Open Letter To PM Yingluck Re: Updating Laws Affecting Foreigners From Drew Noyes

[sungod]

I don't disagree with some of the content, but how on earth did somebody who writes like Mr Noyes get a 'Bachelor's degree. in Journalism, University of Tennessee'?

http://pattaya-times...lyadej-bhumibol

Man, have you read that sh8t in the link above, this guy Drew Noyes is so far up his own a*s it's unbelievable!

[sparebox2]

What a dreadfully written letter!!! Rewrite and sack the author.

No need to re-write. Yingluck English ability should not make her comprehend the message anyway.

Rather than rewrite, could someone please translate into Thailand official language.

[sungod]

Here is a picture of Drew 'speaking with the PM for a few minutes', that's correct, he's the one in the far left of the photo. She certainly looks captivated with his conversation.

Edited January 10, 2012 by sungod

[sungod]

Talking or stalking the PM?

[TAWP]

Try to do something and you will have all the sexpat up in arms on their barstool to criticize you.

I don't know Mr Drew Noyes and maybe his letter is not perfectly written but at least he tries to do something about a subject that seems to be important to great number of foreigners living in Thailand.

You don't like what he does ? So, what do you suggest ?

I really appreciate the fighting spirit of expats in Hong Kong, China and other parts of Asia. The problem is if Thailand doesn't revise it's immigration policy, Thailand will always be stuck with the whiners and losers and Thailand will have only itself to blame for that.

By lowering the standards we would only encourage more whiners and losers to move here.

[lovelaos]

How about an amendment to allow teacher's wh have been teaching English in Thailand for a few years now, but don't have a piece of paper that says Bachelor's degree on it, but do have lots of experience, in both their teaching and Thai culture, the educational system.. as well as other teaching quals, both gained in UK and here.. but now have to 'ship out' for someone with a bit a paper and whatever experience (if any?)??.. Yes I'm including and talking about myself in all this, at 48 years of age, I've been here 5 years and worked as an English teacher for all but 3 months of that time (including the first 3 months as a volunteer at a large orphanage and school).. I've actually been at the same Government school for over 4 years now.. but WILL NOT get my contract renewed end of March, as my UK (Huddersfield) University qualification says 'Certificate in Education' not 'Bachelor Degree or Masters in Education'!!.. Yes I'm pretty down about it, as I have a decent life here, despite my hardly spectacular 20k baht P.M. salary (couldn't do it back in England!!) and have never had anything but thanks - until now!!! - from my school...

I'm sure there must be many similar farang folks, teaching (but not for much longer!!) under similar circumstances... and I think this insistence on bits of paper rather than 'Can you do the job well' is just b******s!!! Rant over!... all those in agreement (or similarly hassled!) please undersign and pass on...

All the best in the New Year, all, regardless,

LBUK ;-> (:

to add to and clarify my own post.. (too much ranting?!) .. yes I know we were always technically supposed to have degrees but now.. like so many things that suddenly come round here.. it's ENFORCEMENT time.. ie, my school can no longer write up a 'We want this teacher, he's qualified, he's experience etc etc' letter to keep my 'above board, ie with visa and yaerly WP.. now we must show degree to get Thai Culture and Professional Ethics' course, then show the degree (+ TC&PEc!!) and try to get our Teacher's Licenses..

NB: you have a huge 'wedge' coming in already, as per above 'Open letter' then you're sorted!!.. wish those were my 'problems'... :-)

Have you not considered that your current employer may not want to renew your contract because your English is f#**+#g terrible?

[exalll]

This has to be the most idiotic thing ever, I take it the person responsible for this naive idea has just arrived in Thailand as anyone who has spent time here knows quite defiantly that NON Thais are viewed as buffalo dung by any Thai elite or Hi-So

More like an advertising campaign that has also not been thought about........oh and good luck on renewing your work Permit and company registry as you will be well and truly placed on the watch list

Take it from me over 40 years here ...NOTHING will ever change for the good of Foreigners here especially the 4 points raised

Just look how a Thai woman gives up here rights when marrying a non Thai

How does a Thai woman give up her rights by marrying a non Thai.

Give that terryp has been here for 40 years, it is possible he is talking about times gone by. Certainly when I married my Thai wife 21+ years ago, it was the case that, had we registered the marriage with the Thai authorities, she would have forfeited the right to own land/property and to vote. So we didn't. I understand that the law has changed since then.

Edited January 10, 2012 by exalll

[nong38]

You could have been more brief with the words and the subjects, maybe be just gone for a couple of things. Where you highlight non thais having an advantage might be addressed but not to a non thais advantage, not a good move.

good luck in spite of my misgivings. Do get it proof read next time.

