11 hours ago, Felt 35 said:

Unfortunately, I can imagine that this mean a general tightning and they who most often end up getting stung then is those who have never had the intention of anything else than living out their lives here on a retirement visas.????

Felt

A few of those have been dodgy over the years

2 minutes ago, easydoor said:

I am everytime surprised when I read the reactions on this kind of topics. Looks to me a lot of people wants a lawless coutry,

I have little doubt that is what draws some expats to Thailand. They don't have to try very hard to keep up the standards of their home country. A Korean tv producer I worked with here summed up Thailand perfectly in just six words - The standards here are so low. That suits some, whereas those who aspire to something better go to Singapore or perhaps Malaysia.

2 minutes ago, Bangkok Barry said:

Last time mine took 10 minutes, making sure all was in order before sending everything off to the regional office in Khon Kaen. When I was there recently about wanting a 60-day extension (complicated, which I wrote of in another thread) he suggested I get a retirement extension. I said I wasn't retired and he said I didn't need to be retired to get a retirement extension. Funny, and very Thai I suppose ????

The retirement extension doesn't require that you be retired (i.e., not working), it merely requires that you be at least age 50 and meet the financial requirements.  You cannot work in Thailand under a retirement extension, but you can certainly work outside of Thailand.  In practice, some people work from home in Thailand and while perhaps technically not allowed if done without any fanfare is likely to go undetected.

Ironic isn't it...Russians fleeing a dictator finding refuge in a country run by a dictator

7 minutes ago, jacko45k said:

What?

Bad choice of words? Rephrase.... If i was a Russian actually in Russia I would be moving to Phuket too!????

Revise all you want, as long as you have crooked immigration personal that are on the take it will not help much.. the problem is within the department, not out there...

13 hours ago, KhaoNiaw said:

Apparently 6-7000 'volunteers' came through a Chinese foundation. So they're setting up an investigation into the misuse of volunteer visas up to last year or earlier this year I think they said on the news. Which sounds like up to the period people on here started reporting it was no longer a possibility. 

Possibly being proactive https://www.facebook.com/CBCPolitics/videos/3351367871815945

12 hours ago, ikke1959 said:

a result of the visas who are offered for the wealthy quality tourists....The whole visa system should be revisted.. Make it easy for immigration, foreigners, and lot of problems wll disappear.. Now there are too many different visa and too many rules and requirements..

And criminals should be stopped at the borders

Immigration in Thailand is among the easiest in the World. I've no idea what you are on about. 

Great idea. My daughters are being taught English by non native

English speakers who ONLY teach English so that they can get a Visa.

Never mind the Thai English teachers, many foreigners from non English speaking

countries are not

qualified to teach English.

18 minutes ago, d4dang said:

Ironic isn't it...Russians fleeing a dictator finding refuge in a country run by a dictator

And possibly find Education Visas very difficult to obtain soon, get home and grab your rifle......

2 hours ago, Derek B said:

Convicted criminals should show up on Immigration's radar surely.............perhaps no real checks are made. However not all criminals have convictions.

Foreign government departments do not have unfettered access to another country’s criminal database generally. Unless you meant those convicted in Thailand 

2 hours ago, MaiChai said:

 Then you have those running away from dictator regimes.

Straight into a similar "regime"

23 minutes ago, mberbae said:

Great idea. My daughters are being taught English by non native

English speakers who ONLY teach English so that they can get a Visa.

Never mind the Thai English teachers, many foreigners from non English speaking

countries are not

qualified to teach English.

My daughter's English teacher often has to ask what many English words mean, And forget having any sensible conversation with this teacher

50 minutes ago, skatewash said:

The retirement extension doesn't require that you be retired (i.e., not working), it merely requires that you be at least age 50 and meet the financial requirements.  You cannot work in Thailand under a retirement extension, but you can certainly work outside of Thailand.  In practice, some people work from home in Thailand and while perhaps technically not allowed if done without any fanfare is likely to go undetected.

My point was that they call it a retirement extension when it isn't, as you don't need to be retired. It really needs to be called something else.

Hmm.  Education and Volunteer Visa's.  Does this mean one cannot study Muay Thai for 3 years? 

59 minutes ago, d4dang said:

Ironic isn't it...Russians fleeing a dictator finding refuge in a country run by a dictator

Compared to Putin, he is just a choir boy.

17 minutes ago, Bangkok Barry said:

My point was that they call it a retirement extension when it isn't, as you don't need to be retired. It really needs to be called something else.

No no, we get enough confusion already with it being called a Visa....

