METV Visa - Vientiane, Laos. It's official.

[luke000]

the metv is the most inept stupid visa that a group could come up with.

It is hardly any use for anyone .

The only person who would want one would be someone who is working in their home Country and came to Thailand about six times in six months .

Everyone else would just use Visa exempts , Visa on arrival or tourist Visas .

Maybe it would be useful for Malaysians who come to Thailand once a month .

But it is absolutely no use to anyone outside SEA .

[anotheruser]

I am a tourist, I stay every winter, 6 months, and I use Tourist Visa, because I am a tourist. Now, you may feel like giving away 500k, and think it is smart thing to do, but trust, very few would agree with you lol.

There's a lot of people in your situation and this is the kind of visa which in my opinion is missing.

There should be a visa for longer stay tourists, especially retired people who like to come to Thailand for the whole winter.

They shouldn't need to do a 'visa run' to a nearby country or go to immigration offices for extensions. It's a pathetic situation where you need to leave the country where you're on holiday just to stay there for more than 90 days.

When they announced this six month visa some time back I wondered if they would take this chance to fix the flawed system but they've done the opposite.

Well said sir

Have you not noticed that recently immigration laws have not been made for foreigners convenience?

Really??? It is almost like they are making people feel unwelcome! Wonder why that might be?

[tribalfusion001]

Really??? It is almost like they are making people feel unwelcome! Wonder why that might be?

I hazard a guess that they do not like foreigners anymore...

[bamukloy]

Its only a useless visa if you intend on living here full time.

If you are travelling the region it allows you to use Thailand as a base and visit other nearby countries.

As it is, tourists are offered 3 options, visa exempt, single entry and METV, and the bigger point is they wont be all that difficult to secure.(unlike other countries)

For the long stayers, a well executed METV followed by a SE from Lao gives nearly 11 months stay. If Thai immigration really had a hardon for farangs they would have tweaked the rules so that these visas could not be used for continuous stay.

then we would have something to whinge about.

The ones who are skuawking the loudest on here should just admit- their real issue is that they dont want to (or havent the funds) to go home every for a short time every year, AND it makes living here full time on tourist visas impractical.

Having said that, i cant possibly see the motive, or what benefit Thailand will get, from making a long term tourist go home to get a visa every year or so....when they are quite happy to let you do this over and over.

To me they have just taken the concept of a "visa run" and made it 100x more expensive and inconvenient, without any real benefit for them.

but then again, back to the original point- they are not arranging their tourist visa rules with thought to people who live here on it. Not many countries do.

[anotheruser]

Really??? It is almost like they are making people feel unwelcome! Wonder why that might be?

I hazard a guess that they do not like foreigners anymore...

I just don't understand why that might be. I Make millions of dollars every year but won't buy a visa. It doesn't trickle down? Edited November 10, 2015 by anotheruser

[anotheruser]

I think it is pretty obvious the Thai elite visa is there for anybody wishing to get a visa that doesn't have a retirement visa or a work permit.

I used to think people were snobs who said this but seriously if you can't stump up the 500k to get the elite visa you really can't afford to be over here.

This is the strangest thing I've heard all day.

If I don't give away 500.000 baht, I can't afford to be here? What! This is very strange line of thinking. Why would I give away 500k? Do you know anybody who pays money, for something that can be had free, or a low fee.

I am a tourist, I stay every winter, 6 months, and I use Tourist Visa, because I am a tourist. Now, you may feel like giving away 500k, and think it is smart thing to do, but trust, very few would agree with you lol.

So I sit at Starbucks, hre on triple entry Tourist Visa, guy next to me gave away 500k for the same thing, who's the smart piggy?

You argue guy like me has no business being in Thailand in the first place, that it truly odd thing to say.

To say this is flawd thinking is putting it mildly. You seem to think people can not afford 500k, and you don't allow for possibilty that they may simply choose to not waste their money.

You choose to pay 500k for something, that doesn't cost 500k, there is term for that.

Yep, I prefer to be the smart piggy as things change here too much.

The only difference is I have to go home once every 15 months and apply for the METV. Sure I have to do a few things. Get my parents that run a Company to say I have a job to go home to on a Company Letter Head. Season 200K for 6 months is easy as I like to have a bit of spare cash around. Buy a exit ticket to Penang or Laos to get gain another SETV for 3 months. Do a SETV twice and head back home.

Rinse and repeat for two more years till I am 50. Might even be able to get 18 months out of this.

Lots cheaper then 500K using Air Asia specials of $350 in total to get home once every 15-18 months. Take my partner on holidays with me. Okay, I might have to go home every now and again but to keep my Medicare going in Australia, I have to go home every 2-3 years for a few weeks.