[theblether]

Was this letter actually sent? Or is it just a wish list to cause debate on Thaivisa?.

[cutter007]

I fear that this letter will go straight to the grey file.

Thats pretty optimistic that you think they will put it in a file.

[gleeglee]

How about an amendment to allow teacher's wh have been teaching English in Thailand for a few years now, but don't have a piece of paper that says Bachelor's degree on it, but do have lots of experience, in both their teaching and Thai culture, the educational system.. as well as other teaching quals, both gained in UK and here.. but now have to 'ship out' for someone with a bit a paper and whatever experience (if any?)??.. Yes I'm including and talking about myself in all this, at 48 years of age, I've been here 5 years and worked as an English teacher for all but 3 months of that time (including the first 3 months as a volunteer at a large orphanage and school).. I've actually been at the same Government school for over 4 years now.. but WILL NOT get my contract renewed end of March, as my UK (Huddersfield) University qualification says 'Certificate in Education' not 'Bachelor Degree or Masters in Education'!!.. Yes I'm pretty down about it, as I have a decent life here, despite my hardly spectacular 20k baht P.M. salary (couldn't do it back in England!!) and have never had anything but thanks - until now!!! - from my school...

I'm sure there must be many similar farang folks, teaching (but not for much longer!!) under similar circumstances... and I think this insistence on bits of paper rather than 'Can you do the job well' is just b******s!!! Rant over!... all those in agreement (or similarly hassled!) please undersign and pass on...

All the best in the New Year, all, regardless,

LBUK ;-> (:

to add to and clarify my own post.. (too much ranting?!) .. yes I know we were always technically supposed to have degrees but now.. like so many things that suddenly come round here.. it's ENFORCEMENT time.. ie, my school can no longer write up a 'We want this teacher, he's qualified, he's experience etc etc' letter to keep my 'above board, ie with visa and yaerly WP.. now we must show degree to get Thai Culture and Professional Ethics' course, then show the degree (+ TC&PEc!!) and try to get our Teacher's Licenses..

NB: you have a huge 'wedge' coming in already, as per above 'Open letter' then you're sorted!!.. wish those were my 'problems'... :-)

Have you not considered that your current employer may not want to renew your contract because your English is f#**+#g terrible?

Have you also thought that you are not qualified to teach English.

[eastlight]

Ms. Yingluck, please listen to Khun Drew; your brother did and it helped Thailand emerge from the '97 Asian financial cataclysm.

+ 1. Bwahahahahahaha.

Why would anybody actually want to marry a Thai woman - why is it necessary?

[ratcatcher]

Ms. Yingluck, please listen to Khun Drew; your brother did and it helped Thailand emerge from the '97 Asian financial cataclysm.

+ 1. Bwahahahahahaha.

Why would anybody actually want to marry a Thai woman - why is it necessary?

For the same reason men marry farang women?

[letitbe]

What a load of nonsense I for one totally oppose any relaxation of laws relating to foreigners owning property here. If your married to a Thai it is more than reasonable to expect you to have a mere 400,000 baht in a bank to show you are not a pauper and im sorry to say that any foreigner who comes here marries a Thai and has a family by that wife is acting totally irresponsibly by starting such a family without proper financial support for that family and 400,000 baht a year is hardly even providing any real support. I would however think if your married to a thai who has funds then their should be no problem she can simply give you the 400,000 baht. If she cant and you dont have it your both acting totally irresponsibly. I have properly provided for my Thai wife and our 2 children to the extent that she now has around 40 million baht in her own name and right and while out of pure choice I have less than half of that if our marriage of over 16 years now is not baed on proper love then it is far better I am thrown out of the country than exist in a poor country on a pittance.

i sorta understand and agree with what you are saying, but would it be so wrong to proofread what you post on a public forum? lol

ya 400k is nothing. especially to a Thai wife that likes to shop. i make around 250k baht a month and bring 70% of it into Thailand for spending. every month, most or all of it is gone. we pay our bills, pay our house staff, fuel, food, clothing, diapers, and whatever is left we dump into home improvements.

i have a bunch of farang friends that live off a teacher's salary of 25-35k a month. to me, what is the point of living at such a low level? its better to be poor in a foreign country than your own?

Isn't the cost of living at least much more affordable in Thailand. Especially away from BKK and in some other medium-sized city at least? I read a recent article that one can retire in Chiang Mai very comfortably for just US$1100/month...

