Thai Immigration Crackdown On Ed Visas

[jfchandler]

I know Thai people that have been studying or have studied English for 10 years or more and give the blank look when asked "how's it going" or "how was your day?"

I'd say that above is a good point.. And it's true of course....

If we started judging the Thai education system on the basis of how well their students can respond to spoken English that they've supposedly been taught and studied, there'd be a lot of Thai public schools being shut down....

[ROMANOBA]

As long as they do not allow people who have sufficient funds to live here but are not 50 years old, they will have to ' tolerate' some kind of loophole, like a ED visa....

In ALL asean neighbouring countries this category of people - under 50 - are allowed to stay WITHOUT any problem ( and as long as they do not cause any problem...)

Phjilippines: 2 months tourist visa, EXTENDABLE ALL LIFE!!!!

Cambogia: one year visa without any requirement, 280 usd.

Laos: one year visa without any problem

Maleysia: 3 months visa at any border, extendable without any problem

Singapore: 3 months visa, extendable.

Obviously the reason of the demential visa regulations in Thailand IS NOT the couple of backpapers working here illegally as a teacher ( which by the way is strongly NEEDED, so where is the problem???).

Minority complex towards first-world-countries?.....

About time!

[MacWalen]

If some find learning Thai so hard what about learning Russian?

We have an Russian course that qualifies for ED visa for 3 years, yes, you do have to attend your classes at least twice a week for 2 lessons.

Some may question my fluency in Thai ( I can certainly improve ) but I am a fluent Russian speaker so I can take good care of your Russian learning needs.

Walen School - teaching Russian!

[Misterwhisper]

The answer was yes so the officer looked at a nearby fish tank and said in Thai, 'The big fish eat the little fish." The foreigner looked at him without a clue. The officer smiled and picked up a big red stamp and stamped "CANCELLED" on the remaining portion of the current visa and told the fellow he would not again receive an Education visa," Barry reported.

Hahaha - who said they didn't have a sense of humor?

Lovely! Well, after living in Thailand for 7 years one should be able to understand (and reply to) a simple sentence like the one uttered by the immigration officer - even without having taken Thai courses. How would you react to a Thai (or any other national) having lived in the U.K. for 7 straight years without being able to form a simple sentence in English? Would they have outstayed their welcome?

[FritsSikkink]

Walen is not affected by this or? Do those Skype students need to attend the classrooms now too?

The issue seems to be that the guy was with the guy not being able to speak Thai at a very basic level. Pla yay geen pla lek. So super easy. If you learn online you do actually attend a class, and many students do not learn online because they need visa, this is one of the way we teach. If there is a problem with this kind of visa it will be because people like this.

The moral of the story is learn some Thai, at least at a basic level. It needs to be evident that you go to school and learn. He did not ask him to translate passages from Shakespeare into Thai, did he?

i would think it is gin and not geen

[ronthai]

I know Thai people that have been studying or have studied English for 10 years or more and give the blank look when asked "how's it going" or "how was your day?"

Thats likely for 2 reasons. 1. The quality of the teachers. Lots of english teachers teaching English aren't qualified teachers (just having any degree does not make you suitable to be a teacher, generally).

2. How's it going, is slang and not 'proper text book english'. Second is though, so they should understand that, but then I've heard different things on Younger Thai peoples studying ethics.

It is the same here in the Thai schools (at least mine) I get to learn the official Thai language, but when talking to a Thai (the attempt that is) they have no idea what I am saying. I ask them to translate the English I tried to say and they give a total different sentence, which is the normal spoken Thai (not Isaan). So at school I learn the high class Thai, which is ofr the most part useless (for sentences), but words are still the same of course. It is only my 4th month, so I have a long way to go.

And as mentioned elsewhere those 4 hours a week + homework are easy to do even if you are not interested in learning Thai, but only do it for the Visa, which is what a lot of people do. I actually want to learn, but I see in my class many are not really interested.

Also Thai schools are based on English-Thai, so many students (German, French, Russian, ect. non/not good English speaking farangs have a real problem and drop out.

[sirchai]

About time!

At the Pattaya City Expats Club meeting on Sunday, Immigration Volunteer and former British Consul Barry Kenyan stated the problem with Education visas as he observed it first-hand in the local Immigration office on Jomtien Beach Road, Soi 5.

Some small fish eat big fish.

Immigration volunteer. Another hub of volunteers. I'm helping the Tourist cops for two days, because of an upcoming event. But some guys must have a small fish in their trousers to be the way they are.

Plaa dua lekk ghin dua Jay............:jap:

[atyclb]

# perhaps the education ministry staff want to appear as if they are doing something thus hopefully not get replaced by the new government

# the main overriding reason for most expats to live in pattaya is related to entertainment so having so called ED visa language schools there is self explanatory

# they might wish to apply some thai educational standards to those expats thus they can attend the equivalent of elem, grade, JH, HS, and university and still not know anything

# Ramkamhaeng University is but one uni famous for eternal students

# you might expect an expat thats been living in thailand for 6 years to have picked some basic conversation ability even without studying language

# nobody should be angry or upset with pseudo students, after all they are just doing whatever they can to be able to stay in pattaya, for many of the same reasons others with distinct visas are.

