Singapore - Thai Education Visa Refused

[PMak]

I have been studying Thai in Phuket for a year now and when I had to renew my education visa I chose Singapore because Penang had problems recently and Singapore was just a quick flight away. I don't work in Phuket. I am on a 2 year sabbatical leave and my plan was to live in Thailand for 2 years.

I was dressed professionally, had nice passport pictures, but there were two problems.

1. The ministry letter only quoted 200 hours. SG Embassy insisted it should be 1200 hours for the year. My school letter said 1200 hours for the year but my school said the ministry only approves 200 hours in Phuket. The school even phoned the embassy but no go. They were rude to the school too. And my school is not one of those fake schools...

2. I was told that I had studied Thai for 200 hours already (in year one) and therefor don't need an education visa. They were very harsh and didn't want to listen to anything I had to say. After one year I know the basics but I still need to learn ALOT more. I know people that have lived in Thailand for 10 years, speak fluent Thai, and even they say they need to learn more.

I was told I would get a Tourist Visa for 60 days instead and that I could learn Thai in 60 days on a tourist visa. What a joke.

I guess the government is closing the doors on the Education Visa. That's what schools are saying too. All the fake school and people abusing the visa are to thank.

[jspill]

Or, you picked a notoriously bad consulate to get visas from. This guy got his 4th Ed visa in Vientiane last week http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/770900-ed-visa-vientiane-report/

[PMak]

Or, you picked a notoriously bad consulate to get visas from. This guy got his 4th Ed visa in Vientiane last week http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/770900-ed-visa-vientiane-report/

True, I knew that going in. Vientiane is just so far away. So now I will take a vacation for two months and then try in Penang or elsewhere. Maybe the rules will change again and ease up a bit. I didn't care for Laos much when I got my first education visa there. And am waiting for reports of others that got their ED Visa extension in Penang.

[paz]

I guess the government is closing the doors on the Education Visa.

It is not so. If the government wants to shut down the ED visa it taken them 1 minute to do that.

These are decisions taken independently by each embassy and consulate. So it is important that the person does his own research to avoid failures.

[Timwin]

"I guess the government is closing the doors on the Education Visa. That's what schools are saying too. All the fake school and people abusing the visa are to thank."

You deliberately chose the most assholish embassy around with their own make up rules and then try to pin the blame to other students?!

Edited October 29, 2014 by Timwin

[thaiboy84]

They just refused mine in Kota Bharu (Malaysia). Apparently not enough hours of school...

I asked and she said new rule is 2 hours per day, 5 days per week during 1 year ...

Why they don't show this on their website !!!

So I left with a tourist visa ... again ... so annoying ...

[phuketrichard]

Or, you picked a notoriously bad consulate to get visas from. This guy got his 4th Ed visa in Vientiane last week http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/770900-ed-visa-vientiane-report/

True, I knew that going in. Vientiane is just so far away. So now I will take a vacation for two months and then try in Penang or elsewhere. Maybe the rules will change again and ease up a bit. I didn't care for Laos much when I got my first education visa there. And am waiting for reports of others that got their ED Visa extension in Penang.

HUH;

there is no way Vientainne is further for you than Singapore

PLUS

its cheaper for Everything in laos

you can fly to Udon and bus up

save lots of $$ an no troubles

[PMak]

Yes if they wanted to get rid of the education visa they would do so. I see the new requirement of hours as the first step towards limiting the visas and definately the extensions. Perhaps I should rephrase and say I see this as an end for the Ed Visa for Thai studies. Post secondary education is fine.

Laos is further away. 2 hour flight to Singapore. That's easily the time just to shuttle between Udon Thani and Laos... I've done it before, it was twice as long to get there and honestly I didnt like Laos much.

Yes I did pick a notoriously bad embassy, as I said before I knew that going in and am fine getting a tourist visa for now until I feel like continuing my studies.

[IMA_FARANG]

Singapore unfortunately has a reputation as being one of the most unfriendly Thai consulates in Southeast Asia.

[FireMedic]

Singapore is brutal..No one should go there unless you have been there before and have your paperwork 110% perfect each time. If you want to pop down for a visit and a tourist visa it's ok too...but new EDs or new NONBs are harsh.

[Sayonarax]

It takes no more than 1hr 45mins to fly to Udon Thani and takes 5 minutes to get out he airport.. and then your not set to be faced with $15 beers and $200 night hotels.

Clearly your loaded up with $$$ and should just go get an Elite card.

$15k for 5 years.. cant complain with that.

[Pattaya46]

there is no way Vientainne is further for you than Singapore

Maybe you should look at a map before posting such comment

- Singapore ~950 km

- Vientiane ~1'200 km

[phuketrichard]

thought with the handle Pattaya u were there

Pattaya- Sing 1,949

Patttaya- Vientiane 702

[phuketlive]

A good school would have told you not to go there!

Schools know where ed visas are accepted and where it's problems.

[richard_smith237]

Singapore look for any reason to say no...

I was applying for a Non Imm Type B, which upon arrival in Thailand would be turned into an Extension of Stay and Work Permit.

