An Immigration Surprise!

[FolkGuitar]

Chiang Mai has a very large Japanese expat population. Easily as large as the American expat population.

But you rarely see Japanese expats at the Immigration office? Perhaps just one or two?

Most of the Japanese expats don't go to the Immigration Office! They go to the Orchid hotel!

One Saturday a month Chiang Mai Immigration officers staff a room at the Orchid Hotel and handle all expat affairs for the Japanese expats. The Japanese Consulate sends along a translator, the 'Japanese Long Stay Club' has someone on hand to help with paperwork, photocopying, photos, etc., and the Japanese expats get all their work done without having to stand on line at 5am. Wouldn't it be wonderful if all our consulates were to arrange such a thing for us?

[evenstevens]

nice one F/G

the koreans also have a saloon passage

guess u got to have a special eye for it

[Saan]

Well, they were allies.

[mania]

Wouldn't it be wonderful if all our consulates were to arrange such a thing for us?

I don't really think it was the Consulate per se' that arranged it but even if they did the ...."request" ...it must be a great earner for the

Imm Officers

I'm sure with other Saturdays available another Nationalities could do the same

1st Saturday Japanese

2nd Saturday Euros

3rd Saturday US & Aussie etc

We have mostly all been here long enough to know it is not "who" you know but how much your offering for this favor service

Edited July 6, 2015 by mania

[mesquite]

Are the rest of us invited?

[Mapguy]

Given fundamental serious difficulties with language, the arrangements are quite sensible.

[Somnambulist]

The Japanese are also comfortable with (heck, even welcome) a level of micro-managed organization that you're average American would rebel against on principle. That might have something to do with it. Just my opinion, as an American who once lived in Japan.

[NancyL]

I've been aware the Japanese Long Stay Club was doing this for a long time. We've talked with Immigration about this as being something the Chiang Mai Expats Club could offer and we had to "guarantee" a certain number of participants with their documents all in order. It seemed we would have to find a venue with a copy service because I know, frankly, many people show up without their documents in order. Our current venues of Le Meridien Hotel and River Market don't offer copy services. It just didn't seem like something we could offer in conjunction with our regular monthly General Meetings.

We did have a very good meeting with Immigration officials in October and produced a nice video that is a good overview of Immigration procedures:

http://www.chiangmaiexpatsclub.com/immigration-2014/

Edited July 6, 2015 by NancyL

[hml367]

A little research can help people learn some of the reasons the Japanese community in Thailand was given, and apparently still receives, some good treatment. At one time there was a bunch of houses, near or in Bangkok I think, that were planned for long stay expat Japanese.

The Japanese government also pays their retirees to do work in SE Asia (not only Thailand) from the Japanese government to SE Asian countries. One reason condominium prices rose excessively is because the Japanese government paid housing for these types of "volunteers".

[fang37]

Where there is a will, there is a way.

I never considered that such services could be available.

Soon, a queue-online facility for many expats Saturday night functions?

How many nationalities reside in CNX?

Before you know it, the CNX Immigration Office will be very quiet?

Raffles, square-dancing - 3 monthly reporting & visa extensions could be fun!

[Suradit69]

Wouldn't it be wonderful if all our consulates were to arrange such a thing for us?

I don't really think it was the Consulate per se' that arranged it but even if they did the ...."request" ...it must be a great earner for the

Imm Officers

I'm sure with other Saturdays available another Nationalities could do the same

1st Saturday Japanese

2nd Saturday Euros

3rd Saturday US & Aussie etc

We have mostly all been here long enough to know it is not "who" you know but how much your offering for this favor service

"We have mostly all been here long enough to know ..."

More realistically, some have been here long enough to fashion speculation to suit what they "know."

[elektrified]

That explains why I've never seen more than 1 or 2 Japanese ex-pats at Immigration at any one time. A Japanese woman I struck up a conversation with at a popular bakery told me about a year ago that there is somewhere around 6,000 Japanese families living in C.M. according to her Consulate.

[FolkGuitar]

Back when we were living there, Japanese was the second language of Hillside 4. Dozens of families in that building alone!

Floral Condo, Rimping, and several others all host many, many families of the middle managers of the various Japanese factories outside of Chiang Mai, to say nothing of all the retiree expats.

