2 hours ago, Letseng said:

Where on this earth does any of you find a lenient and helpful immigration office?

 

Philippines,

One of my elderly pals had been staying on VISA extensions for 3 years after which he was required to leave the country for 1 day. He's a bit doddery, walks with a stick and went into the local immigration office to ask if there was anything he could do to avoid the journey out and back. They said, "We'll just write in your passport you are too ill to travel, and you can renew your extensions for another 3 years". Which he's currently doing. Nice people the Filipino's. 

Edited December 25, 20196 yr by BritManToo

4 hours ago, Letseng said:

Where on this earth does any of you find a lenient and helpful immigration office?

 

Pathumthani......last time I went to submit TM30 (now do it online), I arrived 5 mins after "closing time".....4.30pm.

Went into the room, first male IO says bluntly "cannot,  closed" but one female IO says..."ok, I do it for you as special favour" (she's seen me before ),  AND wouldn't accept some "coffee money"......laughed and handed it back.

So there are a few.

On 12/24/2019 at 2:01 PM, tomahawk said:

tried to renew it 3 times but was denied because even though I have sufficient income

How much income is required to be shown?

On 12/24/2019 at 2:01 PM, tomahawk said:

have no mney left for airplane flight even to Malaysia

How much is a ticket to Malaysia?

2-3.000 baht

 

Clearly you don't have sufficient income...

 

To the guys above blaming thai immigration:

There are rules in place for a reason.

If you cannot save 3000 baht in a year to just fly to malaysia, then maybe dont blame the thai requirements.

 

Failing 3 times to extend your visa should ring some bells, no?

6 hours ago, sandyf said:

Are you trying to say that 12 consecutive deposits to a Thai bank is the only alternative to an Embassy letter.

One has to assume that 4 deposits of 3 times the amount, or any other combination, just doesn't equate.

Correct.... 12 deposits, one each month, of 65000 baht or more from overseas is the clearly stated requirement.

• 3 hours ago, Thaidream said:

   

  Why is it so hard to understand the concept of the Golden Rule- treat others as you would want to be treated.

  When that policy is only invoked to benefit a farang it's essentially self serving and hypocritical.

For a long, long time Thai immigrations was famously laid back and accommodating about most things.  And that simply produced contempt for both the letter of the law and its intention.

 

The golden rule involves a two way street, not one way for allowing farangs concessions and the other way littered with Thai bashing and bragging about gaming the system.

 

 

4 hours ago, Old Croc said:

It is also incumbent on each individual to keep up with any changes

youll need  to  call them weekly then call every  IO office  in Thailand as they all interpret differently........and theres  the problem, thats   just the start, then you have each individual officer, some are  real twits and do what they want........... its  simply  impossible 

5 hours ago, UKresonant said:

They do seem to want to keep the facade of having workable procedures in place, but they don't equate to reality in many examples, especially for UK, US, & Australia nationalities.....

 

If I had an accident, and temporarily  could not manually initiate a SWIFT transfer, that would be the income procedure disrupted, just because the transfer arrived a few days late!

 

 

as mentioned many times here, put the 800k in the bank and forget about it, and if you can't manage that, go home and save till you can...

5 hours ago, mike787 said:

I agree to disagree.  THai immigration needs to set a kinder less "xenophobic" example of working with the OP.  He can make significant contributions to the Thai economy much like all expats do.  He is also does not pose any criminal risk, just a normal expat trying to live in thailand. 

Merry xmas!

pull that argument with the Canadian or American border folks and see where that gets you 5555...

When I'm a guest in someone's home, I try not to complain about the way they keep house. And if things become truly unbearable, I cut my visit short. I genuinely don't understand why some come to Thailand and then torture themselves by complaining about the way Thais "keep house." Friends and family are probably better sources of support than a government anyway, no matter where you live.

 

I hope things work out for the original poster, but for me, the joys of living here far outweigh the problems. When that ratio changes, it will be time for me to leave, not time for me to expect the Thai culture to adjust to my expectations.

 

I hope 2020 will bring us all fewer problems, more contentment, less grief, and more joy—wherever we find ourselves.

