Immigration Will Not Extend My B Visa

[expatwannabe]

Simon, no offense, but this seems like a lot of whining about nothing. So they won't extend a Non-Imm B visa for you. Next time, get a Non-Imm B multi and make 90-day runs to the border. Two years later and you're done.

You have it easy, my man.

[astral]

That's why I invested 10 million baht to build a hotel business.

Isn't there someway that the investment helps you?

Have you talked to Greg at Sunbelt along those lines?

[samran]

simon,

I know it isn't an immediate concern, but it appears to be a longer term goal that you are aiming for.

To qualify for PR, it is pretty much requiste that you have at least 3 years of tax returns. Without this, I'm afraid that the PR dream is just that, a dream unless you get into the system, and become 'official' at least for taxation purposes.

Definetly talk to sunbelt.

[bino]

If you have been accepted for the course at Chula, can they not provide you with a confirmation letter that would entitle you to a Non ED visa? The non ED would give you a one year extension of stay with minimal hassles..... no questions asked about income, marital status, etc.

[terryp]

Sorry but none of this makes sense to me…why are you on a non b when you are married to a Thai national? With a 10 mill investment.

Why are you pumping 500+ grand a month into Thailand….what are you building?

Why are you looking at the 2 poorest countries on Thailand borders to re-locate to?

Visas are very easy to obtain with the sort of money you are talking about…I’ve been on non b’s for the past 16 years from Hull….with not one question asked or even a phone call…last one issued only 3 weeks ago!!!!!

At 48 why would you want to go back to school? To study Thai of all languages…Chinese make much more sense..or am I missing something here?

[bina]

terry, read thru the post from the beginning:

he wont be married soon; wants custody of child (wife is phychologically unsound); has business in thailand etc etc etc

will go back to school to get visa (and anyway whats wrong with going back to school and studying thai when u live in thailand?, and wants to relocate if need be to keep eye on child due to mother's mental condition since family is raising son at moment or will be raising child until such time)....

bina

[quasimodo]

Oh dear, I can see myself living in Cambodia soon....

I've received some good advice as to how I can remain in Thailand for 1 further year, by extending my non-imm B visa. My background is:

- British, living in Thailand for 5 years using non-imm B visas issued each year by Hull consulate, Uk

- Never worked in Thailand, B visa issued on basis of owning a Thai ltd company and/or owning a Thai business (hotel)

- Bring UK income of 500k+ baht/month into Thailand for past 5 years

- 48 years old, legally married to Thai and have 1 baby son

I want to extend my existing visa so that I can start down the route to PR. But I'm excluded from applying for an extension for most reasons:

- I am under 50

- I do not work in Thailand

- I am legally married, but neither me nor my wife have a verifiable income, (my UK income is actually from offshore, and the UK embassy will not provide confirmation of this). I am getting divorced from my wife, so support of a Thai wife is no longer a valid reason

Greg gave good advice that I could follow an educational course, and I have been accepted for an MA in Thai Studies at Chula.

Now, checking with immigration re the necessary documents to bring next week, they tell me that I cannot extend my existing B visa on any grounds, because I should not have been issued with it in the 1st place because I do not work in Thailand! Apparently, owning a Thai business is not a valid reason (according to them) for being issued with a B visa....

They say that I need to exit the country and apply for a new O visa for support of a Thai wife - even though this seems a totally invalid reason. And it does not help me to start down the PR route.

I have 10 days to resolve this. If it cannot be resolved, then I will not remain in LoS and live on tourist visas. I will take myself and my money to another country, and only visit my son when the Thai authorities deem it possible!

Any suggestions? Truly, I am getting very tired of all these hassles. I love Thailand very much and want to remain here for the rest of my life. But it seems that 'investors' are no longer welcome here.

Simon (having a bad hair day)

If you have a company outside thailand, you can get a B visa if you apply to the relevant embassy with a letter from that company saying you go to thailand on behalf of that company for business. You've aleady been told you can get an O due to your wife. So what is the problem?