# it should common knowledge to thai authorities why most expats stay in pattaya and also spend money there

# rampant hypocrisy, rampant corruption/cheating everywhere in society. not sure why ED visa stuff is their focus.

[sirchai]

Walen is not affected by this or? Do those Skype students need to attend the classrooms now too?

The issue seems to be that the guy was with the guy not being able to speak Thai at a very basic level. Pla yay geen pla lek. So super easy. If you learn online you do actually attend a class, and many students do not learn online because they need visa, this is one of the way we teach. If there is a problem with this kind of visa it will be because people like this.

The moral of the story is learn some Thai, at least at a basic level. It needs to be evident that you go to school and learn. He did not ask him to translate passages from Shakespeare into Thai, did he?

i would think it is gin and not geen

Ginn, gin, ghin, arrai kodai,....................:jap:

[Gik]

If some find learning Thai so hard what about learning Russian?

We have an Russian course that qualifies for ED visa for 3 years, yes, you do have to attend your classes at least twice a week for 2 lessons.

Some may question my fluency in Thai ( I can certainly improve ) but I am a fluent Russian speaker so I can take good care of your Russian learning needs.

Walen School - teaching Russian!

thai is more hard for english speakers. Polish language is some close to russian. Much more than english.

http://en.wikibooks....nglish_Speakers

[beano2274]

These schools need to have a computerised system which notes absenteeism and reports it to Immigration. Like the system they used in England at schools, your name would be called if you were not there the teacher pushed "Absent", automatically a message would be sent to a Local Government official whose job it was to find you and send you to school.

Also the point of an Education Visa is to study, like someone else said 4 hours is nothing at all.

[MRTELLYOUSTRAIGHT]

If you have bought a condominium here with hard earned honest cash, your in your 40's and purchased whilst in Thailand on a O Visa your not married so have to resort to an education visa to be able to stay long term in your legally purchased condominium and fail a random Thai question by immigration when you have actually been attending you are well and truly fuc_ked.

[atyclb]

I think this is a great opportunity for me to plug my 'Rapid' course...

Okay, so you don't attend many classes and/or you're not learning much Thai. But at least you should be able to demonstrate to the Immigration Officer that you are making progress...!

So here's a relatively painless way of becoming competent in Thai. Start by learning to read. At least you will gradually gain a basic vocabulary from the 'Living Dictionary' that surrounds you.

Then follow an easy, clear book called Everyday Thai for Beginners. (I've created flashcards that will help you to acquire the 1200-word vocabulary easily 10 minutes a day over 4 months.)

See my post advertising my Read Thai in 16 Hours workshop in Chiang Mai and/or visit my website www.learnthaionline.com. If you can't make the workshop then you can follow the course online (for cheaper). There will be other courses in other towns later this year.

I don't offer ED Visas, but my system can complement a conventional 'visa-based' course, allowing you to actually learn some Thai without having to attend conventional classes often or study hard.

My lord, I think I just developed a curiosity of learning to read Thai.

That was very nice flashcards.

With all due respect to you and the approach. For me it is more time consuming, tedious and complex to remember all the imagery and associations used to learna thai character then it is to simply look, listen to native pronunciation, and drill yourself with quizes that are actually fun and practice writing.

In addition I found that learning the english transliteration first "karaoke language" also wastes time. I learned the thai alphabet using 2 programs on cd rom found at many software stores; pantip, fortune, etc in many cities. Price per cd about 100 baht. Also Rosetta Stone is good practice although you must learn the alphabet first with the above software. What I also used that was great and fun were the cd's with animation and music that 1-3 grade students use.

Using this software alone does not get an ED visa, but if you study and focus, will get you an understanding of thai alphabet.

ท english is "tau ta han" "Ta han" means soldier , so tortoise does not really help that much.

บ bau bai mai refers to a "leaf" as in plant or tree.... U boat does not suggest what the character means, only the B sound.

า the vowel sala ahh is pretty sensible as you show it.

[surayu]

Another case of the kettle telling the pot is black....and nobody seems to have understood what the "fish" story was really all about, hylarious to read it here though

[OlafStapleton]

I am always amaze at people who relish others problem.

Buddha has words to say about such behavior.

Thais are also shocked that foreigners hate other foreigner so much.

Easy Visa, marry Thai lady, give 2,000bht a month to lady, she very happy, you not pay any more than ed visa.

She also do laundry and clean for no extra.

[jamora]

Those who just want to be here without doing anything, should not be here!

What, I cannot retire here after working for the last 20-odd years and saving enough money to enjoy my retirement ?

