I spoke with the owner of a prominent language school a few days ago.

Time to call BS. There is no such school in Thailand.

I am not too sure about that.

My documents from my language school have 5 days a week from 9-11am crossed on them which looks like the time I will have to attend school 5 days a week.

a bit much

If you are a student 2 hours a day isn't much.

I spoke with the owner of a prominent language school a few days ago.

Time to call BS. There is no such school in Thailand.

I am not too sure about that.

My documents from my language school have 5 days a week from 9-11am crossed on them which looks like the time I will have to attend school 5 days a week.

I wasn't talking about the possible new requirement. I was just having a go at the poster not willing to post what school he supposedly heard it from and referring to the school as "Prominent".

Some schools have different rules to others. Go to Walen, ask for Mac in person, he will sort you out

Has nothing to do with the schools or your beloved McWalen.

It is a requirement of the MOE to issue the enrolment documentation for a ED visa.

All students will have to sign a declaration that they will attend 5 days a week.

And then immigration can show up for a raid on ANY day Monday to Friday, and then if you are not in school, you can have your visa cancelled, or your next extension will not be approved.

And what about schools who offer skype lessons ??

You don't need a visa then, can do it from your home country.

I do feel sorry for those that now have to leave. The party is over. As for old farts left behind..... A good deal of us are law abiding folk who have invested heavily in this country. I pray things in time will allow us to be respected as law abiding contributors to our local communities and not be tagged as beach bum pot head scumbags

Great news. All those working illegally on ED visas…..good riddance.

I agree that this is a good thing to get you speaking thai, I always went to lessons last time I was on ED visa and 2 hours a week really was not enough.

One thing I dont understand though is that my new ED visa is 150 hours and that means that my course wil be over in less than 4 months... the language school told me the course is 15 months long

10 hours a week is only 15 weeks - so then what? and how about all the public holidays?

Either you go home or you buy more hours.

Great news. All those working illegally on ED visas…..good riddance.

I've got news for you. Nothing has happened yet. Hold the bile for now.

This country will soon very lonely for the few foreigners with work permit. Maybe they can make friendship with the old retirement farts who mainly complain about everything.

Wish I was your age again......15..........Fond memories..............

I think the retirement VISA/extensions will be gone too.

(or the money in the bank will be very high 2M or 3M)

Great news. All those working illegally on ED visas…..good riddance.

I dont now whats going wrong with you. Do you really think here are much farangs working in Thailand illegaly? I don't know where you are from, but in my country you would get more social welfare for doing nothing than any normal job you can do in Thailand.

The people not working illegally - they just want to stay here before they are grandpas. For under 50 Years old the ways are very limited. I'm sure Thailand will miss the cash soon this group brought into the country over years - now they are going spent it elsewhere in asia.

PS: I hope they cancel the retirement visa soon. I think the above 50s use their retirement visa just for working illegally in Thailand.

It is actually a good news.

Thousands of "students" will now have a chance to really learn Thai, speak Thai, understand Thai, ... which in turn will make thousands of farangs better understand the Thai society and be happier in this country

2hrs, 5 days a week (with a good teacher)... Maximum two years and the ED visa holders will be fluent.

Of course, there is a big problem for the fake students abusing the system...

Sent from my HTC One using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

This country will soon very lonely for the few foreigners with work permit. Maybe they can make friendship with the old retirement farts who mainly complain about everything.

Wish I was your age again......15..........Fond memories..............

I think the retirement VISA/extensions will be gone too.

(or the money in the bank will be very high 2M or 3M)

Please give me a timeline for these predictions. I could tell you that global warming will end life on earth - without a timeline, it's meaningless.

I think the retirement VISA/extensions will be gone too.

(or the money in the bank will be very high 2M or 3M)

Do you think that or do you want that?

I do agree nobody in any visa class should be feeling TOO comfortable. Any change for any visa class is always possible. Of course permanent residents will be feeling secure as well they should. However, just as a curious oddity, in Colombia recently expats on "permanent" residence there were degraded from "lifetime" to five years. Talk about shock and awe!

Great news. All those working illegally on ED visas..good riddance.

I dont now whats going wrong with you. Do you really think here are much farangs working in Thailand illegaly? I don't know where you are from, but in my country you would get more social welfare for doing nothing than any normal job you can do in Thailand.

The people not working illegally - they just want to stay here before they are grandpas. For under 50 Years old the ways are very limited. I'm sure Thailand will miss the cash soon this group brought into the country over years - now they are going spent it elsewhere in asia.

PS: I hope they cancel the retirement visa soon. I think the above 50s use their retirement visa just for working illegally in Thailand.

What they need to do is to get the proper visa,

However.they are abusing the system and deserve to be busted,

Deportationno option to come to Thailand againif they are working on their ED visa.

Make them pay and set an example to those thinking about it.

Bloomin heck!....I actually taught at a Thai agricultural college in the south last year, even I did not have to be there 2 hours a day every day!

The hard part lies in collecting the social welfare from your home country whilst living in Thailand but a few of the Australians on this board are still doing precisely that. For the rest of us, when the money runs out, so do we - I'll take that over pushing a cart down Soi Buakhow, thanks all the same.