6 minutes ago, mcl2504 said:

When I'm a guest in someone's home, I try not to complain about the way they keep house.

If I were paying to live in the house, I most certainly would.

And if they didn't fulfil their obligations as landlord, I'd probably take them to court.

Edited December 25, 20196 yr by BritManToo

2 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

If I were paying to live in the house, I most certainly would.

And if they didn't fulfil their obligations as landlord, I'd probably take them to court.

I hadn't thought of that analogy. But even with that line of thinking, the landlord isn't obliged to renew your rental agreement when the lease comes to an end, and if you don't fulfill your obligations as a tenant during the rental period, they would have the right to throw you out. So it does cut both ways. The tenant never has a permanent right to live in the landlord's property. Nor is the landlord under any obligation to rent out his/her property. It could just sit empty. So whether we are like guests or like tenants, our rights are limited. At least that's the way I see it.

Why not change the date of your flight to America?

6 hours ago, UKresonant said:

They do seem to want to keep the facade of having workable procedures in place, but they don't equate to reality in many examples, especially for UK, US, & Australia nationalities.....

 

If I had an accident, and temporarily  could not manually initiate a SWIFT transfer, that would be the income procedure disrupted, just because the transfer arrived a few days late!

 

 

Exactly. The poster I responded to, and many others, seem to think that immigration has no alternative than to insist on 12 consecutive transfers.

I have recently been to HCMC for a multi non O as I could not renew my extension. I was out of the country for a couple of months and did not transfer during that period.

39 minutes ago, mcl2504 said:

When I'm a guest in someone's home, I try not to complain about the way they keep house. And if things become truly unbearable, I cut my visit short. I genuinely don't understand why some come to Thailand and then torture themselves by complaining about the way Thais "keep house." Friends and family are probably better sources of support than a government anyway, no matter where you live.

 

I hope things work out for the original poster, but for me, the joys of living here far outweigh the problems. When that ratio changes, it will be time for me to leave, not time for me to expect the Thai culture to adjust to my expectations.

 

I hope 2020 will bring us all fewer problems, more contentment, less grief, and more joy—wherever we find ourselves.

very well written and worth repeating...

37 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

If I were paying to live in the house, I most certainly would.

And if they didn't fulfil their obligations as landlord, I'd probably take them to court.

I pay 1900 bt a year to live in this house, hardly worth while taking anyone to court for that.. 

7 hours ago, Letseng said:

Where on this earth does any of you find a lenient and helpful immigration office?

 

BOI immigration in BKK

6 hours ago, mike787 said:

I agree to disagree.  THai immigration needs to set a kinder less "xenophobic" example of working with the OP.  He can make significant contributions to the Thai economy much like all expats do.  He is also does not pose any criminal risk, just a normal expat trying to live in thailand. 

Merry xmas!

Significant contributions to the Thai economy if you can't pay for a flight out? 

51 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

In quite a lot of countries they do, and in some cases can pass on the tenancy agreement to their children.

I can't say you're right or wrong; it just doesn't mesh with my experience. It seems odd that any country would allow a tenant to hold a landlord hostage like that. In any case, such radically different approaches to tenancy law does prove my point that people, countries, and societies are different, and expecting the ones that don't meet our expectations to change is more frustrating than helpful. But again, I'm just expressing my own personal feelings. 

37 minutes ago, FritsSikkink said:

Significant contributions to the Thai economy if you can't pay for a flight out? 

Quite why people keep flogging that long dead nag I can't believe. There simply isn't enough western expats to spend anything like significant amounts in Thailand and that's a matter of record. 

 

Particularly when you consider that the vast majority of what they contribute is spent on Singha, Chang and Leo just before they spark up their computers.

Move to Vietname. 40%+ cheaper and easy 4 visa. Since your American your paying taxes worldwide so no benefits staying here. Especially 4 beers cigars and cars. They’re much cheaper over there. 

Edited December 25, 20196 yr by Drax

On 12/24/2019 at 2:15 PM, Nakmuay887 said:

if you need a place to sleep for a night or anything shoot me a PM.

