Benefits Of An Education Visa For One Year Stay?

[anathan]

My current tourist visa extension expires in September, and I'm looking for a way to stay in Thailand for about a year more. I have two options:

1. Go to Laos and get a double-entry tourist visa. Do an extension, a border run, and then another extension. After six months, repeat the process.

2. Pay a school for the Ed visa paperwork. Go to Laos and get the visa. Extend it three times in Bangkok.

I understand the obvious benefit of the Ed visa -- having to leave the country only once. As I calculate it, though, it seems like it will cost at least 20,000 Baht more over the long term than just getting the two tourist visas.

Am I wrong about that? Are there other benefits of the Ed visa that justify the extra expense?

[Mario2008]

An Ed visa is only for 90 days, after which you have to extend it for another 90 days with paperwork from the school for 1,900 baht. (Unless you go and study at an university, than you get 1 year extensions).

Benefit is that you are sure you can stay for 1 year, a long as you continue your study.

A double entry tourist visa and a repeat of that is much cheaper. But rules can change, that is the risk you take. In future you might not get a double entry visa, etc.

[lopburi3]

Actually the real benefit is that you have motivation and opportunity to actually study. And that can be very helpful for most people.

[Tod Daniels]

Well the first and most obvious benefit of an education visa is most likely the errr , education, (hence the catchy name) .

At least you're studying some subject or other; even if it's only for the government minimum of 4 hours a week.

Seeing as most foreigners study thai under this sort of visa, I don't see any down side to actually being able to communicate with thais in THAI either, do you?

Factor in that you can study thai (or any language) for at least 3-5 years on an ED visa without leaving the country. Although I don't know anyone whos studied at a school that long, if you believe what the schools are saying, it seems possible.

That gives a person quite the uninterrupted stay here in the glorious "Land 'O Thais" versus a double entry tourist visa, two 30 day in-country extensions, and then running for a thai embassy/consulate again to start over.

Plus you're not here as a 'perpetual tourist'. .. That's not saying the people who are on ED visas aren't tourists, just they hold a different visa than your typical 'runner' does.

Dunno if you could get a thai driver's license on a tourist visa or not, but doubt it. Open a bank account on a tourist visa, maybe, but again doubtful. An ED visa can open those avenues for a person with little if any problem. Those are advantageous things to have here. A thai D/L means never carrying your passport, and well a bank account here is self explanatory.

FWIW: Although I posted this on another thread Ill put it here too.

In thailand an education visa has a rather broad interpretation of what constitutes education. I know foreigners living here studying; English, Thai, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, (and just about any other language as long as it's NOT your native language ). I also know people here studying scuba diving, buddhism, muay-thai fighting, and even one person going to culinary school to learn to cook thai food.

All of them are currently here on ED visas. Youre not limited to studying the thai language, only that you hafta get some type of education. As long as where ever you go is registered/licensed by the Ministry of Education youll get paperwork from them to secure your first visa and your subsequent extensions of stay at 1900baht every 90 days.

I think there are more benefits than detriments once everything is factored in.

Is it more costly to go the ED visa route than to be a 'runner'?

Possibly in terms of cash up front, as you pay your yearly tuition FIRST, and currently that's about 25000baht for a year's study at most of the well known private thai schools.

But how much does the average 'runner' spend on travel outta the country, hotels, food, etc to get two double entry tourist visas a year? It adds up, even if you're a budget traveler. Plus your time, effort slogging outta the country, securing the visas, worrying about if this time they'll say you have too many tourist visas and will be 'red stamped'. All of that hasta be factored in versus the ED visa route.

Going the ED visa route you get something for that money besides the ability to stay here without much hassle, and that's got worth any way you slice it.

Edited August 24, 2010 by tod-daniels

[jazzbo]

For just one year or so and without any overwhelming pre-existing yearning to learn Thai language?? IMHO buy yourself a dictionary and maybe one of those nifty online Thai language programs and have a good time traveling to VNE PDR Lao -- great French food.

[richard10365]

I'm studying International Business Management at Payap University in Chiang Mai. My benefit will be a bachelors degree when I finish. With that, it will be easier to get a job in Thailand. Not sure if I want to teach though. But it might be a good experience.

I just got my extension for my visa. Our visa rep at Payap is very good. I walked into his office and told him my visa extension is about to expire again. He gave me a list of things he wanted me to get such as copy of visa, photo, copy every page in the passport, grades, and student ID card. I gave him what he wanted and he told me to come back Monday and he handed me a packet and said go to immigration first thing in the morning.

Immigration said take a number and come back at 1pm. So I left and went back to work. I came back about 1:45 p.m. and waited for about 10 min. It took about 30 min to finish my extension and I went back to Payap. The cost was 1900 baht.