Savannakhet, a visa to die for ?

[onera1961]

41 minutes ago, fourpack said:

"But I find" so you must submit yourself to the humiliation so you can live in the place you call a dump

Who says I subject myself to humiliation and inconveniences to live and spend time in a foreign land? I will never do that. I will rather drown myself in my bath tub than subjecting myself to humiliation to live in a foreign land. If I cant have it by bribing, I leave. It is that simple. 

[Tayaout]

I would expect my bag to disappear about 50% of the time. 

[onera1961]

I don't know the custom of dropping your bags and/or pulling a towel on a chair comes from, but I'm from the US. If you leave you have left and have lost your place. Bring an umbrella or someone to stand in your place. In fact, dropping your bag to save your place, so you can go have breakfast, is rude in my opinion. I don't see Thais or other Asians doing this. If you are going there to circumvent normal Thai immigration extension requirements, I have no sympathy. 
My son (in the US) who was probably 19 or 20 at the time had someone try to cut in a long line in front of him (Black Friday Sale) after waiting hours. The two guys (adults) tried to cut in line and said they couldn't speak English. My son who's 6'7" just lifted them out of line and told them to go. The entire crowd cheered.  

OMG BF, people die.

Sent from my JKM-LX2 using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[geronimo]

27 minutes ago, onera1961 said:

Who says I subject myself to humiliation and inconveniences to live and spend time in a foreign land? I will never do that. I will rather drown myself in my bath tub than subjecting myself to humiliation to live in a foreign land. If I cant have it by bribing, I leave. It is that simple. 

The bathtub sounds promising, look into it further ......

[firefox999uk]

15 minutes ago, FredGallaher said:

I don't know the custom of dropping your bags and/or pulling a towel on a chair comes from, but I'm from the US. If you leave you have left and have lost your place. Bring an umbrella or someone to stand in your place. In fact, dropping your bag to save your place, so you can go have breakfast, is rude in my opinion. I don't see Thais or other Asians doing this. If you are going there to circumvent normal Thai immigration extension requirements, I have no sympathy. 

My son (in the US) who was probably 19 or 20 at the time had someone try to cut in a long line in front of him (Black Friday Sale) after waiting hours. The two guys (adults) tried to cut in line and said they couldn't speak English. My son who's 6'7" just lifted them out of line and told them to go. The entire crowd cheered.  

 

Thais and other Asians leave their shoes in line

 

 

 

Have a nice Day.

[transam]

I was at Savv once where three birds were in front of me, they had not filled out their forms, so took turns going to a table to fill out their forms and got back in the line. A member of staff was watching (a bloke), he waited for one bird to come back to the line then told her to go to the back of the line.

 

There was a lot of "verbal", she would not move until she got to the window and was told to go to the back of the line...

[VocalNeal]

22 minutes ago, FredGallaher said:

I don't know the custom of dropping your bags and/or pulling a towel on a chair comes from, but I'm from the US. If you leave you have left and have lost your place. Bring an umbrella or someone to stand in your place. In fact, dropping your bag to save your place, so you can go have breakfast, is rude in my opinion. I don't see Thais or other Asians doing this.

I think CW has changed but there used to be a congo line of bags/water bottles/bits of paper, et al. Mostly agents i suspect who do this as their job everyday.

People arrive early leave a marker and go for breakfast. Only silly people stand in line for two hours. 

 

Doesn't matter where one comes from. If there is a local system simply follow it.

[geronimo]

1 minute ago, transam said:

I was at Savv once where three birds were in front of me, they had not filled out their forms, so took turns going to a table to fill out their forms and got back in the line. A member of staff was watching (a bloke), he waited for one bird to come back to the line then told her to go to the back of the line.

 

There was a lot of "verbal", she would not move until she got to the window and was told to go to the back of the line...

Has Colin got the Pink tights yet?

[transam]

Think so as his chair has been resprayed in a matching colour....????

[Will27]

4 minutes ago, VocalNeal said:

I think CW has changed but there used to be a congo line of bags/water bottles/bits of paper, et al. Mostly agents i suspect who do this as their job everyday.

People arrive early leave a marker and go for breakfast. Only silly people stand in line for two hours. 

 

Doesn't matter where one comes from. If there is a local system simply follow it.

Only silly people let other people "push in".

[fourpack]

39 minutes ago, onera1961 said:

Who says I subject myself to humiliation and inconveniences to live and spend time in a foreign land? I will never do that. I will rather drown myself in my bath tub than subjecting myself to humiliation to live in a foreign land. If I cant have it by bribing, I leave. It is that simple. 

So your post "I find" is infact wrong as to find is to see. So therefore your post says you yourself have been There to see it not mainly falang in queues

[Will27]

7 minutes ago, transam said:

I was at Savv once where three birds were in front of me, they had not filled out their forms, so took turns going to a table to fill out their forms and got back in the line. A member of staff was watching (a bloke), he waited for one bird to come back to the line then told her to go to the back of the line.

