webfact Posted March 25, 2013 Share Posted March 25, 2013 Phongthep backs student visas, with longer stay till graduationWannapa KhaopaThe NationHanoi, VietnamBANGKOK: -- Education Minister Phongthep Thepkanjana said he wants to introduce student visas, and that such visas should allow foreign students to remain in Thailand until they graduate, rather than for renewable one-year periods as is the current practice.He said he was trying to get other Southeast Asian countries' education ministers to try to adjust their visa requirements and systems to facilitate students and teachers looking for greater mobility in the region."I want Thailand to be an education hub in this region. Therefore, visa matters shouldn't be too cumbersome and complicated. I want a student visa that allows a student to stay in Thailand until they graduate without having to extend their visa every year, as they do now. I will discuss the issue with relevant government agencies, explaining to them why we want to adjust some visa requirements," he said in an interview with Thai media on the sidelines of the 47th Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organisation (SEAMEO) Council Conference in Hanoi in Vietnam.Phongthep suggested that higher visa fees could be collected for longer periods of stay.He added that visa requirements should be adjusted to make it easier for foreign teachers to work in Thailand, as international and English-language programmes are expanding and need more foreign teachers, he said.Phongthep, who is also the SEAMEO Council vice president, said: "For students in Southeast Asian countries, giving them a chance to study in other countries will help with Asean integration. One of the obstacles [to this] is that visa requirements and visa systems among countries in the region do not accommodate students and teachers, unlike in the US and UK, where they have student visas. The student visas there allow students to stay in those countries as long as they continue their studies, until graduation. But in Thailand, they have to extend their visa every year. So this system could be an obstacle to the mobility of students, especially if they want to study here longer [than one year]."There is only one forum that can help facilitate this stuff - SEAMEO - as it includes all the education ministers from the region. If we share the same view, we can go back to our own countries and try to adjust the existing [visa] systems in order to facilitate the visa requirements of students and teachers," Phongthep said.Apart from the visa issue, he said he would look into host-family and residential programmes to facilitate foreign students.-- The Nation 2013-03-25 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubonjoe Posted March 25, 2013 Share Posted March 25, 2013 (edited) Won't happen unless they change the immigration act. Most allowed is 2 years and if I recall correctly that is only for working. Edited March 25, 2013 by ubonjoe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiniyow Posted March 25, 2013 Share Posted March 25, 2013 How many are actually going to class or is this just another way to get a visa to live here with little money? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob12345 Posted March 25, 2013 Share Posted March 25, 2013 Its good to see they are finally thinking of change, unfortunately they only do it because they want to be able to compete with other ASEAN countries ("I want Thailand to be an education hub in this region"). I wonder how much difference they think it will make for students who consider Thailand. Its not that you decide between studying in Japan or Thailand based on the number of visa trips. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
notmyself Posted March 25, 2013 Share Posted March 25, 2013 Phongthep suggested that higher visa fees could be collected for longer periods of stay.In the end it's all about money and not education. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sushi5734 Posted March 25, 2013 Share Posted March 25, 2013 Education hub?......Really? are they out of their minds?! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samran Posted March 25, 2013 Share Posted March 25, 2013 Feel sorry for the poor fella's reading this thread. I have a feeling that these visa's, if the come about, will probably be good for university education, not Somchai's turn-up-if-you-want Institute of Languages. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samran Posted March 25, 2013 Share Posted March 25, 2013 Phongthep suggested that higher visa fees could be collected for longer periods of stay.In the end it's all about money and not education. Why should this be something to be ashamed of? Australia, NZ, Canada US and UK all fight for the education dollar and have no gumption listing them up there as their key export sectors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
balo Posted March 25, 2013 Share Posted March 25, 2013 Does this mean I can apply for a 10 year student visa , learning Thai..... ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
notmyself Posted March 25, 2013 Share Posted March 25, 2013 Feel sorry for the poor fella's reading this thread. I have a feeling that these visa's, if the come about, will probably be good for university education, not Somchai's turn-up-if-you-want Institute of Languages.Thai education reminds me of a survey on various US news outlets. People who watched Fox News were found to be less informed than people who watched no news at all. Students who don't attend the classes could well get a better finishing grade. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