If you have enough money, you can pretty much "retire" when you want and where you want! But if you do not qualify for retirement visa, and do not have enough money to be able to "retire" in other ways, then "No", you cannot retire. It is not just to annoy people that countries (including Thailand) have laws for when you are allowed to retire!

[whybother]

Remnants of Apisit trying to linger around and change immigration policies as long as they possibly can. They're just mad that the lang schools are getting the money and not the immigration dept. Costs for getting visas have gone up tremendously over the past 5 years or so, and immigration is more corrupt than ever.

[krey]

I have a friend that goes to school all the time but he doesn't pick up thai easily. He worries about tests cause he is actually trying to learn but others in his class are clearly better at it, I just wonder if they will shut people down thinking they dont go when actually their learning levels might not be as fast as another.

[Richard4849]

Can you imagine the uproar in the UK if Pakistanis were flowing into the country on fake ED visas, staying forever and not learning a word of English?

Right.

The same people here saying that society has nothing to lose by letting people get visas from schools/visa mills would be screaming the loudest.

[ronthai]

I am always amaze at people who relish others problem.

Buddha has words to say about such behavior.

Thais are also shocked that foreigners hate other foreigner so much.

Easy Visa, marry Thai lady, give 2,000bht a month to lady, she very happy, you not pay any more than ed visa.

She also do laundry and clean for no extra.

khee niauw

[OlafStapleton]

Can you imagine the uproar in the UK if Pakistanis were flowing into the country on fake ED visas, staying forever and not learning a word of English?

If not buy land and not work, nobody care!

[bitterbatter]

What impact would this have on folks attending classes at a distance via online methods, as some schools allow for? Guess as long as they're attending the classes, it doesn't matter the means by which they are attending, no?

I think if you show them that you really are learning thai, and have grades then I don't think I would worry about it.

[bitterbatter]

I am always amaze at people who relish others problem.

Buddha has words to say about such behavior.

Thais are also shocked that foreigners hate other foreigner so much.

Easy Visa, marry Thai lady, give 2,000bht a month to lady, she very happy, you not pay any more than ed visa.

She also do laundry and clean for no extra.

khee niauw

I would rather spend 2000 baht to go to school, learn about real thai culture, and quite possibly meet a good Thai woman! If you want to live in Thailand learning these things is essential to really enjoying this country. Otherwise you end up like all these cranky farang who complain about Thailand because they don't know how to communicate to Thais and

[ToffeEFCpower]

I wonder what the new rule will be for slow learners?

[kriswillems]

If you come to Thailand to study Thai, why would you go to school only 4 times 50 minutes per week? And why should they give you a visa for that? It's a ridiculous small amount of hours. And I know for a fact that most student even don't show up for the 200 minutes per week (you can ask any student that studies in these schools).

The schools that offer the programs of "4 classes" studying per week are just visa businesses (notice they don't even call it hours).

Anyone who really wants to study Thai better avoids those schools. They have zero students passing the P.6 government test, while they have thousands of students entering their courses. The numbers speak for themselves.

I think Thai government needs to rethink the ED-visa: at least 15 hours per week, no online studying (to avoid corruption), singing in and out in a logbook when you enter or leave the classroom, and send all students to the Governments language test (and refuse the visa when there's no improvement).

[jdinasia]

Can you imagine the uproar in the UK if Pakistanis were flowing into the country on fake ED visas, staying forever and not learning a word of English?

Right.

The same people here saying that society has nothing to lose by letting people get visas from schools/visa mills would be screaming the loudest.

Actually the UKBA just changed the rules for students attending private colleges in the UK this year. No more working, no more right to stay in the country and work for 2 more years etc etc .... Why? Because of people using private colleges as a form if immigrating to the UK. The owners of 2 of the private colleges I do some work with both described the new crackdowns on them as "draconian."

[DickFarang]

Will there also be a crackdown on “English teachers”without work-permits in Thai schools ?

[crazyawm]

The big fish eat the little fish

plaa yai kin plaa lek ?

555 =)

may be studen think - wow... why officer say about fish? may be he want eat? and not answer because not take food to immigration office 555 =)

[somtampet]

All you people who are cheering this are absolute scum, you know that? At least people who use ED visa's are trying to do something to stay here legitimately.

Some of you lot forget that we are essentially all here for similar reasons, it's just that not all of us are lucky enough to have a job or be over a certain age so that we can get the visa we need...

You might laugh now while you have your comfortable retirement visa or whatever it is, but one day they'll clamp down on those as well - then perhaps you'll wish you weren't quite so gleeful about the struggles of the rest of us to stay here. Morons. Shameful

Jealousy wont get u anywhere.There was a loophole for scum to come without any effort,so dont start the,i am being victomised shit

[somtampet]

Will there also be a crackdown on “English teachers”without work-permits in Thai schools ?

I hope so,another loophole shut hopefuly