Pattaya - Has there been a change in # of classes /week you must attend

[vision2014]

My wife has been studying at Walen for a year and yesterday she was told that Immigration had introduced a new rule. Effective next week students must attend class four times a week rather than the current rule of two classes a week. Has anyone else received similar information from Pattaya schools ? IMO , this is good news because eight hours of class study (versus the current 4 hours) could accelerate the learning process.

[Casual1]

Im using Prolanguage, no mention of the extra day requirement yet. Going 2 days a week for 2 hours each day. Got hit with 5000 baht VIP fee for my extension of stay this week though.

[Furryman]

I asked about this today and I was told that the new bossman has threatened to implement this change but it is not official 'yet'.

It could happen anytime as policy statements coming out of the Jomtien office are litereally changing from day to day, such as the 90 day ED extension fees going up twice this week, from 1900 baht to 3000 baht and then again today to 5000 baht. Was told this change probably won't last long though, the new local bosses bosses probably are not gonna like it.

[roath]

People can abuse any form of visa, which is a different issue...and a topic flogged to within an inch of its life elsewhere

[Mudcrab]

Pattaya - Has there been a change in # of classes /week you must attend

You have no idea of my disappointment when I read the thread and realised it was about the ED visa.

[roath]

deleted post

An ED visa IS a "proper" visa. I have one and am studying at Chiang Mai University.. is that "proper" enough? :-)

ouch raw nerve hurting is it ??

just gets boring people banging on about getting a "proper" visa.....my mum used to tell me that if yiu don't have anything worthwhile to say then just keep quiet...a lot of people on this forum obviously didnt get the same advice (or just ignored their mums)!!

[Casual1]

Im on a proper visa and attending school legitimately, just hate having to pay more for something other people get for the same extension of stay.

[petercool]

Post using slur term removed

[ToS2014]

My school, will leave it unnamed, located in Jomtien, had already changed the seat time requirement from two times per week (2hrs per) to four times per week (1hr per). Technically the same amount of time, yet the increased hassle of attending four days for only one hour. I'm not working legally or illegally and was really attempting to learn Thai. It just appears that all the new rules affect not only those abusers but those of us who really wanted to abide by the 'old rules'.

Edited January 24, 2015 by ToS2014

[dodojero]

The fact is: If ED visa is required not more than for 6 months the students must attend the class 4 times per week and 2 hrs each time. For a 1 year ED visa it's 5 days per week and 2 hrs each time. If Immigration officers come to check and the students are not in class the visa will be canceled.

Asking for the reason the Pattaya Immigration told us, they only want the people applying for ED visa who are REALLY interested in studying and not using the ED visa as a possibility to stay in Thailand in a cheap way. In the past, most of the ED visa students didn't study at all, they said.

As a result of this new law the ED visa fee must increase according to the higher amount of teaching hours (about 70,000 Baht per year) plus the new fees (5,000 Baht) every 3 months to pay at the Immigration. I'm sure that not many people can afford that.

[vision2014]

The fact is: If ED visa is required not more than for 6 months the students must attend the class 4 times per week and 2 hrs each time. For a 1 year ED visa it's 5 days per week and 2 hrs each time. If Immigration officers come to check and the students are not in class the visa will be canceled.

Asking for the reason the Pattaya Immigration told us, they only want the people applying for ED visa who are REALLY interested in studying and not using the ED visa as a possibility to stay in Thailand in a cheap way. In the past, most of the ED visa students didn't study at all, they said.

As a result of this new law the ED visa fee must increase according to the higher amount of teaching hours (about 70,000 Baht per year) plus the new fees (5,000 Baht) every 3 months to pay at the Immigration. I'm sure that not many people can afford that.

Thanks for your reply dodojero. I think the policy Immigration is implementing makes good sense (as does my wife). The reason I started this topic yesterday was to try to find out if students attending other schools in Pattaya had been advised of the new rules. Hopefully other students will comment on what the schools that they attend have told them.

[roath]

The fact is: If ED visa is required not more than for 6 months the students must attend the class 4 times per week and 2 hrs each time. For a 1 year ED visa it's 5 days per week and 2 hrs each time. If Immigration officers come to check and the students are not in class the visa will be canceled.

Asking for the reason the Pattaya Immigration told us, they only want the people applying for ED visa who are REALLY interested in studying and not using the ED visa as a possibility to stay in Thailand in a cheap way. In the past, most of the ED visa students didn't study at all, they said.

As a result of this new law the ED visa fee must increase according to the higher amount of teaching hours (about 70,000 Baht per year) plus the new fees (5,000 Baht) every 3 months to pay at the Immigration. I'm sure that not many people can afford that.

It might end up cheaper studying on a tourist visa even with visa runs taken into account which is mad really