Copy shop next to Jomtien IO is "certifying" Income documents

[yodsak]

6 minutes ago, KhunFred said:

Thanks, I was just going by the map they have on their web page. You would think they would bother to update it, wouldn't you??

 

no, never expect logic,,,TIT. + it's a thai outfit,,  i went to the old place myself,,   then asked the lads at nickys,,,,     

[BertM]

4 hours ago, yodsak said:

no, never expect logic,,,TIT. + it's a thai outfit,,  i went to the old place myself,,   then asked the lads at nickys,,,,     

Just curious what the TIT means... it doesn't appear to be a standard acronym...

Edited November 28, 2018 by BertM

[Pattaya46]

24 minutes ago, BertM said:

Just curious what the TIT means... it doesn't appear to be a standard acronym...

Always took it for "This Is Thailand"

Often used by those who want others to believe that everything is very different, or is managed very differently, in Thailand, when most of cases it isn't...

Often use also by members who are on this forum only to criticize Thailand and to (try to) prove how Thai people are stupid...

And also used sometimes for funny small things that are supposed to happen in Thailand only .

 

Edited November 28, 2018 by Pattaya46

[cyberfarang]

8 hours ago, JLCrab said:

And I can't help but think the talk at the IMM office at the end of the day as they are divvying up the spoils is what a bunch of chumps these farang are to pay 15-20,000 baht for what really only costs 1900 baht and a little leg work.

Chumps that don`t have enough funds to meet the immigration requirements.

 

Chumps using corrupt agencies run by corrupt officials and criminal gangs to be able to stay in the country illegally. The worst part is; those that are going via illegal channels to remain in Thailand are actually boasting about it. 

 

But if it were me using these agency/loan sharks to obtain my yearly extension, I wouldn`t be so smug about it, I would be afraid, I would be very afraid.

 

 

[KneeDeep]

11 hours ago, Golden Triangle said:

For the past  7 years I have been legal and above board with my yearly extensions, my last one gave me the most hassle I have ever had, I did comment on it at the time here on TVF, I vowed then that my next one would be via an agent as I refuse be abused and subjected to petty comments from someone who clearly considered themselves superior ( purely because of their position of power) the power to issue or decline my extension eventhough all my paperwork was in order and 100% Kosher.

 

So rather than jump through hoops, bow & scrape, smile through adversity, grit teeth etc etc I will cough up the not unreasonable sum of 14k and let an agent handle it, afterall, the stamp & signature on the extension are real enough and if immigration have no scruples why should I ??

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

....and with that he fell perfectly into their trap.

[janclaes47]

11 hours ago, Golden Triangle said:

afterall, the stamp & signature on the extension are real enough and if immigration have no scruples why should I ??

I remember more than 2 decades ago there was a shop in Pattaya, ran by an American called Jim and his wife Mae.

 

Few time I had seen an immigration officer, in uniform, sitting behind a desk stamping a heap of passports.

 

Sure he was using a real enough stamp and his uniform looked real enough as well.

 

Then one day Pattaya mail had a headline story, when Jim and Mae were busted, and many foreigners were in a lot of trouble............with their real enough looking stamp in their passports.

[hereforgood]

I use that copy shop all the time but I use it because I want them to fill out all my forms for me saves me the trouble and for the 100 baht I find it a bargain. I keep sufficient funds here so the new rules won't affect me. But I asked the young German guy who is doing the forms for me if he expected the new rules to be a problem for those that didn't have the money here. He said it will be no problem at all I'm sure he meant as long as they had enough money to pay an agent to do it for them under the table.

Sent from my LG-H990 using Tapatalk

[garyk]

3 hours ago, cyberfarang said:

Chumps that don`t have enough funds to meet the immigration requirements.

 

Chumps using corrupt agencies run by corrupt officials and criminal gangs to be able to stay in the country illegally. The worst part is; those that are going via illegal channels to remain in Thailand are actually boasting about it. 

 

But if it were me using these agency/loan sharks to obtain my yearly extension, I wouldn`t be so smug about it, I would be afraid, I would be very afraid.

 

 

Chump, haha. Anyone going the legal route is just as big a chump as the one going the illegal route.

You are a Chump either way.

If it ain't the corrupt officials calling you a chump, it is the government and the banks calling you a chump. Actually i think going the legal route you are the biggest "chump" by a long shot.

 

This whole thing has opened a can of worms that is going to take years to fix, if ever! IMO.

 

Regards.

 

Edited November 28, 2018 by garyk

[JLCrab]

24 minutes ago, garyk said:

Chump, haha. Anyone going the legal route is just as big a chump as the one going the illegal route.

Well if not paying 15-20K baht for something that according to Ministerial Regulation should only cost 1900 baht makes one a chump, then I guess I am a chump or have been at least for the 15 years up until now.

