returning to thailand

[Albert Zweistein]

On 8/18/2021 at 9:55 PM, beaufoy said:

I contacted the thai consulate london they admitted my circumstances (ie nomad with UK passport but never lives in UK and has spent 85% of last 20 years in Thailand) makes it difficult to establish what hurdles i have to jump to get a visa. The Thai Consulate said a person like myself should contact the embassy. I did as requested and they wrote back saying they would write to me within a week., and they did saying they wanted my phone no so they could talk to me...so on monday i gave them my phone number, but they have not phoned. Hence today I phoned twice one call waiting 25 minutes next call waiting 30 then gave up

They asked your number so they could avoid answering the phone once you called them. Not interested in your problems.

[beaufoy]

20 hours ago, Albert Zweistein said:

They asked your number so they could avoid answering the phone once you called them. Not interested in your problems.

My instant re-action to your post was it was incredibly stupid, having said that anything is possible

[beaufoy]

20 hours ago, nkg said:

 

Some on this forum love to pull up the ladder behind them, when they themselves are already in Thailand. They will spend hours rubbishing the sandbox, demanding that borders stay closed, and generally trying to put people off coming to Thailand.

 

You are correct and to make things worse said people tend to preach, but hate it if anyone preaches to them

[beaufoy]

On 8/16/2021 at 1:42 PM, Dante99 said:

You may refer your concerns about the inappropriate paperwork requirements to the Department of State in Bangkok.  It is unlikely that they will help you but they control those regulations.

 

In the meantime consider Spain or Cambodia, your fitness for Thailand is questionable.

Well it seems both you and myself consider the paperwork as inappropriate, but maybe we both lack education as to how the world and especially England has changed it seems when I worked as head of security at shrubland hall (yes james bond shrubland hall) the criminal record check made by my employers only went back seven years but now they go back 100 years 

[beaufoy]

On 8/20/2021 at 10:55 AM, ubonjoe said:

Probably immigration officer at a airport that did not know about a non-o visa being available at a immigration office if you could meet the requirements. It has been possible for many years now. People get them all the time.

You seem to have good knowledge so I will give you my status and see if you can advise

I lived in Thailand 2003 to 2018 then moved to ireland now i want to return to Thailand

I am J&J vacinated and so is my thai wife. I have made requests for my blank english and irish criminal records to be released. I have sold the irish house that was acting as my home and completion should take place late sept

    We have flights booked in early nov but they are flexible tickets

I qualify for most thai visas 

I am married to thai lady

I am over 50 years in fact 65 years old

I have more than 10 m in savings so i qualify for elite but i do not like terms

i have the 10 m required for investment visa but I do not consider the restrictions to be fair

I could opt for the 3 mill investment visa which seems like a good idea as I will probably take 3 mill with me to buy a condo

   Now ubonjoe what would you do if you were in my position. Would you wait until the Thai Visa in London decides to answer the phone and then apply for the non im o visa. Or would you just get covid insurance, a medical, and COE then fly to Bangkok or Ko Samui, or Phiket and get my o visa after I have done the quarantine.....oh yes doe my thai wife require covid insurance 

[orchis]

1 hour ago, beaufoy said:

the criminal record check made by my employers only went back seven years but now they go back 100 years 

how old are you?

[Mike Teavee]

If you're having problems with the Embassy in Dublin/London, why not enter Thailand on a Tourist Visa (or Visa Exempt) & convert to the Non-Imm O in-country?

 

I would recommend going down the Retirement Extension route if you don't mind keeping the 800K in the bank/bringing over 65K pm as it's less hassle at extension time but an extension based on being married to a Thai is obviously also an option for you.

 

 

If you don't want the hassle of doing it all yourself, an agent will sort out the 1st 15 months (3 months Non-Imm O & 12 months extension) for around 20-25K. 

 

 

 

[Dante99]

4 hours ago, beaufoy said:

Well it seems both you and myself consider the paperwork as inappropriate

No I do not consider it inappropriate but your attitude is.