[masuk]

There are quite a few Japanese in Nakornping condominium, and I see there's an office on the Ground floor with a sign "Japanese and Thai only".

I was told that there is a moo baan in Chiang Mai which is very popular with Japanese families. Seems they're a well-organised bunch, unlike us 'Westerners' (and southerners)

[Beetlejuice]

I've been aware the Japanese Long Stay Club was doing this for a long time. We've talked with Immigration about this as being something the Chiang Mai Expats Club could offer and we had to "guarantee" a certain number of participants with their documents all in order. It seemed we would have to find a venue with a copy service because I know, frankly, many people show up without their documents in order. Our current venues of Le Meridien Hotel and River Market don't offer copy services. It just didn't seem like something we could offer in conjunction with our regular monthly General Meetings.

We did have a very good meeting with Immigration officials in October and produced a nice video that is a good overview of Immigration procedures:

http://www.chiangmaiexpatsclub.com/immigration-2014/

I`m a little gob smacked on reading this thread.

Are you saying that if the Chiang Mai Expats Club found a venue with copying facilities and with the attendance of certain number of participants that something could be arranged similar to the Japanese Long Stay Club for westerners?

This is the first time I have heard of the Long Stay Club and surely if such an arrangement is possible for us, can this be investigated further?

[Saan]

Given fundamental serious difficulties with language, the arrangements are quite sensible.

Almost all the Japanese would speak better English than Thais.

There are a few other non English speaking races here.

[elektrified]

Given fundamental serious difficulties with language, the arrangements are quite sensible.

Almost all the Japanese would speak better English than Thais.

There are a few other non English speaking races here.

Many, many Japanese living here don't speak a word of English or a word of Thai.

[FolkGuitar]

Given fundamental serious difficulties with language, the arrangements are quite sensible.

Almost all the Japanese would speak better English than Thais.

There are a few other non English speaking races here.

After 15 years living and working in Japan, I'm forced to disagree with you. Despite studying it in high school and university (six years total,) it is extremely rare to find Japanese adults who can say more than hello and thank you. What they learn in school is translation using a dictionary. Until recently, almost no conversation. One hour a week in a class of 60 students doesn't give much opportunity to become comfortable with the language, much less fluent.

[CMfoodie]

Not surprising.

There are 400,000+ Thais living in the US - according to the latest US Census voluntary report. They don't have to report every 90 days, pay 500 baht for proof of residency or spend the day at a US Immigration office and produce copies of their chest x-rays and photos of their kitchen sink.

If the US State Department wanted to make procedures easier for US citizens living in Thailand they could. Will they? Of course not... that would involve some work.

US citizens are not of any concern to the State Department, only special interests.ie, corporations, large investors, etc.

That's the difference with diplomatic entities such as Japan, Korea. They work for their citizens and then their corporate interests.

How many of you (except Nancy of course, and Nancy, in good fun) got invited to the 4th of July party at the US Consulate? Damn, I didn't make the invite list this year yet again!

Brits and Aussies... well, its all online representation for you guys in Chiang Mai.

[northernjohn]

That explains why I've never seen more than 1 or 2 Japanese ex-pats at Immigration at any one time. A Japanese woman I struck up a conversation with at a popular bakery told me about a year ago that there is somewhere around 6,000 Japanese families living in C.M. according to her Consulate.

Thanks for the figure of 6,000.

If as said 2 go to immigration every day that would be ballpark 44 a month times 12 = 528 a month. 6000 divided by 12 = 500. That means there would be nobody at the Orchard hotel.

The last time I did my yearly the fellow told me they try to do 50 a day. Some days they do and other days they don't That particular day they did 61. I asked him how they managed that day to do so good he told me that they had a whole bunch come in with every thing ready to go.

Using the 50 figure he gave me and the 22 ballpark days I put up they would be doing 1,100 a month.

I have used the figures from this thread and guessed at the number of days they are open. I might have been better with 21. Any how 2 Japanese a day and 2 Americans a day. Where are the other 46 a day coming from?

If my math is wrong feel free to correct me. Remember I am using the 6,000 figures electrified supplied and the 12 days a year Folk Guitar supplied.

