Immigration clarifies Phuket visa run 'crackdown'

[MacWalen]

Learn Thai or English and get an ED visa with Walen School. No more visa runs. We have thousands of happy customers. We can help you too.

...how much will Walen School charge me for the thai lessons and the ED Visa?

Walen School will charge you 24,960 Baht. We are not the cheapest but you will get the very best service this money can buy. We have thousands of fully satisfied students.

[MacWalen]

The ED loophole is bound to be closed off some day. How long can it realistically take to learn a language, maybe 2 years? Everybody depending on this type of visa should plan ahead expecting the screws to tighten, and try to find a more durable solution.

It is not a loophole. There are many genuine students and the ED visa provision for language learners could be good for many many years.

[NamKangMan]

Education, work, business, volunteering, retirement, marriage, parenthood, tourism... nope not enough. Can just show up and get 30 days without any visa? No, not good enough. We want to LIVE here!

Well okay, will you work? no. Study? no! Business? No! Are you married? no! A Parent? No! Volunteer? No! Any sort of right at all to just come and live here? No! We're White Westerners, we can do what we want in any country we choose to grace with our presence.

How dare they stop these people from abusing a system designed for tourists.

I'm quite sure you would feel differently if you were under 50 years of age, single, and self funded.

[stevenl]

Education, work, business, volunteering, retirement, marriage, parenthood, tourism... nope not enough. Can just show up and get 30 days without any visa? No, not good enough. We want to LIVE here!

Well okay, will you work? no. Study? no! Business? No! Are you married? no! A Parent? No! Volunteer? No! Any sort of right at all to just come and live here? No! We're White Westerners, we can do what we want in any country we choose to grace with our presence.

How dare they stop these people from abusing a system designed for tourists.

I'm quite sure you would feel differently if you were under 50 years of age, single, and self funded.

Yjay would be speaking for own interest then in stead of a general discussion.

[Pralaad]

Learn Thai or English and get an ED visa with Walen School. No more visa runs. We have thousands of happy customers. We can help you too.

It seems the authorities want to rid parts of LOS from foreign riff raff that are making problems and you are advertising a fix for the folk WE want to get rid of......

Well said Mr Trans. It will be fun at Immigration offices when the officers start to test those supposedly on Ed visas for learning Thai.....

No need to panic, Walen guarantees results or your money back.

[Mister Fixit]

Even Amazon pay tax in the country their business is registered in!

Bwahahahahaha!! Amazon pay taxes?

You should read Private Eye a bit more often - Amazon are worse than Vodafone for tax evasion ....

[KarenBravo]

Avoidance. Tax avoidance.

[NamKangMan]

Considering it's only a 20,000 baht fine for an overstay - I suppose that's going to look like a real option to many.

[fatdrunkandstupid]

I predict that the 20K fine will be increased dramatically in the next few months. Especially for those on a G7 passport.

[stevenl]

Apparently it is going much further, see this link.

An increase in the overstay fines has alrewady been announced FDS, so that is a very easy bet.

[impulse]

Considering it's only a 20,000 baht fine for an overstay - I suppose that's going to look like a real option to many.

It's not the 20K baht fine that's worrying. It's the probability that they'll change the overstay penalty to include blacklisting in perpetuity.

And won't that be a kick in the nuts to the guys whose "long stay plan" is to pay 20K every once in awhile, then come back the next week.

[NotMyUsualid]

I like the sun and the sea, that's why I'm here.

I work overseas, and choose to spend my free time (and money) here in Phuket.

But I'm tired of being phucked about with - 15 days here, 30 days there.

I'm off to try another hot country...

Good bye LOS...

I suggest others follow, and let the Thai's work out how much money they have then....

[tropo]

i see a sharp increase in the future of even more fraudelent ED schools popping up

No doubt a very good business to be in right now.

[NamKangMan]

i see a sharp increase in the future of even more fraudelent ED schools popping up

I see a sharp increase in the future of "lost" passports.

[transam]

i see a sharp increase in the future of even more fraudelent ED schools popping up

No doubt a very good business to be in right now.

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeell, lets see if fingers in pies close that one down................