Okay, the METV might be sucky to work around in the fact you got to go home but it maybe workable. Time will tell.

Sounds good apart from the stated intent to use a fraudulent letter.

Nope, not fraudulent at all. I am on the books as the Company Secretary and have been on those books for over 20 years. It is a stated position within the company. My parents are the Managing Directors and over the years I have worked for them many times. Every year I have to sign off on there books, so, nothing 'fraudulent' to it at all.

[anotheruser]

I think it is pretty obvious the Thai elite visa is there for anybody wishing to get a visa that doesn't have a retirement visa or a work permit.

I used to think people were snobs who said this but seriously if you can't stump up the 500k to get the elite visa you really can't afford to be over here.

This is the strangest thing I've heard all day.

If I don't give away 500.000 baht, I can't afford to be here? What! This is very strange line of thinking. Why would I give away 500k? Do you know anybody who pays money, for something that can be had free, or a low fee.

I am a tourist, I stay every winter, 6 months, and I use Tourist Visa, because I am a tourist. Now, you may feel like giving away 500k, and think it is smart thing to do, but trust, very few would agree with you lol.

So I sit at Starbucks, hre on triple entry Tourist Visa, guy next to me gave away 500k for the same thing, who's the smart piggy?

You argue guy like me has no business being in Thailand in the first place, that it truly odd thing to say.

To say this is flawd thinking is putting it mildly. You seem to think people can not afford 500k, and you don't allow for possibilty that they may simply choose to not waste their money.

You choose to pay 500k for something, that doesn't cost 500k, there is term for that.

Yep, I prefer to be the smart piggy as things change here too much.

The only difference is I have to go home once every 15 months and apply for the METV. Sure I have to do a few things. Get my parents that run a Company to say I have a job to go home to on a Company Letter Head. Season 200K for 6 months is easy as I like to have a bit of spare cash around. Buy a exit ticket to Penang or Laos to get gain another SETV for 3 months. Do a SETV twice and head back home.

Rinse and repeat for two more years till I am 50. Might even be able to get 18 months out of this.

Lots cheaper then 500K using Air Asia specials of $350 in total to get home once every 15-18 months. Take my partner on holidays with me. Okay, I might have to go home every now and again but to keep my Medicare going in Australia, I have to go home every 2-3 years for a few weeks.

Okay, the METV might be sucky to work around in the fact you got to go home but it maybe workable. Time will tell.

Sounds good apart from the stated intent to use a fraudulent letter.

Nope, not fraudulent at all. I am on the books as the Company Secretary and have been on those books for over 20 years. It is a stated position within the company. My parents are the Managing Directors and over the years I have worked for them many times. Every year I have to sign off on there books, so, nothing 'fraudulent' to it at all.

You are beginning to sound desperate.

[luke000]

Its only a useless visa if you intend on living here full time.

If you are travelling the region it allows you to use Thailand as a base and visit other nearby countries.

But how many working people can take a six month holiday ?

Very few .

And those who can , can get a tourist visa for 1000 B , visit other Countries , then come back to Thailand on a visa exempt stamp and fly home .

Three moths in Thailand on a tourist visa, a month in Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos, and then back to Thailand to fly home .

[luke000]

Really??? It is almost like they are making people feel unwelcome! Wonder why that might be?

I hazard a guess that they do not like foreigners anymore...

I just don't understand why that might be. I Make millions of dollars every year but won't buy a visa. It doesn't trickle down?

May I ask why you choose to live in Thailand ?

Most of us have to live in the third world for financial reasons .

Multi millionaires tend to choose somewhere somewhat more sophisticated .

Bahamas , ST Tropez, Richard Bransons island .

What makes a multi millionaire decide to slum it in the third world?

[puukao]

i think the money part is relatively easy for someone in their 40's who has worked. It's the "still employed" aspect I don't get. You don't just leave your farang job and say, "i'm going to thailand for 6-months." and your employer says, "oh sure, no problem. have a fun time riding elephants."

maybe a few top executives can do this....maybe. not a public company. but i don't get it......if they had that kind of money i see them going somewhere else...

and if they are salespersons or have some commission job, they really don't have a job....

[tribalfusion001]

I think there should be a new visa, *I'm an old fart on a pension who thinks he/she is privileged enough to live in an emerging/third world country and has to constantly moan about people who work online or just moans about people who break the rules or maybe allude to breaking the law in their eyes and the fact that they are so self righteous*, phew...

Edited November 10, 2015 by tribalfusion001

[bamukloy]

What makes a multi millionaire decide to slum it in the third world?

he makes his millions in Lao kip would be my guess

[JLCrab]

I think there should be a new visa, *I'm an old fart on a pension who thinks he/she is privileged enough to live in an emerging/third world country and has to constantly moan about people who work online or just moans about people who break the rules or maybe allude to breaking the law in their eyes and the fact that they are so self righteous*, phew...

