3 hours ago, webfact said:

It isn’t possible to apply for an advance Thailand Pass whilst still in this country. 

I just got one for a trip to UAE/UK leaving Thailand on 11th June, returning 29th June. Did it last week from here.

7 minutes ago, sirwilly said:

No you dont need any qualifications just very deep pockets full of MONEY.

1,900 baht per year does not require deep pockets.

I believe you have to pay for long term visas in most countries.  £100 for a short term visitor visa to the UK.  

3 minutes ago, KannikaP said:

I just got one for a trip to UAE/UK leaving Thailand on 11th June, returning 29th June. Did it last week from here.

I did one a week ago from here for a trip to the UK tomorrow.

Horrendous article.

It's a pity the immigration department can't stipulate that you require a master's degree to work there as most of their employees are complete and utter numpties.

43 minutes ago, Tod Daniels said:

You can indeed apply for a thai pass while inside thailand as long as you select where and when you're going to enter the country.

I appreciate Mr. Daniels' contribution.  I have recently renewed my Retirement 'Visa' for the 17th time.   I'm going to UK in July for three weeks; I will have a re-entry visa from Jomtien by then; I have 800K in a Thai bank + 3 jabs.

 

Thai Pass website (April 29th) - 

1. Fully Vaccinated Persons must :

- Register on Thailand Pass

- Attach required documents including passport, certificate of vaccination

- Attach proof of insurance with at least 10,000 USD coverage for medical treatments in Thailand.

 

Anyone recommend a local Thai Insurance Company/policy? Anything else?

1 hour ago, Iamfalang said:

But page 67, article 4; subsection 32a, paragraph 2 says 400,000?

 

IO……today it’s different.

 

oh.

 

 

Use Agent ( also IO) and now it’s waived under Imm rule 101 ( everything can be waived).????

17 minutes ago, Andycoops said:

It's a pity the immigration department can't stipulate that you require a master's degree to work there as most of their employees are complete and utter numpties.

In the boonies maybe not in Phuket for example????

I have found the various processes relatively easy to navigate. 

 

The only issues I have had are Immigration Officials individual interpretation and application of the rules.

I have the Master’s Degree but fail to see how that would help. Thailand’s bureaucracy never left the year 1860. I happened to remember Max Weber’s classic tome on bureaucracy and decided to refresh my memory.  I am fairly sure that those responsible for Thailand’s bureaucrats have never read Weber, but I found myself constantly nodding in agreement at certain salient points. Some organizations really DO exist to add to confusion rather than simplify matters.

Article all about Tourist entry. 
Nothing an Agent can do that you must do yourself anyway. Rules simple & clear. 
 

Longstay Visa (Embassy/ Online ) :rules & compliance are simple, clear & guaranteed. again no point with Agent as you must do it all anyway. 

 

Longstay Visa (In Country): Agent gets you Guarantee, No Financials, No Humiliation, No Surprises, No Wasted Time, No Reporting. Well worth my full service annual 24k.

20 minutes ago, mikebell said:

Anyone recommend a local Thai Insurance Company/policy? Anything else?

There should be a link on the thai pass system you can use to buy the 10K USD insurance (and keep in mind you only need 30 days of that insurance NOT a policy that's valid as long as your extension)

This site compares the various insurances (it is NOT a thai gov't site it is Thai Visa Centre's site)
https://asq.in.th/

7 minutes ago, drgoon said:

The only issues I have had are Immigration Officials individual interpretation and application of the rules.

^ That statement (given there are OVER 70 immigration offices country wide each marching to the beat of their own drum) is the biggest frustration people face, the near total lack of consistency office to office and indeed officer to officer inside a specific office sometimes   

5 minutes ago, drgoon said:

I have found the various processes relatively easy to navigate. 

 

The only issues I have had are Immigration Officials individual interpretation and application of the rules.

The point of which is to show control & conduct humiliation of the farang.
 

Agent used for my retirement stay. Too important to be messed around, stressed and uncertain, with money tied up too. ain’t happening. 

4 hours ago, webfact said:

According to Thailand Pass, everyone needs a minimum coverage of US$10,000 to cover hospitalization in case they catch Covid. 

 

The current exception seems to be if you hold a work permit.

 

This stipulation also covers foreigners returning with a re-entry permit authorized before they left Thailand. 

I've "heard" that returning expats need a 30 day insurance policy.  Now the above says same as work permit and not needed.  What is it?   I'd rather not buy a policy but the rumour mill is ridiculous.   Anyone know for "sure".

So this is just an advert to use an agent. ????

Just now, Tod Daniels said:

^ That statement (given there are OVER 70 immigration offices country wide each marching to the beat of their own drum) is the biggest frustration people face, the near total lack of consistency office to office and indeed officer to officer inside a specific office sometimes   

but that's all part of the charm of living in Thailand is it not? if it were as efficient and streamlined as say, Singapore then it'd be boring and expensive as hell and we couldn't afford to or wouldn't want to live here.

 

a few years ago a friend related to me an anecdote about two dudes who step out of the aeroplane at Don Meaung and are greeted by the aroma of Bangkok. 

 

the first dude holds his nose and proclaims it to be "disgusting".

 

the second dude breathes it all in  and declares "aah, Thailand!"

 

don't be the first dude, dude ????

1 hour ago, Thailand said:

My sister and friends were considering coming later in the year (first visit) when the country was really open, because of the procrastination by the ptb  they have just booked for Spain, no doubt along with many others.

