A positive post

[Fab5BKK]

I thought a positive post could light up your day, a bit.

 

1. In April, I went to Chaeng Wattana to apply for my extension of stay (Thai wife). I used quite the same docs that the ones I used a year ago. Arrived @ 10.00 left @ 12.00.

2. In May, I came back at CW, . Got my stamp. Arrived @ 10.00 left @ 11.00.

 

[proton]

You missed out the interesting bit ????

[Fab5BKK]

48 minutes ago, proton said:

You missed out the interesting bit ????

?

[bbko]

Many immigration offices help hundreds a day, and most customers walk away with a positive result, it's only the few complainers that make noise/posts saying negative stuff then others act like every customer is treated like the one crying.

 

[richard_smith237]

1 minute ago, bbko said:

Many immigration offices help hundreds a day, and most customers walk away with a positive result, it's only the few complainers that make noise/posts saying negative stuff then others act like every customer is treated like the one crying.

 

Its the silly little ‘stuff’ gets up people’s noses... 

 

I recall having well in excess of 400k in my account for over a few years... (Marriage extension).

My Bank-Book was printed the previous afternoon...  they would not accept this, I had to go back to the Bank - thats just irritating. 

 

It was the 1st and only extension I’d ever done - easy enough and quick enough, but I do see why people get irritated....  Some Immigration offices are clearly better than others...

 

For example: I read of lot of reports of HuaHin Immigration being downright awkward whereas ChaengWattana seem more reasonable. 

 

Some stories of complaint are from people who made their own problems and over react about the small stuff... 

... while other people have perfectly valid reasons for complaint. 

 

 

 

 

[Fab5BKK]

8 minutes ago, bbko said:

Many immigration offices help hundreds a day, and most customers walk away with a positive result, it's only the few complainers that make noise/posts saying negative stuff then others act like every customer is treated like the one crying.

 

Absolutely !

[Doctor Tom]

OP, how dare you come onto this forum, negligently quoting good luck and feel good experiences.  Its people like you that make other normal folk  happy and destroys the rest of us on this forum.  Please keep your good luck stories to yourself in future.  Now,  about those damn I.O.s........????

[richard_smith237]

This thread is somewhat ‘rose-tinted’.... kind of like writing a thread such as...

 

'I drove today and no one around me did anything dangerous....  '

 

... Then other posters reply...  people drive every day and don’t have a problem, its only the The Thai bashers who have a problem...  

 

The fact that there are so many negative threads already resulting in someone feeling the need to counter that with a positive thread highlights itself that there is an issue and that the Immigration system and rules are commonly a good’n’proper pain in the backside for a lot of people.

 

I mean... Why is there a need for a 90 day report ??... why is there a need for a yearly extension anyway?

 

That in itself is utterly ridiculous. 

[transam]

23 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

Its the silly little ‘stuff’ gets up people’s noses... 

 

I recall having well in excess of 400k in my account for over a few years... (Marriage extension).

My Bank-Book was printed the previous afternoon...  they would not accept this, I had to go back to the Bank - thats just irritating. 

 

It was the 1st and only extension I’d ever done - easy enough and quick enough, but I do see why people get irritated....  Some Immigration offices are clearly better than others...

 

For example: I read of lot of reports of HuaHin Immigration being downright awkward whereas ChaengWattana seem more reasonable. 

 

Some stories of complaint are from people who made their own problems and over react about the small stuff... 

... while other people have perfectly valid reasons for complaint. 

After getting married in BKK to a Thai and for the next 15 years had visas and an extension under my belt, we went for a 12 month marriage extension in Ubon, I was asked by the officer there to show him something regarding my divorce from my ex UK wife from years earlier. 

 

He got some verbal from me and Mrs.T, mainly, HTF do you think we got married in BKK, with the supporting paperwork we have, and got visas ever since. ?

He carried on waffling in Thai to my Mrs, who then told him her son was a Policeman, who had worked for the "K" etc. he did go a bit red faced, but still wanted me to find paperwork on my divorce.

 

This was surely an AH at work...????

 

PS. I did find one document that was slightly related to his demand, he just glanced at it......

[473geo]

Give it a rest Richard ???? so we have to invest a bit of time on being allowed to stay in a country we enjoy 

 

I've said this before, look at the guys on the desk as helping, nay being attentive to make sure your application meets the requirements of the person who will sign it off, thus having the correct bank date on a document is part of their function 

[KarenBravo]

4 minutes ago, 473geo said:

Give it a rest Richard ???? so we have to invest a bit of time on being allowed to stay in a country we enjoy 

 

I've said this before, look at the guys on the desk as helping, nay being attentive to make sure your application meets the requirements of the person who will sign it off, thus having the correct bank date on a document is part of their function 

 

 

How do you feel about paying for a document from immigration that is supposed to be free?