 

There was a lot of "verbal", she would not move until she got to the window and was told to go to the back of the line...

The trouble is there they only use 1 window.

 

When I was there last week, a lady wasking about getting her visa back that afternoon.

The Immi guy kept telling her it wasn't possible and she was asking about an "express service" or could she pay extra.

When told she couldn't, she asked to speak to "someone else".

 

Two people in front of me were asked to fill out the applications forms again because they hadn't photocopied the rear of the document.

 

If you get 3 or 4 incidents like this, it really holds everyone up.

 

[Will27]

34 minutes ago, FredGallaher said:

I don't know the custom of dropping your bags and/or pulling a towel on a chair comes from, but I'm from the US. If you leave you have left and have lost your place. Bring an umbrella or someone to stand in your place. In fact, dropping your bag to save your place, so you can go have breakfast, is rude in my opinion. I don't see Thais or other Asians doing this. If you are going there to circumvent normal Thai immigration extension requirements, I have no sympathy. 

My son (in the US) who was probably 19 or 20 at the time had someone try to cut in a long line in front of him (Black Friday Sale) after waiting hours. The two guys (adults) tried to cut in line and said they couldn't speak English. My son who's 6'7" just lifted them out of line and told them to go. The entire crowd cheered.  

I fail to see how someone who go's back to their home country once a year to catch up with friends and relatives

and get's a non-immi whilst they're there as circumventing the system TBH.

[ignis]

5 hours ago, BuckBee said:

visa companies will ruin this consulate and thai border .

No it is the new Law at the consulate's  not just Savannakhet...  a few years ago no matter where you went with a vIsa company, you did not go to the Consulate... The Visa Company Agent took all the Passports, also collected them the next day...

 

The Consulates all over now state you have to apply in person + collect in person = loads of people waiting, so nothing to do with Visa Companies  

[myjawe]

What kind of visa these people want ?

If I was a grumpy old Thaivisa member I would say that nobody should be given any visa in any country around Thailand, and everybody should have to go back home to get one ! But luckily I am not so old and grumpy to think like this !

 

 

[geronimo]

1 minute ago, myjawe said:

What kind of visa these people want ?

If I was a grumpy old Thaivisa member I would say that nobody should be given any visa in any country around Thailand, and everybody should have to go back home to get one ! But luckily I am not so old and grumpy to think like this !

 

 

Don;t worry, there are many grumpy old gits to fill that requirement.

[Will27]

13 minutes ago, FredGallaher said:

It seems a lot of effort and hassle to circumvent doing the right thing. If it's a tourist extension it can be done at any immigration office. If it for a type O for retirement or marriage, either show money as foreign transfer monthly or money in the bank. A back door approach seems fruitless. If you don't have the money to stay in Thailand you should consider going somewhere else.

If someone doesn't want to wait in a queue, they can always get an appointment in Vientiane. If they can plan ahead and get an appointment. 

Because everything is not black and white I'm afraid.

 

I have a friend who had a life threatening illness. Treatment wiped out a large percent of his savings.

With the poor exchange rates, his pension doesn't quite cover the 40 000 Baht per month needed.

He doesn't pay rent and can live comfortably on his pension

 

He's been here for over 30 years and has a wife and family.

As he see's it, he can either go back to Australia alone and live on the pension

or can go to Savannakhet and get a non-immi visa.

 

A pretty easy decision for him I suggest.

[Will27]

14 minutes ago, FredGallaher said:

Sorry I was trying to reply. I think the subject is changing from the long lines and dropping bags. The majority of people in line were probably looking for a shortcut for their visas. Sorry about your friends but you might want to help him out or get a "go fund me" page. 

Sorry if I sound curt and that's not my intention. Reserving a place in line and going off to eat is rude and gets under my skin.

As stated, I agree with you about people pushing in line.

 

My point was, that you said people are circumventing the system and if they haven't got the required funds they should leave.

It's not always as easy as that.

 

 

[Bangkok Barry]

19 hours ago, Pravda said:

This is most likely due to stupid appointment system in Vientiane. Watch them implement the same thing very soon.

An appointment system isn't stupid. If you have an appointment you know when to show up and know that you will be dealt with swiftly. What is stupid is not having enough staff to process the number of applications, either in Vientienne or Savannakhet. ONE window open for hundreds of people? What could possibly go wrong?

[Bangkok Barry]

1 hour ago, FredGallaher said:

It seems a lot of effort and hassle to circumvent doing the right thing. If it's a tourist extension it can be done at any immigration office. If it for a type O for retirement or marriage, either show money as foreign transfer monthly or money in the bank. A back door approach seems fruitless. If you don't have the money to stay in Thailand you should consider going somewhere else.

If someone doesn't want to wait in a queue, they can always get an appointment in Vientiane. If they can plan ahead and get an appointment. 