At the end of the day you have getting away with a B when you weren't really eligible so go down the correct route and get a visa that applies to you. You aren't working here and aren't eligible for retirement so you can't have an extension.. thats the rule. if you feel peeved that immigration won't make an exception for you then go and sulk in Cambodia by all means.

[Maizefarmer]

What - surely this cant be as "black & white" as that.

Are you not laible for any UK based tax? The point I think been obvious - if you are paying any Uk kind of tax, then surely that in it's self is evidance of income? And what of the jurisdiction in which you are tax liable - why can't that jurisdiction issue you with confirmation of income?

And if you are in a personal/corporate tax free jurisdiction - then why won;t the Thai's accept that, and accpet for example a letter from your bank confirming personal income (along with a certified copy of your personal bank statement).

Yes - the average desk jockey you have to deal with at immigration may well be inclined to be inflexible and not willing to use their initiative, but I bet if you by passed them and took the matter alittle higher up the chain to some senior offical at Immigration Head Office, you shoul dbe able to find someone who can see the situation for what it is, and use their initiative (junior civil servants are not known for their ability to exercise initiative - they seldom see anything other than pure black or white when it comes to applying regs). Pretty certain a little higher up the chain of command you'll find someone who can think independantly and find a solution to this. That all said, you properby are wondering -just what's the point if you are going to have to deal with that kind of stubborness.

MF

[simon43]

Thanks for a lot of good advice, but there are also quite a few misunderstandings from posters!

- An Elite Card does not count as a visa extension. So it is of no use when going down the PR route.

- There are many different options/visas that I can use (Elite Card), if my only quest was to live in Thailand. But my quest is to remain in Thailand AND qualify for PR in the future.

Depending upon what I do in the next few days, I will either apply for a visa extension, or get a new non-ED visa from overseas. The new visa is not what I want, (since it doesn't help with PR). But I accept that I'll have to do that if it's the only way to remain here and care for my son.

One final comment. Just because one has a high income does not make it obligatory to spend that income! Living in a low-cost country such as Laos would suit me fine. I don't play golf (boring game!), and am not interested in mixing with the rich and famous. I am happy with a quiet life, studying languages, innovating, new ideas, new businesses, helping those who are less fortunate than me etc. So all these current hassles with wife and visa are not at all welcome

Simon

[phuketrichard]

Anyway, moaning does not help the matter. I don't wish to relocate to another area of the world because my baby son is in Thailand and I need to try to get custody of him, (and I'm sure that's not going to be an easy task).

easy way... Go to a lawyer and get them to appeal to the thai court to have you given legal custody of your child. ( It cost me 50,000 baht to get a legal divorce and legal custody here in Phuket)

Put him in a good international school, making 500,000 a month..u can afford it.

ALL international schools will then issue you papers to apply for a 1 year non o visa no matter your age to remain with your son while he is in shcool ( this is not the same as living with your kid if your over 50).

500,000 in the bank 3 months

all your problems solved as far as imigration goes

BUT before you do that check out Cambodia

\

I have been in thailand 22 ++ years and i love Cambodia. I wanted to move there and get things going but my daughter prefers thailand ( she is part thai/part american). People super friendly and although its not cheap as Thailand as far as i can see. Visas are no problem and plenty fo good things .

Shinkoville will be great in 5 years and with your money you could go there and build a great place for the future

[Livinginexile]

Bringing in 500k a month...investments of 10 million in the Kingdom? you should have NO trouble obtaining the appropriate visas if you apply. Instead you are making ILLEGAL runs to Canbodia like 35k a month English teacher!!.

Your story just dosn't add up. It sounds like you are an illegal allien rorting the system.

If you had done everything legally from the begining you would have no problems.

I reckon you're not telling us the full story. I think you're full of it Simon.

[simon43]

..... Instead you are making ILLEGAL runs to Canbodia like 35k a month English teacher!!.