[Fab5BKK]

31 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

This thread is somewhat ‘rose-tinted’.... kind of like writing a thread such as...

 

'I drove today and no one around me did anything dangerous....  '

 

... Then other posters reply...  people drive every day and don’t have a problem, its only the The Thai bashers who have a problem...  

 

The fact that there are so many negative threads already resulting in someone feeling the need to counter that with a positive thread highlights itself that there is an issue and that the Immigration system and rules are commonly a good’n’proper pain in the backside for a lot of people.

 

 

I mean... Why is there a need for a 90 day report ??... why is there a need for a yearly extension anyway?

 

 

That in itself is utterly ridiculous. 

 

 

What is wrong with you RS237???

 

1. "rose tinted": did I ask you what color(s) are your lenses? No

2. Did I discuss about "driving in Thailand"? No

3. Did I discuss about the 90-day reporting? No

4. Did I discuss about the usefulness of yearly extensions? No

 

In case you did not understand it, I was writing about my recent and positive experience @ CW Immigration... Did I say / did I claim that everyone got the same positive experience ? I do not think so...

 

Or may be it's my English you didn't understand... Sorry, it's just one of the foreign languages I manage  to deal with...

Edited June 5, 2022 by Fab5BKK

[Don Chance]

I've been in Nepal for the last 2 month or so. Everyday is positive. Real smiles, everyone is respectful and wants to talk to you and be your friend. If i want a discount i can easily get it. No micro aggression's.

Immigration was friendly and very easy to get 3 month visa stamp on arrival.

[richard_smith237]

28 minutes ago, 473geo said:

Give it a rest Richard ???? so we have to invest a bit of time on being allowed to stay in a country we enjoy 

 

I've said this before, look at the guys on the desk as helping, nay being attentive to make sure your application meets the requirements of the person who will sign it off, thus having the correct bank date on a document is part of their function 

 

 

I've had very few minor issue with ‘officialdom’ and immigration in Thailand.....     Its all run very smoothly for me....   

 

If you don’t see that some of the rules are just silly then your rose-tinted specks are still functioning well.

 

Trans highlights in his post above that even when you think you’ve got everything covered you’ll get caught out.....   

 

Many of the complaints in other threads are highly valid and threads such as this which lend people to call those complaining cry-babies or imply that they didn’t have the correct paper work are often flawed in that they have not recognised that many of the requirements can be circular, contradictory and unevenly understood, interpreted and enforced between provinces and even different officers within the same province.... 

 

But yeah....  Go ahead... ’Those folk at Immigration are wonderful and they make our lives much easier with their clear regulations and intelligent discretion’ !!!  ????

[richard_smith237]

6 minutes ago, KarenBravo said:

How do you feel about paying for a document from immigration that is supposed to be free?

Of course, that only happens to those who didn’t get their paper work in order properly... or to those who didn’t adequately plan ahead etc etc...  

[473geo]

9 minutes ago, KarenBravo said:

How do you feel about paying for a document from immigration that is supposed to be free?

Same as I feel about paying for a health service I could get for free in my own country, goes with territory 

[473geo]

17 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

I've had very few minor issue with ‘officialdom’ and immigration in Thailand.....     Its all run very smoothly for me....   

 

If you don’t see that some of the rules are just silly then your rose-tinted specks are still functioning well.

 

Trans highlights in his post above that even when you think you’ve got everything covered you’ll get caught out.....   

 

Many of the complaints in other threads are highly valid and threads such as this which lend people to call those complaining cry-babies or imply that they didn’t have the correct paper work are often flawed in that they have not recognised that many of the requirements can be circular, contradictory and unevenly understood, interpreted and enforced between provinces and even different officers within the same province.... 

 

But yeah....  Go ahead... ’Those folk at Immigration are wonderful and they make our lives much easier with their clear regulations and intelligent discretion’ !!!  ????

90 day reports a trip out to town, 15 minutes turn around, was in place looooong before I arrived, to be expected yes, so whats the rose tinted crappla Richard?

[KarenBravo]

2 minutes ago, 473geo said:

Same as I feel about paying for a health service I could get for free in my own country, goes with territory 

Not the same at all. You paid for the health service in your own country with the taxes you pay.