 

Selling a house has nothing to do with your visa.

 

Completing all requested paperwork has everything to do with a visa. But you want to debate it instead of doing it.

 

How much money you have is irrelevant except that you have funds to qualify for the visa you want.

 

Choosing one of the several clear good options makes things easy but you prefer to focus on what you are unable to do.

[DrJack54]

Enter visa exempt.

Your married to a Thai and over 50 so when in Thailand obtain a non O based on marriage or retirement at immigration.

That will give you 90 day stay. In that time organize financials for 12 month extension.

If you can afford it, personally I would stick 800k in Thai bank account in your name only never touch it and go the retirement route.

Very simple for ongoing extensions.

Edited August 22, 2021 by DrJack54

[ubonjoe]

4 hours ago, beaufoy said:

Now ubonjoe what would you do if you were in my position. Would you wait until the Thai Visa in London decides to answer the phone and then apply for the non im o visa. Or would you just get covid insurance, a medical, and COE then fly to Bangkok or Ko Samui, or Phiket and get my o visa after I have done the quarantine.....oh yes doe my thai wife require covid insurance 

You have the choice to apply for a single entry non-o visa based upon marriage to a Thai at the embassy. You would need to show the equivalent of 20k baht in a bank. No need for medical insurance to do the application.

Or you could enter visa exempt and then apply for non-o visa based upon marriage or retirement. For marriage you need 400k baht in a Thai bank in your name only and for retirement 800k baht on the day you apply.

You wife will not need the covid 19 insurance.

 

[fgmr]

On 8/17/2021 at 3:02 PM, canthai55 said:

Thai embassy, or consulate, or the websites affiliated with same, will have all the answers you need re entry requirements, ASQ, COE, Testing prior to boarding, etc

Try getting a response of any kind from the Thai Embassy in London!

Best of luck!

 

[beaufoy]

On 8/22/2021 at 7:32 AM, ubonjoe said:

You have the choice to apply for a single entry non-o visa based upon marriage to a Thai at the embassy. You would need to show the equivalent of 20k baht in a bank. No need for medical insurance to do the application.

Or you could enter visa exempt and then apply for non-o visa based upon marriage or retirement. For marriage you need 400k baht in a Thai bank in your name only and for retirement 800k baht on the day you apply.

You wife will not need the covid 19 insurance.

 

The Thai Embassy finally contacted me and it seems that I will be getting a 90 day non imm by way of being married to a thai. So now we come to another problem I have money and I intend to transfer most of it by way of a specialized currency exchange company. Now when I first went to Thailand said companies were not so common and bangkok bank gave a very good exchange rate. Now I will lose .2 baht for every euro i send over if i use bangkok bank. So if i send 300000 by currency exchange company and get a rate of 38.2 thai baht to the euro i will get 11,460,000 baht, but the same amount at bangkok bank rate 38 thai baht i will get  11400,000 ie I will lose the price of a small m/bike by way of paying extra to bangkok bank.

    The obvious answer is do not use bangkok bank however I intend to buy a condo and land to build a house on and it seems i need a FET to show the seller ect and to get a FET the money has to be exchanged by way of Thailand Bank.

    I suspect I could give my thai wife the money and she could buy the properties...but i do not want to 

[beaufoy]

On 8/22/2021 at 1:03 AM, Dante99 said:

No I do not consider it inappropriate but your attitude is.

 

Selling a house has nothing to do with your visa.

 

Completing all requested paperwork has everything to do with a visa. But you want to debate it instead of doing it.

 

How much money you have is irrelevant except that you have funds to qualify for the visa you want.

 

Choosing one of the several clear good options makes things easy but you prefer to focus on what you are unable to do.

The Thai Embassy has agreed with me that the requested paperwork was excessive especially as some of the requested items did not take into account possible tightening or relaxing of covid restrictions

  selling my house has a lot to do with my visa if I get a visa immediately and do not sell my house for 3 months then the visa will expire before i am ready to go

   The man at the thai embassy said the amount of money one has should be used to calculate the most suitable visa.

