31st July Anmesty - surely it will be extended till 31st December minimum!

[CaptainCarrot]

46 minutes ago, ChomDo said:

Well yes you are correct. I didn't clarify that. I meant that there have been flights coming in (whoever is on those flights) and many airlines have scheduled flights starting from July 1. Maybe they will be flying into BKK empty and then flying back full? That's what I don't quite understand about airlines resuming frights in July because they won't really be able to bring any passengers in (the countries I'm thinking about won't have many Thais to repatriate). I wouldn't be paying much attention to this otherwise but my airline has changed my tickets from May to July. I have asked the airline many times if they are sure that flights will resume July 1 and they keep saying yes. Wonder what's the point and I still don't really believe it's true but have to wait and see until the beginning of July.     

Well some airlines are being economical with the actualité. For Bangkok- Kl, Air Asia has now cancelled flights up to 15 July. MAS is now saying that they will only decide on July flights on 1 July (though they've already taken people's money and won't refund it if they decide not to fly).

[Kalasin Jo]

On 6/25/2020 at 11:04 AM, dodgybros said:

There have been commercial flights back to Australia via Qatar since the beginning of the pandemic, more recently Cathay has opened a route via Hong Kong. The Australian Embassy has organised at least five repatriation flights to Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth via Thai Airways. If Australian you have never been stuck here.

True, but getting back to Thailand and allowed to enter is another matter. And if you are,  quarantined for 2 weeks at your expense in a govt approved place,  but not in your home here if you have one. No mention as yet of borders reopening either to get a " local" new visa at a Thai Consulate such as the non O multiple entry based on marriage if that's what you, like me, were using. The amnesty ends 31 July. Now the State of Emergency is set to be extended to that date. The relaxation of rules is all internal here it seems to me. So it makes sense to extend the amnesty for an absolute minimum of a further  month beyond that for foreigners whose visas, permissions and extensions have been used and expired and are unable to comply with the requirements of their local IO for a 1 year extension. One you might not want  as a part time anyway due to the financial requirements.

 

I don't want  a 1 year extension but I'd rather have a visa to come back in on before I leave for a spell in Europe so I am trying and having trouble with the income method, not just proof of source but because when not here, 7 months in the last 12, I've not been sending 40k a month although when here much more, taking my average well above 40k but mostly squeezed in to the last 6 months. My IO repeats the mantra of  put money in the bank until I ask if the 60 day seasoning will be waived. Then they see that even if I could do it straight away I still couldn't apply until end August when on the current amnesty expiry I'll have been on overstay of around 4 weeks and the application will be refused as too late. So twice now they've said best go Savanakhet when you can if you want to stay or go back to your home country. The latter not so helpful if you have a family here, you can't take them with you ( visas expired) and you have no visa to come back on, no idea when or where you can get one with consulates closed.

[chilly07]

The amnesty was to avoid TI offices becoming virus hotspots. This will not change by July 31 so unless they can change all offices to a mall based queuing system like CW as well as all borders and flights returned to 'normal' without quarantine  they will have to extend

Edited June 26, 2020 by chilly07

[greggraham]

Have any other countries extended their amnesty? 

[Russell17au]

1 hour ago, ubonjoe said:

Or if you can prove 40k baht of income per month.

But even that is not accepted by some IO's. The Australian pension is paid every 4 weeks not every calendar month and because of that my application for my renewal for my extension was rejected even thou the police order stated that it was to be taken as average annual income and by that method my income amount exceeded the monthly income but the IO used the monthly amount in the bank book to reject my application. This income method is only set up for those who are on monthly payments and not for those on 4 weekly payments.

[Russell17au]

Everyone is only speculating because no one knows what is ahead of us. It is this speculating that causes a lot of grief for some people because they take what these speculators are saying as fact and not fiction.

[seancbk]

On 6/25/2020 at 10:42 AM, grego49 said:

cathay pacific are currently flying to sydney 3 times a week via HK,but no return flights

cheers

 

How long before all of Cathay's planes are in Sydney?

 

????

[JackThompson]

On 6/25/2020 at 12:13 PM, ozz1 said:

Why don't they charge us with multi entry non o  visas married to a thai  5000 baht for a year instead of us having to do border run to get it  but alas this is Thailand and something like that would be too sensible  if the land borders are open fine but we will have to see or consider using a agent

You got it at the end - you can get that no-hassle 1-year stay, but it costs 25K to 35K baht to an agent, to get it inside Thailand.   If "retired" it is only 15K to 25K (no district-level sign-off envelope). 

Immigration hate people going around their agent-money system by getting "Visas" - told me it my Non-O-ME was "illegal" and I would "never get another one," when I was recently denied a 1-year extension (to spite having proof of multiples of the minimum-income).

[Max69xl]

Do you think that Australia is the center of the world? I think the main problem for Aussies is the ban to leave the country. That's a government desicion and I guess if Qantas are not allowed to fly out of the country,why would they be interested in repatriation flights? Qantas is not a state owned airline. 

[drbeach]

On 6/25/2020 at 10:23 AM, bestie said:

Nobody knows. But if they have the opportunity to make money a further amnesty would make no sense. Maybe you have to pay for every month until the borders are open.

That's what they've been doing in Laos all along. 1 month extensions for a fee until the borders re-open. That said, no one knows what the Lao definition of an "open border" is. If it involves a quarantine, covid test and mandatory insurance, it's technically "open" but not really open in the sense of normal, freedom of movement.

 

As for Thailand's amnesty, I believe it will be extended for 1-2 more months, now that the state of emergency has been extended. I don't see it being extended until Dec 31, but who knows?

[drbeach]

23 minutes ago, JackThompson said:

You got it at the end - you can get that no-hassle 1-year stay, but it costs 25K to 35K baht to an agent, to get it inside Thailand.   If "retired" it is only 15K to 25K (no district-level sign-off envelope). 