If you have to pay immigration for a document that immigration themselves have officially said is free, is something else entirely......

[richard_smith237]

9 minutes ago, 473geo said:

90 day reports a trip out to town, 15 minutes turn around, was in place looooong before I arrived, to be expected yes, so whats the rose tinted crappla Richard?

You know what the ‘rose tinted crappla (or crappola?)’ is...   its being over forgiving of unnecessary silly s#i£ because were in a different country.... 

 

 

In this case its pretending the requirement are perfectly reasonable....  the Immigration requirements are an antiquated pain in the backside for many....   even those who claim they went through the process trouble free....  overlooking the fact that there is an unnecessary 90 day report or yearly extension progress in the first place.... 

[EVENKEEL]

15 minutes ago, KarenBravo said:

Not the same at all. You paid for the health service in your own country with the taxes you pay.

If you have to pay immigration for a document that immigration themselves have officially said is free, is something else entirely......

I've gotten a number of residence certs, cars, MC's, both DL's  500thb a pop, money goes in a wood drawer. I can do that with a smile, she does pics and makes copies as well, but the IO for extensions in the small office I use is a real nasty Bit$h. 

[Photoguy21]

I have been to Chaeng Wattana many times and never had a problem. If anything I have always found the IO's very helpful. A bad experience by some couldn't possibly be to a bad attitude by any chance could it?

[audaciousnomad]

The post is positive....the negativity it triggered in the thread it, however, is not surprising.

[473geo]

23 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

You know what the ‘rose tinted crappla (or crappola?)’ is...   its being over forgiving of unnecessary silly s#i£ because were in a different country.... 

 

 

In this case its pretending the requirement are perfectly reasonable....  the Immigration requirements are an antiquated pain in the backside for many....   even those who claim they went through the process trouble free....  overlooking the fact that there is an unnecessary 90 day report or yearly extension progress in the first place.... 

I have just returned from a quiet stroll to bed our cattle down for the night, accompanied by my wife daughter and 5 month old grand daughter 

Enjoyed looking at the lush green grass we have cultivated, the the two week old angusx heifer calf I delivered, peaceful and satisfying ???? 

That is the Thailand I concentrate my time and thoughts on, my sons schooling, my daughter completing her training to be a nurse, the additional 2 ensuite bedrooms built well with very reasonably priced labour in progress now.

 

That is my Thailand, government infringement is dealt with accordingly but for me is way way short of even registering on the scales of balance

 

So how is it for you guys?

 

[richard_smith237]

7 minutes ago, Photoguy21 said:

 A bad experience by some couldn't possibly be to a bad attitude by any chance could it?

You think people walk into Immigration and are generally disrespectful which is why they face issues ?

 

No... everyone goes to Immigration with the intention to be polite and respectful.

 

I have read threads where someone faces difficult an an official office, immigration etc and someone asks what they were wearing !!!.....   

 

 

The reality is...  many who complain do so because a document which was accepted before is no longer accepted.... or that the photos are not quite right (i.e. not on a full page and only two per page), or that the money was in a day under the 2 month requirement etc... or the bank book was stamped yesterday... or there is a slight difference in spelling on the marriage cert (even though its clear its the same person etc)....  

 

For things to run smoothly we (the application) need to have exactly what ’that specific' Immigration officer wants to see on that specific day and IF she / he is in a good mood things will go well. 

 

IF however she / he is not in a pleasant mood he / she may look for the slightest indiscretion... i.e. map is not quite right, photo doesn’t clearly show the house number, copy of marriage certificate is slightly faded etc etc... 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[richard_smith237]

2 minutes ago, 473geo said:

I have just returned from a quiet stroll to bed our cattle down for the night, accompanied by my wife daughter and 5 month old grand daughter 

Enjoyed looking at the lush green grass we have cultivated, the the two week old angusx heifer calf I delivered, peaceful and satisfying ???? 

That is the Thailand I concentrate my time and thoughts on, my sons schooling, my daughter completing her training to be a nurse, the additional 2 ensuite bedrooms built well with very reasonably priced labour in progress now.

 

That is my Thailand, government infringement is dealt with accordingly but for me is way way short of even registering on the scales of balance

 

So how is it for you guys?

 

Same here....    I got the Elite visa (way before I met my Wife)... so I didn’t have to worry about getting picked up on entry to Thailand every couple of months (working overseas on rotation). 