Spain makes Thailand look like a highly developed country ????

3 minutes ago, brianthainess said:

So this is just an advert to use an agent. ????

websites don't host themselves bro

1 hour ago, Time Traveller said:

Once  again ASEAN Now are way off the mark on what they are writing about.  May I suggest you hire someone in country who actually has experience with Thai immigration bureaucracy. 

 

The problems for foreigners dealing with Thai immigration has never been "rumors" or misleading news articles.   The problems have always been the laws published in the Royal Gazette itself.  Or, more specifically, the vagueness and lack of details.

 

For example, they will publish something on the requirements for a category of visa/admission to Thailand. But they never go in to any detail with what actually qualifies as evidence for approval of the visa.    Hence, we are all left to the mercy of how each individual office, or frontline officer, interprets such regulations.  So, what may be acceptable one day or place, is not acceptable on another day or with another officer.  There is no consistency.  That is the major problem. 

You nailed it! As I wrote a few days ago, I went to renew (tried to renew) my O visa based on marriage in Chiang Mai. The first person that you must pass through, well, after the helpers outside, is the woman at the INFORMATION counter. She turned me away saying that using bank statements showing 12 months of transfers of at least $40k was not a valid method for meeting the financial requirements for the visa. Again, this is the first person that you MUST see to move along through the process at the INFORMATION counter...and she doesn't even have the correct information. I's not even laughable because some poor folks are going to end up in dire situations when they cannot get their visas and must leave Thailand because this person insisted on her wrong info. And they didn't know to ask someone else or know about any alternatives. I'll just add that she hardly spoke any English...and the people using immigration are not going to be Thai speakers, most of them. Now, this is my fault, some, for still not speaking Thai well after many years here but it seems to me it would be smart to have an informed, English speaking person at the information counter. I acknowledge we are not all native English speakers but it has become the international lingua franca.

7 minutes ago, LivingNThailand said:

I've "heard" that returning expats need a 30 day insurance policy.  Now the above says same as work permit and not needed.  What is it?   I'd rather not buy a policy but the rumour mill is ridiculous.   Anyone know for "sure".

I can say with 100% certainty that if you legally work here (holding the correct visa/extension and a valid work permit) you can use your S/S number/card on the thai pass application and NOT need to buy the 10K USD insurance. Too many people have done it and gotten in just fine.

19 minutes ago, Tod Daniels said:

There should be a link on the thai pass system you can use to buy the 10K USD insurance (and keep in mind you only need 30 days of that insurance NOT a policy that's valid as long as your extension)

This site compares the various insurances (it is NOT a thai gov't site it is Thai Visa Centre's site)
https://asq.in.th/

Excellent & extremely helpful post.  The cheapest policy is 850 baht & covers up to 85 year olds. (I am returning to UK for my 80th birthday party!)

Fortunately, I have a Masters and that must be why I never have an issue understanding immigration requirements or complying. My Master's coupled with my ability to actually ask my Thai colleague to use the "telephone" to call Immigration to check on the latest status must be the reason we know what is required. Immigration is actually very helpful if you ask them directly. I encourage you all to obtain a Masters degree, a telephone and a Thai colleague to make the call to Immigration .........

2 hours ago, TaoNow said:

Why isn't this thread in the Visas sub-forum?

Because it is not accurate enough to meet ubonjoe's standards!

5 minutes ago, DezLez said:

Because it is not accurate enough to meet ubonjoe's standards!

And there you have it, thread closed !

Covid regulations aside , getting my retirement extension has never ever

been so easy,  last time, few weeks ago , less than 1 hour in the office ,

who needs an agent , probable take same time.

 

I go to Chiang Mai Immigration and have done for years, getting up

in middle of the night to get in the que at the old office ,crammed into

a room, the smell,and air so thick in the hot months ..... then it temporary

moved to Promenada , getting there at 4.30 ,to sit in the line, only to

find there's  6 Burmese sitters , already there ,keeping the places for

agents....

 

Big Joke came to Chiang Mai Immigration and "sorted them out", the

improvements were welcome ,get all your paperwork in order ,and it's

not difficult, and you definitely don't need an agent, in my opinion.

 

regards worgeordie

 

Why does this happen when I write a long post, this

is not how I typed it , sorry.

 

 

 

 

 

2 hours ago, Onerak said:

I know most rules for retirement visa but I still use an agent to get my visa. It has many advantages, including the return I get my investing the money in the USA pays for my 15K agent fees.  The 15K that I pay to agents helps lots of people, including IOs, who are not fortunate enough to be born in a Western country to earn dollars. For me it's a win win situation. I get the ease of getting the visa and without any paperworks and the the people I pay earn money for  their services because they cannot earn dollars. 

Either this is a satirical note; or you are thick as... well... "someone fortunate enough to have been born in a western country".

 

I'm undecided.

1 hour ago, sungod said:

Back to bullet point journalism albeit with a name change.......

This smells of that Micheal Bridge chappy............

 

His usual trademark garbage ????

I just unleash a very clever Mrs to ferret out any info it works for me ????

1 hour ago, Tod Daniels said:

I didn't want to nit-pick that article to pieces

Agreed, only so many hours in the day, dont think there is enough for this one.

One of the problems to know the exact rules is that the websites of the local embassies are also unclear regarding the current rules. And as their normal behavior they send you home to provide the current requirements, regardless of the distance you have to travel.