Phuket Immigration overwhelmed as foreigners race to extend stay in Thailand

[Requirement]

5 hours ago, notmyself said:

Over the weekend I was speaking to my brother (UK) about the obvious impending chaos. Was evening so he was making dinner but he came back after a couple of hours and asked where all 'these' flights are going to come from. 

From the heavens.

[CheelBeel]

45 minutes ago, Bangkok Barry said:

All tourists must leave by Saturday, unless medically unable to do so or for very limited other reasons. For some reason known only to itself, the Thai government wishes to set the number of tourists in the country at zero. Their plan to in future welcome 300 new tourists a month is designed to be a total non-starter, not least because those 300 have to arrive by air charter. So, the number of tourists will remain at zero.

 

With no borders set to open in the foreseeable future, Thailand's tourist industry is effectively finished, except for the few locals who can find the money to travel within the country. Apart from the weekends, that has also proved so far to be a non-starter. All because of less deaths in six months than happens in a normal day on Thai roads. There are many who say the two are totally unconnected and they are not, but the different reaction to each situation speaks for itself.

yes it is correct, and in the future we will let the world know what is behind thais smiles
the time of political correction is over...
Now we are putting china back in its place and thailand will be next

[Truth Will Set You Free]

17 hours ago, darrendsd said:

They stated it a month ago - what more do you want?

If there is 155,000 tourist that needs to extend, you do the math.?

 

155,000 / 40 days (8 weeks or two months) =  3,875 per day / 8 hours of work = 484 person per hour. 
 

Plus some of those days were holidays......????????????

 

You still think they gave everyone enough notice? 
 

They put their foot in their mouth when they said how many needed to extend.????????????????

 

[KarenBravo]

It didn't help that a certain immigration "expert" on here, repeatedly told posters to wait until the 26th September to do extensions.

Some posters pointed out that it was better to do the extension early to avoid the crowds and ignored his advice. Bet they're glad that they did.

[Eibot]

1 hour ago, Baerboxer said:

 

Thai Immigration have been reminding people of the deadline and encouraging them to get things sorted for sometime. 

 

All the "last minute Charlies" leave it and then expect to be treated as the sole applicant that day.

 

Get real. The lack of intelligence is on those who can't be bothered or kept hoping for more and more extensions of the amnesty.

I disagree.

 

1) Immigration doesn't have a say in Amnesty. They have been jabbing for the past two extensions that people need to leave, some people therefore mistakenly used their extension only for the amnesty to be extended again. In other words, it has paid off and is wise to wait as the government makes the decision. Immigration isn't saying anything differently than before.

2) Immigration says that all extension will start running AFTER the amnesty ends on 26/09. However, as per usual the IO do whatever they want, and almost all extensions started rolling straight away. People noticed this and obviously want to do their extension as late as possible to give themselves more time. 

3) During the past two amnesty extensions, the goverment waited till the very last moment to give information is if was going to be extended or not (cliffhanger). It they would have given timely decisions last time, people would not still be hoping for an extension of amnesty right now.

 

These 3 factors make it extremely understandable that people wait until the last moment. As that has simply been the smartest thing to do. 

[Eibot]

28 minutes ago, KarenBravo said:

It didn't help that a certain immigration "expert" on here, repeatedly told posters to wait until the 26th September to do extensions.

Some posters pointed out that it was better to do the extension early to avoid the crowds and ignored his advice. Bet they're glad that they did.

Many people on this forum have already used there 60 day extension because of the "better do it early advise" on this forum, only to see the amnesty being extended again and them having used up their lifeline. 

 

Bet those aren't too happy now. Meanwhile, the people that waited might have to wait in line a little longer, but can use their extension to it's fullest. 

[P100]

18 hours ago, Laza 45 said:

Hmmm?.. how long has everyone known that Sept 26th is the deadline?  Maybe a bit of intelligence require to be prepared instead of waiting until the last minute..   

The truth is you cannot rely on Thai information even if it is a deadline. It is changing on hourly basis. That s why many people have waited instead of acting...

[metisdead]

An offensive troll post has been reported and removed. 

[Laza 45]

3 minutes ago, P100 said:

The truth is you cannot rely on Thai information even if it is a deadline. It is changing on hourly basis. That s why many people have waited instead of acting...

A good reason to be proactive and be as prepared as you can be.. sitting back and hoping that the dice will roll in your favor is not a good plan.  It isn't like they have been working flat out and haven't had time.... 

