Seems you need a master’s degree to handle Thai immigration rules

[Colki]

Can somebody please verify this......article states.....re insurance of current exemption if you hold work permit, which we know is correct  BUT  then says It is stipulated also covers foreigners returning with a re entry permit authorised before they left Thailand......can anybody please verify is this fact or fiction

[Andrew65]

7 hours ago, RandiRona said:

We dont need master degree , we just need @ubonjoe. He is the best !!!! @ubonjoe rocks!!!

I found that out many years ago, he knows his stuff.

[Dan O]

1 hour ago, NanLaew said:

Blame it all on the local media. It has nothing whatsoever to do with the vast majority of foreigners who can't tie their own shoelaces before going down the pub to gossip and spread rumors are unwilling to try and learn or speak just a little of the local language and rely solely on imprecise foreign-language translations of local news and government edicts before logging onto internet forums to post gossip and rumors and gurn about their own inadequacies.

Fair point about translations being poor but the majority of poor reporting is a combination of , publishing rumors from any govt official that will speak, even if its not their area, as fact,, poor and non existent fact checking and no follow up falls squarely with the media outlets.  Last I checked social media is just that, its not the news

[aussiexpat]

As the originally OP incorrectly said it is unlikely to get a covid extension past 24 May, it's now been edited to say you can only get one up to 25 March lol

 

 

Will I still be able to stay here on a Covid extension of stay after May 24, 2022?

 

Occording to media reports foreigners will now have until March 25th 2022 to extend their special COVID extension stamp, as announced by the Bureau of Immigration. 

 

 

Edited May 24, 2022 by aussiexpat

[CH1961]

8 hours ago, flyingtlger said:

I have a PHD and I'm still having problems navigating Thai immigration rules....

 

PHD (sic!) does not imply you are the brightest candle on the cake. 

Especially if you don't know how to abbreviate Doctor of Philosophy (Phd, Ph. D. or DPhil) ????

[Andrew65]

2 hours ago, NanLaew said:

An acquaintance of mine, elderly and totally retired. He queues for 3 hours before getting to the desk where his annual extension took all of 10 minutes to issue.

 

He's retired and says he has all the time in the world. He also likes to 'people watch'.

 

On the other hand, I used an agent where I was moved ahead of the queue, my annual extension processed in the same ten minutes as above. Door-to-door from my house to immigration and back was about 45 minutes.

 

I'm retired too but I also value my time. I have also been described as a sociopath.

 

It's a personal choice.

 

Being a sociopath I mean.

Many years ago when I used to queue at Laksi (Chang Watthana) immigration office (maybe the busiest?), I used to spend around 1 hour in the queue (after handing in the forms). The queueing system used to go down by around 1 minute per number. If I got there at 8am the whole process was finished by 10'ish am. It was a bit of a pain in the ar*e, but not a really big deal.

[Lacessit]

6 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. 

That works very well until a new broom arrives at the immigration office, and proceeds to sweep out the established order of business.

It's probably only a temporary problem for the agents and IO's, they are Thai. It's more serious for a foreigner who has his/her visa invalidated, and they can hardly complain to anybody.

[Orinoco]

1 hour ago, RafPinto said:

And the old farangs take away many young cuties. You think those old thais working at the government like this?

 

Johnny S.  plumber from Essex, 69, wife from Roi Et, 26

Pete K., bricklayer from Liverpool, 72, married to lucky, 31 from Khon Kaen

Simon P., lorry driver from Adelaide, 68, married to Nina, 36 from Nong Khai

Reckon they wet themselves laughing,  as they know what will happen to most of the old guys down the road.

Broken heart, broken bank account, Lost new family pick up, lost newly built home in Thailand. and so on.

[TravelerEastWest]

4 hours ago, worgeordie said:

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

 

When you need an appointment in Chiang mai for a marriage visa extension you need an agent. Otherwise it can take hours to wait compared to no waiting in and out in a few minutes... When you work and have to pick up children and school you will understand... Also having an agent keep up to date with the requirements and put all the forms together and check all signatures are there etc...

 

4 hours ago, worgeordie said:

 

 

Edited May 24, 2022 by TravelerEastWest

[Burma Bill]

5 hours ago, steven100 said:

Vietnam,  Cambodia, Laos, Philippines, Malaysia and Japan  are enjoying more & more tourists thanks to Thailand's stupidity.   

Yes indeed and it was all the Thai bureaucracy and BS regarding visas that was one of the reasons why I, with no domestic ties, left Thailand just before borders closed, to continue hassle free retirement in Cambodia - almost 3 years now! When I lived in rural Thailand, one did not have to have a master's degree for a visa, just a friendly local Immigration Officer and a brown envelope - the good old days!! 

