Young Nothing Needs Visa - How?

[desertwind]

Hello guys,

I have read many of the posts and still have not found my answer, so here goes...

right now I am in the US (california) and want to goto thailand for the next year or so. it seems that I need the 1 year non-immmigrant multiple entry visa.

now from what I have read, it seems that you need a spefic reason or not to get this. as for me, these are the facts. I am under 50 years old (26), I don't have a thai wife, nor do i plan on getting one, i don't have a job or business purpose in thailand, and i dont see myself depositing hundreds of thousands of baht in a thai bank anytime soon.

so! my question is...what do I tell the kind people at the embassy in Los Angelous, so that my chances would be increased of being issued a 1 year multiple entry visa? Really the reason I am going there is to live in a bamboo hut in the jungle and meditate, so I thought that I could say I am going for religoous reasons, though I doubt I could produce an offical letter from any offical religious body.

So how do I get my visa. I know that everything is possible, so let us discover the way.

-DW

[dr_Pat_Pong]

Forget the Thai Consulate in LA. You have NO chance there. A lax Consulate is the RTCG in Houston. Can do by mail.

[tomy]

I am under 50 years old (26), I don't have a thai wife, nor do i plan on getting one, i don't have a job or business purpose in thailand, and i dont see myself depositing hundreds of thousands of baht in a thai bank anytime soon.

there's no way in he11 you gonna get 1year visa buddy, not in LA or any other place (Houston), best you can do is 60days visa and extent 30day yourself when you are here, maybe you might get lucky and get 2 of those, other than that tough luck.

Really the reason I am going there is to live in a bamboo hut in the jungle and meditate

"freak", there are plenty of you down by Khaosan Road.

[KevinN]

It all depends on your religous affiliation,for one thing,,you might contact a WAT here and that way get something started with the Abbot for some BUDAHIST instruction, but just to come on your own,go into the jungles and live in a bamboo hut and sit on your ass,I don't see anyway for you to do it,,

You would be better off to go to mexico or Belize and lay around the jungles as we have plenty of back packers and others trying to get by on the cheap here now and it is making it harder on the ones that just want a nice place to live,maybe you could even go down to hash berry in frisco and lay around in doorways.not long ago they caught a guy in arizona trying to live in a cave,so the USG is getting tougher too.

[Guest IT Manager]

I agree with Kevin. If you seriously want to meditate, contact some of the Wats who provide education in Buddhism. You could try Wat Chedi Luang in CM. There is a university there which may be of assistance.

Ignore Tomy, most do. If you are serious, I will try to locate a phone number and contact name for you.

[KevinN]

I have a book called "Buddhism in Thai Life" printed by FUNNY PUBLISHING LIMITED PARTNERSHIP in BKK, and in it there are 4 pages of monasteries that are receptive to foreign monks and laymen. But other than that as far as meditation goes,if you even know what the word means,which unless you are involved in Buddhism,you do not. so the place to start is with a monk that is willing to teach you.and there are some in the USA that are qualified and it ###### sure don't take a bamboo hut in the jungle,,it can be done anywhere ,anytime but you have to know HOW.

A bamboo hut in the jungle is a real fine place to get a good dose of DENGUE fever tho, but you can also do that in Chiang Mai if you ain't careful and some of the LAHU and KAREN hill tribes are still canibalistic so you have to be very careful as this country is still quite wild in the upcountry.

[tomy]

Ignore Tomy, most do. If you are serious, I will try to locate a phone number and contact name for you.

let me get this straight, you travel half way around the world to meditate in a bamboo hut in the jungle, i mean there are plenty of places in the whole United State that you can go an be alone and basicly can do anything you wanted, even run around naked, does it get you high for meditate in Thai Land jungle or something, or maybe meditate with a girl on some lonely island jungle in the gulf, you both can run naked.

Oh! man, travel half way around the world to Thailand to meditated and in the jungle and in a bamboo hut, get real

[Guest IT Manager]

A bamboo hut in the jungle is a real fine place to get a good dose of DENGUE fever tho, but you can also do that in Chiang Mai if you ain't careful and some of the LAHU and KAREN hill tribes are still canibalistic so you have to be very careful as this country is still quite wild in the upcountry.

Thats true Kevin, though I got it at The Gymkhana Club about 7 years ago. You don't need jungle for it.

I will get a contact phone number for Wat Chedi Luang tomorrow and PM to the lad. As far as meditating is concerned there is no need for a bamboo hut in the jungle, it can be done successfully in a Wat, preferably one that has a capacity to teach in English.

Also Wat Suan Mohk in Surat Thani have an 11 day program that may be of interest.

Also re the Lahu, its a surprise to me that they are cannibals, however having only known a few hundred personally I am more than open to educating on the subject.

[chonabot]

How many Forest Buddhist temples are there in the USA though Tomy?

[Guest IT Manager]

Don't tease him Chon'. the chance of him knowing what a Forest Wat is are quite limited wouldn't you say?

[lopburi3]

I have only visited one temple in the USA (San Antonio) and it does have one so I would guess there are a few.

[chonabot]

But not of the "Hut in Jungle" variety I'd wager?

