Savannakhet Making The Rules Up As They Go

[findlay13]

 

"if this is true then why bother with things like the forthcoming OSS app?"

As has been said when will this be working? Also reporting at 7-11s pay driving fines at 7-11 etc etc. I wont hold my breath.

I have just had to get a new bank ATM card. Why? to keep us all safer?I have been told everyone has to get a new ATM card.I used to take trips all the time in Thailand,A day here a couple of days there,but having to front immigration every few days on my return home has stopped my domestic travel along with the outlay of money into the Thai economy [for hotels food petrol etc.etc] it entailed

Never mind ,the Chinese /Indian tourists will save the economy! Hmmm?

Edited October 21, 2019 by findlay13

[Matzzon]

1 hour ago, scubascuba3 said:

1 hour ago, Bruntoid said:

I give everything to an agent, he takes it to the office, I wait in a hotel (laid on entertainment), next day he brings back all the paperwork and another 12 month visa. (Can extend it to 16 months)
 
Fee 7,500 (plus the 5,000 visa fee obviously) 
 
Bargain

What visa is that?

Seems like it would be a Non-O ME based on the price for the visa. Sure, 7,5k is not much if you want to relax and have all done with no hassle.

[essox essox]

1 hour ago, Genericnic said:

"My wife said she is a Government Officer and a lawyer for 25 years and showed him her Government ID."

 

Can I borrow your wife for my next application? ????

 

David

yeah IT WILL cost you a few BAHT tho'

[ubonjoe]

33 minutes ago, Pib said:

And a problem that can occur in requiring the "original" marriage certificate (Kor Ror 3) is if that original goes Missing In Action because it was lost, damaged, stolen, the dog ate it, etc., a person can "not" get a replacement....it's a one time issue thing.   

If you have a copy of it a Amphoe will certify the copy and attach Kor Ror 2 to it that makes it about as good as the original.

If any info on the Kor Ror 2 is incorrect a correction to it by a Amphoe doing a statement at the end of it correcting the info. My wife's year of birth was wrong and a immigration officer noticed it. So my wife had to go to where we registered the marriage to get it corrected before my next extension application.

Any error on the Kor Ror 3 marriage certificate should also be wrong on the Kor Ror 2.

[Tayaout]

14 minutes ago, SteveK said:

Well, what's going to happen is that Savannakhet will start to ask for the 400k in a Thai bank account, and not a joint account. Combine that with the fact that the banks are becoming more and reluctant to open an account for a foreigner without a work permit, then many people will be up sh*t creek even if they do have the finance required. Hopefully if they do want to see 400k/$13k or whatever it is, then they will accept foreign bank statements, but knowing Thailand, they will not accept them unless they are printed on original Egyptian papyrus and have been countersigned and verified by Mahatma Gandhi and witnessed by two people. I.e. not possible.

 

Next time I am in Bangkok I am going to Kasikorn to try and open an account - tempted to put my phone on record in my pocket. Is that legal?

Bangkok bank is easy. You need to get the form from Bangkok bank with your declaration of address/citizenship: home country (I use my family home address) & thai address. The form and a passport copy has to be notarized at your embassy and you are good to go. I have non-o multi.

[GeorgeCross]

25 minutes ago, Khon Kaen Jeff said:

I think you may well be onto something. These visa's have always been a bit of a grey area and strictly speaking they are designed for people that spend quite a lot of time here but come and go, like O/S workers for example.. they are not really meant for people who stay here the whole year and just do a quick run every 90 days..

 

yeah i mean lets be honest it's never been a problem in the past and quite frankly they have been a nice safety net for those with families who have fallen on hard times from time to time (or all of the time lol!) but i can't see it lasting in the current climate. wasn't too long ago TRs, EDs and even VOAs were all acceptable ways to stay here long term. 

 

couple that with (an expected?) flow of retirees moving from retirement to marriage to escape increased financials and i think the future is looking a bit bleak for this class.

 

time for a plan B from those needing them maybe

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 21, 2019 by GeorgeCross

[SteveK]

2 minutes ago, GeorgeCross said:

time for a plan B from those needing them maybe

A good plan B is Cambodia. No visa problems. Much easier to work legally. Much lower cost of living. Just don't have loads of possessions in Thailand if you are leaving the country to get a visa.

Edited October 21, 2019 by SteveK

[GeorgeCross]

3 minutes ago, SteveK said:

A good plan B is Cambodia. No visa problems. Much easier to work legally. Much lower cost of living. Just don't have loads of possessions in Thailand if you are leaving the country to get a visa.