I have a sneaky hunch there is a lot more Americans than Japanese. A fair amount from Great Briton and a smattering from other countries.

Edited July 6, 2015 by northernjohn

[FolkGuitar]

That explains why I've never seen more than 1 or 2 Japanese ex-pats at Immigration at any one time. A Japanese woman I struck up a conversation with at a popular bakery told me about a year ago that there is somewhere around 6,000 Japanese families living in C.M. according to her Consulate.

Thanks for the figure of 6,000.

If as said 2 go to immigration every day that would be ballpark 44 a month times 12 = 528 a month. 6000 divided by 12 = 500. That means there would be nobody at the Orchard hotel.

The last time I did my yearly the fellow told me they try to do 50 a day. Some days they do and other days they don't That particular day they did 61. I asked him how they managed that day to do so good he told me that they had a whole bunch come in with every thing ready to go.

Using the 50 figure he gave me and the 22 ballpark days I put up they would be doing 1,100 a month.

I have used the figures from this thread and guessed at the number of days they are open. I might have been better with 21. Any how 2 Japanese a day and 2 Americans a day. Where are the other 46 a day coming from?

If my math is wrong feel free to correct me. Remember I am using the 6,000 figures electrified supplied and the 12 days a year Folk Guitar supplied.

I have a sneaky hunch there is a lot more Americans than Japanese. A fair amount from Great Briton and a smattering from other countries.

The reason you numbers might be off is that you are starting with 6,000 people.

The information with which you were provided was 6,000 families... There is a difference.

And of course, that is nothing more than an estimation, not a census.

[Saan]

Given fundamental serious difficulties with language, the arrangements are quite sensible.

Almost all the Japanese would speak better English than Thais.

There are a few other non English speaking races here.

After 15 years living and working in Japan, I'm forced to disagree with you. Despite studying it in high school and university (six years total,) it is extremely rare to find Japanese adults who can say more than hello and thank you. What they learn in school is translation using a dictionary. Until recently, almost no conversation. One hour a week in a class of 60 students doesn't give much opportunity to become comfortable with the language, much less fluent.

I'm surprised. The Japanese I mixed with In Melbourne all spoke excellent English. I just took as a general rule that the Japanese who lived outside of Japan were English speakers. In fact my one particular mate spoke 5 languages.

[jonwilly]

I know a Japanese lady who teaches Japanese Language to the children of Japanese expats.

Some time ago she told me there where 6,000 Japanese families in the Chiang Mai area.

john

I don't blame the Japanese community for making a Special arrangements, just wish CM Immigration had larger staff and bigger premises for the rest of us.

[NancyL]

I've been aware the Japanese Long Stay Club was doing this for a long time. We've talked with Immigration about this as being something the Chiang Mai Expats Club could offer and we had to "guarantee" a certain number of participants with their documents all in order. It seemed we would have to find a venue with a copy service because I know, frankly, many people show up without their documents in order. Our current venues of Le Meridien Hotel and River Market don't offer copy services. It just didn't seem like something we could offer in conjunction with our regular monthly General Meetings.

We did have a very good meeting with Immigration officials in October and produced a nice video that is a good overview of Immigration procedures:

http://www.chiangmaiexpatsclub.com/immigration-2014/

I`m a little gob smacked on reading this thread.

Are you saying that if the Chiang Mai Expats Club found a venue with copying facilities and with the attendance of certain number of participants that something could be arranged similar to the Japanese Long Stay Club for westerners?

This is the first time I have heard of the Long Stay Club and surely if such an arrangement is possible for us, can this be investigated further?

Beetlejuice, I've invited you to come to the Board meetings of CEC numerous times. If you'd chosen to get involved you may have discovered that there are actually three well-established Japanese expat clubs, each serving a slightly different segment of the Japanese population and a new one that is trying to be like Lanna Care Net. I know you've been here a long time, but there's still more to learn and involvement in the Board of CEC and service to your fellow expats are ways to continue to grow.

Seriously, though a big part of the reason why this hasn't been pursued is that there is only so much that a very limited number of people can do. The current CEC Board members are stretched very thin. Recently, we put out an appeal for an couple of openings on the Board and the only people who responded were a couple of newcomers. We definitely appreciate their stepping up, but taking on a project like this (having Immigration come to CEC once a month) requires the skills of someone with executive ability who has been in Chiang Mai for a while and knows how things get done.