[lopburi3]

Rock Springs Meditation Retreat Center

c/o Wat Dhammabucha

6201 Sawyer Road San Antonio, TX 78238-2206 Tel. (210) 520-5011 Fax (210)

Rock Springs Meditation Retreat Center is an extension of Wat Dhammabucha established in 1991 as a hill country meditation retreat. It is in rural scrub, cedar hill country territory and several miles from anything approaching civilization. Facilities are sparse. We have running water, portable toilets and an electricity line. Cooking is done on outside pits or grills. Several "mobile homes" (trailers) are available for some meditators. Tenting is permitted. A small Sala is in place at this time.

This location is very isolated and not permanently staffed. Often one of our bhikkhus will be found here and a few practitioners. It is some 125 miles out from San Antonio proper so one is requested to contact the main temple for directions and permission to visit. Practitioners will need to supply ALL of their own requisites at this time.

Those wishing to practice here are requested to contact Wat Dhammabucha first.

[chonabot]

Nice one Lopburi , remind me not to bet with you in future!

[KevinN]

But San Anton is a long ways from the "jungle hut" as it is mostly all desert looking country as far as I can remember,I was only thru there once about 30 years ago and do remember enough that I sure wouldn't want to live there.

IT, you sure gotta watch them hill country people,if you know a lot of em,havent you noticed the way they look at your HAMS as you move around,gotta watch em real close,no need of leading this young fella into bad country with a false sence of security.

[opalhort]

why not start off with a 60 day tourist visa (+30 days) and do a survey of the various temples (wats) in Thailand which may take you in for Buddhist teachings, doing this by phone/internet is not yet very easy here in Thailand.

once you found a registered temple the abbot can issue a letter for you to 'sponsor' a Non-O (maybe ED?) visa on the basis that you are a student of Buddhist teachings. with this letter you go to Penang for example and get a long term visa but you may have to provide some financial info about how you plan to pay for your stay in Thailand.

-------don't worry, there are no canibals in Thailand---------

opalhort

[tomy]

that's not the point tho, im trying to get at how he try to travel half way around the world to meditated, i mean what does meditated got to do with thailand, oh never mind

and yes in southern Cali there are a few Buddhist temple up in the mountain, very isolated, not a jungle but a forest, been there seen it

[chonabot]

Oh the misuse of "tenses" will put me in an early grave I fear.....

[desertwind]

you guys are funny......

i have my heart set on a particular bamboo hut in a particualr jungle, I lived there last year paying 2k baht a month to have my passport stamped, but this is no way to live so it seems...

the way to go is to contact houston via mail

and if that doesn't work, get over there on a 30 day and talk to a monk and ask him to write me a letter.

thank you for your help!

[dr_Pat_Pong]

Stick to Houston. Don't arrive on a 30 day permit coz if you do find that monk, you will still have to leave Thailand to obtain the appropriate visa. Tell Houston you are gonna study culture.

[lopburi3]

But San Anton is a long ways from the "jungle hut" as it is mostly all desert looking country as far as I can remember,I was only thru there once about 30 years ago and do remember enough that I sure wouldn't want to live there.

I just gave this as an example that there are retreats in the USA. Have only spent 3 days in San Antonio but it appeared very lush and not desert like West Texas/El Paso area. It is also home to a large number of Thai expats. On weekday temple has average 20-30 attending at noon and about 200-300 on weekends. Great place for good food!

[KevinN]

LOP; so sorry, like I said I was only there the one time,half drunk as was my usual way then,and just went there with my pickup to move some things back to Brazoria for a weldor that was working for me at the time,,so didnt pay nuch attn.

[desertwind]

All I could find for Houston on the web was an address and phone number. So would the correct method to be to download the application from the LA website and then just mail it off to Houston with my passport, or would it be better to call first (i assume if I call, they will just tell me to send it to LA)

!!

[JimGant]

DSW,

I've been waiting for someone in the know to answer your Houston question-------. Anyway, I'm not in the know, but Dr.PP sure is about many things, including "easy" consulates to obtain 'O' visas from. And the 'O' visa is certainly far superior to any other type you could get, and certainly worth a try with Houston.

Houston's Web page indicates that you should be in Texas to apply to them (or Dallas or El Paso consulates). But I really can't imagine them sending your passport back without action just because the return address is in California, especially if their workload is low that day. Even if you called Houston and they said their policy was Texas only, I bet it would come down to who opened your letter and what their disposition and workload was that day. I don't think Thai immigration has any policy in concrete, as becomes obvious the more you read immigration info on this forum. Anyway, what's to lose by trying, except maybe time?

It's interesting that LA's website states pretty emphatically that "studying" is not a valid reason for an 'O' visa. However, Chicago's website says "study and observation" is a valid reason. So, again, an example of no concrete policy for 'O' issuances. Obviously Houston subscribes to the Chicago way of thinking, according to Dr.PP, even tho' they don't have a definitive website of their own stating such (they defer to LA's website). So, give a shot, and let us know what happens.

Good luck.

Jim Gant

[dr_Pat_Pong]

All I could find for Houston on the web was an address and phone number. So would the correct method to be to download the application from the LA website and then just mail it off to Houston with my passport, or would it be better to call first (i assume if I call, they will just tell me to send it to LA)

!!

Do just that. You will be fine. .