 

Life is not as simple as you seem to think it is. You arrogantly tell people to keep a considerable sum of money in the bank, without knowing their financial circumstances. You arrogantly tell people to get out of Thailand and go somewhere else if they don't have the money to stay in Thailand.

 

What is your definition of not having enough? I can live in Thailand on 30,000 a month, as we own our own house and have few outgoings. Max of 4000 for electricity/aircon, 500 a month for tv, 600 for the internet. The biggest expense is payments of 7500 for the pickup, which end in a year.

 

You arrogantly tell people to get an appointment in Vientienne, when that office refuses to issue multi-entry marriage visas, even for us nasty aliens who are supporting a Thai family (in my case for nearly 30 years, and I STILL have to get a visa). My friends back home are incredulous at that.

I don't know what the LAW says about the issuing of visas, but that has never bothered people in uniform who are allowed to make up their own rules. Either multi-entry visas are lawful or they are not. For one office to issue them and another in the same country to not issue them is absurd in the extreme. One of the offices is not playing by the law. Not that the government cares or would do anything to monitor what is going on.

[Bangkok Barry]

When I saw the headline, a threat to life came to mind other than crossing the road safely. We are reading of people having to queue for several hours in what can be, often is, high temperatures and humidity. How many elderly folk, foreigners who are married to a Thai and have to go through the same circus year after year, providing exactly the same information and documents they have done numerous times before, how many of those can go through that torture without collapsing?

The current situation is clearly unsustainable, but how long will the Thais take to react and do something about it? Vientienne caused the problem, no doubt without any warning or thought of how it would affect Savannakhet. It is as if they work for two different countries rather than the same, totally independent of each other and operating under different rules.

[transam]

Vientienne has obviously lost a lot of cash income with their appointment thingy, and looks like Savv now has a rubbing of hands cash influx....

 

Perhaps Vientienne will be scratching their heads regarding the loss of revenue very shortly..

[transam]

3 minutes ago, FredGallaher said:

I try my best not to be arrogant and tell others what to do. We need to take responsibility for ourselves and do the right thing. Thailand doesn't owe us anything and we are not covered by their health insurance. We need to follow their immigration laws and comply with the minimums.  I can't comment about people in uniform making up rules because I don't see it. 

This subject has reverted to arguing so leaving things be and "I'm outa here" 

Are you a Vicar.......?   ????

[NoshowJones]

2 hours ago, Will27 said:

Only silly people let other people "push in".

In the thirteen years I have lived in Thailand lots of people have tried to jump in at the head of any queue I was in, from at supermarket checkouts, to board the train at Swampy, to wait for the bank doors to open, at an ATM etc, etc. No one has yet succeeded, and they never will.

 

[Wombo1]

I visited today (Wednesday) at about 10am, super short queue and waited only about 15min to submit my documents.

In the shade the whole time.

[BigT73]

when I went to Sav, 90% were philipino and well under 40yrs old.  I dont think they were getting tourist visas, more like work visas, but I may be wrong.

[NoshowJones]

1 hour ago, FredGallaher said:

It seems a lot of effort and hassle to circumvent doing the right thing. If it's a tourist extension it can be done at any immigration office. If it for a type O for retirement or marriage, either show money as foreign transfer monthly or money in the bank. A back door approach seems fruitless. If you don't have the money to stay in Thailand you should consider going somewhere else.

If someone doesn't want to wait in a queue, they can always get an appointment in Vientiane. If they can plan ahead and get an appointment. 

Not true, there are certain visas you can get at Savakkanet that you cannot get at Vientiane. One in particular.

[BigT73]

2 minutes ago, Wombo1 said:

I visited today (Wednesday) at about 10am, super short queue and waited only about 15min to submit my documents.

In the shade the whole time.

you're lucky mate!  Enjoy the next 24hrs, if your staying at Avalon you can stay in their aircon lobby and use their internet till checkin.  They let us checkin 2hrs early.

[Will27]

11 minutes ago, FredGallaher said:

I try my best not to be arrogant and tell others what to do. We need to take responsibility for ourselves and do the right thing. Thailand doesn't owe us anything and we are not covered by their health insurance. We need to follow their immigration laws and comply with the minimums.  I can't comment about people in uniform making up rules because I don't see it. 

This subject has reverted to arguing so leaving things be and "I'm outa here" 

Yes, but going to Savannakhet to get a visa isn't doing the wrong thing.

 

You keep saying people shouldn't be circumventing the system.

[NoshowJones]

1 hour ago, myjawe said:

What kind of visa these people want ?

If I was a grumpy old Thaivisa member I would say that nobody should be given any visa in any country around Thailand, and everybody should have to go back home to get one ! But luckily I am not so old and grumpy to think like this !

 

 

Don't give the Thai authorities or Thai  immigration any ideas.