Your story just dosn't add up. It sounds like you are an illegal allien rorting the system.

If you had done everything legally from the begining you would have no problems.

Good heavens, what an interesting comment! What are you on and can I please have some of it??

Also - I can recommend a good language school to help you to improve your ability to read English

Simon

[Maizefarmer]

Bringing in 500k a month...investments of 10 million in the Kingdom? you should have NO trouble obtaining the appropriate visas if you apply. Instead you are making ILLEGAL runs to Canbodia like 35k a month English teacher!!.

Your story just dosn't add up. It sounds like you are an illegal allien rorting the system.

If you had done everything legally from the begining you would have no problems.

I reckon you're not telling us the full story. I think you're full of it Simon.

Livinginexile

Actually, I agree with the OP -it's comments like yours which start reasonable and plausible questions down a road of unneccessary backbiting.

If I was a Mod, I'd deleate your comment - absolutely zero space for it.

It was uncalled for, and quite frankly I can't see a shred of of evidance to support what you alledge. I can think of a dozen questions to ask the OP - if I felt something wasn't quite right, before been judgemental. Better still, an even more mature approach, if that was your feeling about it, would be to just ignore it - wouldn't it?

Your avatar appears to fit well!

MF

[Arkady]

Yes, I can go away for 2 years (with tourist visa visits) and come back when I'm 50. But that means that I will never be able to go for PR (or extremely unlikely). Besides, I think it unlikely that I would even want to live in a country which has effectively 'thrown me out'!

The comment re getting a WP for the hotel is good, but I've covered this before in another post. I cannot get a WP as hotel manager because a) I don't live/stay at the hotel It's a guesthouse and not a hotel but the local OrBorTor is too lazy to issue a hotel licence which they erronously insist that we have. Without this licence, I cannot get the hotel manager WP c)I would nead to create a ficticious new position, such as 'booking engine software support manager' for the hotel, then get a WP, then pay taxes for 3 months before I would be able to apply to extend my visa based on this work. But I don't need to work anyway!!!

I'm sure some will say 'well, if you can't follow the visa rules, then tough'. That's honest comment. But as far as the B visa is concerned, I WAS following the rules as issued by the consulate. Unfortunately, Thailand is a country of ever-moving goalposts and decisions based on the whims of individuals.

If I need to relocate, then Laos is maybe of interest, (if they allow long-stayers?). Cambodia seems to under-developed and foreigners seem to be tainted with a big sign saying 'I am a sex tourist'. Not for me. I'm aware of the Malaysia MyHome program. I need to do some research.

Does anyone have any links to Laos resources, visas, forums etc??

Simon - still smiling - life is never meant to be easy!

Rather than apply for a WP as hotel manager, could you apply as MD of company that owns the hotel i.e. the hotel manager reports to you? Perhaps the company could have some other divisions, if that is not good enough.

[simon43]

Whilst I originally established a ltd company when I first came to Thailand, this is no longer operational. Our hotel ownership structure is a limited partnership between myself and my wife (49/51%). In any case, I do not now reside at the hotel, so a WP for working there might be rather difficult to obtain

In any case, I'll visit immigration tomorrow for their good advice. In the worse scenario, I can do a 30 day visa run for a few times.

Simon

[Maestro]

Immigration Will Not Extend My B Visa, They say I must be working!

Yes, the extension based on a non-B visa is not, and has never been, available simply for having a non-B visa, it is for gainful employment, with certain minimum income requirements, but Sunbelt probably explained this to you already.

Our hotel ownership structure is a limited partnership between myself and my wife (49/51%). In any case, I do not now reside at the hotel, so a WP for working there might be rather difficult to obtain

There are other ways of being employed by a hotel and obtaining a related work permit, without having to reside at the hotel, eg as a consultant. The question could be whether, with your minority shareholding, you have the authority to make that employment decision.

