11 minutes ago, 1337markus said:

Agreed maybe the victim should send the evidence to Big Joke who said this had all stopped. Lasted what 2 weeks?

I would be going to the media, and setting them up with a hidden camera, done and dusted, now there is a story, or would that be a storm in a teacup.

 

Big Joke would have egg on his face and would have to act some more, or would he to put the fire out, or hang the IO out to dry, others to follow, wait for Corrupt IO's at Jomtien 2 to come out soon at the movies, free pop corn and coke

7 minutes ago, JohnnyBD said:

I look at it more like paying for a special/expedited service.

If that were the case you would get a receipt and it would be openly available.  Blinders does not make it anything else.

BJ said, "No Tips". 
BJ did not say, "Corruption in Thailand is now a thing of the past.  Immigration is a Corruption Free Zone!!!" 
And to get down to brass tacks, BJ said, "No Tips", but he didn't explicitly say, "No Bribes". 

Let's see.  At a restaurant do I tip the wait staff for good service, or do I bribe the wait staff to do their job?  See?  The difference between 'Tips' and 'Bribes' and how to use semantics to make you into a PR Super-Star!!!

 

 

Edited November 20, 20187 yr by connda

Wouldn't settling the 10k generate goodwill with Thai immigration?  I don't know about these things but maybe they give you a five star rating on their computer system.  

IO in Room, counter 7, tell us that I have to leave the country and start over with a new Non-o based on retirement or get a touristvisa abroad also and then change to extension based on Retirement. We get quite confused since from what we have been reading nobody is asked to do this.

 

What the officer said to you, as above, is correct.

3 hours ago, orchis said:

not surprised. visas issued by agents ('with no money in the bank') are usually processed through jomtien immigration. i have seen 'retirement visas' from people living in chiangmai, bkk and koh tao; all issued by jomtien immigration through an agent. no applying in person needed, all through the mail.

 

If your post is accurate it sounds like any official complaints about corruption in the immigration/visa realm can be corrected by focusing on the Jomtiem  facility.

3 hours ago, Wallander4 said:

I want to change cause it a gigantic hassle to do extension based on marriage at Jomtien Immigration

No it isn't!  I've extended my spousal extension 5 times at Jomtien with no problem.  Doesn't take me too long to get the paperwork and photos together.  I know a couple of guys who think it's difficult, but the truth is, they just don't like doing anything above the capability of a grade 5 student.  PM me if you want more info.

2 minutes ago, watcharacters said:

 

If your post is accurate it sounds like any official complaints about corruption in the immigration/visa realm can be corrected by focusing on the Jomtiem  facility.

I know a guy who does his special annual report to Jomtiem and lives as far north as you can get.  Never a problem and never will be.  

3 hours ago, watcharacters said:

 

I understand how you feel but a word of caution is in order. 

 

In any Western country I'd suggest you go "full steam ahead" with your complaint.

 

Thailand  isn't a Western country so I think you would be well served to give pause to your intentions.

 

You have little chance to win a battle with immigration or any particular officer in  the immigration office.

 

Better to "turn the other cheek" and walk away while there's  still time.

 

Good luck..

 

 

 

From Wallanders earlier post #7 :-

 

"we are leaving Thailand next year so this is last extension anyway"

 So I would assume that he is intending to wait until he is out of the country anyway, and consequently any complaint will probably get fired straight into the garbage bin as any ensuing publicity would only be damaging Thailand's "tourist friendly" reputation - they are making it abundantly clear that ex pats are of little consequence!

 

2 minutes ago, sambum said:

From Wallanders earlier post #7 :-

 

"we are leaving Thailand next year so this is last extension anyway"

 So I would assume that he is intending to wait until he is out of the country anyway, and consequently any complaint will probably get fired straight into the garbage bin as any ensuing publicity would only be damaging Thailand's "tourist friendly" reputation - they are making it abundantly clear that ex pats are of little consequence!

 

What complaint?  The OP was politely asked if he'd like to donate to the pot.  He declined and was subsequently granted a trouble-free stay.  TiT.  

4 hours ago, elviajero said:

The IO was trying to extort money from you.

 

If you entered the country with a non ‘O’ visa there is no reason why you can’t change the reason for your extension of stay to retirement at the annual renewal. Although, unless you are divorcing, I don’t see why you need/want to change.

 

You certainly don’t need form TM.86, just TM.7.

but but  but hasnt Joke boy thrown out  all those  illegals the immigration dept let in thru their bribery by now???

4 hours ago, JackThompson said:

You don't need to do a TM-86 at all, but not surprised that particular staff/office did not tell you that.  The Non-O stamp desk-staff are (colorful adjective), and push very hard to get a large cash-payments in exchange for issuing valid and honest stamps/extensions. 

 

Didn't BJ tell the world recently that Immigration under his leadership wasn't doing "tips" anymore?  Perhaps someone has absconded with the "No Tips" sign at Jomtien. 

6 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

Didn't BJ tell the world recently that Immigration under his leadership wasn't doing "tips" anymore?  Perhaps someone has absconded with the "No Tips" sign at Jomtien. 

I did note the 'No Tips' sign at Swampy departures a few days ago.  Might be more relevant at arrivals, though.

hello, sorry I am new here, can you tell me what is the benefit of changing a visa from marriage to retired ?

