Metapod, on 04 Mar 2014 - 12:45, said:

BradinAsia, on 04 Mar 2014 - 12:16, said:

Metapod, on 01 Mar 2014 - 15:23, said:

I'm conflicted on the issue.

On one hand, I agree that people gaming the system hurts genuine students who wish to study.

On the other, there is a severe predicament for many people who are not of retirement age, nor work for a company inside Thaland. The labour laws are antiquated and many 'fake students' would love nothing more than to have a legitimate visa and pay taxes to Thailand.

I think advocating illegal activities (e.g., violating Thai immigration law) is a violation of TV forum rules, is it not?

Where did I advocate illegal activities? Jeez. You guys are not the brightest bunch.

Metapod, I had to ask myself the same question, I fail to see anywhere in your comment the advocates illegal activity. Some people who post on here really are "strange," they seem to read things that just aren't there.

I and husband (both Finnish nationals) fall into the category under 50 years and not working here. We are on a three-year sabbatical leave and are not interested in learning the language at this point. Instead we are now, after a couple of decades of hard working (including studying while working) and neglecting our well-being, putting our efforts in plenty of exercise, healthy eating, loosing weight, making new friends and just enjoying the days go by without any particular schedules.

We chose not to abuse the ED visa system and therefore need to travel every 3 months to obtain visa from outside Thailand. As only 3 consecutive (back-to-back) visas seem to be allowed, we need to stay a few months back at our home country, too. Finland of course to our disadvantage has the strictest policy and gives out only single entry tourist visas regardless of how many flight tickets in and out of Thailand and back to Finland you may have.

I must admit that this traveling and the uncertainty of getting a new tourist visa is getting somewhat tiring, not to mention money consuming. Sometimes we do contemplate in getting the ED visa and putting minimum or no hours at all in actually learning the language. I wish there was a system allowing people in our kind of situation to legally buy a longer term visa (other than the "elite/investment visa"). I think there is already and will be an increasing demand for this as people especially in the West are taking longer breaks from their jobs before the actual retirement years.

I have removed 4 replies that were just bickering between 2 posters. No more please.

I and husband (both Finnish nationals) fall into the category under 50 years and not working here. We are on a three-year sabbatical leave and are not interested in learning the language at this point. Instead we are now, after a couple of decades of hard working (including studying while working) and neglecting our well-being, putting our efforts in plenty of exercise, healthy eating, loosing weight, making new friends and just enjoying the days go by without any particular schedules.

We chose not to abuse the ED visa system and therefore need to travel every 3 months to obtain visa from outside Thailand. As only 3 consecutive (back-to-back) visas seem to be allowed, we need to stay a few months back at our home country, too. Finland of course to our disadvantage has the strictest policy and gives out only single entry tourist visas regardless of how many flight tickets in and out of Thailand and back to Finland you may have.

I must admit that this traveling and the uncertainty of getting a new tourist visa is getting somewhat tiring, not to mention money consuming. Sometimes we do contemplate in getting the ED visa and putting minimum or no hours at all in actually learning the language. I wish there was a system allowing people in our kind of situation to legally buy a longer term visa (other than the "elite/investment visa"). I think there is already and will be an increasing demand for this as people especially in the West are taking longer breaks from their jobs before the actual retirement years.

Most schools only require 4 hours of classes a week and that can be done in one day. It is also possible to do them by Skype..

Not the cheapest language school that offers ED visa, just visa, don't want to attend classes but it'll do for now....

Edited March 13, 201412 yr by changbeer

I and husband (both Finnish nationals) fall into the category under 50 years and not working here. We are on a three-year sabbatical leave and are not interested in learning the language at this point. Instead we are now, after a couple of decades of hard working (including studying while working) and neglecting our well-being, putting our efforts in plenty of exercise, healthy eating, loosing weight, making new friends and just enjoying the days go by without any particular schedules.

We chose not to abuse the ED visa system and therefore need to travel every 3 months to obtain visa from outside Thailand. As only 3 consecutive (back-to-back) visas seem to be allowed, we need to stay a few months back at our home country, too. Finland of course to our disadvantage has the strictest policy and gives out only single entry tourist visas regardless of how many flight tickets in and out of Thailand and back to Finland you may have.

I must admit that this traveling and the uncertainty of getting a new tourist visa is getting somewhat tiring, not to mention money consuming. Sometimes we do contemplate in getting the ED visa and putting minimum or no hours at all in actually learning the language. I wish there was a system allowing people in our kind of situation to legally buy a longer term visa (other than the "elite/investment visa"). I think there is already and will be an increasing demand for this as people especially in the West are taking longer breaks from their jobs before the actual retirement years.

Most schools only require 4 hours of classes a week and that can be done in one day. It is also possible to do them by Skype..

I would love to know where I can get skype lessons. I'm in Pak Chong and would have to do a 1 hour trip to Korat and back each time, so this would be great for me. I have a genuine need to learn the language fwiw

Click on Walens's advert on this page for info.