[CheelBeel]

thais are laughing at us now, sadistically  enjoying our situation
but they laughing will turn to tears once we will start imposing suctions on them for what are they doing
Let your government and the press to know what is really behind their smiles

Remember, never again ...

Edited September 22, 2020 by CheelBeel

[GeorgeCross]

3 hours ago, Bangkok Barry said:

All tourists must leave by Saturday, unless medically unable to do so or for very limited other reasons. For some reason known only to itself, the Thai government wishes to set the number of tourists in the country at zero. Their plan to in future welcome 300 new tourists a month is designed to be a total non-starter, not least because those 300 have to arrive by air charter. So, the number of tourists will remain at zero.

 

With no borders set to open in the foreseeable future, Thailand's tourist industry is effectively finished, except for the few locals who can find the money to travel within the country. Apart from the weekends, that has also proved so far to be a non-starter. All because of less deaths in six months than happens in a normal day on Thai roads. There are many who say the two are totally unconnected and they are not, but the different reaction to each situation speaks for itself.

 

well yeah them and the 100s of thousands of current and newly extended former tourists expats..

 

 

[GeorgeCross]

2 hours ago, CheelBeel said:

yes it is correct, and in the future we will let the world know what is behind thais smiles
the time of political correction is over...
Now we are putting china back in its place and thailand will be next

lol - have a listen to yourself!

 

the world doesn't give a <deleted> about thailand - if you try to preach this you'll end up in a mad house ????

 

 

[FarFlungFalang]

8 hours ago, hotchilli said:

They did advertise it, some people either chose to ignore it of leave it to the last minute.

Immigration has been open and tourists could have gone at any time to process their individual needs.

 

Some have been trying for a long time to sort it out but were continually being refused until the last couple of weeks when without notice the changed their minds and started to allow extension applications so some have had only a short time to sort it out.That's what happened to me.

[Old Croc]

I always prefer to form my opinions on the most likely scenarios.

I don't believe there are 150,000 tourists, in the traditional sense, stranded in Thailand.

I believe the majority of these people are the erstwhile quasi-residents who have been using tourist and other short term visas to live long term in Thailand. The border runners.

The amnesties have kept them legal for the last few months, but now that has come to an end and the borders are still closed. The border hop is not possible.

Many of these expats have families, homes, jobs(!), etc. here, but have hit a brick wall in efforts to stay legally. If lucky they can get an Embassy letter and a short extension. If not, they would have to return to home country and try to return eventually, or perhaps just become illegal until they can again easily cross borders.  No wonder many here are so concerned at events.

I don't know if the government will recognise their plight and make exceptions for them to stay, or if they perhaps see this as a chance to change the practice.

Personally, I feel people with strong ties here should be given a chance to wait out the apocalypse.  

 

 

 

[dddave]

21 hours ago, Sharp said:

To be fair I thought they did or am I missing something!? 

I've seen online warnings for a while now! 

No, no!! It's ALWAYS Immigrations fault, not the poor, victimized Westerners.....

" Nobody told me"

[SlyouThai]

Just to make it clear for people saying its all farang fault.

Phuket immigration when you went there said " just wait because probably will have amnesty "

If you wanted to do it anyway it would have start the date you walked in , and not 27th . So you go 2 weeks before you lose 2 weeks.

 

Farang fault huh ??

[beechbum]

Will be happy if it means the idiots from the boxing camps around Chalong that jog on the road get made to PO.

Edited September 22, 2020 by beechbum

[Bundooman]

On 9/21/2020 at 7:16 PM, YetAnother said:

sums up the overall state of thai immigration; should have sorted out this mess and publicized it long ago; o, sorry , i forgot, that requires intelligence

They did - and it also requires intelligence for you to plan your exit strategy and following moves.

It isn't the responsibility of the Thai authorities - whatever you might think of them.

It's yours!

[Kalasin Jo]

On 9/21/2020 at 2:51 PM, darrendsd said:

They stated it a month ago - what more do you want?

Exactly. I think it was nearly 2 months,ago....and repeatedly thereafter. .sadly definitely a case of stupid farang this time. I'm betting an awful lot of those leaving it to the last minute will end up being told to leave within the next 7 days and fined when they do, arrested if they don't.

[metisdead]

Some off topic posts have been removed. 

[barsie]

I went on 7th and sorted a 60 day + 30 visa.