notmyself Posted March 25, 2013 Share Posted March 25, 2013 Phongthep suggested that higher visa fees could be collected for longer periods of stay.In the end it's all about money and not education. Why should this be something to be ashamed of? Australia, NZ, Canada US and UK all fight for the education dollar and have no gumption listing them up there as their key export sectors. Because it's ONLY about the money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brfsa2 Posted March 25, 2013 Share Posted March 25, 2013 (edited) Does this mean I can apply for a 10 year student visa , learning Thai..... ? NO. The Yearly student visa is a process that requires the university and school to do a lot of paper works. For first application you will do a personal interview with an immigration officer in a room. For the yearly visa renewal, you will still need all the same documents from university or school, official transcripts and grades, but no interview, unless your documents and grades looks shaddy.. after 5-6 years of the visa, they will start being strict, and ask more questions why you take more than 5-6 years to do your degree or studying your thai lessons... so 10 years, don't think so will be easy. Also you need to report every 90 days your address under current 1-year visa regulations. Almost all Universities are able to do it, but not all schools have that ability, specially those thai language schools. those small charge quite a lot more because they should be paying under table money. making it longe will be better, not that it makes that much difference from the yearly, and of course will cost less, instead of 4-5 years paying it, pay once.. Buy what I would love to see is that the Student Visa could include some official Working hours, like UK student visa, it allows students to work 20 or 25 hours a week legally, with all law benefits. Thailand student visa should allow that, because many students do actually work, even at the school itself as TA (teacher assistance), Office work, and internship job... Mostly the chinese, indian and burmese students, all very smart kids, and that helps the cost of living and tuition. This is from personal experience, Computer Engineering at Assumption University.. Edited March 25, 2013 by brfsa2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samran Posted March 25, 2013 Share Posted March 25, 2013 Feel sorry for the poor fella's reading this thread. I have a feeling that these visa's, if the come about, will probably be good for university education, not Somchai's turn-up-if-you-want Institute of Languages.Thai education reminds me of a survey on various US news outlets. People who watched Fox News were found to be less informed than people who watched no news at all. Students who don't attend the classes could well get a better finishing grade. Good for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brfsa2 Posted March 25, 2013 Share Posted March 25, 2013 Education hub?......Really? are they out of their minds?! If assuming they mean Education hub in "Southeast asia", yes, Thailand is good. It has some great Universities for Higher studies specially master and doctor degrees, all in English. Assumption University, Thamasat University, Rangsit University, Ramkhamheang University. They all have higher studies courses in English language. Many students from Burma, china, India, middle east, iran, iraq, Africa, come to study in Thailand. in Assumption University, there are over 10,000 Foreign students in bachelor degrees. and around half in masters are foreigners. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samran Posted March 25, 2013 Share Posted March 25, 2013 ^^ good post. Unfortunately these guys won't get that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
culicine Posted March 25, 2013 Share Posted March 25, 2013 How many are actually going to class or is this just another way to get a visa to live here with little money?it could be possible to adjust the length of the visa to match the degree - 3 years degree is a 3 year visa. The typical Thai language courses are much shorter and could be kept at one year. Having longer visas for foreign teachers would also encourage teachers to work here longer and be less transient. This would add stability for learners. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
belg Posted March 25, 2013 Share Posted March 25, 2013 great idea, and i would like a visa that i don't have to renew after all, as me, there are many expats living here for many years, married, children that are going to school, tax being paid, working or on pension, no ties to home country anymore .......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob12345 Posted March 25, 2013 Share Posted March 25, 2013 The Yearly student visa is a process that requires the university and school to do a lot of paper works. For first application you will do a personal interview with an immigration officer in a room. For the yearly visa renewal, you will still need all the same documents from university or school, official transcripts and grades, but no interview, unless your documents and grades looks shaddy.. This is from personal experience, Computer Engineering at Assumption University.. Different experience here: I request a letter from my university and hand that over at immigration together with the visa request form. After about 20 minutes of processing time I walk out with an ED-visa for a year. No interview, no further paperwork, no questions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lopburi3 Posted March 25, 2013 Share Posted March 25, 2013 