Immigration hate people going around their agent-money system by getting "Visas" - told me it my Non-O-ME was "illegal" and I would "never get another one," when I was recently denied a 1-year extension (to spite having proof of multiples of the minimum-income).

I'm happy to use an agent myself, as long as it's smooth sailing. Non-O ME can be applied for and used at infinitum. They work very well as long as the borders are open. Unfortunately, the current situation is unprecedented and the reason why they may no longer be a good deal in the future.

[drbeach]

4 hours ago, greggraham said:

Have any other countries extended their amnesty? 

Vietnam hasn't and theirs runs out on June 30. They may announce a last minute reprieve, but as of earlier today, June 30th was it.

[drbeach]

4 hours ago, chilly07 said:

The amnesty was to avoid TI offices becoming virus hotspots. This will not change by July 31 so unless they can change all offices to a mall based queuing system like CW as well as all borders and flights returned to 'normal' without quarantine  they will have to extend

That was but one small reason. The major one was borders being closed and limited number of outbound flights. I think the amnesty needs to be extended for 1-2 more months. December 31 is unlikely though.

[drbeach]

14 hours ago, jtbobway said:

seems logical. why miss a chance to earn some money. hopefully they do a stage 2 opening, where they agree to sell more extensions than we are entitled to. pushing out those who dont want to pay would be a good solution. 

I don't mind paying for an extra extension, although I still have a 60 day visit wife extension up my sleeve so obviously i'll get that first and only worry about what happens after late September.

[jonga80]

I hope they do, but I don't think they will extend the amnesty. I want to stay in Thailand, I don't want to return to Europe, if you go out from Thailand I see it very difficult to return, so I am analyzing staying overstay.  What I don't understand is, now that tourists cannot come to Thailand, the tourists who are here spend money in the country... wouldn't it be interesting for Thailand's economy to extend the amnesty? Or the other option, someone said, 30 days extensions for 1900 bahts until the borders in Asia open.

[drbeach]

22 minutes ago, jonga80 said:

I hope they do, but I don't think they will extend the amnesty. I want to stay in Thailand, I don't want to return to Europe, if you go out from Thailand I see it very difficult to return, so I am analyzing staying overstay.  What I don't understand is, now that tourists cannot come to Thailand, the tourists who are here spend money in the country... wouldn't it be interesting for Thailand's economy to extend the amnesty? Or the other option, someone said, 30 days extensions for 1900 bahts until the borders in Asia open.

You've made an assumption then asked a question you've already answered.

 

Several law firms have said it's "likely" the amnesty will be extended. I personally think so too. However, only for another 1-2 months. I can't see them extending it beyond September, though you never know. All will depend on the circumstances we find ourselves in at that time.

[impulse]

6 hours ago, Max69xl said:

Do you think that Australia is the center of the world? I think the main problem for Aussies is the ban to leave the country. That's a government desicion and I guess if Qantas are not allowed to fly out of the country,why would they be interested in repatriation flights? Qantas is not a state owned airline. 

 

Have you seen what they're charging for tickets?  I haven't checked Qantas, but some airlines are charging enough to have 1/2 the seats empty one way and completely empty the other way, and still make more revenue than they did on normal cheap seat flights.  The flights I checked (USA-Asia, but not for Thailand) are going for $3,500 one way, when it usually cost me $800-1,000 R/T.

 

[BritTim]

1 hour ago, impulse said:

 

Have you seen what they're charging for tickets?  I haven't checked Qantas, but some airlines are charging enough to have 1/2 the seats empty one way and completely empty the other way, and still make more revenue than they did on normal cheap seat flights.  The flights I checked (USA-Asia, but not for Thailand) are going for $3,500 one way, when it usually cost me $800-1,000 R/T.

 

Cheaper flights exist if you search carefully. From the West coast, for instance, you could try Air Canada via Vancouver and Hong Kong. Around $1,000 if you are flexible about dates.

[Kelsall]

I would guess they will go back to 30 day extension of stay based on Embassy letters stating there are no flights back to one's home country.  The fact is there are many flights back to the US and other countries, so there is no need for extension of the amnesty.  Just a guess.

Edited June 27, 2020 by Kelsall

[bbi1]

On 6/27/2020 at 10:37 AM, Kelsall said:

I would guess they will go back to 30 day extension of stay based on Embassy letters stating there are no flights back to one's home country.  The fact is there are many flights back to the US and other countries, so there is no need for extension of the amnesty.  Just a guess.

If it goes to Embassy letters, I guess it would be only for if there are no direct flights from BKK to the home country, unlike pre-Covid times where there were a number of direct BKK to home country flights.

[drbeach]

On 6/27/2020 at 7:37 AM, Kelsall said:

I would guess they will go back to 30 day extension of stay based on Embassy letters stating there are no flights back to one's home country.  The fact is there are many flights back to the US and other countries, so there is no need for extension of the amnesty.  Just a guess.

Hard to say. Many flights is not true. There are some flights, but capacity is limited. That said, it appears there will be a significant increase in the number of flights to/from Thailand starting July 1. Just not THAI Airways.

 

There haven't been any direct flights between Thailand and the USA since 2015, excepting the 4 round-trip Delta repatriation flights during April between Honolulu and Pattaya U-Tapao airport.

I guess you mean one-stop services? If so, yes, you can catch a Korean Air flight and connect in Seoul for a US bound flight (the full list of destinations may not be in operation, but at least some should be).

[brewsterbudgen]

On 6/26/2020 at 12:45 PM, greggraham said:

Have any other countries extended their amnesty? 

Laos doesn't have one.  My British son is stuck there, and has to renew his visa every month, at the normal rate!