 

yeah i was more thinking, man up, get a job, some savings & an extension but dragging the wife and kids to cambodia could work as well 

 

 

[Khon Kaen Jeff]

5 minutes ago, GeorgeCross said:

 

yeah i mean lets be honest it's never been a problem in the past and quite frankly they have been a nice safety net for those with families who have fallen on hard times from time to time (or all of the time lol!) but i can't see it lasting in the current climate. wasn't too long ago TRs, EDs and even VOAs were all acceptable ways to stay here long term. 

 

couple that with (an expected?) flow of retirees moving from retirement to marriage to escape increased financials and i think the future is looking a bit bleak for this class.

 

time for a plan B from those needing them maybe

 

 

 

 

 

Yep. I don't care what they say anyway as after 18 years I'm more than happy to leave, and I have young kids here, so bring in on is what I say. All that said I could just go on to a marriage extension, damn it!

[Khon Kaen Jeff]

Just now, GeorgeCross said:

 

yeah i was more thinking, man up, get a job, some savings & an extension but dragging the wife and kids to cambodia could work as well 

 

 

I went to Phnom Penh a few months ago, I'd rather live in Syria than that filthy cesspit.

[FritsSikkink]

1 hour ago, SteveK said:

So it's at the embassies, the airports and the border crossings. There MUST be something coming down from the top about keeping people out. As this guy buckled under the pressure from the wife, it's clear he was just chancing it and probably was fuming that he had to accept your paperwork. 99% of the time his charade would have worked.

No, he just had to bring the original marriage paper like the rules stated. He shouldn't be there in the first place because he could have gotten 90 days without going to the consulate. Just another one who doesn't read / knows the rules and blames immigration for it.

Edited October 21, 2019 by FritsSikkink

[FritsSikkink]

44 minutes ago, SteveK said:

Well, what's going to happen is that Savannakhet will start to ask for the 400k in a Thai bank account, and not a joint account. Combine that with the fact that the banks are becoming more and reluctant to open an account for a foreigner without a work permit, then many people will be up sh*t creek even if they do have the finance required. Hopefully if they do want to see 400k/$13k or whatever it is, then they will accept foreign bank statements, but knowing Thailand, they will not accept them unless they are printed on original Egyptian papyrus and have been countersigned and verified by Mahatma Gandhi and witnessed by two people. I.e. not possible.

 

Next time I am in Bangkok I am going to Kasikorn to try and open an account - tempted to put my phone on record in my pocket. Is that legal?

No that isn't legal

[NanLaew]

1 hour ago, Pib said:

 

And a problem that can occur in requiring the "original" marriage certificate (Kor Ror 3) is if that original goes Missing In Action because it was lost, damaged, stolen, the dog ate it, etc., a person can "not" get a replacement....it's a one time issue thing.   

 

This was confirmed by three district offices the wife and I dealt with last week in getting a correction made to our marriage record from many years ago.   One office was the Rayong down close to Pattaya and two khet offices here in Bangkok. 

 

But what you can get from any local district office is a Kor Ror 2 which comes from the national database and basically validates/confirms you are still married as of date of that Kor Ror 2.   Like where many immigration offices want to see the Kor Ror 3 and also a fresh Kor Ror 2 when applying for a marriage extension of stay.

 

Just presenting a Kor Ror 3 (original) does not mean a person is still married.   

 

Be that as it may, and despite what the OP thinks or was told, the Thai Consulate General in Savanakhet isn't staffed by Thai Immigration officers and has wanted an original Thai wedding certificate for as long as I can remember.

[Pib]

3 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

If you have a copy of it a Amphoe will certify the copy and attach Kor Ror 2 to it that makes it about as good as the original.

If any info on the Kor Ror 2 is incorrect a correction to it by a Amphoe doing a statement at the end of it correcting the info. My wife's year of birth was wrong and a immigration officer noticed it. So my wife had to go to where we registered the marriage to get it corrected before my next extension application.

Any error on the Kor Ror 3 marriage certificate should also be wrong on the Kor Ror 2.

Yeap.  And let me tell a little of story of how the wife and I found this out just last week after being married for over four decades.

 

We live in Bangkok....my servicing immigration office is CW.  In preparation of possibly switching to marriage extension of stay from a retirement extension of stay I have used for the last 11 years, I decided I wanted to ensure I could get a Kor Ror 2 from the local district office.  This switch would not occur to late next year as my current extension is good till then.  

 

So off to the local office we go....and find out the license number on the Kor Ror 3 marriage ceritificate does not match what is in the national database which had a different number plus my name was not showing....only the wife's name....like the wife was married to a phantom.  The local office said "only" the office that issued the original Kor Ror 3 marriage certificate can make the necessary corrections/update in the national database.  Once that is done any office in Thailand can provide the Kor Ror 2 anytime needed.