I had everything in place, BOI documentation etc.

I was asked for my Flight Ticket to Thailand (from Singapore), I showed them my e-ticket on my phone and was told they needed a printed ticket.

They wouldn't let me e-mail the e-ticket to them and print it out.

I was refused the Visa - Fortunately my Wife (who was also with me in the Consulate) had a Copy of our e-tickets. After re-approaching the counter my Visa application was accepted, approved and collected the following day.

I compare this to my Wife's recent application for an Australian and New Zealand Visa. We were missing a document, the NZ Visa application / processing centre was more than happy to receive an e-mail and print out a document for us, plus an additional one just incase it was required for the Aus Visa application.

IMO: A little more could be done to be specific (for all applications), once at the Consulate or Application centres a little more could be done by some (i.e. Singapore) to remember they are human and try and assist those who are clearly not 'trying it on'.

I suspect that a number of folk who've abused the system have ruined it for the many who don't. Some Consulates are just tired of dealing with the idiots, as such we all get treated with equal negativity and pessimism.

[biggles45]

"Or, you picked a notoriously bad consulate to get visas from. This guy got his 4th Ed visa in Vientiane last week http://www.thaivisa....entiane-report/"

Why should genuine scholars and tourists have to even consider which THAI Embassy to go to. They are government beaucracies and should all follow the same script, not make things up as they go. Someone should pull them into line quickly and take away this Russian Roulette uncertainty. Unfortunately this is the Thai way.

[tezzainthailand]

Vientiane is your best option as many here are saying. A matter of two flights on AirAsia. Phuket to Don Muang to Udon Thani. Ideally a morning flight to Don Muang and afternoon flight to Udon Thani

Mini-vans are waiting at Udon Thani airport. Best option is to get that mini-van from Udon to Nong Khai (60 minute trip)and stay the night in NK. NK is so cheap, good accomodations on the Mae Khong near the market for 300-500 baht, a lot cheaper than Singapore. Next morning, get up early and get a tuk tuk to the border between 6-7 a.m., cross over to Laos, get your visa on arrival ($45) and wait maybe an hour at most for the visa. Their will be tuk tuks waiting to take you to the Thai embassy. I stayed at a hotel 100 metres from the embassy called the 'Douangpraseuth'(big quiet rooms for around $35 a night). Check in their if you want, that done, walk over the road and get in the queue well before 11 am, take plenty of water and wear a hat, for some reason everytime I've gone to the Thai embassy there it's been hot blazing sunshine. Do the necessary procedures to apply for your visa, and when that's done you can relax for the next 24 hours. The next day, get in the queue well before 1 pm. The waiting time to get your visa has been cut down dramatically. I was out of the place just after 2 p.m. at my last visit. Again there will be mini vans and tuk tuks ready to take you back to the border. If time is no problem, it doesn't hurt to stay another night in NK or better still Udon Thani, and get a flight early next morning from there back to Bangkok (Don Muang) and afternoon flight back to Phuket. A total of 4 days away, and a lot cheaper and a better result than taking the Singapore option.

[TechnikaIII]

One may imagine that it's about time the government considered shutting down the notoriously bad embassies. Or at least giving them a well earned kick in the arse, putting them on probation, or simply, replacing them with decent ambassadors and respectful consulate staff. They want better quality tourists/visitors? So they should clean up their own act. I have totally written off the ED visa plans, even though I really want the opportunity to study. I don't accept rules being handed down by heavy handed disciplinarians who are clearly unqualified in most matters concerning real education.

That said, we should bear in mind that these officials have come up through a totally antiquated education system, where enquiry is discouraged, learning by rote is the method instilled in primary school, hobbling students as they attempt to progress. Most of the staff would need special remedial teaching, were they to attempt to study in developed countries. Yet their decisions shape our experiences.

Edited October 30, 2014 by TechnikaIII

[inwardglee]

It is in fact one problem: that no one can get any secured information.

Decisions at embassies or consulates are taken randomly, without any clear frame declared by law or papers. Any consulate handles an application differently, and if wanting any information, those consulates do not reply.

I have recently bought an 10 Mio. Baht condo in Pattaya, a nice place for spending some years, and now see myself to sell it again at a big loss, as my African fiancee all at once has problems renewing her ED Visa. Penang agents all at once saying: NO ED visa for Africans for whom whatsoever. That info is new, since this week.

Then some people will come in and tell me I can marry her. Yes, good or bad idea, as males we know that we are being ripped off by marriage, so I cannot afford my divorce from my last wife, Thai, who by herself got a new relation, it happens …

So my guess is that the present government wants to have condo prices crumble, falang selling them at crash prices, so that locals buy them to resell them a bit later when laws are changed again … It is a SMART idea.

For active traders, I would place put options on the present condo market. It will tank by the present restrictions.

As for myself, in the present insecure situation in Thailand, I am still free. I can hibernate this condo for ten years, I have fortunately kids with Thai passwort who though do not like Pattaya as a residential place, they prefer Switzerland, but they would still be able to make use of this rather nice place here. Or would sell it at any time … if prices should resume again ever.