Not really in my experience if you have a family and live a western lifestyle its almost as expensive here as in UK and probably more expensive than USA. Here you need to pay school fees and medical which are free in UK and also in Uk you get a lot of support from government for children and rest and if like me your older free bus and rest. Also although my UK pension is minimal since I did not pay enough in (no complaint my choice) but it was frozen 10 years ago and now is almost hardly worth collecting. If I moved myself and wife 2 children to UK wed probably live more cheaply but luckily we have enough to live here. I have around 2 million baht set aside for medical which is my most pressing concern and I just hope that will be enough. weve also set aside around 5 million baht to complete our children's education but again that might not be enough with 2 kids hopefully going to university.

[Arkady]

[Quoting the OP] 4) Foreigners under 50 years of age who are still working outside of Thailand, but want to be based in Thailand and qualified for a stable visa by investing 3 million baht or more buying property, or investing in Thai stocks or depositing into Thai bank savings accounts formerly received a yearly, renewable non-immigrant visa, but now they no longer qualify for an investor's visa under current visa regulations.

[Responding to the OP] Under the 1979 Immigration Act foreigners are entitled to an investment category visa in accordance with ministerial regulations which currently require 10 million baht in bank deposits or governement bonds. The amount of 10 million baht has not been increased for about 20 years. However, as a temporary measure to help boost the property sector after the 1997 financial crisis the amount was dropped for a few years to 3 million baht and investment in condos qualified. Since the temporary waiver was not renewed once the property sector had recovered, the amount reverted to 10 million baht. What is the problem here? It seems to be another complaint shot from the hip without bothering to read up relevant laws and regulations.

Arkady, thanks for the thoughtful and clearly written post above...

Just curious, what happened to those folks who got the investment visa during the years when the required amount was reduced to 3 million baht? Were they grandfathered in at 3 million even when the requirement reverted to 10 million. Or did they suddenly find themselves either out of a visa or having to pony up another 7 million?

The one thing visa and investments requirements ought to have is some reliability and predictability. For example, as I understand it, when they raised the annual income amounts required for retirement extensions some years back, they grandfathered in people who had arrived in country by a certain point in time under the prior amounts.

Apart from the author of the OP letter and all that surrounds him and his motivations, I can see a reasonable argument being made that farang/foreigners here who have invested in businesses and/or housing/condos ought to be entitled to some credit for that in terms of meeting Immigration's financial requirements. And I have neither a business nor own property, so I'm not saying that out of any personal interest, just a sense of fairness and equity.

Those who had the 3 million baht investment visas were certainly grandfathered in when the waiver expired initially. I don't know if the grandfathering still continues, as it was made clear at the time it was only a temporary measure. I don't think condo investment still qualifies even if the 3 million is grandfathered. On the other hand, retirees on retirement visas continuously since before the "show" requirement was increased (in I think 1998) are still grandfathered in at 200,000 baht, vs today's 800,000 baht.

I agree with you that more flexibility on the types of investments required would be a good idea, although I don't think 3 million is really a lot of investment for visa purposes and think 10 million is appropriate. They seem to want to play safe with only bank deposits and govt bonds, as they must be paranoid that people will fake investments to get a visa and/or think it's too much trouble to verify the investments or how long they are held. The BoI used to have permanent residence schemes based on investment in BoI promoted companies or Bank of Thailand bonds but the BoT refused to issue the bonds and I think the BoI investments didn't work out either. So no one ever got approved. Thaksin's attempt to attract billionaires through the Elite Card was also a dismal failure, as was the scheme to attract investment through allowing foreigners to own a rai of residential land, if they invest 40 million baht in government approved investments (excluding the land). The Interior MInistry made sure that this waiver would be unworkable and to my knowledge no one have ever been able to do it. So much for transparency. I don't expect much to change and open letters penned by spectacularly ignorant people like Mr Noyes, purporting to represent the foreign community are not going to help.

[sbk]

Off topic posts removed, last I looked this thread was about what foreigners want in Thailand...

I think it would be interesting to hear what reasonable things foreigners want rather than attack other people or just complaints.

[bigbamboo]

Here is a picture of Drew 'speaking with the PM for a few minutes', that's correct, he's the one in the far left of the photo. She certainly looks captivated with his conversation.

How curious he's the only one looking at the camera. Now that's what I call a real photo-op!

[flyingsporran]

Was this letter actually sent? Or is it just a wish list to cause debate on Thaivisa?.

And does it all really matter? Its taken a few minutes to trawel through this thread. Glad to see a few people have cottoned on. Be careful out there, especially of lawyers and property guys - always check them out first.

[george]

Thanks all for the input so far. This thread has gone way off topic, so we close it for now.

Cheers