 

So we go to Rayong....and three hour drive one way.....get the necessary corrections made.  Turns out the license number on the Kor Ror 3 was wrong when compared to the official paper logs from over 4 decades ago....and yes district office actually keep paper records going back many decades.  So, the license number in the national system was correct....just whoever prepared the pretty, one time issue Kor Ror 3 marriage certificate over 4 decades had made a mistake.  There were other errors the Rayong office corrected like both of our birth dates..  The Rayong office said such errors are common especially from decades ago....before the govt started automating things/getting computers.    They get everything corrected/issue the a Kor Ror 2 and tell use to keep that Kor Ror 2 attached to the original marriage Kor Ror 3 forever because replacement Kor Ror 3 marriage certificates are not replaced/reissued.  The Rayong district office was super helpful in getting everything fixed....no obstacles of any kind thrown up.....took about 2 hours to get everything corrected as they had to wait about an hour for the original paper records to be retrieved from the old office now used for storage....and old facility from the Vietnam War era.

 

So back to Bangkok we come, visit our local khet office to get a Kor Ror 2 as I wanted to be absoluted, 100% sure we could now get a Kor Ror 2 from my local office.  But we still can not because the updates Rayong did in the national database can not be "fully" read at my local office because Rayong is on the "new/updated" system and my khet district office is still on the "old" system...and they thought they wouldn't be be updated to the new system for maybe a year.  But they gave us a list of khet offices in Bangkok who have been updated to the new system and we got a Kor Ror 2 there....cost ten baht. 

 

The next day we went back to our local khet office to report "Success....we can now get a Kor Ror 2!!!!"  And standing right behind the rep that had bent over backwards to help us days earlier....guide us in what to do...who made calls to Rayong us....pointed to the 3 people standing behind her.  This was the team going around to all the district offices to update the offices to the new system....and my local office had just been update "that morning"....and the office didn't even know the team was coming in. 

 

But as mentioned, even if my local office had been on the new system when we first visited them to request a Kor Ror 2 the nature of the errors would have required us to go the original office that issued our marriage certificate decades ago to get the errors corrected.  

 

So, if anyone is thinking about switching from a retirement extension of stay to a marriage extension of stay were a fresh Kor Ror 2 will be required and you have never needed to get a Kor Ror 2 then you best go to your local office soon to see if you can get a Kor Ror 2.   Hopefully not, but you may be greeted with a "can not" because of errors you never knew existed....then you will need to make  trek to the original office that issued the marriage certificate....an office that is hopefully not too far away....or could be on the other end of Thailand/a full day's trip away one-way.

 

 

[Thian]

7 hours ago, Jeffrey346 said:

He now said I can not have a single entry as my current Visa  will not expire for 3 weeks and it is a Multi entry Visa

that can not be changed.

Same happened to me, you can only get a new visa when the old one is expired.....

[dbrenn]

1 hour ago, macgver said:

If I am your position, I will not use her Government ID to get your Non-O (Spouse) Visa done and it is against the code of ethnic of a civil servant. Then trouble will come in her position. If you love Thailand, respect the law and just follow the order. 

 

My wife always remind me that don't use her civil servant position to get things done. 

Rubbish - showing her government ID is a perfectly normal thing for a government official to do when dealing with other government officials. In this case, it solved the problem, and prevented a costly and time consuming second visit.

 

My wife (a government official) does it, as do her colleagues, whenever they encounter minor problems with bureaucracy, unfair traffic cops, etc. Works wonders.

[NanLaew]

6 minutes ago, dbrenn said:

Rubbish - showing her government ID is a perfectly normal thing for a government official to do when dealing with other government officials. In this case, it solved the problem, and prevented a costly and time consuming second visit.

 

My wife (a government official) does it, as do her colleagues, whenever they encounter minor problems with bureaucracy, unfair traffic cops, etc. Works wonders.

Totally agree. With apologies to macgver, the "Do you know who I am?" threat should be used whenever it's applicable.

[transam]

At Sav the one thing you must have, for a no hassle visa, is your original marriage certificates.....If you ain't got, then expect hassle....

[transam]

1 minute ago, NanLaew said:

Totally agree. With apologies to macgver, the "Do you know who I am?" threat should be used whenever it's applicable.

I just given them a copy of my latest CD, "Trans Renditions"....Works every time...????

[BestB]

1 hour ago, macgver said:

If I am your position, I will not use her Government ID to get your Non-O (Spouse) Visa done and it is against the code of ethnic of a civil servant. Then trouble will come in her position. If you love Thailand, respect the law and just follow the order. 

 

My wife always remind me that don't use her civil servant position to get things done. 

Hate to be the one to tell you but sounds like your wife does not wish to help you at all.

 

Not only its is the norm to use status and job position to get things done, but one of, if not the main reason why so many want to get into civil servant job in Thailand

[FarFlungFalang]

1 hour ago, Khon Kaen Jeff said:

I think you may well be onto something. These visa's have always been a bit of a grey area and strictly speaking they are designed for people that spend quite a lot of time here but come and go, like O/S workers for example.. they are not really meant for people who stay here the whole year and just do a quick run every 90 days..