   My attitude is not inappropriate is is appropriate but it is different from yours 

[Dante99]

3 hours ago, beaufoy said:

The Thai Embassy has agreed with me that the requested paperwork was excessive

Sure but did they say you did not have to do it?

 

3 hours ago, beaufoy said:

selling my house has a lot to do with my visa if I get a visa immediately and do not sell my house for 3 months then the visa will expire before i am ready to go

But you said in the OP that you had sold your house so if it is done it is done and not an issue.

 

3 hours ago, beaufoy said:

The man at the thai embassy said the amount of money one has should be used to calculate the most suitable visa.

Only a damn fool would tell somebody else how much money they have.

 

3 hours ago, beaufoy said:

So now we come to another problem I have money and

I am kii neow

 

[ubonjoe]

4 hours ago, beaufoy said:

I suspect I could give my thai wife the money and she could buy the properties...but i do not want to 

You can buy a condo in your name only but you cannot buy land in your name.

To buy a condo you have to prove that money was transferred from abroad. I suggest you look on this forum for info or do a post there. https://aseannow.com/forum/59-real-estate-housing-house-and-land-ownership/

[beaufoy]

8 hours ago, Dante99 said:

Sure but did they say you did not have to do it?

 

But you said in the OP that you had sold your house so if it is done it is done and not an issue.

 

Only a damn fool would tell somebody else how much money they have.

 

I am kii neow

 

You can cause people expence and problems by giving wrong advice to people who know more than you know. Please read up on a subject before you give advice on it.

[beaufoy]

8 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

You can buy a condo in your name only but you cannot buy land in your name.

To buy a condo you have to prove that money was transferred from abroad. I suggest you look on this forum for info or do a post there. https://aseannow.com/forum/59-real-estate-housing-house-and-land-ownership/

Good info I will continue reading

[beaufoy]

On 8/22/2021 at 1:15 AM, DrJack54 said:

Enter visa exempt.

Your married to a Thai and over 50 so when in Thailand obtain a non O based on marriage or retirement at immigration.

That will give you 90 day stay. In that time organize financials for 12 month extension.

If you can afford it, personally I would stick 800k in Thai bank account in your name only never touch it and go the retirement route.

Very simple for ongoing extensions.

Not a bad attempt however the best methodology would have been to answer the points in my original post. If I had not obtained contact with the embassy then I would have rejected the proper methodology and used yours instead. The Embassy (if contact is established) will do as I requested in my OP they will give clues as to how to make the process easier than what it seems when you read their guidelines 

[beaufoy]

On 8/28/2021 at 2:00 AM, ubonjoe said:

You can buy a condo in your name only but you cannot buy land in your name.

To buy a condo you have to prove that money was transferred from abroad. I suggest you look on this forum for info or do a post there. https://aseannow.com/forum/59-real-estate-housing-house-and-land-ownership/

Hello again I now have my visa ect ect and I have sold my house, but I want to delay my return to thailand. I was considering going on a med cruise with my wife 4-14 oct, but I believe if I do the cruise then when I return I will have to stay in Ireland for a few weeks as there are restrictions stopping people going to thailand if they have been on other travels in the previous few weeks.....have you heard of said rule

[ubonjoe]

4 hours ago, beaufoy said:

Hello again I now have my visa ect ect and I have sold my house, but I want to delay my return to thailand. I was considering going on a med cruise with my wife 4-14 oct, but I believe if I do the cruise then when I return I will have to stay in Ireland for a few weeks as there are restrictions stopping people going to thailand if they have been on other travels in the previous few weeks.....have you heard of said rule

That is only for those going into the Phuket sandbox or Samui plus and it only applies if you have been in one that is on a list issued by the tourism authority (TAT). If you had traveled to one of those countries you would have to be in Ireland for 21 days before traveling.