For the life of me I cannot understand how an English guy can come to LOS to learn SPANISH and be fixed up with a one year visa.

If I am wrong in thought, point it out.

[uptheos]

i see a sharp increase in the future of even more fraudelent ED schools popping up

No doubt a very good business to be in right now.

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeell, lets see if fingers in pies close that one down................

For the life of me I cannot understand how an English guy can come to LOS to learn SPANISH and be fixed up with a one year visa.

If I am wrong in thought, point it out.

You can go to Oxford or Cambridge to study languages, doesn't have to be English.

[tropo]

i see a sharp increase in the future of even more fraudelent ED schools popping up

No doubt a very good business to be in right now.

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeell, lets see if fingers in pies close that one down................

For the life of me I cannot understand how an English guy can come to LOS to learn SPANISH and be fixed up with a one year visa.

If I am wrong in thought, point it out.

I don't see any problem with it as long as people actually go to class. It's a mutual benefit arrangement. If Immigration ever get tough on this one, it'll just be to make sure students are going to class and learning something.

[transam]

i see a sharp increase in the future of even more fraudelent ED schools popping up

No doubt a very good business to be in right now.

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeell, lets see if fingers in pies close that one down................

For the life of me I cannot understand how an English guy can come to LOS to learn SPANISH and be fixed up with a one year visa.

If I am wrong in thought, point it out.

You can go to Oxford or Cambridge to study languages, doesn't have to be English.

Good point............

But, a Uni is a bit different to finding a bird to do the job here. Great for Spanish or did a bit of Spanish in farangland for folk to come to LOS for a year though........

[DrTuner]

i see a sharp increase in the future of even more fraudelent ED schools popping up

No doubt a very good business to be in right now.

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeell, lets see if fingers in pies close that one down................

For the life of me I cannot understand how an English guy can come to LOS to learn SPANISH and be fixed up with a one year visa.

If I am wrong in thought, point it out.

I reckon you can be English and get an ED for learning English as long as the school is kosher with the bureaucrats. All they care about is their sacred rules, with the occasional poor soul they decide to torture in between. Zero to do with common sense.

[hawker9000]

Apparently it is going much further, see this link.

An increase in the overstay fines has alrewady been announced FDS, so that is a very easy bet.

Silly me. And I thought the link was actually going to go to some discussion or information about increased overstay fines...

[george]

An increase in the overstay fines has alrewady been announced FDS, so that is a very easy bet.

Source, please?

[stevenl]

An increase in the overstay fines has alrewady been announced FDS, so that is a very easy bet.

Source, please?

Just something I recall reading recently, I presume on TV. Since you don't recall it it could have been another change regarding the overstay fines.

[Somtamnication]

Well, my Korean clients are in a huge panicky state. They get 90 days automatically at land borders, and we all know they work legally . Even Korean kids going to schools here do the 90 visa run (no idea why when they can get an ed visa).

Never seen so many gimchi tears in my life!!!

[falkan]

An increase in the overstay fines has alrewady been announced FDS, so that is a very easy bet.

Source, please?

Just something I recall reading recently, I presume on TV. Since you don't recall it it could have been another change regarding the overstay fines.

don't post bullshit like this if don't have any source, it can effect a lot of peoples life right now..

[stevenl]

An increase in the overstay fines has alrewady been announced FDS, so that is a very easy bet.

Source, please?

Just something I recall reading recently, I presume on TV. Since you don't recall it it could have been another change regarding the overstay fines.

don't post bullshit like this if don't have any source, it can effect a lot of peoples life right now..

To be honest, I would not mind at all if an increase in overstay fines would impact people. Making ones life dependent on the height of these fins is a really, really bad idea.