Edited July 7, 2015 by NancyL

[Lizard2010]

I've been aware the Japanese Long Stay Club was doing this for a long time. We've talked with Immigration about this as being something the Chiang Mai Expats Club could offer and we had to "guarantee" a certain number of participants with their documents all in order. It seemed we would have to find a venue with a copy service because I know, frankly, many people show up without their documents in order. Our current venues of Le Meridien Hotel and River Market don't offer copy services. It just didn't seem like something we could offer in conjunction with our regular monthly General Meetings.

We did have a very good meeting with Immigration officials in October and produced a nice video that is a good overview of Immigration procedures:

http://www.chiangmaiexpatsclub.com/immigration-2014/

If anything does eventuate

Please let us know

Yes it is hard to get everything organised with a small band of dedicated volunteers

[mania]

More realistically, some have been here long enough to fashion speculation to suit what they "know."

Please don't misunderstand it as cynicism as it is not

It is one of the things I love most about living here.

As even Nancy said it was also an option for them/their group.

When I said services are available at a price I meant that as a good thing.

Try get any other country to open a government service on a holiday or weekend for a specific group/nationality

& it would never happen.

But here all things are possible & it is at least available

[Saan]

I've been aware the Japanese Long Stay Club was doing this for a long time. We've talked with Immigration about this as being something the Chiang Mai Expats Club could offer and we had to "guarantee" a certain number of participants with their documents all in order. It seemed we would have to find a venue with a copy service because I know, frankly, many people show up without their documents in order. Our current venues of Le Meridien Hotel and River Market don't offer copy services. It just didn't seem like something we could offer in conjunction with our regular monthly General Meetings.

We did have a very good meeting with Immigration officials in October and produced a nice video that is a good overview of Immigration procedures:

http://www.chiangmaiexpatsclub.com/immigration-2014/

I`m a little gob smacked on reading this thread.

Are you saying that if the Chiang Mai Expats Club found a venue with copying facilities and with the attendance of certain number of participants that something could be arranged similar to the Japanese Long Stay Club for westerners?

This is the first time I have heard of the Long Stay Club and surely if such an arrangement is possible for us, can this be investigated further?

Beetlejuice, I've invited you to come to the Board meetings of CEC numerous times. If you'd chosen to get involved you may have discovered that there are actually three well-established Japanese expat clubs, each serving a slightly different segment of the Japanese population and a new one that is trying to be like Lanna Care Net. I know you've been here a long time, but there's still more to learn and involvement in the Board of CEC and service to your fellow expats are ways to continue to grow.

Seriously, though a big part of the reason why this hasn't been pursued is that there is only so much that a very limited number of people can do. The current CEC Board members are stretched very thin. Recently, we put out an appeal for an couple of openings on the Board and the only people who responded were a couple of newcomers. We definitely appreciate their stepping up, but taking on a project like this (having Immigration come to CEC once a month) requires the skills of someone with executive ability who has been in Chiang Mai for a while and knows how things get done.

A similar arrangement for westerners would certainly tip the scales for me on joining the CEC.

I've only held back because the time of meeting does not suit me. That's not a complaint as I can understand why that time suit most members.

I appreciate that a few bear the brunt of the load and that arranging an immigration session on a regular basis would further that load.

Maybe this thread could act as a call to members to form a sub committee whose task would be to set up similar arrangements to those enjoyed by the Japanese.

[anon467848]

Japan has invested Billions of Dollars in Thailand, with further investments to follow, so it's hardly surprising that they get special treatment

[elektrified]

I know a Japanese lady who teaches Japanese Language to the children of Japanese expats.

Some time ago she told me there where 6,000 Japanese families in the Chiang Mai area.

john

I don't blame the Japanese community for making a Special arrangements, just wish CM Immigration had larger staff and bigger premises for the rest of us.

That was probably the same woman I met as she taught Japanese children and gave the same exact figure. But I'm fairly certain she said that she taught Thai language to the children??

[mesquite]

Japan has invested Billions of Dollars in Thailand, with further investments to follow, so it's hardly surprising that they get special treatment

The retirees are not investing billions.