I dont now whats going wrong with you. Do you really think here are much farangs working in Thailand illegaly? I don't know where you are from, but in my country you would get more social welfare for doing nothing than any normal job you can do in Thailand.

The people not working illegally - they just want to stay here before they are grandpas. For under 50 Years old the ways are very limited.

Not at all. Anyone under 50 can buy a Thailand Elite card and visa.

No need to work (legally or illegally) or pretend to be a student or do visa runs. Problem solved.

They cant afford it? Then maybe they are indeed working here illegally.

I think the retirement VISA/extensions will be gone too.

(or the money in the bank will be very high 2M or 3M)

What would be the advantage to Thailand in doing this? The Thai government still wants non-working farangs to live here and spend their imported money here.

It's only the ones with little money and/or who are working/staying illegally that they want to be rid of.

So to get an education visa, you have to be actively engaged in education?

Sounds fair enough.

Sent from my GT-N7105 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

"So to get an education visa, you have to be actively engaged in education?"

Pretty radical application of the rules and regulations.

Can't think of anyone who would find this overly onerous, unless ...

OP- what was the school that told you about this?

Ed visas are at present the only loophole visa left untouched by the government.

I said earlier it is only a matter of time before a dictum is released on this matter.

Hopefully someone will find out whether this is an official crackdown or not.

This country will soon very lonely for the few foreigners with work permit. Maybe they can make friendship with the old retirement farts who mainly complain about everything.

"Maybe they can make friendship with the old retirement farts who mainly complain about everything."

So does your complaint imply that you are "an old retirement fart?"

Floods, tsunamis, riots, protestors, coups have hardly done much to curb the presence of foreigners and whatever drops there have been in arrivals has always been reversed fairly quickly. I doubt that requiring people (who claim they come to Thailand to study) to actually attend school is going to have any noticeable impact on the farang population.

And it may have escaped your notice, but there are 67 million Thais here. No need to feel lonely unless you choose to stay in your self-imposed bubble of farangitude.

Ed visas are at present the only loophole visa left untouched by the government.

I said earlier it is only a matter of time before a dictum is released on this matter.

Hopefully someone will find out whether this is an official crackdown or not.

"I said earlier it is only a matter of time before a dictum is released on this matter."

Actually quite a few people have commented on the prospect of a dictum being launched in this area, and a few other areas as well. Your prediction doesn't quite put you into the same league as Nostradamus.

2 hours? what a joke! in reality if you study something you should attend to class at least 5 hours a day..

5 hours a day is a bit much. I have done 4 a day one-on-one for some languages and that was a lot. Then you go home, relax, and study everything you have learned. I guess in a group things go more slowly, maybe--not sure what the situation is here.

But foreigners can easily learn Thai with only 15-minutes per week!!! I hear them all over CM!!! kap, kap, krap, kap.....and "mai peng"....or "pom ruai"......they sound very fluent!!!!! Even with no shirt, shorts, and beer in hand!!!!

I have taken about 5 Thai classes, all great. 5 days a week, sometimes student to teacher ratio is 4:1, or less. I have never met one farang that is really fluent, and have never been in a class where we all showed up 5 days a week. In the beginner classes, 15 start and maybe 8 finish. It's funny, the ones that talk and complain the most have no patience to put the time in to learn the language.

IF you really want to learn Thai, you should hope they have classes 12 times a week!!!!

(note: I like !!!!!!, typed with a )

This country will soon very lonely for the few foreigners with work permit. Maybe they can make friendship with the old retirement farts who mainly complain about everything.

"Maybe they can make friendship with the old retirement farts who mainly complain about everything."

So does your complaint imply that you are "an old retirement fart?"

Floods, tsunamis, riots, protestors, coups have hardly done much to curb the presence of foreigners and whatever drops there have been in arrivals has always been reversed fairly quickly. I doubt that requiring people (who claim they come to Thailand to study) to actually attend school is going to have any noticeable impact on the farang population.

And it may have escaped your notice, but there are 67 million Thais here. No need to feel lonely unless you choose to stay in your self-imposed bubble.

Some very good points here...but although i hope you're right, I have my reservations about the following ....Floods, tsunamis, riots, protestors, coups have hardly done much to curb the presence of foreigners and whatever drops there have been in arrivals has always been reversed fairly quickly"

I feel that the current government is made of a vdifferent metal from previous coups and are on a mission to bring "order" ( and harmony??) to the kingdom.I get the impression they will zealously enforce their various dictums until an opposition is legally established....... And that could be some while away

I don't realy get something.

I payed already 24,000 bahts, for 180 hours of thai classes, and 1 year of ED visa.

What will happen to me, then ? I have to pay more ?

Edit : and I never signed something about 2 hours / day -- 5 days / week, because I made the paper work for my second year in wallen school, last week.

Driving a scooter against traffic is illegal.... sic

If this is true, the cost of ED visa courses is going to be x 2.5.

And what about online learning ? Still 2 hours a day ?