Banks and immigration. A short story

[ThailandRyan]

2 hours ago, brianthainess said:

Well it might be a lot easier away from Pattaya/Jomtien, most IO it is free, and less queues, the joys of living anywhere near Pattaya LOL,  there is NO official charge but a 3day wait is normal.

Jump though the hoops, get a COR then go to DLT with your original books, licenses, passport and all copies. Fill out new paperwork at 3 different locations, the motorbike office, the car office and then over to licensing. If you move provinces it becomes even more hoop jumping....PKK wanted me to change the plates on my vehicles from Bangkok plates.  My licenses had to be done at a different office and I had to go to Bangkok just to change the address on the green book and blue book since I wasn't playing the game to pay for new plates and have new books made...longer story than the OP. Yet because I am retired I have time. It also is a good idea to show up early rather than waiting until 3pm at immigration...lol

[mikeymike100]

1 hour ago, brianthainess said:

I had to translate for a 'English' guy in the bank not long ago, the staff couldn't understand his  BRUMMY (Birmingham) accent . 'Pretty good' do you think they would understand that terminology ?

Certainly some of the English and Scottish accents can be difficult to understand, even for native English speakers. I have been to Birmingham in the Midlands and can quite understand the difficulty, especially for a Thai, with English as their second language?

[PJ71]

31 minutes ago, yeahbutif said:

I agree with everything the op said but it won't change nothing.. on a similar note I went to open another bank account in the same bank that I have another account in already. They said need residents cirtificate. I said why same branch same address .he said rules of of bank.. I he and tm30 and Thai driving licence. But nope still needed cirtificate.. I left saying  stick the Extra account where the sun don't shine...

Banks........hmmmm

 

I have quite a lot money in a standard Bangkok Bank account.

 

I requested a FCD account, they asked for COR, i said i want to close my account and remove all my money.

 

Guess what, manager came out and sorted out FCD account with COR.

 

 

[PJ71]

31 minutes ago, yeahbutif said:

I agree with everything the op said but it won't change nothing.. on a similar note I went to open another bank account in the same bank that I have another account in already. They said need residents cirtificate. I said why same branch same address .he said rules of of bank.. I he and tm30 and Thai driving licence. But nope still needed cirtificate.. I left saying  stick the Extra account where the sun don't shine...

Banks........hmmmm

 

I have quite a lot money in a standard Bangkok Bank account.

 

I requested a FCD account, they asked for COR, i said i want to close my account and remove all my money.

 

Guess what, manager came out and sorted out FCD account with COR.

 

 

[tamy]

Returning to the subject of waiting in line for hours at Jomtien Immigration...

Would one wise man be willing to start up a charted report show day by day

the estimate of how many people standing in line.  Any wise man who lives

around Immigration passing by during breakfast lunch abouts Jomtien Immigration

would be honored to update and inform wait in line time at overloaded Jomtien

TAT tourist invasion at Jomtien Immigration office. Thank you in advance for all

supported data 

[kinyara]

1 hour ago, buick said:

if you get a Non O in Sep/Oct, doesn't that mean you do you the one year extension 3 months later, in the peak of high season ?  i think you want to do the one year extension in Sep/Oct which means get the Non O three months prior.  May is a bad month for extension renewals also, alot of holidays in that month (i had May for a few years, now i have October).  June is a pretty good month for renewals.

The renewal falling in line with Sep/Oct, so build the 3 month lead time into that. I decided to do mine late May for annual travel reasons and I've never experienced any big log jam, usually numbers tail off post Songkran. As you highlight avoiding the first week in May is key due to holidays. ( another added this year ), so I always go the second week.

[The Fugitive]

1 hour ago, yeahbutif said:

I agree with everything the op said but it won't change nothing.. on a similar note I went to open another bank account in the same bank that I have another account in already. They said need residents cirtificate. I said why same branch same address .he said rules of of bank.. I he and tm30 and Thai driving licence. But nope still needed cirtificate.. I left saying  stick the Extra account where the sun don't shine...

The same mentality as my local ampur. They already held all necessary documents from my marriage but told me they needed the same ORIGINALS again before they would issue a yellow house book/pink ID card. I gave up. 

[The Fugitive]

52 minutes ago, mikeymike100 said:

Certainly some of the English and Scottish accents can be difficult to understand, even for native English speakers. I haingsve been to Birmingham in the Midlands and can quite understand the difficulty, especially for a Thai, with English as their second language?

I love local/regional accents. Makes life much more interesting. Imagine a conversation between a Cornishman, a Geordie, a Scouser and a Brummiger. "What are Yowwwwwwwwww talking about?"

[Negita43]

3 hours ago, Smokey and the Bandit said:

Immigration is there for foreigners, Thais in general don't go there, unless with a a partner? Surely the guys at Immigration should speak good English, at least?

Why - does the UK immigration speak Thai, Swahili, Lithuanian etc etc.