[worgeordie]

5 minutes ago, TravelerEastWest said:

 

 

I was referring to retirement extension , no idea about marriage extension.

regards Worgeordie

[skatewash]

1 hour ago, spidermike007 said:

 I think they make the retirement visa easy, as they are semi-sponsored by the banks, who love having money on deposit, without any interest payments. 

What bank are you using that pays no interest?

Krungsri Bank's Mee Tae Dai savings account pays 0.90% APR interest, earned daily and paid monthly.

[spidermike007]

3 minutes ago, skatewash said:

What bank are you using that pays no interest?

Krungsri Bank's Mee Tae Dai savings account pays 0.90% APR interest, earned daily and paid monthly.

I am talking about the account you use for your retirement account. Does that pay interest? And even if it does, what does that one percent really mean? The bank is still making a fortune on the spread between what they are paying you, and what they are lending money for.

But, if it does pay interest on that retirement account, I get your point. 

[DjSilver]

A Masters degree from a Thai university is equal to a bad High school degree in Sweden. However, I still believe a Swedish high school degree in general is better and more knowledge than a Thai Masters degree ????

 

This just shows how incompetent Thailand is as a country. 

[LivingNThailand]

21 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

I am talking about the account you use for your retirement account. Does that pay interest?

I just looked it up.  I made about 1,800 THB in one year on my  Bangkok Bank retirement account.  Have no idea what the percentage is, but it's about $50.  ????  In about 444 years I will have doubled my money.  ????

[skatewash]

27 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

I am talking about the account you use for your retirement account. Does that pay interest? And even if it does, what does that one percent really mean? The bank is still making a fortune on the spread between what they are paying you, and what they are lending money for.

But, if it does pay interest on that retirement account, I get your point. 

That is the account I use for retirement purposes; it does pay interest.  I actually don't know of any savings accounts in Thailand that don't pay interest.  There are other accounts that pay higher interest such as SCB's EZ-Savings account (1.5% APR) but I don't use that as it doesn't have a passbook (which is a requirement at Phuket Immigration).  There are also fixed-deposit accounts that pay higher interest as well, but with those you will have 15% tax withheld that you can claim back by filing a Thai Income Tax Return (PND-90).  Savings accounts will not withhold tax on interest until you exceed 20,000 baht earned if you register your Thai Tax ID with your savings account.

You must, of course, look at the opportunity cost of having my money locked up in a Thai bank earning only 0.9% APR interest when I could have had that money invested in my home country where I could have experienced the negative gains (losses) of nearly 20% of that same money invested in the S&P 500 stock index. ????

Of course, it's foolish to compare bank interest rates (which are much higher in Thailand than they are in my home country) with investments that put your principal at risk, but sometimes one still sees people doing that.  If the 800k baht made up a large percentage of my portfolio it would indeed be foolish to have it invested in a Thai bank savings account, but as it doesn't I look upon the money so invested as an emergency cash fund, up to 400k of which can be tapped during seven months of the year (just not during the 2 months prior to applying for the retirement extension and the 3 months following).

Edited May 24, 2022 by skatewash

[skatewash]

9 minutes ago, LivingNThailand said:

I just looked it up.  I made about 1,800 THB in one year on my  Bangkok Bank retirement account.  Have no idea what the percentage is, but it's about $50.  ????  In about 444 years I will have doubled my money.  ????

You earned 0.23% interest then.  

The same money invested in a Krungsri Bank Mee Tae Dai account (0.9% APR) would have earned you 7,200 baht interest instead.

At that interest rate you would double your money in 77.36 years.

[Tropposurfer]

Hahaha ???????????????????????????? I got two and they don’t help one bit ????

[TropicalGuy]

3 hours ago, Lacessit said:

That works very well until a new broom arrives at the immigration office, and proceeds to sweep out the established order of business.

It's probably only a temporary problem for the agents and IO's, they are Thai. It's more serious for a foreigner who has his/her visa invalidated, and they can hardly complain to anybody.

Such invalidation never happens. 
once visa / stay stamped and on Immigration computer it would take holder violation action to result in any such cancellation..

Edited May 24, 2022 by TropicalGuy

[Hanaguma]

8 hours ago, steven100 said:

Travelers looking for a two week holiday spot don't want the hassle with ' Thailand Pass "  paperwork and QR codes etc ....     

they just want to pack their suitcase and jump on the plane.

They don't mind showing their vaccination certificate on arrival but that's it.

 

Thailand has shot itself in the foot big time with all this paperwork BS.  

Vietnam,  Cambodia, Laos, Philippines, Malaysia and Japan  are enjoying more & more tourists thanks to Thailand's stupidity.      

Don't think so in the case of Japan at least. No tourists allowed as yet, except very small and select groups going on select itineraries, starting in June.  Not sure when the country will open for general tourism.  Hell, even residents and citizens have a hard time when they return from overseas. Have to do a PCR test at the airport, wait for the result, then go home for a one week quarantine if you are not 3x vaccinated.   

