Refused an extension for 55 satang ( Retirement )

[OneeyedJohn]

I took all my paperwork to Immigration yesterday, everything good until these two women started to scrutinise my bank passbook very intently.

Eventually they determined that for 6 days in late October early November my money in the bank was insufficient.  ( I am using a combination of income and funds )

All because they calculated my annual income by using the current exchange rate for the pound of 41.45.

In the period I mention above the exchange rate was 42.365 and that was good enough.

So, I pay the price for not anticipating the fall of the pound.

Zero flexibility with these wonkers.

Edited December 21, 2018 by OneeyedJohn
maths

[jacko45k]

That is harsh... maybe return another day when the rate is a fraction higher?

[LomSak27]

Come on, if you are putting money in seasoning for R, you don't make mistakes, you don't pare it down to save a quid or two ................. ????

[Justin Side]

1 hour ago, LomSak27 said:

Come on, if you are putting money in seasoning for R, you don't make mistakes, you don't pare it down to save a quid or two ................. ????

Not easy when sterling is dropping like a stone.

[DeeMak9]

They have to set a limit. A limit is a limit. Ive ran an all-you-can eat restaurant in the past (don't go into this business LOL), and kids under 110CM were free. Countless times we had parents in outrage when their kids were higher than 110CM, but did not get to eat for free.

 

In the OP his case, make sure you always have space. A little extra saving money would save you from this trouble, even when the sterling drops like a stone. You can always combine savings and income.

[grego49]

1 hour ago, Justin Side said:

Not easy when sterling is dropping like a stone.

Same with the Aussie dollar,going down faster that a fat kid on a seasaw,

[DrJack54]

Might be a warning for UK folk with "no deal exit" coming soon. Pound won't be climbing any time soon. 

[Kerryd]

If you had 800k (baht) in the bank, the difference between the 2 exchange rates would have been equal to just over 416 GBP.

As you no doubt have considerably less than that, the difference would (obviously) be considerably less. Saying that you were refused an Extension "for 50 satang" is just BS.

As for who is the "wonkers" - who decided to try and squeak by using the barest minimum they could in the bank and hoping for favourable exchange rates ? Was that Thai Immigration ? No ? 

Who was it that apparently follows the exchange rates enough to quote the rates to 2 decimal places, but didn't top up their bank account when they saw the rates dropping ? Was that Thai Immigration too ? No ?

 

How about taking responsibility for your own actions (or lack thereof) instead of trying to blame others for things that you are in control of ?

[Tanoshi]

5 hours ago, OneeyedJohn said:

All because they calculated my annual income by using the current exchange rate for the pound of 41.45.

Immigration use Bangkok Banks TT Buying rate on the date of application, and it's been below 40 for over a week, so your funds in the bank must have been seriously borderline.

[poohy]

Hard luck mate ! i certainly feel for you!

A few years ago i had 800k in high interest saving account what a palaver that was!Oh no they didnt like it one little bit.

 

Used an agent ever since and kept my money elsewhere

[happy chappie]

All the more reason and a good excuse to move to Vietnam.i wish I had of travelled around a bit more before settling down in Thailand.i gave up my retirement visa this week as I don't want to be held to ransom with 800,000 trickling away with inflation when it will be put to good use building two more apartments and giving me a return of 12,000b a month.this country seems to be on a self destruct mission if you ask me.

[DrJack54]

3 minutes ago, happy chappie said:

All the more reason and a good excuse to move to Vietnam.i wish I had of travelled around a bit more before settling down in Thailand.i gave up my retirement visa this week as I don't want to be held to ransom with 800,000 trickling away with inflation when it will be put to good use building two more apartments and giving me a return of 12,000b a month.this country seems to be on a self destruct mission if you ask me.

Good plan. Also you won't need to worry about retirement visa in Vietnam. In the main because they don't have one. BTW your not allowed to build two more apartments. You can buy. Heck you have a whooping 800k baht, buy 6.

