has its own rules on this". Every IO office has it's own rules in just about everything.

No wonder people are confused about everything.

[Lacessit]

Sorry, double post.

Another grey area. As far as I can make out, it's mandatory to submit a TM30 at your place of residence when you come back to Thailand from abroad. Then, depending on which office you are dealing with, you MAY be required to submit a TM30 if you go to another province for more than 24 hours. I don't know what happens if someone just sleeps in their car.

My last extension was the cause of much consternation at my condo when the office staff realised they had not put in a TM30 for me for the previous 8 years. If there was a fine, I didn't pay it.

[NoshowJones]

6 hours ago, ftpjtm said:

While being fined 2000 Baht at Jomtiem, I was told that every time I spend a night out of my (wife's) house, whether in a hotel in Thailand or out of Thailand, I (technically my wife) need to re-file a TM 30 form.

I would not bother my backside about it.

[NoshowJones]

4 hours ago, SymS said:

I called Chiang Mai immigration last week about that. I told them I planned to go to the beach in Thailand on holiday for one or two months, and come back in Chiang Mai after. I asked them whether I needed to tell them when I left, and fill back a TM30 when I come back. They told me if that's temporary, no need.

That's fine, but another IO even in the same office may very well tell you different.

[NoshowJones]

3 hours ago, tomazbodner said:

On the same topic I would have a question then. If you have a PR in one province and go for holiday to another province, do you need to report yourself to police/immigration there? For example, my address in residence certificate is in Bangkok and I go to Phuket over the weekend for example. Do I need to report there? Do I need to report when I return?

 

Or another, to cover all possibilities - if I lived outside province where I work, say it was Ayutthaya and I was traveling to Bangkok to work every day, or stay over the week in Bangkok and on weekends in Ayutthaya, would I need to report... to who... every day or...?

 

I'm not really asking about what others do. But mostly about what do the laws say.

 

I've been traveling around Thailand often and stayed outside Bangkok for days, staying in hotels who I believe reported me there, and in 20+ years never had an issue. I'd guess most others don't report either. But what does the law actually say?

 

Thank you.

Never mind the law, just carry on, we all have to take chances at some time in our lives. If not, then just stay in bed.

[NoshowJones]

2 hours ago, Biker Boy said:

I lived in Thailand for 7 years. When I read these postings, I bow down to the sanity that prevails in Cambodia. Logic and order will never rule in Thailand. I have no idea how you guys tolerate the type of dysfunction by the Thai government.

I do regular road trips in my motorbike, and stay in different hotels all the time, do you think I am going to waste my time going to immigration offices to report to someone in their nice uniform that I have been here or been there?

No chance.

Edited August 6, 2018 by possum1931

[Nong Khai Man]

I'm on a Non-Imm " O " ( Marriage Visa ) I Do leave the country every 89th or 90th Day to go Across The Friendship Bridge at Nong-Khai to Renew my Permission to stay but RETURN Within a Couple of hours at most,The Only other time I LEAVE the country is to go to Savanakhet to obtain a NEW Visa this is ONCE Every 12/15 Months,Which means I'm OUT of Country for Approx.30 Hours Max ( 1 Night in Laos ) When I Return to OUR House in Nong Khai I haven't reported to Immigration to fill in another TM 30.....As I Was Told NO Need to do after I got My Yellow Housebook.....But have been told by a Farang Neighbour Friend  I MUST Report EVERYTIME.....Even when I've only done the 2 Hour U-Turn at Nong-Khai.......Thoughts Please ....!!

[anon789561]

3 minutes ago, Nong Khai Man said:

I'm on a Non-Imm " O " ( Marriage Visa ) I Do leave the country every 89th or 90th Day to go Across The Friendship Bridge at Nong-Khai to Renew my Permission to stay but RETURN Within a Couple of hours at most,The Only other time I LEAVE the country is to go to Savanakhet to obtain a NEW Visa this is ONCE Every 12/15 Months,Which means I'm OUT of Country for Approx.30 Hours Max ( 1 Night in Laos ) When I Return to OUR House in Nong Khai I haven't reported to Immigration to fill in another TM 30.....As I Was Told NO Need to do after I got My Yellow Housebook.....But have been told by a Farang Neighbour Friend  I MUST Report EVERYTIME.....Even when I've only done the 2 Hour U-Turn at Nong-Khai.......Thoughts Please ....!!

sounds like your on a non O ME so you don't need to do TM30 anyway

[NCC1701A]

22 minutes ago, possum1931 said:

I do regular road trips in my motorbike, and stay in different hotels all the time, do you think I am going to waste my time going to immigration offices to report to someone in their nice uniform that I have been here or been there?

No chance.

you are reporting you are returning to your home address.

the hotels report your location to immigration.

that being said, I do motorcycle trips also all over Thailand and never once reported my return to Hua Hin.