[Lacessit]

2 minutes ago, TropicalGuy said:

Such invalidation never happens. 
once visa / stay stamped and on Immigration computer it would take holder / Immy action to result in any cancellation..

I don't know how you can know that, unless you have access to Immigration records of the last 20 years.

I do know of one American who had to decamp to Cambodia after a new broom arrived at Chiang Mai Immigration, he certainly did not have 800K on deposit. 20,000 baht, maybe.

[dingdongrb]

6 hours ago, NanLaew said:

You're new here?

Yepper, that was my first post as I just found this website today.

[TropicalGuy]

24 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

I don't know how you can know that, unless you have access to Immigration records of the last 20 years.

I do know of one American who had to decamp to Cambodia after a new broom arrived at Chiang Mai Immigration, he certainly did not have 800K on deposit. 20,000 baht, maybe.

The odds on it happening to anyone are astronomical so not worth worrying or talking about. Would be Agent problem anyway to sort out.

[Lacessit]

2 minutes ago, TropicalGuy said:

The odds on it happening to anyone are astronomical so not worth worrying or talking about. Would be Agent problem anyway to sort out.

LOL, you think an agent is going to go into bat for you if things go pear-shaped? More likely it will be CYA time with the IO.

[Camillof]

5 hours ago, Andre0720 said:

These IO's have hidden agendas

 

That's the point also for me. I think that even if the rules were as clear as spring water, we would still face difficulties because that's how they want it to be. Many (not all) immigration officers have only this in mind: to squeeze out, or extort if you prefer, an undue tip from our wallet, often if not always with the consent and good pleasure of their superiors. To me, it remains our first problem as expats living here and the first point we should always keep in mind and be prepared to face before going to our respective Immigration Office for any procedure; especially when going there for our yearly renewals. If, in addition, rules are not all crystal clear; if certain details are left up to the arbitrariness of regional and local offices, that's a manna from heaven to those officers. And that's how the current government wants it to remain.

An evidence of what I'm saying? During Big Joke's short-lived term as Head of the Immigration Police, 3 to 4 years ago, here in Nakhon Ratchasima a NO TIPS sign finally appeared in the IO main hall and in other premises too. It was rather small and not really in good view, but it was there (I have photos). Shortly after Big Joke's sidelining by the PM, the NO TIPS sign vanished. Totally it held less than 1 year, from autumn 2018 to summer 2019, at most. By the way: I don't recall reading any news about that here on ThaiVisa. Was such an issue not sufficiently relevant to us expats living here?

Another evidence? In Autumn 2015, here in Nakhon Ratchasima's Immigration Office, I once tried to insist on getting a receipt over the payment of 500 THB for a residence certificate issued by them. I knew well that they wouldn't issue it, but for some particular reasons that day I decided to insist just to see where it would lead. I insisted so that the head officer in charge at that moment had to intervene in person, only to admit quite candidly that she couldn't issue a receipt because that's tea money used to fill up the office's pantry to the benefit of the staff. Amen.

[NeoDinosaw]

13 hours ago, flyingtlger said:

I have a PHD and I'm still having problems navigating Thai immigration rules....

 

 

I have a PhD [sic]  and have never had a problem navigating  Thai Immigration rules.  The secret is to stay calm, go though them VERY slowly making sure that you miss nothing.  Going through them several times helps !

 

The article was an advertisement for agents. These are useful if you are in a desperate hurry, or if you have trouble with  bureaucratic English

[RafPinto]

3 hours ago, skatewash said:

You earned 0.23% interest then.  

The same money invested in a Krungsri Bank Mee Tae Dai account (0.9% APR) would have earned you 7,200 baht interest instead.

At that interest rate you would double your money in 77.36 years.

You have made nothing.
Inflation running at 5% and up.

[TropicalGuy]

51 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

LOL, you think an agent is going to go into bat for you if things go pear-shaped? More likely it will be CYA time with the IO.

Right so just ignore the “ astronomical odds” part then????

your “ sky fall” scenario just never happens.????

[skatewash]

56 minutes ago, RafPinto said:

You have made nothing.
Inflation running at 5% and up.

Accepting your inflation rate of 5% I have lost less

Losses considering inflation in Thailand:  0.9% interest - 5% inflation = -4.1%

Losses considering inflation in US:  -20% S&P 500 - 5% inflation
= -25%

I think most would prefer to lose 4.1% than 25%.

[The Hammer2021]

12 hours ago, tonysilly said:

Master Degree? Wrong! Proper training, stop changing the rules. Be kind and stop bribing Farang for money.  Not all do it but many do. Especially small Provence. 

Bribing  farang? Isn't that the wrong  way round? And why mention farang  but not  Indians, Arabs or Africans?

You seem confused