[zaZa9]

This is the twenty first century. Many people are now making their living on the internet, making their money from other countries and living in Thailand spending their money. These people have no legal means of living in Thailand. Even if they are on a non immigrant O visa, they are still breaking the law, because they don't have a work permit. Thailand should welcome these people. They are not taking jobs from Thais. Most of them make a lot of money and thus spend a lot of money in Thailand helping the economy. Quite a few live in rural areas where their contribution to the economy is well appreciated. Thailand should change their immigration procedures welcoming these people. They should issue work permits for working on the internet and issue non immigrant B visas for this purpose. If the individuals can show proof that they have brought an appropriate amount of money into the country they should get an extension of stay visa. Thailand should also offer an extension of stay visa for the purpose of retirement to any age level if they meet the financial requirements. Many people are inheriting large sums of money from their parents and are retiring early. These people want to live in warm country and many choose Thailand, but have no way of getting a legal visa.

Sent from my i-mobile IQ 6 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

I wonder if they realize how stupendously stupid they sound. 'recent rash of foreign criminals'. 'ATM skimmers'. If/when they exist, it's usually working in concert with local Thai. Foreign criminals who are actively commiting crimes such as these make up about .000001% of the foreigners here. And same with the ones that are doing visa runs.

I'm also very sure Ranong has no problem with the business brought in by visa runners. Long stayers or otherwise.

I would have thought atm skimmers would prefer to fly in , hit targets , and fly out , not spend month after month here and bussing it to borders and back again all the while risking an identification.

However , I do agree that 'visa running' is against the spirit of the 30 day 'no visa' law that is designed to allow in Real Tourists for a holiday with a minimum of beauracratic interference or fuss.

The 'clarifications' above sounds as reasonable as any in the world.

" 2 or 3 '30 day no visa visits' are ok , but more than that and we are going to start asking questions and leave any decisions to the discretion of the Immigration officer on duty ...."

[Josh88]

That's comparing apples and oranges. The tourist isn't working here and isn't using nearly the infrastructure in their 2 weeks holiday as a resident does while living here. That tourist has also paid entrance and exit taxes at the airport for their vacation, not to mention the foreigner prices at national parks etc.

Of course the tourist is a benefit to the economy, but if you live and work in a country, internet or not, you pay taxes.

I agree there should be an easy to obtain, single operator internet work permit allowing you to be legal and get a work permit. I also agree with those saying young wealthy people should be able to get retirement visas. But I have to ask, do you pay taxes to any country?

I would say the use the infrastructure more on a daily basis over the length of their stay. I understand that generally speaking they spend more per day than residents, but there's no shortage of cheap backpackers in Thailand who barely spend anything, I'm easily contributing more to the economy than them.

I do pay taxes to the US, even though I'm rarely there and essentially getting nothing more than citizenship for my money. I'm also a British citizen, I travel there frequently and use their infrastructure, yet I've never paid a penny in taxes to the UK.

On a semi-related note, I also know a Thai woman who I worked with when I first came to Thailand who is the widow of a British man. She visits the UK one month out of the year, yet has a flat in Hampton paid for 100% each month by the government. Can you imagine a white person in Thailand ever being afforded that luxury?

Anyway, my point is that I would gladly the taxes here, in the country that I'm actually living in, if the government wished to make it a reasonable option for people in my situation. There's nothing tying me down to Thailand right now, and if they wish to make it impossible for us to live here then I'll simply move to a neighboring country with less restrictions. The government is essentially operating a business, and they will lose money to others in SEA if they wish to continue with this increasingly restrictive approach.

I also do have a one year business visa, which I'm renewing next month. This whole 'visa crackdown' doesn't really affect me, I would just prefer to live and work here legitimately.

[KarenBravo]

Don't worry. The crack-down will end and all will go back as it was before when the Visa-run company employees block the road to the airport to complain about their right to "make money to support their families" and the respective government agency must do something.

[N47HAN]

I read over the increase in overstay fines recently too , possibly on the site with no name . If i remeber correctly the daily rate wasn't changing just the limit cap was being revised.

Sent from my GT-N7100 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[Neeranam]

The ED loophole is bound to be closed off some day. How long can it realistically take to learn a language, maybe 2 years? Everybody depending on this type of visa should plan ahead expecting the screws to tighten, and try to find a more durable solution.

It is not a loophole. There are many genuine students and the ED visa provision for language learners could be good for many many years.

Come on McWalen, don't treat as all as idiots. It is a loophole for the MAJORITY.

Do you ever refuse anyone if they don't bother to turn up for classes?