10 hours ago, kinyara said:

You'd be surprised how few retirees are actually here and how irrelevant the number is in the overall scheme of things. You surely saw that in Jomtien during Covid, you could almost recognise all the expats you saw on a daily basis. I read an interview with the Head of Thai Immigration during Covid and he commented on how the number of retirees had declined in the last few years, I'm sure the figure he quoted was only 60k nationally, it really was surprisingly low.

 

"..........he commented on how the number of retirees had declined in the last few years,..........."

 

Why? Because Immigration have been making it more and more difficult for expats to obtain a Visa!!! 

 

 

Easiest to do is change the ancient laws... and make a long term visa...

for retirees 800.000 on a bankaccount or 65.000 income monthly or a combination

for students  subscribtion from schools and extensions letters from school with study results and how long the stydy will take

for volunteers inviation and jobsubscription of the organisation

In fact just as the paperwork you need for a workpermit for all visa.

No agents or money carroussels , or immigrationofficers/familymembers who grant visa as an agent. Everything in a good working computer program and no copies anymore to save paper.. Only for extension original updates with stamps being scanned again and added tothe file. Yes a lot of immigration officers will be out of work, but they can be used as traffic police for roadsafety. 

And after 5 years consecutive extensions no 90 days reports anymore...

Europe is an example that with one one visa you can do a lot.. 

3 minutes ago, ikke1959 said:

Easiest to do is change the ancient laws... and make a long term visa...

for retirees 800.000 on a bankaccount or 65.000 income monthly or a combination

for students  subscribtion from schools and extensions letters from school with study results and how long the stydy will take

for volunteers inviation and jobsubscription of the organisation

In fact just as the paperwork you need for a workpermit for all visa.

No agents or money carroussels , or immigrationofficers/familymembers who grant visa as an agent. Everything in a good working computer program and no copies anymore to save paper.. Only for extension original updates with stamps being scanned again and added tothe file. Yes a lot of immigration officers will be out of work, but they can be used as traffic police for roadsafety. 

And after 5 years consecutive extensions no 90 days reports anymore...

Europe is an example that with one one visa you can do a lot.. 

"And after 5 years consecutive extensions no 90 days reports anymore..."

 

Bravo!  As a previous poster said a few months ago, Thailand seems to be the only place where you have to report every 90 days that nothing has changed since your previous visit!!!

Just now, sambum said:

"..........he commented on how the number of retirees had declined in the last few years,..........."

 

Why? Because Immigration have been making it more and more difficult for expats to obtain a Visa!!! 

 

 

Describe to me exactly how a retirement Extension has become more difficult to obtain in say the last year or maybe 2. The last change  was when some Embassies refused to do income letters... not immigration's fault.. prior to that medical insurance on O-A Extensions, Oct 2019. Also the requirement to keep the 800k for 3 months and then 400k for 7. The ability to get a multi-O was another I can think of. All this a long time ago.

12 hours ago, kinyara said:

Legitimate old codgers of the world can relax, the heat is off, we will survive. ????

You're not based in the UK, by the sound of it. ????

The more confusing and complicated it becomes to get a long term visa, the more the dubious agencies and I/O will benefit.  Legitimate visa holders, for whatever reason who do their own paperwork will suffer.  Big rise in Elite Visas?

Are there any statistics on how many retirees are caught doing anything criminal?

1 hour ago, CANSIAM said:

And possibly find Education Visas very difficult to obtain soon, get home and grab your rifle......

And when that happens, you know who to blame, all the scammers who have gone before you who have not learned a single useful word of Thai.

6 minutes ago, Robin said:

The more confusing and complicated it becomes to get a long term visa, the more the dubious agencies and I/O will benefit.  Legitimate visa holders, for whatever reason who do their own paperwork will suffer.  Big rise in Elite Visas?

Are there any statistics on how many retirees are caught doing anything criminal?

Four, they were playing bridge in Pattaya.

That working group has the potential to become a nice little earner for the officials lucky enough to be appointed to it. I wonder how much such officials are being asked to pay for the privilege.

1 hour ago, fulhamster said:

My daughter's English teacher often has to ask what many English words mean, And forget having any sensible conversation with this teacher

This topic is about ED and Volunteer visas. Teachers are here with work permits. ED - students, WP - teachers.

17 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

The Immigration Bureau made the move after former politician Chuwit Kamolvisit said that three former immigration police officers facilitated the longer stay of members of Chinese triads who set up foundations as their fronts in the country.

Corruption allowed them to stay... 

17 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

receive medical treatment

Is this the end of Thailand as a medical tourism hub? 

I doubt this is what Thai authorities want.

14 hours ago, ikke1959 said:

And criminals should be stopped at the borders

That would mean border control doing their jobs?

Rather than being paid for not doing it.