Really frustrating story...

[Brad88]

Sharing a truly frustrating experience here that caused much wasted time, energy, and money relating to the Thai Consulate in Osaka, Thai Embassy in Tokyo, and Thai immigration policy.

Round One
Contacted the Thai Embassy in Tokyo in January 2020 to inquire about what specific visa to apply for to enter the Kingdom. Told to apply for an RS visa as a researcher. Host university in Thailand then provided a letter for an RS visa.

Traveled from Nagoya and applied for the RS visa at the Thai Osaka Consulate in January 2020 and was told suddenly to apply for an ED (education) visa instead. Very confusing after being told to apply for an RS visa by the Tokyo Thai Embassy. Contacted host university in Thailand again and received a new letter for an ED visa. Returned to Osaka Consulate and was granted a 3-month visa in February 2020. Was not able to get a flight to Thailand during the time of ED visa validity (this was understandable and could not be helped, of course, due to COVID-19).

Round Two
Gathered all the documents to apply for a Certificate of Entry (COE) and for a new visa to enter Thailand in September 2020 and made flight reservation according to the steps outlined on the Thai Embassy webpage.

After submission, was contact by telephone from the Osaka Thai Consulate and was told that I also now need to ask my sponsoring university in Thailand to contact the Thai Ministry of Education to get special permission for research. This was shocking to hear. There had been no information published on the Thai website that mentioned a need to also apply to the Thai Ministry of Education as part of the ED visa process. This had not been needed when I applied for and received my original ED visa in February 2020. Very confusing and frustrating. Furthermore, the lady whom I spoke with on the telephone from the Thai Consulate admitted that this lack of clear information on the Thai Consulate website is a problem. However, there was no apology and I was left hanging. After that I lost my will to continue any further. Too much time had already gone by and my window to go abroad to conduct my research was to narrow to keep trying to get the visa.

These experiences resulted in great losses of time, energy, and money in ways that have impacted my university here in Japan, the university in Thailand, and myself. Very stressful dealing with such incompetence and lack of professionalism. Sorry for anyone who has or will be in a similar situation here. Before closing, I want to say thanks for listening. I tried to make this less about a rant and more about the facts, though there is some of both here. Sigh... .

[SbuxPlease]

The immigration websites are notoriously incomplete and out of date which is so unfortunate as many people just want to understand what the facts are. Thailand could go a long way towards shortening the lines and speeding the process by just hiring a native English writer to update the website each day with that particular day's set of new rules.

 

Long stay Visas are naturally a very stressful process as it feels like the next segment of your life is dependent on some bureaucrat who couldn't care any less and can't explain any of the regulations clearly. Never mind that you're gearing up to purchase flights, arrange condos, handle employment, and perhaps winding down your life in your home country all at the same time. It's a lot of things that hinge on that one sticker in your passport.

[ubonjoe]

1 hour ago, SbuxPlease said:

The immigration websites are notoriously incomplete and out of date which is so unfortunate as many people just want to understand what the facts are.

It think you need to read the OP again. He is trying to get a visa and certificate of entry at a Thai consulate not at immigration.

[SupermarineS6B]

59 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

It think you need to read the OP again. He is trying to get a visa and certificate of entry at a Thai consulate not at immigration.

Contacted the Thai Embassy in Tokyo in January 2020 to inquire about what specific visa to apply for to enter the Kingdom. Told to apply for an RS visa as a researcher. Host university in Thailand then provided a letter for an RS visa.      So don't the consulates abide by the immigration laws of the country ?     

[ubonjoe]

28 minutes ago, SupermarineS6B said:

So don't the consulates abide by the immigration laws of the country ?     

The only "law" is the immigration act of 1979.

The Ministry of Foreign affairs have various procedures and ministerial orders for issuing visas.

The Immigration Bureau goes by orders issued by the Interior Ministry and their own orders and regulations for doing extensions, visas and etc that is under their responsibility.

[VBF]

1 hour ago, ubonjoe said:

The only "law" is the immigration act of 1979.

The Ministry of Foreign affairs have various procedures and ministerial orders for issuing visas.

The Immigration Bureau goes by orders issued by the Interior Ministry and their own orders and regulations for doing extensions, visas and etc that is under their responsibility.

Which, although quite clear, is totally ridiculous, in that two major Government Departments that deal with closely related issues are so "out of sync" with each other!

It's like a bad comedy farce, except that it messes up so many people's lives and therefore is just not funny! "TIT" I suppose. ????

[EbhB]

They might actually have tried to help.you, as RS would be far better to have than ED - especially if the situation should take a turn for the worse.

 

Other than that I wonder if there is some reason connected to your field of work that makes it hard to define if you as a person or representative of your university is the one who receives the benefit of being educated in Thailand, or if one or both universities will be gain knowledge during your stay? Could that be hard to define, and hence the reason for some confusion?

 

I'm not a fan of bureaucrats at all, I just wonder if factors like these might be the root cause...

 

Hope you eventually make it here!

[Brad88]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts, experiences, and support everyone.

As a follow-up to what I shared in this visa experience, Thai Airways is saying that refunds, with cancellation fees, will take one year for the flight that I had booked in order to even have been able to apply for the COE. There is some good news, however. Cancelling the mandatory 14-day hotel reservation for quarantine was hassle-free and their refund will only take a month without any fees.

As I mentioned in the original post, I am moving forward and won’t continue trying to enter Thailand now. I’m accepting that it is best to remain in Japan. Lots of merits to staying put.

Good luck to all of you who need to navigate Thai bureaucracy with your visa and other business. I hope it can be smooth, or at least less painful than it needs to be, for you.