Yet, all in all, we still would want to warn foreigners of falang provenience to venture into Thailand at this moment. The politics have since recently become rather xenophobic and class-oriented. Quality tourists sought, who are NOT here, they go to other destinations mostly. I have never seen quality tourists staying in an army zone for longer than a month.

Such information, regularly given to Thai people in their own media, will create a new mindset among them. They are already bored with too many foreign looking faces, and now hearing that most of them are substandard (which is true), will get more hostile to falang than now being.

So, in short, we are being in a sort of Idi-Amin-like mindset, in ultra-populism, making foreigners reach out their hand for the benign privildedge to stay here, which comes close to a general feeling of Thai people, nowadays, to dislike falang faces. Things have changed, I understand.

I do not reproach the Thais for this new feeling, it is a consequence of general world matters. We in Europe equally got distrustful to the new immigrants … though those GET money and do not spend a cent like the foreigners here …

In an overpopulated word, this rejecting feeling to immigrants will get stronger in the coming years, or decades, if it should take some time. So: falang: stay out. Do a short trip if you like, don't plan to settle here, things will get worse. Don't buy a condo!

Just MHO: My humble opinion … I might be wrong …

Edited October 30, 2014 by inwardglee

[phuketlive]

When you can't do an ED visa anymore, you take a business and do a business visa.

[ChoakMyDee]

I went to the Singapore consulate once, 7 years ago. Terrible. Never been back. Everybody should be warned not to bother going there.

[paz]

When you can't do an ED visa anymore, you take a business and do a business visa.

Sure. To "take" a sham business starts at 200,000 Baht, then dump 100,000 every following year. In that sense even Thai elite card is better.

[NanLaew]

"Or, you picked a notoriously bad consulate to get visas from. This guy got his 4th Ed visa in Vientiane last week http://www.thaivisa....entiane-report/"

Why should genuine scholars and tourists have to even consider which THAI Embassy to go to. They are government beaucracies and should all follow the same script, not make things up as they go. Someone should pull them into line quickly and take away this Russian Roulette uncertainty. Unfortunately this is the Thai way.

Why would a genuine scholar fly in the face of conventional TV visa-running, border hopping, ED visa wisdom and chose to get a visa anywhere else but at the regional embassy or consulate that has a proven record of the most trouble free ED visa issuance?

The fact that this genuine scholar OP didn't like Vientiane as a reason not to go there again is entirely lost on me.

Sounds like the genuine scholar OP is a bit dim. Maybe needs to up the hours on other basic studies essential to successful digital pikery as well as the hours in Thai classes.

[brianp0803]

"Or, you picked a notoriously bad consulate to get visas from. This guy got his 4th Ed visa in Vientiane last week http://www.thaivisa....entiane-report/"

Why should genuine scholars and tourists have to even consider which THAI Embassy to go to. They are government beaucracies and should all follow the same script, not make things up as they go. Someone should pull them into line quickly and take away this Russian Roulette uncertainty. Unfortunately this is the Thai way.

Why would a genuine scholar fly in the face of conventional TV visa-running, border hopping, ED visa wisdom and chose to get a visa anywhere else but at the regional embassy or consulate that has a proven record of the most trouble free ED visa issuance?

The fact that this genuine scholar OP didn't like Vientiane as a reason not to go there again is entirely lost on me.

Sounds like the genuine scholar OP is a bit dim. Maybe needs to up the hours on other basic studies essential to successful digital pikery as well as the hours in Thai classes.

It did seem like a deliberate effort to avoid Laos when it is generally the easiest and the purpose of the trip was getting a visa.

I suspect there was an alternate reason and problem.

[Benmart]

"I guess the government is closing the doors on the Education Visa. That's what schools are saying too. All the fake school and people abusing the visa are to thank."

You deliberately chose the most assholish embassy around with their own make up rules and then try to pin the blame to other students?!

The last sentence comes across as condescending, imperious and judgmental, not to mention using a made-up and base attempt at profanity.

It takes time to formulate thought that presents opposite views with relevant substance. In this instance, it appears that the express lane was utilized.

[NanLaew]

"I guess the government is closing the doors on the Education Visa. That's what schools are saying too. All the fake school and people abusing the visa are to thank."

You deliberately chose the most assholish embassy around with their own make up rules and then try to pin the blame to other students?!

The last sentence comes across as condescending, imperious and judgmental, not to mention using a made-up and base attempt at profanity.

It takes time to formulate thought that presents opposite views with relevant substance. In this instance, it appears that the express lane was utilized.

Maybe so, but he got the point across anyway. The OP chose to go the Singapore route knowing that many, many have failed before.

Agreed there's always vague local interpretations of what is required and they can vary between Immigration offices within Thailand and consular services outside Thailand. But one thing is a constant, Singapore totally sucks... always has and always will.

[PMak]

You know it's funny how there are some people that just love to start responding negatively and flaming.

If you don't have anything positive to say then don't say anything at all.

I'm simply providing a visa report of what happened. Take it for what it is.

[soundman]

Could everybody please settle down. There have been far too many posts in this topic removed from view. Thanks.