[Pib]

5 minutes ago, Tanoshi said:

Immigration use Bangkok Banks TT Buying rate on the date of application, and it's been below 40 for over a week, so your funds in the bank must have been seriously borderline.

No it hasn't been below 40 for over a week.  For the last week or so the TT Buying rate has been around 40.9. 

https://www.bangkokbank.com/en/Personal/Other-Services/View-Rates/Foreign-Exchange-Rates#

[KhunFred]

Typical "by the book" attitude found all over Thailand.  Curiously an equal number of attitudes are extremely lenient. These women probably feel they are protecting their jobs. If it had been men ( or other female officers) the story might have been different. The inconsistency is something that has been very difficult to deal with, since I have been retired here. Only a few times has that inconsistency been in my favor.

[Wallander4]

Surprised IO didn't try to extort you for some bribes

[StayinThailand2much]

5 hours ago, OneeyedJohn said:

Zero flexibility with these wonkers.

On the contrary; I believe they could have, if they wanted to. (Maybe you forgot to bribe them give to the community kitty.)

[ubonjoe]

5 hours ago, OneeyedJohn said:

I took all my paperwork to Immigration yesterday, everything good until these two women started to scrutinise my bank passbook very intently.

Eventually they determined that for 6 days in late October early November my money in the bank was insufficient.  ( I am using a combination of income and funds )

It seems the were accustomed to the 800k baht option and was checking that your funds had not dropped a certain amount for the 3 months.

Since the 3 months requirement for a combination option is not required according to the police order and the requirement is only a requirement set by a local office they should only go by the amount in the account on the date your applied.

I suggest you try again and ask for a supervisor and plead your case.

[OneeyedJohn]

There's a laminated plastic sign on their counter, similar to a 'no smoking ' sign and the words on it say "NO TIPS"

 

As for the crappy reply from kerryd, I am blaming noone, just saying in effect how unfair it is to use the current exchange rate when applying it to time period some 2 months earlier. As soon as I saw the pound dropping I topped up my account.

I use a exchange converter on google that quite easily tracks back on a daily basis the exchange rate at any given time for the past 6 months. 

If Britain devalued the pound down to say 75% of its current value, then I'd like to see how many people would be in trouble using a combination like I do.  So don't get too cocky.

[Tanoshi]

49 minutes ago, Pib said:

No it hasn't been below 40 for over a week.  For the last week or so the TT Buying rate has been around 40.9. 

https://www.bangkokbank.com/en/Personal/Other-Services/View-Rates/Foreign-Exchange-Rates#

Correct, typo error, should have stated below 41 baht for a week, still nowhere near the 41.45 the OP stated.

[happy chappie]

39 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

Good plan. Also you won't need to worry about retirement visa in Vietnam. In the main because they don't have one. BTW your not allowed to build two more apartments. You can buy. Heck you have a whooping 800k baht, buy 6.

Ive just built two 50sqm quality finished and furnished  apartments by my pool and both rented the week they were completed for 1.2 million and a return of 17,000b a month.sod keeping the money in the bank and don't need the visa as I live near a border and bounce between 60 day extensions based on marriage and plan to go uk in warmer months and do some work.the 800,000 is dead money ticking away daily.im really not a fan of banks and their schemes.immigration were scratching their heads last week when I stopped my retirement visa as I had the funds but just said can I have a 60 extention.i know it's different for other people stay long term here but it don't work for me locking up £20,000 that can be put to good use.

[OneeyedJohn]

19 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

It seems the were accustomed to the 800k baht option and was checking that your funds had not dropped a certain amount for the 3 months.

Since the 3 months requirement for a combination option is not required according to the police order and the requirement is only a requirement set by a local office they should only go by the amount in the account on the date your applied.

I suggest you try again and ask for a supervisor and plead your case.

Holy sh1t , I don't believe u just said that.