--------------

Maestro

[Livinginexile]

Whilst I originally established a ltd company when I first came to Thailand, this is no longer operational. Our hotel ownership structure is a limited partnership between myself and my wife (49/51%). In any case, I do not now reside at the hotel, so a WP for working there might be rather difficult to obtain

In any case, I'll visit immigration tomorrow for their good advice. In the worse scenario, I can do a 30 day visa run for a few times.

Simon

I earn less than half what u "claim" to earn and I have invested nearly half what you "claim" to have invested in the kingdom yet I have PR here without so much trouble.

The facts are, if you presented to Thai immigration the proof of of what you "claim" you have, you would have little problem obtaining the visa's you require to stay here permanantly.

Either...

1) you tryed to circumvet the law to avoid tax...or

2) you did not follow the correct procedures.

Either way you are not entitled to any type of long term visa so stop moaning and get legal.

500k per month my ass...if you did, Thai imigration would be bending over backward to give you any type of visa.

[targaman]

- Bring UK income of 500k+ baht/month into Thailand for past 5 years

Is this a typo? Do you mean 50,000 Baht/Month?

[Digger]

I cant help but laugh at the posts that Simon often puts up. For such an obviously clever guy, I am surprised he has very little common sense. Its so easy to set yourself up here legally - forming a company that owns a resort among other activity - him as the MD and after 3 years of paying taxes on his declared salary he can apply for residency. Really, you should have thought about this a long time ago instead of playing with coffee shops. beer bars and everything else you have dabbled and then failed in. The failure part is part of life, no shame in that, but what surprises me is that certainly in your posts you come across as somebody who 'believes' that Thailand owes you a huge debt. Personally I dont agree, and seemingly nor do immigration - lets face it - you have lived here, probably spending money that was generated here (by using your brain) - yet you have not paid one cent in income tax. Personally, I am not at all surprised and cant help but wonder how you have not developed a strategy to enable you to live here. It was the first thing I did when I came here - some ventures have been good, some not so good, but the crux of it is that my company is well established, with employees and all of us pay tax. My last work permit and visa renewal was actually done in 3 weeks - by far the quickest to date. The key is looking at the rules and developing a strategy to help YOU in what you want to achieve, yet all you seem to do is lurch from one crisis to another because you think your smarter than everyone else. What was it that Helmsley women said "only little people pay taxes" shortly prior to her being taken away to prison for tax avoidance. Some things in life are certain - death and taxes are at the top of that list.

I dont mean for this to come across as negative but really who have nobody but yourself to blame. Anybody with half a brain cell could see that 5 years of Non-imm B visa's would come back and bite you one day, as basically you abused the system.

[cosmont]

I cant help but laugh at the posts that Simon often puts up. For such an obviously clever guy, I am surprised he has very little common sense. Its so easy to set yourself up here legally - forming a company that owns a resort among other activity - him as the MD and after 3 years of paying taxes on his declared salary he can apply for residency. Really, you should have thought about this a long time ago instead of playing with coffee shops. beer bars and everything else you have dabbled and then failed in. The failure part is part of life, no shame in that, but what surprises me is that certainly in your posts you come across as somebody who 'believes' that Thailand owes you a huge debt. Personally I dont agree, and seemingly nor do immigration - lets face it - you have lived here, probably spending money that was generated here (by using your brain) - yet you have not paid one cent in income tax. Personally, I am not at all surprised and cant help but wonder how you have not developed a strategy to enable you to live here. It was the first thing I did when I came here - some ventures have been good, some not so good, but the crux of it is that my company is well established, with employees and all of us pay tax. My last work permit and visa renewal was actually done in 3 weeks - by far the quickest to date. The key is looking at the rules and developing a strategy to help YOU in what you want to achieve, yet all you seem to do is lurch from one crisis to another because you think your smarter than everyone else. What was it that Helmsley women said "only little people pay taxes" shortly prior to her being taken away to prison for tax avoidance. Some things in life are certain - death and taxes are at the top of that list.

