3 hours ago, NancyL said:

Also, if you miss the window of opportunity for mailing or filing online, you really have no choice but to go in person.  Some people just aren't well enough organized.

Is it a different "window of opportunity" if you miss going in person.  It is still the same organizational skills required.

1 minute ago, scottiejohn said:

Is it a different "window of opportunity" if you miss going in person.  It is still the same organizational skills required.

Some people can't "count backwards" 10 to 15 days from the due date on their 90 day report slip in their passport.

3 hours ago, NancyL said:

some people just like having a day out @Prom.  

 

3 hours ago, NancyL said:

Lunch at Dukes or Ragu, taking in a film in a deserted cinema, getting your nails done by four gals because you're the only customer in the shop, looking at electronics in your own private electronics store, having the Bangkok Bank people greet you by name even though you visit only once a quarter. Hey, it's a change of pace from the other malls. 

Are you being paid to promote Prom and your favourite  restaurant? 

The only reason anyone apart from you goes to Prom is because Imm is there.

3 minutes ago, NancyL said:

Some people can't "count backwards" 10 to 15 days from the due date on their 90 day report slip in their passport.

You still have to be able to count up to 90, or whatever number is required, no matter which system you use, Agent, person, online or Mail.  

PS; maybe they can add 75 or 80 or whatever to their last date!

2 minutes ago, NancyL said:

I just like to rile people up. 

I thought that was against forum rules. 

It certainly does not add anything of any substance to a so called information forum if it is your intention to just rile people up. 

If that is your intention how will others, obviously not me, know when and how to take you seriously, not of course that I ever do.

Lots of testiness today .........maybe the moon is in uranus

(would make a rhyme......but don't have time)

 

I went in to get my extension this week. As usual, took about 2 hours from start to finish, 45 minutes of that time was waiting to get my passport back. Went in the afternoon again. Last year the one thing that was different was they asked for 2 photocopies of my rental contract instead of one. This year, only one. But they asked for 2 photocopies of my 90-day report. I don't believe they have ever asked for even one before!

 

A couple of observations:

 

1. at least half of the applicants were 23-28 y/o kids wearing black t-shirts for some kind of 'combat school'??? A 25ish lady and a guy also wearing that same t-shirt sat by the side of each kid as they processed the extension. There had to have been about 12 of them in the short time I was there. What is that all about? Some education visa scam for DN's or something? Appeared to be very easy money for Immigration as they were handled quickly - about 5 minutes each. Not one question was asked of them.

 

2. almost all the farangs had what I assume to be a "visa agent" sitting by their side as the extensions were being handled. Most of the "visa agents" appeared to be 25-30 y/o students, some with very minimal English skills. I couldn't help but overhear an American guy and woman sitting directly next to me with their "visa agent" who was a 25ish khatoey trying to communicate. The guy was speaking to the "visa agent" like he may have been a teacher, very patient and repeatedly asking questions in English. The "visa agent" could not understand him at all so the guy suddenly switched to speaking in excellent Thai (and the woman too).

 

3. the Japanese and Filipino applicants all were on their own without an agent.

 

I guess I don't understand the point of "visa agents". All you are doing is submitting a form or two and photocopies of supporting documents. Why does anyone need to pay a young kid to do that for them? (I am aware that business visas can be quite complex, require lots of paperwork, and often people hire an attorney to represent them). But for tourist, education, medical and retirement visas, etc. I don't see the point. Even the missionaries and volunteer visa applicants of which go to a different counter all have large stacks of paperwork and they don't appear to require a "visa agent".

2 hours ago, elektrified said:

...at least half of the applicants were 23-28 y/o kids wearing black t-shirts for some kind of 'combat school'??? ...  What is that all about? Some education visa scam for DN's or something? Appeared to be very easy money for Immigration as they were handled quickly - about 5 minutes each. Not one question was asked of them. ...

They are from Jongjet Pungsai's "Hand to Hand Combat School" here in Chiang Mai.  It is not a visa scam, though most of the Farang students enroll to get a valid 1 year ED visa because the classes are only a couple of hours a day on weekends, and there is no testing requirements required by Immigration, and as you saw, the school plays a big role in helping the students through the visa application and reporting procedures at Imm.

 

It's not limited to young kids.  There are no age restrictions so many people that can't yet qualify for a retirement visa, or don't want the hassles of a ED visa granting language school elect this option.  They have many students in their 40's and 50's.

 

It is the only martial arts school in Thailand (except for a  Muay Thai school in Bangkok) that is accredited for educational visas by the Thai Ministry of Education. 

 

Jongjet Pungsai is a high ranking Royal Thai Army Military Police officer so I assume that plays a role in his getting the accreditation .  They teach a self defense course, actually it is Israeli Krav Maga, which is a very effective street fighting system, and the school is pretty good at teaching it.  In other words, it's legit.