The current one works just fine -- no need for a new one.

However maybe there could be a new *Visa for online workers because don't they realize how much we contribute to the Thai economy and society" but that's up to the good folks at MFA.

Edited November 10, 2015 by JLCrab

[Kitsune]

I think all the English native speakers countries are going to be a peace of cake with METV requirements... They need the English teachers on tourist visas.

The academic year is about 9-10 months anyway, so they go back to UK/US for the holidays and reapply for a METV the next year.

Edited November 10, 2015 by Kitsune

[rkidlad]

I think all the English native speakers countries are going to be a peace of cake with METV requirements... They need the English teachers on tourist visas.

The academic year is about 9-10 months anyway, so they go back to UK/US for the holidays and reapply for a METV the next year.

You're right. They do. But they don't seem to know it.

Most schools quite simply do not want to pay the money. With parents easily impressed with a young, handsome white face, the schools will simply employ anyone. Degree, no degree. Native or non native. The standard of teachers will drop even more.

It will be interesting to see what happens with the teachers and the teaching job market here.

Even if you can have as many SETV's as you want, who's gonna go to Laos and pay the money every 90 days for an academic year?

[tribalfusion001]

I think all the English native speakers countries are going to be a peace of cake with METV requirements... They need the English teachers on tourist visas.

The academic year is about 9-10 months anyway, so they go back to UK/US for the holidays and reapply for a METV the next year.

The teachers I know are too skint to travel back to get a new visa, that's why they hang around on tourist visas. Plus the employer letter and possible, £3500 to £4000 in the bank for 6 months might be a problem after 9 to 10 months in Thai.

[bbi1]

May I ask why you choose to live in Thailand ?

Most of us have to live in the third world for financial reasons .

Multi millionaires tend to choose somewhere somewhat more sophisticated .

Bahamas , ST Tropez, Richard Bransons island .

What makes a multi millionaire decide to slum it in the third world?

Seems many multi millionaire Thais "decide to slum it in the third world" rather than Bahamas, St Trapez

[rkidlad]

May I ask why you choose to live in Thailand ?

Most of us have to live in the third world for financial reasons .

Multi millionaires tend to choose somewhere somewhat more sophisticated .

Bahamas , ST Tropez, Richard Bransons island .

What makes a multi millionaire decide to slum it in the third world?

Seems many multi millionaire Thais "decide to slum it in the third world" rather than Bahamas, St Trapez

That's because if you have money here you can get away with murder (literally). Plus people will fake respect you.

[Kitsune]

I think all the English native speakers countries are going to be a peace of cake with METV requirements... They need the English teachers on tourist visas.

The academic year is about 9-10 months anyway, so they go back to UK/US for the holidays and reapply for a METV the next year.

The teachers I know are too skint to travel back to get a new visa, that's why they hang around on tourist visas. Plus the employer letter and possible, £3500 to £4000 in the bank for 6 months might be a problem after 9 to 10 months in Thai.

But London has not asked for any financials has it?

[tribalfusion001]

I think all the English native speakers countries are going to be a peace of cake with METV requirements... They need the English teachers on tourist visas.

The academic year is about 9-10 months anyway, so they go back to UK/US for the holidays and reapply for a METV the next year.

The teachers I know are too skint to travel back to get a new visa, that's why they hang around on tourist visas. Plus the employer letter and possible, £3500 to £4000 in the bank for 6 months might be a problem after 9 to 10 months in Thai.

But London has not asked for any financials has it?

They haven't updated the website yet, only the new fee for metv.

[Kitsune]

I think all the English native speakers countries are going to be a peace of cake with METV requirements... They need the English teachers on tourist visas.

The academic year is about 9-10 months anyway, so they go back to UK/US for the holidays and reapply for a METV the next year.

The teachers I know are too skint to travel back to get a new visa, that's why they hang around on tourist visas. Plus the employer letter and possible, £3500 to £4000 in the bank for 6 months might be a problem after 9 to 10 months in Thai.

But London has not asked for any financials has it?

They haven't updated the website yet, only the new fee for metv.

They put the price, so this is it?

All the english speaking countries are easy

[Tolley]

It is a funny kind of visa but the multi exit re entry tourist visa offered similar time frame with less extensive documentation requirements and cheaper too.

I don't think many people will use it.

[cumgranosalum]

Whatever anyone thinks of this new visa, it is certainly generating a lot of interest.