Edited November 28, 2018 by JLCrab

[tropo]

17 hours ago, onera1961 said:

What does it mean by certify? Who are they? Are they authorized by immigration to check your documents and certify? Is it acceptable to immigration (with other random backup proof of course, I guess). If it is acceptable to IO, and not approved by immigration, I guess anybody can certify and you can do a self-certification also. 

Call it what you like. In small, rural immigration offices there's not much potential "business", but the mob in Jomtien are sitting on a goldmine of thousands of potential customers, that used to get their income letters at embassies. That's big money. Many 800k depositors may decide to switch methods.

[tropo]

1 hour ago, garyk said:

Chump, haha. Anyone going the legal route is just as big a chump as the one going the illegal route.

You are a Chump either way.

If it ain't the corrupt officials calling you a chump, it is the government and the banks calling you a chump. Actually i think going the legal route you are the biggest "chump" by a long shot.

 

This whole thing has opened a can of worms that is going to take years to fix, if ever! IMO.

 

Regards.

 

I agree. All foreigners in Thailand are treated like chumps when it comes down to it. There are many who will disagree, but burying your head in the sand doesn't change reality.

[JLCrab]

18 minutes ago, tropo said:

I agree. All foreigners in Thailand are treated like chumps when it comes down to it. There are many who will disagree, but burying your head in the sand doesn't change reality.

Maybe if you choose to live in a farang ghetto like Jomtien. The reality is, if you don't then, sand or not, it maybe isn't

Edited November 28, 2018 by JLCrab

[tropo]

17 hours ago, dcnx said:

Exactly. Foreigners love to call things shady or unethical here, but it’s just how they do business.

 

I read so many posts of guys struggling with their visa or whatever government thing they are dealing with and it’s always because they are trying to do things the proper way.

 

News flash, look around you, NOTHING is done the proper way here. Thais know this and and act accordingly. But for whatever reason many foreigners draw the line and refuse to participate in doing things the Thai way, while at the same time doing everything they can do be as Thai as possible.

 

Thais take short cuts. They bribe people. They cheat every chance they get. It’s the glue that holds this broken society together. The sooner people understand this and play their game by their rules, the easier their life will become. Or do it the hard way and swim upstream for the rest of your life. Up to you.

Finally, a decent analysis of reality in Thailand... however, I don't see Thailand as a "broken society". They are doing well, just doing it the Thai way.

 

I like what a Bloomberg writer had to say about Thailand exactly a year ago:

 

"Thailand is a relatively prosperous nation with strong banks, modern factories, flourishing tourism, a growing middle class and other typical markers of a successful democracy. Which is exactly what it lacks."

 

It's not broken - it's just Thailand. We ain't going to change it, so let's live with it and enjoy it for what it is. It's an interesting ride. 

[tropo]

10 minutes ago, JLCrab said:

Maybe if you choose to live in a farang ghetto like Jomtien. The reality is, if you don't then, sand or not, it maybe isn't

You wouldn't think that if you saw where I lived, and it's near Jomtien. There are very nice places to stay in the area.

[JLCrab]

1 minute ago, tropo said:

You wouldn't think that if you saw where I lived, and it's near Jomtien. There are very nice places to stay in the area.

It is the sheer concentration of farangs that makes it a ghetto not that there aren't million dollar estates mixed in with the fan rooms in the center of town.

[tropo]

17 hours ago, Peterw42 said:

If indeed the copy shop is owned by immigration, not much use calling for more competition and lower prices, A shop down the road wont be able to offer lower prices than an immigration owned shop.

I'd say the "shops down the road" are just agencies, run by the same people. Call it a syndicate, or perhaps franchises LOL.

[tropo]

Just now, JLCrab said:

It is the sheer concentration of farangs that makes it a ghetto not that there aren't million dollar estates mixed in with the fan rooms in the center of town.

I don't have problems seeing Farangs, but most of them are tourists. I like tourists. They have a happy disposition. What is your problem with Farangs? Aren't you one too?

[stud858]

18 hours ago, KhunFred said:

If you get a visa extension, does it make a difference?  OF COURSE it's "shady". Just about half of everything here is "shady". We call it bribery, they call it "business". 

But I thought this so called big joke guy was scaring that sort of stuff off.  Anybody got the phone number for big joke. That way we can check it's legitimacy.

[JLCrab]

6 minutes ago, tropo said:

I don't have problems seeing Farangs, but most of them are tourists. I like tourists. They have a happy disposition. What is your problem with Farangs? Aren't you one too?

I don't have a problem with farang. It's just where I live I rarely have any interaction with them which is just fine with me. When I go to the local immigration office usually early in the morning, I often have the #1 or #2 ticket. And one reason I choose to avoid farang is that I guess many of them are like some of the ones that post on here.

Edited November 28, 2018 by JLCrab

[tropo]

17 hours ago, jacko45k said:

It matters IF a decision is made that all such derived extensions are deemed invalid and those in possession of them subject to proceedings! The loss of income verification from Embassies seems to be flushing a few to the surface.