 

It's their country - if you want to be here complain all you want on the forum but if you want (for whatever reason) to be here accept that.

[BananaStrong]

13 hours ago, 1happykamper said:

the security man, a volunteer, prodded my chest two times. You, you. You wear your mask.

It's important to follow customs of the country you are visiting, and respect people's health!!!  COVID, everyone is wearing a mask.  It may not be the law, but it's common sense.   Protect Thais!!!!!!   I would NEVER risk a trip to immigration without 100000 masks and a HASMAT suit on.

 

giving us Pattaya red-light beer gut bar girl broke backpackers a bad name!!!!!!

 

There's always that one guy

[mikeymike100]

1 minute ago, Negita43 said:

Why - does the UK immigration speak Thai, Swahili, Lithuanian etc etc.

 

It's their country - if you want to be here complain all you want on the forum but if you want (for whatever reason) to be here accept that.

I agree its their country, BUT they are dealing solely with foreigners, together with the odd visa agent?

Surely the immigration officers dealing directly with the foreigners should be able to communicate, with them?

I am not suggesting that the IO's be able speak several languages, what I am saying is that they should be able to speak the most spoken language in the world, which is English!

 

[still kicking]

3 minutes ago, mikeymike100 said:

I agree its their country, BUT they are dealing solely with foreigners, together with the odd visa agent?

Surely the immigration officers dealing directly with the foreigners should be able to communicate, with them?

I am not suggesting that the IO's be able speak several languages, what I am saying is that they should be able to speak the most spoken language in the world, which is English!

 

Wrong 

Chinese is number 1 

Spanish number 2 

English number 3 

[The Fugitive]

4 minutes ago, Negita43 said:

Why - does the UK immigration speak Thai, Swahili, Lithuanian etc etc.

 

It's their country - if you want to be here complain all you want on the forum but if you want (for whatever reason) to be here accept that.

Very true. No getting away from that. On a flight from U.K. to Bangkok on a Middle Eastern airline I asked a steward what the language requirements were for cabin crew? I was told minimum of two languages, one of which MUST be English. Many years ago a friend from U.K. married to a Malaysian of Chinese descent told me that English is the preferred language due to the mix of languages. Also true that English is most definitely THE international language.   

[The Fugitive]

8 minutes ago, still kicking said:

Wrong 

Chinese is number 1 

Spanish number 2 

English number 3 

Most common languages used on the internet as of January 2020, by share of internet users.

Percentage of internet users

English 25.9%

Chinese 19.4%

Spanish 7.9%

[mikeymike100]

30 minutes ago, still kicking said:

Wrong 

Chinese is number 1 

Spanish number 2 

English number 3 

I would agree that the most common FIRST language is Chinese, followed distantly by Spanish and then, in third, comes English.

That is not what I meant however, more people can speak English, maybe as a second language,  that Chinese.

I should have said, English is the most widely spoken language in the world!

[mikeymike100]

18 minutes ago, The Fugitive said:

Very true. No getting away from that. On a flight from U.K. to Bangkok on a Middle Eastern airline I asked a steward what the language requirements were for cabin crew? I was told minimum of two languages, one of which MUST be English. Many years ago a friend from U.K. married to a Malaysian of Chinese descent told me that English is the preferred language due to the mix of languages. Also true that English is most definitely THE international language.   

Correct, you go anywhere in the world virtually and if you can speak English you can usually find someone who can understand you. If you only speak Mandarin and you go anywhere in Africa say, you are stuck?

[skatewash]

2 hours ago, buick said:

if you get a Non O in Sep/Oct, doesn't that mean you do you the one year extension 3 months later, in the peak of high season ?  i think you want to do the one year extension in Sep/Oct which means get the Non O three months prior.  May is a bad month for extension renewals also, alot of holidays in that month (i had May for a few years, now i have October).  June is a pretty good month for renewals.

Good points.

You also have the flexibility to go 30 days (up to 45 days in some provinces) early to apply for your extension of stay.  There are great benefits in peace of mind with going early.  I don't get 12-month retirement extensions, I get 13 1/2-month extensions.  This opportunity is available to anyone.

[The Fugitive]

7 minutes ago, mikeymike100 said:

I would agree that the most common FIRST language is Chinese, followed distantly by Spanish and then, in third, comes English.

That is not what I meant however, more people can speak English, maybe as a second language,  that Chinese.

It is usually true that the reason someone doesn't speak English is because they don't wish to do so. Explained to me by my local Greek Cypriot cafe owner.

[Smokey and the Bandit]

50 minutes ago, Negita43 said:

Why - does the UK immigration speak Thai, Swahili, Lithuanian etc etc.

 

It's their country - if you want to be here complain all you want on the forum but if you want (for whatever reason) to be here accept that.

They deal with non Thais, hence its an Immigration Office? They should be able to speak the most widely used language in the world, don't you think? It should be part of their job description?