 

What confused me was they gave me a totally random visa. I still don't understand what it is- apparently family visa. I wanted a Non-O to convert into a marriage visa but was with least useful immigration officer who appeared to be boss from uniform.

 

Not sure if family visa (no kids) can convert to marriage visa. I meet all requirements and have all documents.

[LivinginKata]

3 hours ago, barsie said:

<snip>

Not sure if family visa (no kids) can convert to marriage visa. I meet all requirements and have all documents.

 

Well you don't have kids or a marriage certificate. You fall a bit short of the requirements.

 

Edit - common law wife not accepted by immigration

Edited September 23, 2020 by LivinginKata

[checkered flag]

19 hours ago, Old Croc said:

I always prefer to form my opinions on the most likely scenarios.

I don't believe there are 150,000 tourists, in the traditional sense, stranded in Thailand.

I believe the majority of these people are the erstwhile quasi-residents who have been using tourist and other short term visas to live long term in Thailand. The border runners.

The amnesties have kept them legal for the last few months, but now that has come to an end and the borders are still closed. The border hop is not possible.

Many of these expats have families, homes, jobs(!), etc. here, but have hit a brick wall in efforts to stay legally. If lucky they can get an Embassy letter and a short extension. If not, they would have to return to home country and try to return eventually, or perhaps just become illegal until they can again easily cross borders.  No wonder many here are so concerned at events.

I don't know if the government will recognise their plight and make exceptions for them to stay, or if they perhaps see this as a chance to change the practice.

Personally, I feel people with strong ties here should be given a chance to wait out the apocalypse.  

 

 

 

Most , I believe, just don't want to put money in the bank and meet the financials. They got away with it for years and didn't believe things would change. I wish them well but they need to do things correctly to make it work now. They were given 6 months to do it but for various reasons haven't accepted the advice from the government. Some will get 30 or 60 days to sort things out. I hope they use it wisely.

It's an eye opener for me as I would never believe so many were doing it.

[from the home of CC]

On 9/21/2020 at 7:16 PM, YetAnother said:

sums up the overall state of thai immigration; should have sorted out this mess and publicized it long ago; o, sorry , i forgot, that requires intelligence

sums up the mentality of tourists who can't plan squat without the help of mommy..

[AAIrons]

I am married to a Thai and have had everything ready to apply for a marrage visa since COVID started, is it actually possible to leave Thailand now, apply for the Visa in the UK and return?  I know the borders are closed but are they letting people back in with a wife and kid if they can the correct visa?

Edited September 23, 2020 by AAIrons

[from the home of CC]

On 9/22/2020 at 10:09 AM, Kaopad999 said:

Exactly, blaming the Thai's for everything seems to be a very common theme here sadly.. 

it's a lot easier than gazing into the mirror for sure..

[hansgruber]

6 minutes ago, AAIrons said:

I am married to a Thai and have had everything ready to apply for a marrage visa since COVID started, is it actually possible to leave Thailand now, apply for the Visa in the UK and return?  I know the borders are closed but are they letting people back in with a wife and kid if they can the correct visa?

They are letting people back in but must do 14 days quarantine. Your expense. 

[blackcab]

Off topic posts have been removed.

[0815]

RACE? Like snails?

[CrunchWrapSupreme]

Just love this bar stool, tough guy attitude from the TVF. Standing tall and proud with Thai immigration against these filthy farangs. They similarly suffer from various deficiencies and inadequacies, and have a serious need of an ego boost at the expense of others.

 

Anyway, in many cases we were told to wait, by either immigration or our employers. Many went to immigration quite early. They didn't know what to tell us. I distinctly saw several on the TVF quoting immigration with things to the effect of "we don't know, come back later, the government will have an answer". Or their papers were denied straight away, or not looked at at all.

 

In my case and others I've seen, we were led to believe by our employers that they were handing it. They had us filling in and signing papers since two months ago. They hinted at having contacts in immigration, had been making progress, and we were going straight to Non-B. Turns out they were getting nowhere. Now we're all scrambling to do get this Covid "under consideration" stamp ourselves.

 

While the bar stool honorary Thai immigration officers have been furiously tapping away as they kick back those Leos, a tough job, I know, I've been working 6-7 day weeks trying to teach in a compressed Covid schedule, hoping this job of mine will soon be made totally legit, as the authorities have yet to make a clear path to do so.