Note big if!

Deemed invalid by who? It's a gravy train going all the way to the top. Someone has to pay for those expensive watches and cars, you know. If they can't make some decent money from expats, why have them here? The only reason the embassies are pulling out is that they don't (can't and not permitted to) do things the Thai way.

[tropo]

17 hours ago, onera1961 said:

With legitimate seasoned money? For 10K, it is is a expensive service, I guess. Even though doing it is hassle free If 10K also, includes no money in the bank, then I would say OMG it is the cheapest I've seen so far. What happened? 

It would extremely cheap for me as I only need one income letter for 2 people (married to non-Thai). Hopefully, I'll be ok until mid-2020 if they accept my 6-month-old income letter in June... by then agent services will have become more organised.

[tropo]

15 hours ago, Lacessit said:

Some are also making it sound as if it as easy as shelling peas. Take nothing for granted here, haven't you learned that yet?

I will take one thing for granted. They like money. If the heads of department are signing off on extensions for cash payments, everyone in the department is in the same boat (I didn't want to use that other word). It would take a literal bomb from the national head office to change it, and they also like their money.

[stud858]

Do you think when the election is over things will get sorted a bit better.

I had the feeling visas  situation was better under taksin reign.

And surely taksin must be grateful to farang by now.

 

Not sure if the erection will go ahead. Wait and see.

 

 

 

[tropo]

13 hours ago, JLCrab said:

And I can't help but think the talk at the IMM office at the end of the day as they are divvying up the spoils is what a bunch of chumps these farang are to pay 15-20,000 baht for what really only costs 1900 baht and a little leg work.

Did you ever consider that they may start making it hard for people trying to do it the cheap way... in essence enticing all to use agents. Wouldn't that be an interesting turnaround?

 

 

[JLCrab]

24 minutes ago, tropo said:

Did you ever consider that they may start making it hard for people trying to do it the cheap way... in essence enticing all to use agents. Wouldn't that be an interesting turnaround?

Yes that's why I am set up to do an O-A in USA well before my current extension is up end of 2019.

 

And while I realize you're having a good time playing drama queen on all this, I think it will be a long time before anyone with legitimately 800K in a Thai bank for 3 months is going to have any problem getting a one year extension via retirement route.

Edited November 28, 2018 by JLCrab

[jacko45k]

45 minutes ago, tropo said:

Deemed invalid by who? It's a gravy train going all the way to the top. Someone has to pay for those expensive watches and cars, you know. If they can't make some decent money from expats, why have them here? The only reason the embassies are pulling out is that they don't (can't and not permitted to) do things the Thai way.

The same could have been said about the passport only visa runs some years ago, nevertheless having the illegal stamp in your passport became a serious issue. We are possibly in a climate here where someone wants to reduce bribes and corruption.

We have 2 ex-PMs who thought they were above all laws who are running around with no home to go to.

[KhunFred]

19 hours ago, JackThompson said:

 

 

I'm not sure why immigration would accept something that pays them less than the usual "agent sponsored" extension - but maybe they are creating a "middle-ground" for those who actually have the valid income, but will be locked-out of using it by the embassy-letter issue.

 

 

They would NOT be paid "less".  If EVERYONE was using an agent, it would mean a windfall for them in terms of overall income. The only thing that REALLY matters here, anyway, is MONEY. If all IO functionaries are making money off this "under the table" method, then EVERYONE is happy. Worrying about "legitimacy" in a country which overthrows elected governments on a whim, is just simplistic western thinking. Follow the money and there's your extension.

[KhunFred]

17 minutes ago, JLCrab said:

 

 

And while I realize you're having a good time playing drama queen on all this, I think it will be a long time before anyone with legitimately 800K in a Thai bank for 3 months is going to have any problem getting a one year extension via retirement route.

...and there will still be thousands of people, myself included, who cannot possibly put that amount of money in the bank and not touch it. That system is broken beyond repair. This may FORCE change that is not detrimental to the interests of expats.

[JLCrab]

1 minute ago, KhunFred said:

and there will still be thousands of people, myself included,

So maybe like joining the extras on the battle scene from Spartacus.

 

There are still legitimate legal specified in Ministerial Regulation -procedures as to what one can do without going to an agent.

 

I don't care what others can or cannot do.

[jacko45k]

30 minutes ago, JLCrab said:

I think it will be a long time before anyone with legitimately 800K in a Thai bank for 3 months is going to have any problem getting a one year extension via retirement route.

I certainly hope you are correct and while I haven't had an issue doing this for some years recent events, and the ensuing worry-fest, put me on edge.

So many are suggesting that TI want to push everyone into the hands of agents, or extra go betweens, all taking a little wad for their own services, and increasing their income, that a large number of people with such a wad sitting idly in the bank must look like a tasty steak instead of that plate of fries.

Edited November 28, 2018 by jacko45k