I dont mean for this to come across as negative but really who have nobody but yourself to blame. Anybody with half a brain cell could see that 5 years of Non-imm B visa's would come back and bite you one day, as basically you abused the system.

200% agree with that

and with so much income, you can pay a good lawyer able to find the best solution for you

[richard10365]

Simon,

Sorry to hear about your situation. Life in my home is not exactly what I expected either. It is somewhat similiar to yours.

Talking with immigration, I don't beleive there is any extension based on custody of a child. What is there, has something to do with having the extension already and being grandfathered into it. I could be wrong about this.

I am looking at the ed visa for now and after graduation, a work permit and a work visa .

A simple Thai language course could give you enough time look at your situation in more detail in order to develope a course of action and then implement it.

Good luck Simon. I hope things work out for you.

[VocalNeal]

Simon,

There is nothing wrong with living in Loas if that is what you want. Yes it is quieter and there are no beaches, but I have several friends who live there happily and have no desire to live in Thailand. It can be a hassle sometimes with the "3 visa on arrival" for Thailand if you were to travel out of there a lot but that to can be overcome.

My comiserations with the visa thing. unfortunately your chosen "profession" Hotel Management is not a reserved occupation but you are getting pretty close. Do you pay yourself a salary in Thailand and do you pay income tax?

Seel profession help and do whatever they say, pay the money and live happily ever after.

There but for the grace of God......

Good luck

[qualtrough]

I have followed Simon's travails with some sympathy, but I am now at the end of my rope. Anyone clever enough to have an income of greater than 500k a month should certainly be able to figure his way around such a minor problem. If I had that kind of income at my disposal I would have long ago handed a tiny portion of that over to my lawyers/law firm/Sunbelt and told them to make my problem go away rather than consult the members of an Internet forum. I have to assume his wealth is inherited as it doesn't seem possible that someone with the brains to fix himself up with a steady income of 500K/mo.+ can be so clueless!

[LivinLOS]

Whilst I originally established a ltd company when I first came to Thailand, this is no longer operational. Our hotel ownership structure is a limited partnership between myself and my wife (49/51%). In any case, I do not now reside at the hotel, so a WP for working there might be rather difficult to obtain

In any case, I'll visit immigration tomorrow for their good advice. In the worse scenario, I can do a 30 day visa run for a few times.

Simon

I earn less than half what u "claim" to earn and I have invested nearly half what you "claim" to have invested in the kingdom yet I have PR here without so much trouble.

The facts are, if you presented to Thai immigration the proof of of what you "claim" you have, you would have little problem obtaining the visa's you require to stay here permanantly.

Either...

1) you tryed to circumvet the law to avoid tax...or

2) you did not follow the correct procedures.

Either way you are not entitled to any type of long term visa so stop moaning and get legal.

500k per month my ass...if you did, Thai imigration would be bending over backward to give you any type of visa.

Whats up with some of you people.. Its 500k per month guys.. not 5 million !!! Like 8k GBP !! Hardly a kings ransom.. Sure its good money in the 3rd world but people casting doubt that its even possible ?? You really have set your sights low down havent you !! At one point in my 20's I was making 5x that consistently.. Whats making you bunch such bitter doubters. hel_l I know alcoholic, school drop outs, that pull in that much working offshore.

And as you say immigration will bend over backwards then I just say really ?? I could bring in 500k per month (I dont mine stays offshore) but what visa do I get ??

Please explain to me what long stay visa extension I can get, to count to PR, even if I bring in a mil a month ??

[jayjayjayjay]

Yes, there are other countries. But I love Thailand. That's why I live here. That's why I invested 10 million baht to build a hotel business. That's why I married a Thai lady and have a Thai child. That's why I bring money into Thailand (last month it was 750k baht). But, in spite of living here for 5 years, in spite of learning to read/write/speak Thai etc etc bla bla bla bla bla . . I am still treated like some short-stay sex tourist

Cambodia certainly does not thrill me. Maybe I need to split my time with 3 months in LoS and 3 months elsewhere. But to me, that makes me sound more and more like a sex-tourist!!

