90 year-old Don is leaving Thailand

[alohatodon2]

This beleagured 90 year-Don, an invalid, who posted his plight on this Forum before, is leaving Thailand on 2 May.  In an attempt to get ex-pats over age 75 a waiver to be able to stay in Thailand, I wrote letters to the Head Generals at Bangkok and Phuket Immigration and a letter to the Head Police General here in Bangkok  Not one one of them had the courtesy to answer my letters!  So, what to do?  Not having a 'home' or relatives to go to and alhough I had lived here for many years, I played tic-tac-toe on a globe of the world.  I wrote many letters to many cities. After many months, declining those cities in cold climates, one city with a warm climate said they would have a place for me.  Submitting a many-page application and sending e-mails back and forth, they accepted me.  So, on the morning of 2 May, I will somehow,  using a cane or a walker, board a plane to leave what used to be called "The Land of Smiles".  It certainly is no longer that.  Thais no longer smile and they only having their hands out wanting money.  If you are an ex-pat farang, you are and always will be an unwelcome foreigner.  I closed out my account at my bank and the lady asked why I was leaving at my age. I told her it was all because of Thailand Immigration.  When I told her the banks would suddenly become richer because of the influx of many deposits of 800,000 baht, she just shook her head and said she hadn't thought about that and that old people should be exempted.  I just smiled, took my receipt and hobbled outside onto the uneven 'sidewalk'.

[BritManToo]

Why not tell us where you're going?

Keeping it secret is a troll red flag.

Edited April 23, 2019 by BritManToo

[Nyezhov]

Sorry it happened to you but so it goes when you place all your eggs in one basket.

[RotBenz8888]

15 minutes ago, alohatodon2 said:

I wrote letters to the Head Generals at Bangkok and Phuket Immigration and a letter to the Head Police General here in Bangkok  Not one one of them had the courtesy to answer my letters! 

In English? Straight down the bin.

[jimn]

I remember your last topic. You can afford to stay but are too bloody stubborn. Ridiculas leaving at your age, I bet you wont last 5 minutes when you leave. Update us on your 91st birthday, somehow I dont think we will be hearing from you again.

[overherebc]

2 minutes ago, jimn said:

I remember your last topic. You can afford to stay but are too bloody stubborn. Ridiculas leaving at your age, I bet you wont last 5 minutes when you leave. Update us on your 91st birthday, somehow I dont think we will be hearing from you again.

Post again when you reach 90 although going by the tone of your post that's probably 70 years in the future.

[jimn]

4 minutes ago, overherebc said:

Post again when you reach 90 although going by the tone of your post that's probably 70 years in the future.

Lol your funny, you obviously do not recognise sarcasm

[Pravda]

Off to Philippines then

[1FinickyOne]

32 minutes ago, alohatodon2 said:

what used to be called "The Land of Smiles".  It certainly is no longer that.  Thais no longer smile and they only having their hands out wanting money.  If you are an ex-pat farang, you are and always will be an unwelcome foreigner. 

Sorry for your plight but my experience in Thailand is that people smile, people are friendly and engaging, but probably in direct proportion to my acting/being genuinely friendly and engaging to them... 

 

Best of luck in future endeavors. 

[overherebc]

7 minutes ago, jimn said:

Lol your funny, you obviously do not recognise sarcasm

Not even a good save.

[fishtank]

Quote

using a cane or a walker, board a plane to leave what used to be called "The Land of Smiles".  It certainly is no longer that.  Thais no longer smile and they only having their hands out wanting money.  If you are an ex-pat farang, you are and always will be an unwelcome foreigner. 

I cannot see anyone disagreeing with that .

[mike787]

Sad reality.  Another one leaving???  Godspeed. Hope you find a place to rest your soul and a lot less immigration xenophobia, or preferably non.  Good luck.

[overherebc]

9 minutes ago, fishtank said:

I cannot see anyone disagreeing with that .

Use by dates seem to cover everything here.

[holy cow cm]

Good luck. There are plenty of other places and sometimes new ones are a fun breathe of fresh air. 90 years old and still kicking and walking with some help is great. I just lost my dad last month and he almost reached 91. My guess is the Philippines was kind to you and it is easy to get residency there as well.

[4evermaat]

These stories are a bit sad to read, but is it 100% Thailand's fault? 

 

It was easy to sing praises when times were good.  I think it is a bit harsh to bash Thailand immigration unilaterally on the recent policy changes. 

[tingtongtourist]

Are only leaving because of the 800k in the bank rule?

You can read people reporting here the agent are saying "business as usual"
so if you cant comply now, it suggest you been using agents in the past?

Im suprised you would think any generals/bosses in immigration
would bother with your letters.
I think they would have zero comprehension of this kind of technical English writing
In any case, when they notice its English it most probable destiny is the waste bin.

Maybe you should have got a sympathetic Thai (or even payed a translator) to write a big sob story in Thai.

Actually it would be good if someone would make a template of such a letter (in Thai) that other posters can basically use (and tweak)

 just so we can individually sign our names to as im sure many is facing the same issues.

 

If enough of us send a letter to them, it might have a slightly better chance of gaining traction

[Traubert]

3 minutes ago, tingtongtourist said:

 

 

If enough of us send a letter to them, it might have a slightly better chance of gaining traction

What percentage of the 0.0036% of the population do you think would be most effective?