Edited August 6, 2018 by NCC1701A

[Nong Khai Man]

2 minutes ago, Happy enough said:

sounds like your on a non O ME so you don't need to do TM30 anyway

I Am Mate,Yes....

[anon789561]

1 minute ago, Nong Khai Man said:

I Am Mate,Yes....

yeah, no need to inform immo of address with ME mate

i'm on my last entry of Non o ME but will do extension from next month as no real plans to travel much in the next year or so although a pAin in the ass it'll be better and cheaper for me to go back on extensions.

if i lived right near a border as you seem to then i'd probably carry on with the ME tbh

Edited August 6, 2018 by Happy enough

[Spidey]

6 hours ago, ftpjtm said:

While being fined 2000 Baht at Jomtiem, I was told that every time I spend a night out of my (wife's) house, whether in a hotel in Thailand or out of Thailand, I (technically my wife) need to re-file a TM 30 form.

I believe that they did this for a very short period. I recently asked a senior official at Jontien and he told me that if you are returning to your registered address and have a retirement visa, no need to fill in a TM30 in any circumstances.

 

Since then, I have left the country and returned and not filed a TM30.

 

However, I've not yet done my 90 day reporting so we shall see!

[NCC1701A]

"Confusion will be my epitaph
As I crawl a cracked and broken path
If we make it we can all sit back
And laugh
But I fear tomorrow I'll be crying..."

[jimn]

So many different requirements from individual offices does confuse people. I can state 100% from my experience that the Jomtien office does not require a TM30 from those of you on a Retirement Extension. I have enquired about this at various desks (Front Desk, TM30 desk, Retirement Extension) over the past 6 months and all have given the same information.

[Lacessit]

6 minutes ago, jimn said:

So many different requirements from individual offices does confuse people. I can state 100% from my experience that the Jomtien office does not require a TM30 from those of you on a Retirement Extension. I have enquired about this at various desks (Front Desk, TM30 desk, Retirement Extension) over the past 6 months and all have given the same information.

Maybe Thai Immigration has taken to heart a quote of Ralph Waldo Emerson.

" A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds".

[Nong Khai Man]

41 minutes ago, Happy enough said:

yeah, no need to inform immo of address with ME mate

i'm on my last entry of Non o ME but will do extension from next month as no real plans to travel much in the next year or so although a pAin in the ass it'll be better and cheaper for me to go back on extensions.

if i lived right near a border as you seem to then i'd probably carry on with the ME tbh

Mate, I'm also on my last entry " Admitted until 18th August " I Will cross the Bridge at NK On that date or Day before, To get my next 90 Days which should see me good until November,I Will then go to Savanakhet BEFORE Then to get a NEW Non-Imm " O " Visa,As my CURRENT one expires on 28th August ( Which I'll have had approx 15 Months from ) BTW, I Live a 10 Minute drive from The Border.....

Edited August 6, 2018 by Nong Khai Man

[NoshowJones]

47 minutes ago, NCC1701A said:

you are reporting you are returning to your home address.

the hotels report your location to immigration.

that being said, I do motorcycle trips also all over Thailand and never once reported my return to Hua Hin.

Yes, you are right, I just don't pay attention to rules if I don't want to obey them.

Stay safe on your motorbike trips.

[jimmysjo]

17 hours ago, NanLaew said:

I think Chiang Mai wants to know every time and returnees' must 'check-in' wherever they've been.

No they don't. Been away from home many times. Inside Thailand that is. No problems att all.

[ftpjtm]

2 hours ago, Spidey said:

I believe that they did this for a very short period. I recently asked a senior official at Jontien and he told me that if you are returning to your registered address and have a retirement visa, no need to fill in a TM30 in any circumstances.

 

Since then, I have left the country and returned and not filed a TM30.

 

However, I've not yet done my 90 day reporting so we shall see!

I should have mentioned that I don't have a retirement visa. I only spend 3 months a year in Thailand, so travel on a tourist visa.

[BritTim]

2 hours ago, Happy enough said:

sounds like your on a non O ME so you don't need to do TM30 anyway

The legal requirement to do a TM30 notification is not affected by whether your permission to stay is based on an initial entry with a visa, or an extension of stay issued at your local immigration office. As a practical matter, if you never attend the local immigration office, failure to ever meet the legal requirement to submit a TM30 report is likely moot. It does not mean you (actually, the "house master") is not supposed to submit one. If you will visit your local immigration office, you need to know to what extent (if any) they enforce the requirements of the relevant sections of the Immigration Act. (The regulations, as written into the Immigration Act, are absolutely nuts, and no office applies them in full.)

[duanebigsby]

Chiang Rai Immigration is getting real snotty about this. 

It's not just out of country visits, it's anytime you are registered at another place even for a night they want a new report. If I decide I've had a little much and shouldn't ride my scooter so guesthouse it for an evening I've got to get the landlord to report me again.

This is all pointless. Bad for the expats, but also an inconvenience for our landlords and a drag for immigration.

Stop this nonsense.