 

Thank you.

4 hours ago, Wallander4 said:

I want to change cause it a gigantic hassle to do extension based on marriage at Jomtien Immigration

 

I have read that any extension is a hassle and the only smart way to proceed is to cross a border even for few minutes every 3 months. I have friends doing it and it seems a smarter choice that dealing with idiots...

 

 

3 minutes ago, pehice said:

hello, sorry I am new here, can you tell me what is the benefit of changing a visa from marriage to retired ?

 

Thank you.

Are you getting divorced?

3 minutes ago, pehice said:

hello, sorry I am new here, can you tell me what is the benefit of changing a visa from marriage to retired ?

It is about changing the reason for an extension of stay not a visa.

The advantage is lower financial requirements. For retirement it is 800k baht in the bank or 65 baht income. Marriage is 400k baht in the bank for 40k baht income,

1 minute ago, ubonjoe said:

It is about changing the reason for an extension of stay not a visa.

The advantage is lower financial requirements. For retirement it is 800k baht in the bank or 65 baht income. Marriage is 400k baht in the bank for 40k baht income,

 

Thank you, but if marriage deposit is cheaper, why someone would like to change for retirement ?!

Or maybe I did not understand well ?

 

 

4 hours ago, orchis said:

not surprised. visas issued by agents ('with no money in the bank') are usually processed through jomtien immigration. i have seen 'retirement visas' from people living in chiangmai, bkk and koh tao; all issued by jomtien immigration through an agent. no applying in person needed, all through the mail.

As you probably know, visas are not issued by agents or immigration offices.

That is done outside the kingdom in order for people to enter on a visa and convert it as desired.

What agents do is to facilitate the process of extending one's stay in the country by "working with an IO at the office."

What you see from people living miles from Jomtien is extensions of stay.

3 minutes ago, pehice said:

Thank you, but if marriage deposit is cheaper, why someone would like to change for retirement ?!

Or maybe I did not understand well ?

Because they think it is more difficult to do the extension.

I am on my 11th extension based upon marriage and I do not think it is that hard to do.

The entire immigration office must have laughed when they hung up those new NO TIPPING signs.

14 minutes ago, pehice said:

 

Thank you, but if marriage deposit is cheaper, why someone would like to change for retirement ?!

Or maybe I did not understand well ?

 

 

For me it's more convenient, do not have to take wife along for extension, less paperwork, only one visit/year to Immigration (no 'under consideration').

 

I agree with UJ that it is not difficult to do the 'marriage extension', used to do them myself. Showed a deposit of 100,000 for my first extension.

 

The only downside is if immigration suddenly offer something like automatic citizenship if you have been married for 30 years or so, but that would appear unlikely. If they did make this offer you would (according to some) fail the sanity test for being married to a Thai for so long.

 

18 minutes ago, pehice said:

 

Thank you, but if marriage deposit is cheaper, why someone would like to change for retirement ?!

Or maybe I did not understand well ?

 

 

The actual cost is the same but the amount which needs to be deposited in the bank is higher for the retirement extension.  I was on a marriage visa but switched to retirement for convenience.  There is less paperwork required with the retirement extension as it is dealt with by the local office whereas all marriage extensions need to be sent by the local office to Bangkok for approval.   This involves having to wait up to a month to get the approval instead of next day with the retirement  extension.

1 hour ago, fanjita said:

What complaint?  The OP was politely asked if he'd like to donate to the pot.  He declined and was subsequently granted a trouble-free stay.  TiT.  

I thought the OPs wife offered half, 5000Baht. The IO refused it, do people refuse

donations, or have I missed something?

54 minutes ago, pehice said:

hello, sorry I am new here, can you tell me what is the benefit of changing a visa from marriage to retired ?

 

Thank you.

The benefit is not to anyone having the Visa extensions based on marriage.

It is a lot less work for the IOs to do retirement extensions rather than extensions

based on marriage.

1 hour ago, pehice said:

hello, sorry I am new here, can you tell me what is the benefit of changing a visa from marriage to retired ?

 

Thank you.

Less paperwork (although the extra required if married isn’t a big deal) and the extension is issued on the spot.

 

The downside is 400K more in the bank for three months instead two, or proof of an extra 25K pm income, and you can’t work.

Edited November 20, 20187 yr by elviajero

Report them to higher authorities in Bangkok, this is the sort of scum Thailand can do without.

1 hour ago, ratcatcher said:

As you probably know, visas are not issued by agents or immigration offices.

That is done outside the kingdom in order for people to enter on a visa and convert it as desired.

What agents do is to facilitate the process of extending one's stay in the country by "working with an IO at the office."

What you see from people living miles from Jomtien is extensions of stay.

No, the 3 instances I know of, got their initial visa and subsequent extensions through Jomtien, they did not leave the country for this.

Some of us wear tinfoil hats and are paranoid enough to think that Thai Immigration has someone monitor TVF's.  In which case there is a chance that B.J. or one of his cohorts now knows about this already.   It was particularly disappointing for me to read as I had some plans not too dissimilar that may now have been pushed right off the tracks.   Damn!!!

At CW it was as simple as marking retirement on the TM 7 form rather than Thai Wife when I applied for another extension of stay. My wife was not required to sign anything or agree to the change. I just provide the necessary documentation for and extension based on Retirement.