 

Because that's the proportion of western expats in Thailand's population.

[Liverpudlian]

Head for the nearest temple and chill with the rest of exempts , sound advice ey ?? good luck.

[tingtongtourist]

16 minutes ago, Khaeng Mak said:

Troll for sure. How can one be a long term expat here and only have one bank account.

Many (like me) are lucky to have even 1 bank account.

They are getting nearly impossible to get nowadays without work permit, marriage etc

 

Actually my troll detector is lighting up more because of his "Jing jing" style of writing:

that is all these so called "changed rules" that actually have been here all along but now being enforced in a way people cant cheat out.

 

[tingtongtourist]

6 minutes ago, Traubert said:

What percentage of the 0.0036% of the population do you think would be most effective?

 

Because that's the proportion of western expats in Thailand's population.

yes but AFAIK immigration only deal with us alien farangs, not the whole Thai population.

 

[Traubert]

21 minutes ago, tingtongtourist said:

yes but AFAIK immigration only deal with us alien farangs, not the whole Thai population.

 

They still have to justify legislation going through parliament though. Can't see a standard letter based on poor ol' Dons plaintive plea carrying much weight even if all the 0.0036% wrote in.

 

They'd probably call it an insurrection and get the flame throwers out.

[ballpoint]

1 hour ago, alohatodon2 said:

I wrote many letters to many cities. After many months, declining those cities in cold climates, one city with a warm climate said they would have a place for me.

So why bother writing to the cold ones in the first place?

 

[scorecard]

1 hour ago, RotBenz8888 said:

In English? Straight down the bin.

IMHO let's keep in mind that the welfare of old farang is not really the responsibility of Thailand regardless of how long you have lived here.

[Jingthing]

Many (like me) are lucky to have even 1 bank account.
They are getting nearly impossible to get nowadays without work permit, marriage etc
 
Actually my troll detector is lighting up more because of his "Jing jing" style of writing:
that is all these so called "changed rules" that actually have been here all along but now being enforced in a way people cant cheat out.
 

The changes are very real. They do not impact only on cheaters.

Sent from my Lenovo A7020a48 using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[scorecard]

13 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

The changes are very real. They do not impact only on cheaters.

Sent from my Lenovo A7020a48 using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app
 

2 hours ago, RotBenz8888 said:

In English? Straight down the bin.

IMHO the welfare of old farang ultimately is not really the responsibility of Thailand regardless of how long you have lived here.

 

'Changes' what's that got to do with the old dons' post.

 

Bottom line, keeping in mind compassion. it's not Thailand's problem.

 

And please don't respond about how many families in Essan are being supported, not really true and not relevant.

 

 

Edited April 23, 2019 by scorecard

[Jingthing]

IMHO let's keep in mind that the welfare of old farang is not really the responsibility of Thailand regardless of how long you have lived here.
 
'Changes' what's that got to do with the old dons' post.
 
Bottom line, keeping in mind compassion. it's not Thailand's problem.
 
And please don't respond about how many families in Essan are being supported, not relevant.
 
 

Why mention compassion then if none is being shown?

Sent from my Lenovo A7020a48 using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[johnmell]

Where the hell is Essan?

[madmen]

I dont get it. Nothing has changed much. 800k and 65k 

Lots of threads popping up like this followed by lots of back slapping etc by people that are still living here. What a miserable bunch of old gits

 

All these threads are 100% from the big 4 and no need to guess why

 

Stupid posts saying Im leaving because I dont get smiles!! try getting one back home where you WILL get a snarl if you smile directly at a stranger especially if its a girl half your age. 

 

The current cleansing is good and I dont care if 90 or 19 if you dont have any money then you  should never of had expat dreams

[Jingthing]

31 minutes ago, madmen said:

I dont get it. Nothing has changed much. 800k and 65k 

Lots of threads popping up like this followed by lots of back slapping etc by people that are still living here. What a miserable bunch of old gits

 

All these threads are 100% from the big 4 and no need to guess why

 

Stupid posts saying Im leaving because I dont get smiles!! try getting one back home where you WILL get a snarl if you smile directly at a stranger especially if its a girl half your age. 

 

The current cleansing is good and I dont care if 90 or 19 if you dont have any money then you  should never of had expat dreams

Nothing has changed?

No.

You totally lost me just on that.

I've posted several times on several threads specifically spelling out all of the things that have changed.

 

 

Big 4?

Guess why?

What are you freakin' talking about?

Don't be shy.

Why do you think? 

Instead of insinuating some dark motivations, please MAN UP and explicitly say what your conspiracy theory is about.

Because I can't guess it.

Edited April 23, 2019 by Jingthing

[mstevens]

4 hours ago, 4evermaat said:

These stories are a bit sad to read, but is it 100% Thailand's fault? 

 

It was easy to sing praises when times were good.  I think it is a bit harsh to bash Thailand immigration unilaterally on the recent policy changes. 

I think part of the problem is that foreign retirees and the Thai government look at the same thing and see it very differently.

 

Retirees see "retirement" in Thailand as being the rest of their life, whereas Thailand sees it as the foreigner having to reapply to stay in the country every year with no more than one year's permission to stay granted at any time.

Edited April 23, 2019 by mstevens