Immigration does not issue such visas - you obtain a one year extension of stay from your current stay from immigration - it appears you are talking about a visa issued by a Consulate which only allows 90 day stays without leaving. Entirely different things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BAYBOY Posted March 25, 2013 Share Posted March 25, 2013 Re post 14, Yes the named Universities having courses in English for Masters and Phd's. I know a girl wo has done a Phd from one of these universities and all was taught in English, as was her Masters degree. When we have a conversation about anything I have to use the most basic English so she can understand me. Most of our talks last only several minutes as her grasp of English is so poor and her ability to make conversation is weak. The other question to ask "Is what other country in the world would a Thai Phd be recognized as of being of merit?" Very few South East nation universities feature in the top 500 in the world. Thailand can/ never be a "Hub of Education" until it's total education system is in line with other countries systems. It needs a major overhaul in thinking and application to do this. BAYBOY. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dap Posted March 25, 2013 Share Posted March 25, 2013 Education hub?......Really? are they out of their minds?! Trick question? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khaowong1 Posted March 25, 2013 Share Posted March 25, 2013 How many are actually going to class or is this just another way to get a visa to live here with little money? About 50/50.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
horsewell Posted March 25, 2013 Share Posted March 25, 2013 In Phuket, Prince of Songkla University has an undergraduate 4 year courses in English (General study and Technology). They have requirements for Foreigners to learn "Living Thai" and Thais have to learn English (I would think a considerable amount). It says 85K Baht / semester fixed. Looks pretty good but the web site is full of dead ends, year old info and lack of translations (worry that English and Thai info doesn't match up). However, better than most web sites I've seen for bilingual information. If you were embarking on a 4 year course it would be good to know that at the very least, given attendance and grades, that you would have to right to continue the course to the end. It would be good to allow students to work some while there are studying to. I notice that some of the courses mentioned above had a 300 hour internship requirement which would be impossible to do legally if there visa rules weren't bent for the international student. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mario2008 Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 An internship is considered part of the education and you are allowed to do that. It doesn't require a work permit, but needs to be reported to the proper authorities. Many people for intstance follow a dive master course and do an internship for that at a diving company. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ragamuffin Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 How many are actually going to class or is this just another way to get a visa to live here with little money? I am here for research finishing my M.A. thesis for a German uni right now. I need a visa extension for my ED after 90 days next week and it's a freaking hassle with my Thai uni cause nobody seems to be responsible for issuing documents or letting me know exactly what to do. All despite the fact that everyone knows I'm here under an exchange agreement for the whole term anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mario2008 Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 I am here for research finishing my M.A. thesis for a German uni right now. I need a visa extension for my ED after 90 days next week and it's a freaking hassle with my Thai uni cause nobody seems to be responsible for issuing documents or letting me know exactly what to do. All despite the fact that everyone knows I'm here under an exchange agreement for the whole term anyway. Your situation is a bit different from a studnet that actually follows lessons etc. You get an extension of stay under 2.10 of police order 777/2551. The documents you need to provide are listed in 305/2551, under 2.10 See here: http://www.immigration.go.th/nov2004/doc/temporarystay/policy305-2551_en.pdf Basically a letter from the dean confirming your research and asking for an extension of stay for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ragamuffin Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 Thank you! Where do I get the application form from? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mario2008 Posted March 27, 2013 Share Posted March 27, 2013 You fill it in at immigration or simply download the form from here: http://www.immigration.go.th/nov2004/download/tm7.doc Print the form double sided, not on two seperate pages. - copy passport - passport size photo - 1,900 baht Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ragamuffin Posted March 29, 2013 Share Posted March 29, 2013 Fantastic. Thank you! Where exactly is the office? I was only told to get to Mochit and then take a taxi, no address. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lopburi3 Posted March 29, 2013 Share Posted March 29, 2013 The Govenment Complex Commemorating His Majesty , B Building , Floor 2 (South Zone) Chaengwattana Road (Soi 7) , Laksi , Bangkok 10210 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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