Don't forget to file the TM30 ????

2 hours ago, mcl2504 said:

When I'm a guest in someone's home, I try not to complain about the way they keep house. And if things become truly unbearable, I cut my visit short. I genuinely don't understand why some come to Thailand and then torture themselves by complaining about the way Thais "keep house." Friends and family are probably better sources of support than a government anyway, no matter where you live.

 

I hope things work out for the original poster, but for me, the joys of living here far outweigh the problems. When that ratio changes, it will be time for me to leave, not time for me to expect the Thai culture to adjust to my expectations.

 

I hope 2020 will bring us all fewer problems, more contentment, less grief, and more joy—wherever we find ourselves.

This is your second post where you criticize everyone for “complaining” and suggest they just leave here, in your oh so polite way.  Then tell us how great life is for you, the newbie ...gee, we have never heard that perspective before. I highly resent being called a guest here, if you want to think of yourself like that go right ahead, I will not think of myself like that.  I was never once treated like a guest, I was treated like a boss, who pays, and pay I did, so I deserve respect.  
 

The poster is not complaining about Thai culture, he has a logistics problem.  Thais hate strict rules and usually will accommodate people they know.  They know him, they could accommodate him ...that actually would be following Thai culture. Running short of money for a moment is no big deal here, being a bit late, no big deal.  They could work with him based on his past performance.  I know that is not immigration’s style but it could be.

maybe i am just not the sympathetic sort of guy, BUT its been posted here and everywhere the new regulations for almost a year,

 

You knew about thai visa as you just signed up in 2008 and than you come and post ur sad story, so surely you must have read about new rules>>
sorry, but the rules are the rules.  ignorance is no excuse and zero reason for immigration to be lenient.

man up...

Edited December 25, 20196 yr by phuketrichard

16 hours ago, Chazar said:

21 hours ago, Old Croc said:

It is also incumbent on each individual to keep up with any changes

youll need  to  call them weekly then call every  IO office  in Thailand as they all interpret differently........and theres  the problem, thats   just the start, then you have each individual officer, some are  real twits and do what they want........... its  simply  impossible 

The OP is a member of Thaivisa, a place where every change to immigration rules is dissected in minute detail in hundreds of posts by scores of people.

He should try to gain information here, not just use the place to complain when his lack of knowledge catches up to him. 

edit :  sorry Phuketrichard, just noticed you essentially said the same thing in the post above.

 

 

Edited December 26, 20196 yr by Old Croc

13 hours ago, amykat said:

I highly resent being called a guest here, if you want to think of yourself like that go right ahead, I will not think of myself like that.  I was never once treated like a guest, I was treated like a boss, who pays, and pay I did, so I deserve respect.  

Wow.

They have their rules not hard to comply with, that way everyone knows what they need. How screwed would it be if they cut one guy slack then everyone would be asking for slack. I have never seen any sign saying immigration benevolent society,

12 hours ago, phuketrichard said:

sorry, but the rules are the rules.  ignorance is no excuse and zero reason for immigration to be lenient.

Yes, rules are rules, and we have rules for those with an embassy letter and different rules for those without.

I appreciate that there are those that have little time for equality, particularly the better off that like to preach from the moral high ground.

On 12/25/2019 at 9:15 AM, AgMech Cowboy said:

@Nakmuay887  That is a very nice thing to offer. Merry Christmas!!

Just doing the neighbourly thing. We've all been down on our luck at times. It can be daunting! Especially in a foreign country with no safety net. 

 

I'll always do my best to help my fellow expats and Thai's alike. 

15 hours ago, yuyiinthesky said:

Don't forget to file the TM30 ????

LOL. 

2 hours ago, sandyf said:

Yes, rules are rules, and we have rules for those with an embassy letter and different rules for those without.

I appreciate that there are those that have little time for equality, particularly the better off that like to preach from the moral high ground.

What are you talking about? It was the foreign office/embassy staff who withdrew the

confirmation letters, nothing to do with immigration having different rules for different

nationalities.