I don't expect all cops to be able to speak English, but Immigration cops definitely yes!

 

[ukrules]

7 hours ago, flyingtlger said:

Also, you might want to get up earlier to get your business done instead of going in the afternoon and expect civil servants to accommodate your needs.

Not me, I never, ever go in the morning and I've been here for about 15 years (I think) so I've been many times over the years.

 

[mikeymike100]

6 minutes ago, The Fugitive said:

It is usually true that the reason someone doesn't speak English is because they don't wish to do so. Explained to me by my local Greek Cypriot cafe owner.

Right, its the same in France! ????

[ThailandRyan]

28 minutes ago, skatewash said:

Good points.

You also have the flexibility to go 30 days (up to 45 days in some provinces) early to apply for your extension of stay.  There are great benefits in peace of mind with going early.  I don't get 12-month retirement extensions, I get 13 1/2-month extensions.  This opportunity is available to anyone.

Yet 12 months after you get the extension your back doing the extension once again.....unless you want to wait until the 13th month....lol

[JimTripper]

Learn to enjoy making workloads more difficult and wasting time and resources. The whole thing can be twisted around to your advantage.

[Seppius]

1 hour ago, Negita43 said:

Why - does the UK immigration speak Thai, Swahili, Lithuanian etc etc.

 

It's their country - if you want to be here complain all you want on the forum but if you want (for whatever reason) to be here accept that.

To be fair, there are so many foreigners wanting to live in the UK at the moment, I bet they have translators standing around for every languish on the planet????

[buick]

1 hour ago, kinyara said:

The renewal falling in line with Sep/Oct, so build the 3 month lead time into that. I decided to do mine late May for annual travel reasons and I've never experienced any big log jam, usually numbers tail off post Songkran. As you highlight avoiding the first week in May is key due to holidays. ( another added this year ), so I always go the second week.

the end of May is not bad.  it is the first two weeks that aren't so good, holidays in the beginning and the middle.  mine was May 31 and i always waited until the end of the month.  now i have October 31, the second half of the month isn't all that good (holidays) so i do it first week.  

[Leaver]

6 hours ago, brianthainess said:

Sorry but not the Whole system, I tried to get a resident Cert the same day and asked my IO can I pay an 'express fee' NO! come back in 3 days. 

 

He can't be seen to be taking money from you.  This would also cause trouble with the other IO's. 

 

Better he accepts the money from one of his friends / relatives that has an agency. 

 

If you went and seen an agent, you would have had it in a matter of hours, not days. 

[Leaver]

6 hours ago, mrbojangles said:

I would say I agree with that at Jomtien office but up country it's extremely easy in my experience and no agent required. The requirements are the same but the Immigration Officers are helpful, unlike Jomtien where they pick holes in anything so you get fed up and go through an agent.

 

It took me 4 visits on my first extension at Jomtien (with my wife of 20 years present) and that desk messed us about. They wanted a longer lease for the rented house that we had, so went and got that. Then they wanted a better copy of the blue book (even though it was good enough for the other counters to file the TM30 and get residence certs), so we got that. Then they wanted a copy of the chanote, even though they hadn't asked for that in any of the other checklist visits. Then they wanted a better copy. After the 4 visits I think they realised I wasn't getting an agent and passed everything. The following year I did it up country and hassle free.

 

No point starting a thread for a quick question that you can answer.

 

You mentioned you did it up country the next year.  Did you get a TM30 at the up country address?  If not, do you have to go to your nearest immigration office, or can you go to any immigration office?  Same with the driver's license as well. 

[Negita43]

5 hours ago, mikeymike100 said:

I would agree that the most common FIRST language is Chinese, followed distantly by Spanish and then, in third, comes English.

That is not what I meant however, more people can speak English, maybe as a second language,  that Chinese.

I should have said, English is the most widely spoken language in the world!

You are of course correct but if you think about it the most visitors to Thailand come from China and pass through immigration so I think the Thais should be learning Chinese! And that still doesn't alter my view (and I can't speak Thai) that Caucasians expect the world to speak English and they shouldn't. And English is the most spoken language only because of our colonial past.

[it is what it is]

11 hours ago, bob smith said:

I can't say I disagree with much of what you have said. Thailand is indeed a bureaucratic nightmare but that's how the Thais like it.

 

Either learn to live with it or the Emergency EXIT door is always open should you wish to use it.

 

it's a way of keeping people employed, and of those in power feeling they are in power.

 

tbh as long as you get organised it's not that bad. never had to resort to an agent. anyone with some patience and common sense can work it out.

[Klonko]

16 hours ago, 1happykamper said:

... to pick up the actual 3 certificates...

I received my  COR original from my embassy via online service. I copied the original on my color laser mfp and it is hard to tell the difference between copies and original. One original for proof of residence three times in December and January. I am pretty sure that I could have kept the original.