Anyway, moaning does not help the matter. I don't wish to relocate to another area of the world because my baby son is in Thailand and I need to try to get custody of him, (and I'm sure that's not going to be an easy task).

Simon

PS - With 500k+ baht/month, I can sure put some money in the bank if I stay in Laos/Cambodia!

Simon, on that point, if you do have a pending court case for custody, you can get an extension of stay based on the existing case. In my case, I was the defendant, so I don't know if it would be the same if you initiated the proceedings. My case took 12 months to finalise at which point I did get custody.

[qualtrough]

Whilst I originally established a ltd company when I first came to Thailand, this is no longer operational. Our hotel ownership structure is a limited partnership between myself and my wife (49/51%). In any case, I do not now reside at the hotel, so a WP for working there might be rather difficult to obtain

In any case, I'll visit immigration tomorrow for their good advice. In the worse scenario, I can do a 30 day visa run for a few times.

Simon

I earn less than half what u "claim" to earn and I have invested nearly half what you "claim" to have invested in the kingdom yet I have PR here without so much trouble.

The facts are, if you presented to Thai immigration the proof of of what you "claim" you have, you would have little problem obtaining the visa's you require to stay here permanantly.

Either...

1) you tryed to circumvet the law to avoid tax...or

2) you did not follow the correct procedures.

Either way you are not entitled to any type of long term visa so stop moaning and get legal.

500k per month my ass...if you did, Thai imigration would be bending over backward to give you any type of visa.

Whats up with some of you people.. Its 500k per month guys.. not 5 million !!! Like 8k GBP !! Hardly a kings ransom.. Sure its good money in the 3rd world but people casting doubt that its even possible ?? You really have set your sights low down havent you !! At one point in my 20's I was making 5x that consistently.. Whats making you bunch such bitter doubters. hel_l I know alcoholic, school drop outs, that pull in that much working offshore.

And as you say immigration will bend over backwards then I just say really ?? I could bring in 500k per month (I dont mine stays offshore) but what visa do I get ??

Please explain to me what long stay visa extension I can get, to count to PR, even if I bring in a mil a month ??

First, let me deal with the issue of 500K/mo. I just checked some 2003 stats and see that the average per capita income in the UK worked out to USD 27,700. On an annual basis 500K/mo. works out to approximately USD 171,428, roughly 7x the per capita figure. Another site shows average gross income in the UK at USD 32,602, so an income of USD 171, 428 is well above average in the UK. So it is clearly 'good money', not only in a 3rd world nation but in the UK as well.

Second, not an alcoholic, have a Ph.D., have worked on expat package, so you are wrong, wrong, wrong on all three counts.

Those are all side issues however. The gist of my point was that with a steady income of $15,000 a month you would think that a small portion of that might be devoted to having a professional take care of a relatively mundane task. If someone can't figure out how to work the system legally here than I don't think they can be helped, and I have to wonder how they ever had the brains to accumulate much money in the first place. I know that sounds harsh to Simon, who may indeed be a really nice guy, but he really needs to get clued-up.

[LivinLOS]

Well if you want to consider home averages your not really looking at either the expat segment or setting sights high.

Many people in this thread scream it has to be a lie.. Why ?? Sure its good money but hes set his own income stream up, hes not some drone working for the post office.

Second, not an alcoholic, have a Ph.D., have worked on expat package, so you are wrong, wrong, wrong on all three counts.

Dont understand this line.. I made no accusations.. With a PHD I would think you could read it clearly ?? I said 'I know' people making about that money for 6 months work a year.. One mate of mine is a chronic binge drinker, not a tour of Thailand goes by without some bike crash, katoey fight, relationship blow up, disaster.. He makes >70k GBP per annum tax free for just 6 months work a year.