Just wondering why they are not really meant for doing a quick run every 90 days and also how you come to know what these visa are strictly for or is this just your opinion?

[john terry1001]

1 hour ago, SteveK said:

So it's at the embassies, the airports and the border crossings. There MUST be something coming down from the top about keeping people out. As this guy buckled under the pressure from the wife, it's clear he was just chancing it and probably was fuming that he had to accept your paperwork. 99% of the time his charade would have worked.

It's not about keeping people out, it's about Immigration wanting people to have the correct permission to stay in Thailand.

 

There has always been a hard core of people who want to stay permanently but can't/don't want to abide by the legal method so look for alternative options. As Immigration have, over recent years, tightened the requirements to stay long term in Thailand the the hard core numbers looking for alternative options to stay have increased. With the numbers increasing, increased checking and disruption to weed out inaccurate applications at places like Savanakhet is probably the first step to encourage people who stay in Thailand permanently to use the extension method instead of trying to stay under the radar by continually applying for non immigrant visas and doing border runs etc. 

[BritManToo]

10 minutes ago, john terry1001 said:

Thailand the the hard core numbers looking for alternative options to stay have increased. With the numbers increasing, 

All my pals have either died or left, can't see the numbers of white folk trying to stay in Thailand increasing.

(about 50% down in the last 5 years from what I can see)

 

I would have been gone too if I didn't have a couple of Thai kids.

 

You've been a member a month, and pronouncing who should be here and who shouldn't?

More like a recently banned troll back for another go IMHO.

Edited October 21, 2019 by BritManToo

[john terry1001]

1 minute ago, BritManToo said:

All my pals have either died or left, can't see the numbers of white folk trying to stay in Thailand increasing.

(about 50% down in the last 5 years from what I can see)

 

I would have been gone too if I didn't have a couple of Thai kids.

Then, hopefully, the queues at Consulates at border crossings like Savanakhet will go down if you're right. At the moment they're going up. Time will tell.

[Khon Kaen Jeff]

23 minutes ago, FarFlungFalang said:

Just wondering why they are not really meant for doing a quick run every 90 days and also how you come to know what these visa are strictly for or is this just your opinion?

Seriously, can you not grasp it for yourself? They are MULTI-ENTRY visas so therefore for people who plan that come in and out through the year, they are NOT for people to plot here for the entire year and only leave the country as they are forced to..the visas for people who wish to live here all year are the extensions of stay. Don't come back at me and ask me anything again on this as that's your lot.

[BritManToo]

Just now, john terry1001 said:

Then, hopefully, the queues at Consulates at border crossings like Savanakhet will go down if you're right. At the moment they're going up. Time will tell.

They're going up because VISA run companies in Bangkok are trucking all the illegal workers over for tourist VISAs. 

There's hardly anyone looking to get non-os in the crowd.

[FarFlungFalang]

13 minutes ago, john terry1001 said:

There has always been a hard core of people who want to stay permanently but can't/don't want to abide by the legal method so look for alternative options.

 

14 minutes ago, john terry1001 said:

Savanakhet is probably the first step to encourage people who stay in Thailand permanently to use the extension method instead of trying to stay under the radar by continually applying for non immigrant visas and doing border runs etc. 

Are you suggesting people doing border runs with multi entry visas are doing something illegal?Also what radar?You have to stand in front of immigration officials every 90 days are you suggesting something is wrong with border runs as an alternative to extensions?

[BritManToo]

1 minute ago, Khon Kaen Jeff said:

Seriously, can you not grasp it for yourself? They are MULTI-ENTRY visas so therefore for people who plan that come in and out through the year, they are NOT for people to plot here for the entire year and only leave the country as they are forced to..the visas for people who wish to live here all year are the extensions of stay. Don't come back at me and ask me anything again on this as that's your lot.

In your opinion.

 

[macgver]

2 hours ago, jackdd said:

I think you have a misunderstanding of how Thailand works. The point of working in the government is to take advantage of all these perks.

When my GF was still in the army and we had any interaction with another civil servant, we either came prepared with her in uniform, or at least showed the army ID card and asked for whatever benefit was possible. Makes it easier ????

If you are asking about the benefits, it is still alright, but not taking advantage or over-ruled it. 

 

When my wife (also civil servant now), I asked her to do something for me at another government department. Then the department contact my wife's mayor about the incident. Then mayor go down to deputy mayor and he decided to kept silent over it. 

 

For your information, army not allow to marry with the foreigner, unless he/she resign. Only civil servant are allow.

[Khon Kaen Jeff]

5 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

In your opinion.

 

Oh look it's the site stud..I thought you had blocked me?