 

So.. Visa life is fine for me. Until Covid and I was caught out overseas and needed a Non-Imm O Visa to enter (couldn’t enter on Thai Elite at the time), that was no issue, I then had to go through the first Extension 90 days later...  I read these forums to ensure I had everything covered, I took more than I needed, various copies, followed all advice and didn’t assume it would be ok. 

 

Only a minor hiccup - they didn’t accept my Bank Book as it had been printed the day before - I thought that was just moronically stupid, I had to go to an SCB branch down the road to get another line in the book printed with that days date stamp.......     

 

 

So... Personally, I have not had issues.... but I know plenty of people who have for the silliest and most pathetic of reasons, they’ve had their time wasted... and then on this forum we read some complaints of those who are justifiably irritated by their treatment. 

 

Then of course there are the nut cases who are nowhere close to being prepared and then come on here and complain, they get ridiculed and rightly so. 

 

 

[proton]

1 hour ago, bbko said:

Many immigration offices help hundreds a day, and most customers walk away with a positive result, it's only the few complainers that make noise/posts saying negative stuff then others act like every customer is treated like the one crying.

 

They also help themselves to certain payments via agents to ignore their own rules

[473geo]

5 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

Same here....    I got the Elite visa (way before I met my Wife)... so I didn’t have to worry about getting picked up on entry to Thailand every couple of months (working overseas on rotation). 

 

So.. Visa life is fine for me. Until Covid and I was caught out overseas and needed a Non-Imm O Visa to enter (couldn’t enter on Thai Elite at the time), that was no issue, I then had to go through the first Extension 90 days later...  I read these forums to ensure I had everything covered, I took more than I needed, various copies, followed all advice and didn’t assume it would be ok. 

 

Only a minor hiccup - they didn’t accept my Bank Book as it had been printed the day before - I thought that was just moronically stupid, I had to go to an SCB branch down the road to get another line in the book printed with that days date stamp.......     

 

 

So... Personally, I have not had issues.... but I know plenty of people who have for the silliest and most pathetic of reasons, they’ve had their time wasted... and then on this forum we read some complaints of those who are justifiably irritated by their treatment. 

 

Then of course there are the nut cases who are nowhere close to being prepared and then come on here and complain, they get ridiculed and rightly so. 

 

 

I had a problem with bank balnce matching the statement, just went back to the bank, wife got the manager on the phone to immigration, correct docs supplied, job done no need to get crabby about it, just getting all correct and sure enough application sailed through, cost a couple of additional hours, really, I should hold a grudge for that, I think not, you can I won't ???? too many good things happening ????

[proton]

18 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

You think people walk into Immigration and are generally disrespectful which is why they face issues ?

 

No... everyone goes to Immigration with the intention to be polite and respectful.

 

I have read threads where someone faces difficult an an official office, immigration etc and someone asks what they were wearing !!!.....   

 

 

The reality is...  many who complain do so because a document which was accepted before is no longer accepted.... or that the photos are not quite right (i.e. not on a full page and only two per page), or that the money was in a day under the 2 month requirement etc... or the bank book was stamped yesterday... or there is a slight difference in spelling on the marriage cert (even though its clear its the same person etc)....  

 

For things to run smoothly we (the application) need to have exactly what ’that specific' Immigration officer wants to see on that specific day and IF she / he is in a good mood things will go well. 

 

IF however she / he is not in a pleasant mood he / she may look for the slightest indiscretion... i.e. map is not quite right, photo doesn’t clearly show the house number, copy of marriage certificate is slightly faded etc etc... 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Demanding signatures in another colour, ALL pages copied in a passport even blanks, being in the right office but being told they don't do extensions, TM30 wanted for a 90 day report, not accepting colour copies, All these have happened to me over the years so it's a relief when all goes smoothly.

[Boomer6969]

1 hour ago, transam said:

I was asked by the officer there to show him something regarding my divorce from my ex UK wife from years earlier. 

Just wonder, why did you tell the IO that you were divorced? They have no way to know, unless you tell them, and there is noting in the extension process that requires it. KR2 doesn't mention it either.

Edited June 5, 2022 by Boomer6969

[BudRight]

59 minutes ago, proton said:

Demanding signatures in another colour, ALL pages copied in a passport even blanks, being in the right office but being told they don't do extensions, TM30 wanted for a 90 day report, not accepting colour copies, All these have happened to me over the years so it's a relief when all goes smoothly.

I'm always impressed by the foreigners who absolutely never have problems with any Thai bureaucracy. Thai people often have trouble with it. These special people must be truly blessed indeed.