And my point still stands for all those saying how simple it is.. I can easily bring in that kind of money.. Now tell me what visa extensions I can gain to get me towards PR ?? Yes its relatively easy to scam a non B or a non O somewhere, but that doesnt work to PR now does it ??

[LoveDaBlues]

What's the big deal with the PR? Simon will be 50 soon and can get the Retirement Visa. With the money he brings in no problems at all.

With the Retirement Visa you have to (1) check in every 90 days; very quick, just hand in a simple form (2) get the extension each year, harder and more time consuming YES but it's still just having the correct paperwork for the most part.

With a PR don't you still have to check in every 90 days? I don't see the great benefit of the PR FOR SOMEONE THAT CAN GET THE RETIREMENT VISA.

If I'm missing something concerning the PR please inform me as I might want to go that route also. I don't have the money Simon has but am fairly comfortable and don't mind paying for convenience.

[LivinLOS]

Well it was something Simon specified he was trying to work towards.. Remember PR is the step on the roadmap to citizenship, where all that good stuff like owning land, holding a Thai passport, being fully able to stay forever no matter what, sits.

Personally I am not so bothered by PR either.. I am never going to work here so realize that I wont get on that ladder, sure if there was a logical route like in western countries that after a few years you were able to then I would do it for the added stability and rights, but I dont lose any sleep over it either.

But my needs and wants are not Simons needs and wants. Perhaps being the father of a Thai child, and business owner here he wants more 'roots' than I need.. Maybe after being with one Thai woman whose mental health has not been the best he is not looking to do that again. Perhaps many things that are essentially his business. All in all it is kind of odd that a farang can be wealthy enough to bring in even 1 million baht a month, yet not actually have a visa class available to them at all to stay except on silly short term tourist visa's or scamming a visa thats not really intended.

What riles me most tho was how so many posters seem to indicate that anyone having more than a beer Chang budget is lieing and boasting and it clearly isnt possible.. A comment above stating it HAS to be 50k per month (well that covers the car payments what about the rest) just shows how low some peoples bar lies. I was chatting with someone the other day, he recently sold his villa on west coast Phuket for 120 million baht, he has a 3 million USD power yacht with permanent crew and captain etc. And he was saying that he had some visa grief from too much time flying into and out of the country. The guy is minted yet Thailand makes life more complex for him to be here ?? Does that make any sense at all ??

[jdinasia]

Well it was something Simon specified he was trying to work towards.. Remember PR is the step on the roadmap to citizenship, where all that good stuff like owning land, holding a Thai passport, being fully able to stay forever no matter what, sits.

Personally I am not so bothered by PR either.. I am never going to work here so realize that I wont get on that ladder, sure if there was a logical route like in western countries that after a few years you were able to then I would do it for the added stability and rights, but I dont lose any sleep over it either.

But my needs and wants are not Simons needs and wants. Perhaps being the father of a Thai child, and business owner here he wants more 'roots' than I need.. Maybe after being with one Thai woman whose mental health has not been the best he is not looking to do that again. Perhaps many things that are essentially his business. All in all it is kind of odd that a farang can be wealthy enough to bring in even 1 million baht a month, yet not actually have a visa class available to them at all to stay except on silly short term tourist visa's or scamming a visa thats not really intended.

What riles me most tho was how so many posters seem to indicate that anyone having more than a beer Chang budget is lieing and boasting and it clearly isnt possible.. A comment above stating it HAS to be 50k per month (well that covers the car payments what about the rest) just shows how low some peoples bar lies. I was chatting with someone the other day, he recently sold his villa on west coast Phuket for 120 million baht, he has a 3 million USD power yacht with permanent crew and captain etc. And he was saying that he had some visa grief from too much time flying into and out of the country. The guy is minted yet Thailand makes life more complex for him to be here ?? Does that make any sense at all ??

only if you believe him