[Kitsune]

It is a funny kind of visa but the multi exit re entry tourist visa offered similar time frame with less extensive documentation requirements and cheaper too. I don't think many people will use it.

its not like they have a choice, the 2&3 entries are gone

[JackThompson]

The ones who are skuawking the loudest on here should just admit- their real issue is that they dont want to (or havent the funds) to go home every for a short time every year, AND it makes living here full time on tourist visas impractical.

When coming to Asia from Latin America, I paid extra to fly "over" the USA to Canada, and continue from there. It's not just the money for the flight, it's being treated like a criminal in your own country. Someone else compared it to the old USSR and noted even that, at the height of the cold-war, was friendlier than the current USA.

May I ask why you choose to live in Thailand ?

Most of us have to live in the third world for financial reasons .

Multi millionaires tend to choose somewhere somewhat more sophisticated .

Bahamas , ST Tropez, Richard Bransons island .

What makes a multi millionaire decide to slum it in the third world?

Although there are areas of Thailand still in the "development" phase, I think it is spurious to compare it to the "3rd World". Compare even a smaller Thai city to Phnom Penh - and never mind Bangkok, with mass-transit, etc. As per above, I have lived in "Developing" countries in Latin America - there is little comparison - especially in terms of crime / security. Try carrying a laptop in a bag in many capital-cities of the world, and see if you make it 4 blocks without having it removed from your person at gunpoint. I haven't been to the locations listed, but it sounds like it would get boring, after awhile. Not so living in Thailand.

[jacksam]

Yep metv has created 33 pages of interest. Covered everything from english teachers to comparisons to other nations etc etc. The METV is not a replacement for double and triple tv. People previously using those will not find metv a suitable substitute. Mainly because need to return to farang world. There are a few,very few that will take this visa up. Maybe someone having a 9 month holiday in asia and using los as a base. Thats about it.

The METV is a complete lame duck and in the main useless.

[elliss]

What i have noticed is that thai need to consult a business management company to save themselves from brain dead rubbish like the metv.

Btw it did not replace double and triple entry tv. Has zero to do with them. Only that it was done on same date.

the metv is the most inept stupid visa that a group could come up with.

Mysterious Entry Tourist Visa.

Edited November 11, 2015 by elliss

[anotheruser]

Really??? It is almost like they are making people feel unwelcome! Wonder why that might be?

I hazard a guess that they do not like foreigners anymore...

I just don't understand why that might be. I Make millions of dollars every year but won't buy a visa. It doesn't trickle down?

May I ask why you choose to live in Thailand ?

Most of us have to live in the third world for financial reasons .

Multi millionaires tend to choose somewhere somewhat more sophisticated .

Bahamas , ST Tropez, Richard Bransons island .

What makes a multi millionaire decide to slum it in the third world?

The million dollar remark was sarcasm aimed at those saying they are rich but won't waster their money on a visa. I actually no longer live in Thailand. I decided I didn't want to play the visa game or buy my way in. So I packed my bags and left. I am certainly not some rich guy with a calculator and a calendar planning my next visa hop because I am too stingy to get a visa.

[bamukloy]

" There are a few,very few that will take this visa up. "

Have you seen the lengths that some are prepared to go to stay here?

There will be thousands who will take it take up.

Correct me if wrong, but for long stayers with METV- they will have the option of-

3 out/ins per 6 months with no need for extensions.

or

2 extensions + 2 out/ins (the 2nd just before the 6 months is up)

Extend that entry

Then to Lao for a SE. Extend that and you have just over 11 months.

From there its either SE all the way- or fly home for rinse and repeat.

As it is some people fly out/in every 3 months now to avoid the hassle, so i dont think they will be to concerned.

Again ill say- It is only useless if you expect to live in Thailand continuously on the cheap on tourist visas

But its easy to ser what will happen. Every Tom Dick and cheap Charlie will be getting back to back SEs from Vientane so they dont have to fly home

Then Thai immigrations will again crack down on back to back SEs and that will spell the end for everyone

[bamukloy]

" There are a few,very few that will take this visa up. "

Have you seen the lengths that some are prepared to go to stay here?

There will be thousands who will take it take up.

Correct me if wrong, but for long stayers with METV- they will have the option of-

3 out/ins per 6 months with no need for extensions.

or

2 extensions + 2 out/ins (the 2nd just before the 6 months is up)

Extend that entry

Then to Lao for a SE. Extend that and you have just over 11 months.

From there its either SE all the way- or fly home for rinse and repeat.

As it is some people fly out/in every 3 months now to avoid the hassle, so i dont think they will be to concerned.

Again ill say- It is only useless if you expect to live in Thailand continuously on the cheap on tourist visas

But its easy to ser what will happen. Every Tom Dick and cheap Charlie will be getting back to back SEs from Vientane so they dont have to fly home

Then Thai immigrations will again crack down on back to back SEs and that will spell the end for everyone