Immigration clarifies new regulations for foreigners in Chiang Mai

[Greg Nixon]

Can I attend school here with a retirement Visa ?

[mesquite]

They did not discuss the white elephant in the room - Immigration. Many of the countries attending allow Thais to easily emigrate there but the reverse is not true. Reciprocity is badly needed. For example there are 40,000 Thais living in Canada most of whom are naturalised citizens. There are 400 Canadians who have been granted citizenship in Thailand.

So what about it Thailand? Will you give up your ethnocentric laws which border on racism ?

But Thailand will let virtually anyone from canada visit as a tourist. When will Canada give the same privileges to Thais?

[anon676545345]

They did not discuss the white elephant in the room - Immigration. Many of the countries attending allow Thais to easily emigrate there but the reverse is not true. Reciprocity is badly needed. For example there are 40,000 Thais living in Canada most of whom are naturalised citizens. There are 400 Canadians who have been granted citizenship in Thailand.

So what about it Thailand? Will you give up your ethnocentric laws which border on racism ?

But Thailand will let virtually anyone from canada visit as a tourist. When will Canada give the same privileges to Thais?

Probably when the welfare system in Thailand is comparable.

[Mapguy]

Well then in that case being foreigners yes its 800 000 per passport!

as immigration rules !

I think you will find that is not correct.

The wife would be a dependent in the case of a retirement visa and in such case 800,000THB in the name of the husband only will suffice.

Even if the wife is allso a foreigner ?

If in this situation " the husband then fell of his twig what then would the dependant

have to do to satisfy immo ?

Firstly I am not an expert in this field, but have a certain amount of knowledge that should be confirmed by expert sources.

However, in the event of one spouse or the other passing away I believe that provided the survivor is over 50 and has 800,000THB it simply a retirement visa application.

Basically agree, but puzzled about what Thailand means by "one spouse or the other." What is relevant is that a dependent visa is only valid as long as the "sponsor's" long-stay visa (in this case, a retirement visa) upon which it is based is valid. If a dependent dies or for another reason becomes ineligible, such as by divorce, there would be no impact upon the validity of the sponsor's long-stay visa.

I presume that when Immigration learned of a dependent becoming ineligible (by reason of age, for example) and who hung around in Thailand without permission from Immigration that they would call this an "overstay." Immigration would then most likely deal with the situation after determining the intent of the former dependent.

If a foreign sponsor dies, as in the original question above, I'd wager that any dependent (not eligible for a retirement visa) would be allowed a reasonable amount of time (not just booted out in 7 days) before departure is required or provided with permission to remain to take care of business following the death of a foreign spouse.

There is a provision ( Section 2.26 of Police Order 777/2551) for a visa to take care of pending legal matters. Would this section apply to probating of a Thai will? It would be worth checking. And I wouldn't be surprised if Immigration wouldn't also consider a reasonable amount of time (my guess is 90 days) for the disposition of property, such as sale of an automobile and shipment back to home country of household goods

Another simple work-around might be to exit the country and return with a tourist visa providing for an extended period of time, but best to check with Immigration as this probably wouldn't be required or considered as necessary given the trying circumstances.

Edited August 28, 2014 by Mapguy

[Tokay]

They did not discuss the white elephant in the room - Immigration. Many of the countries attending allow Thais to easily emigrate there but the reverse is not true. Reciprocity is badly needed. For example there are 40,000 Thais living in Canada most of whom are naturalised citizens. There are 400 Canadians who have been granted citizenship in Thailand.

So what about it Thailand? Will you give up your ethnocentric laws which border on racism ?

Border on racism?

How good is your Thai? Once you are fluent (also helps knowing a few dialects), when you walk around, you're not going to believe the horrible crap many Thais say about foreigners right in front of them. To call them racist is an understatement.

[Andyfarquar]

Much of this is relevant to Chiang Mai, but you can read the underlying police orders (both original Thai and English translations) applicable nationally here:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/749918-thai-immigration-issues-new-police-order-3272557-effective-august-29-2014/

So you think the guy is incorrect or Chiang Mai aren't going to subscribe to this?

Sorry for any misunderstanding. What the Chiang Mai chief said appears (as far as the news report goes) to be consistent with the police orders. I meant that the colonel also spoke to some matters relevant only to Chiang Mai, such as the plan for a new building and added staff both of which are really being overcome by the influx of new tourists, and especailly, new retirees.

Impossible. Everybody on the forum knows that tourism is dead and all retirees are going to Cambodia, Philippines, and Vietnam.

If anyone who is considering retiring here happens to read this, if you are of a nervous nature, then you might want to look elsewhere for paradise! It might not be so good here for your blood pressure!

Why?

Obviously you have not been to Philippines lately then! Tourism there is way down because of so many foreigners being extorted or killed & robbed mostly by serving police.

Cambodia only really attracts those who are on a restricted income and don't mind roughing it.

Thailand is in a state of flux right now but if you stand back and take an objective look, most likely this is where the retirees will be most comfortable. It's cheaper and more secure than Philippines in almost every way. I'm going back to the UK soon after a disastrous attempt to retire in Philippines. When I'm ready to try again, Thailand is top of my list (well, Chiang Mai anyway)

[Caspersfriend]

Obviously you have not been to Philippines lately then! Tourism there is way down because of so many foreigners being extorted or killed & robbed mostly by serving police.

Cambodia only really attracts those who are on a restricted income and don't mind roughing it.

Thailand is in a state of flux right now but if you stand back and take an objective look, most likely this is where the retirees will be most comfortable. It's cheaper and more secure than Philippines in almost every way. I'm going back to the UK soon after a disastrous attempt to retire in Philippines. When I'm ready to try again, Thailand is top of my list (well, Chiang Mai anyway)

Good to have a view and opinion based on personal experience; rather than hearsay or trolling.

Thanks

[worgeordie]

They are going to build the new offices on the site of the old offices !

1)the area is not big enough even if they cleared it all.

2)while the building work is going on,where are they going to put the temporary offices? on the side of the road.

3)its bad enough now,cannot think how horrendous its going to be while they are building.

4)on the same road there are other Govt.departments,that look to be doing nothing,and have much bigger land

plots,common sense would dictate that swapping of land plots would be sensible( forgot this is Thailand) ,also

the Govt must have many bigger plots of land around Chiang Mai,they could build a big building with plenty of

parking and have room for future expansion,which will be need in time.

I never look forward to going there now,its like the black hole of Calcutta,could it get worse !

regards Worgeordie

[Sparkles]

Always wondered about the large lot and building next door (airport side) Doesn't seem to be much activity there.Is that Gov land ?

Building on existing site is frankly ridiculous.

[makescents]

To think I was going to go through all the aggravation of saving a million baht to use as paid up capital in forming a Thai company as well as hiring 4 ghost employees.

Now I can just up and move there with my multiple entry Non-O visa and run a company based in Hong Kong for a fraction of the price. Thanks Thailand!

I've recently been preaching to the fools dumb enough to be blogging about their experiences working from Thailand on tourist visas - I expect Bangkok to vindicate me but I'll be happy if they do not.

[DrTuner]

Now I can just up and move there with my multiple entry Non-O visa and run a company based in Hong Kong for a fraction of the price. Thanks Thailand!

Taxes ... http://www.rd.go.th/publish/6045.0.html