The fact is i have a choice where I live of where to go for an extension. There is an office just up the highway, and another office in Maesai some 80 kilometres away. I chose Maesai because I felt they would be less strict than the local office. I left the office without taking my passport/documents so I had to return the following day to collect them. I pleaded in Thai ( with my wife's training ) to help me. The woman who had seen me the day before asked me to wait for her boss, which I did. I never saw the boss face to face and so I never had the chance to argue my case. Again I was refused. They repeated I not have money for 3 months, but said if the exchange rate went to 42.00 then to come back as all would be good.

I was completely deflated.

In combined income and money I have close to 1 million baht.

 

Maybe I will take my wife with me next week and see what the local office have to say.

[Pib]

Sounds like the OP was using a mid-market rate which is not the rate used by banks nor by immigration. Banks crank-in a 0.5 to 1% profit margin on their rates...like their TT Buying Rate...which means their rate is a little lower than the mid-market rate. Toss in a declining exchange rate and a person can cause a self-inflicted wound.

[jacko45k]

9 minutes ago, happy chappie said:

but it don't work for me locking up £20,000 that can be put to good use.

But some want to RETIRE!

[ubonjoe]

4 minutes ago, OneeyedJohn said:

Maybe I will take my wife with me next week and see what the local office have to say.

If your wife is Thai you could apply for an extension of stay based upon marriage which only requires 400k baht in the bank or income of 40k baht.

 

[madmitch]

I assume the amount in the bank is in Thai baht and therefore not the problem. It must be the income amount.

 

UNlike many on this thread I do feel for the OP. It's tough at the moment with the GBP to THB rate. I think they should have been flexible and looked at the prevailing rate as in reality the OP had the correct amount in THB on the date in question. But we all know that flexibility is not part of the Thai Government Officers' thinking (without a brown envelope that is)!

 

With 800,000 baht in a Thai bank, now the income letters are not going to be able to be used, this should no longer be an issue!

 

 

[unamazedloso]

the immigration have been harsh. Feel for the poster. Not everyone is loaded and if they were its an embarrassment to be in Thailand. Far better places to sepnd money. Immigration should have let it through.

im on a non o just a lil young to retire but never will. Been here too long and spent more than i should. Ill border run and travel home indefinitely. Its cheaper and safer than extending and what not for me.

[david555]

One more reason to try to keep the 800 k besides for 3 months.... as Pound AND Euro running high risk of drastic unforeseen exchange rates plummeting deep , as no deal Brexit is an almost certain outcome... and you can not "repair" the seasoning period as time machines still not invented …! !

And not forgetting the Embassy letter for income trouble for some nationality's

Edited December 22, 2018 by david555

[janclaes47]

31 minutes ago, OneeyedJohn said:

but said if the exchange rate went to 42.00 then to come back as all would be good.

 

From that I understand that they use the calculation in the correct way, as Ubonjoe states they should use it, because if the exchange rate went back to 42, that would not make any difference for those few days in October that you claim to be the reason for the rejection.

[Suradit69]

51 minutes ago, OneeyedJohn said:

If Britain devalued the pound down to say 75% of its current value, then I'd like to see how many people would be in trouble using a combination like I do.  So don't get too cocky.

At this point will the combination or income method even be available in future if your embassy will no longer certify the income part of the equation. 

If you put Baht 800,000 in a Thai bank account, 800,000 will be 800,000 regardless of exchange rates.

 

Some people go on and on about it being safer to keep money at home, but if you face plunging exchange rates, the alleged safety comes at a price.

Edited December 22, 2018 by Suradit69

[david555]

20 minutes ago, Suradit69 said:

At this point will the combination or income method even be available in future if your embassy will no longer certify the income part of the equation. 

If you put Baht 800,000 in a Thai bank account, 800,000 will be 800,000 regardless of exchange rates.

100% right ...????  put your money where you live as I did 10 years ago , result ...if I change now back to euro I would make profit ,.... play safe ..at least for the 800 k needed ….. you need to eat and sleep I guess in Thailand or not... , so the money can be used for 9 month's for it …..and hoping other money is coming mean time , if not ..you would better of at home country

Edited December 22, 2018 by david555