Gay Laos Partner Wants To Stay Long Term With Farang In Thailand

[vanbrit548]

I have a Laos Partner living with me in Thailand (Pattaya). He has a valid Laos Passport and currently does 30 day border runs to maintain his legal status in Thailand. What are his options for longer term visas? I have met a few Laotions who seem to live and work permanently in Thailand and wondered if they are doing so legally under some sort of 'cross border' agreement or somehow hovering 'under the radar'. I am a Farang in Thailand on a Retirement extension. Anybody any experience / thoughts or suggestions? Any other Farang/(Non Thai) Asian couples with similar experiences?

At this point I am not much interested in moving to Laos with him but would be also interested to hear from any Farangs living in Laos with their partner.

[Ijustwannateach]

There are foreign workers of many nations here with various kinds of work permits. The best thing would be to find someone here of this kind and ask how they did it- though it will likely be with an agency of some kind and a bad deal. Plus to keep the visa they have to keep the job.

Sometimes over a long period of time such workers acquire Thai citizenship, but this is expensive and sometimes dodgy.

It may be easier to stay with him in Laos, but be aware that foreigners are monitored very closely and you will have to be registered with local police to stay in his home; he may not even be allowed to stay with you in many of the hotels and guesthouses.

[LeCharivari]

His long term "options" are basically exactly the same as those for any foreign national (foreign or Asian/ASEAN). I know a number of Laotians living in Pattaya, some legally married to farangs, and all either go to Laos for a weekend every 30 days or (in a very few cases) have a work permit.

There are no different "longer term visa" options for members of ASEAN and no simpler ways for them to either get work permits (unless its for a skilled factory job, in a few cases) or to "acquire Thai citizenship" - forged documents used to be readily available, at a price, but now that Thai ID cards and passports are biometric (include a fingerprint scan) they are relatively easy to detect and while overstaying a visa would mean a fine and deportation using forged Thai documents would usually mean a jail sentence (often a couple of years) and being black-listed.

You would probably get more information (based on nationality rather than gender!) in the Thai Visa & Immigration Forums.