 

6 hours ago, elektrified said:

I went in to get my extension this week. As usual, took about 2 hours from start to finish, 45 minutes of that time was waiting to get my passport back. Went in the afternoon again.

 

6 hours ago, elektrified said:

I guess I don't understand the point of "visa agents". All you are doing is submitting a form or two and photocopies of supporting documents.

People who are fearful or lack confidence will ignore your afternoon experience of 2 hours start to finish and go right back to the horror story posts of getting there at 3 a.m. (some of them even for a 90 day report).

 

In high season one might want to hire a 300 baht line sitter but what more does a 5000 baht agent do that an applicant can't?

Answer :  make certain imm officers happy.  

As people get older the usefulness of visa agents increases, older people tend to more easily overlook things, forget dates, be unaware of changes in the system, new forms etc., using a visa agent helps address many of those issues. In my case, I'm approaching 70 and I'm certainly not as able to do many things the same way today as I was able to do so in my younger years. When I travel these days I want certainty where ever I can get it, I don't want to have to run for planes through large airports because Immigration took longer stamping my re-entry permit into my passport than I allowed for, neither do I want to sit and wait in an airport for six extra hours as a result of arriving early just to get my re-entry permit. When I visit Immigration to get something done I want the assurance that it will get done and within short timescales, I'm no longer inclined to repeat events of past years where I've been told to go copy this again, go home and get that, this picture's the wrong size go get a new one this, that's the wrong form do it again. 

 

If you are willing and able to manage all aspects of Immigration yourself, great, go for it, I certainly used to do that in years gone by. But don't knock those of us who chose to make our lives easier in our later years, some of that is choice, some of it is a necessity, so for many, visa agents serve an increasingly useful purpose at a cost that is hardly exorbitant.

1 hour ago, simoh1490 said:

wait in an airport for six extra hours as a result of arriving early just to get my re-entry permit.

55555555

2 minutes ago, amexpat said:

55555555

I'm flying to the UK from BKK at 1am on Tuesday, I'll be in Phuket for the weekend and then have no choice but to fly from there to CNX for a couple of hours before catching my BK flight. I have two choices for the CNX/BKK flight, a 90 minute wait or a 5.5 hour wait.

As stated few posts ago, all went well for me this year... Except the 2nd floor...

 

That darn TM30 form which i never never used in 10 years in Thailand before coming to Chiang Mai...

 

I go there to make it, she checks the system and says "you do not report, i have no data from you since 2017".

I go out of the country every 3 months and I know for a fact my condo reports every times we come back.

Explain to her but no: "no record, check with your condo"..

 

Went back home, checked with them, report is been done properly every 3 months, gave me copy..

Back to 2nd floor the next day, explained again to her, she made a "fake explanation call" to the condo and gave me that TM30...

Headache... Not an single extra paper given compared to previous day but yesterday was no, the next day was yes.....

Kung Phooey seems like a legitimate scam, nothing new, schools have been doing it for years.

17 hours ago, Sparkles said:

Cant imagine why many people would want a day out at Prom ,we've been through this before.

 

Anything that reduces crowding at Imm, to me, is a positive.

 

Yes many people miss windows, obviously cant read or dont  have a calendar.Bangkok Bank provide mine?for free !

 

Just a thought for people who have to do a lot of calendar planning of events and deadlines ... Sometimes it can be difficult to figure out precise dates on a calendar like, for instance, trying to figure out the date that will be 45 days before your visa expiration, or how many business days (m-f only) are left for a critical path task entry, without literally using your finger to count the boxes on a calendar.

 

It's pretty easy though by simply using your smart phone voice command (i.e.: Seri) and asking for the date.  It works perfectly and saves a lot of time, especially if you are doing a lot of multi-month planning of events. Just a thought for those who might not have considered this.

22 minutes ago, Kohsamida said:

Just a thought for people who have to do a lot of calendar planning of events and deadlines ... Sometimes it can be difficult to figure out precise dates on a calendar like, for instance, trying to figure out the date that will be 45 days before your visa expiration, or how many business days (m-f only) are left for a critical path task entry, without literally using your finger to count the boxes on a calendar.

 

 

It does not take rocket science to work out 45 days before the date of visa runs out. Just a simple calculation  which most primary school children can do. 

15 minutes ago, jonesthepost said:

It does not take rocket science to work out 45 days before the date of visa runs out. Just a simple calculation  which most primary school children can do. 

If you are doing dozens of events at a time, it's time consuming and much more likely to error, especially if the parameters are "business days only" or occurrences of a specific day of week for a date range, etc.  Much easier and less chance of error using your smart phone.  No need to count boxes on a calendar, just ask the question and get an answer. 

 

Really no need to play "devil's advocate" with this suggestion.

55 minutes ago, jonesthepost said:

It does not take rocket science to work out 45 days before the date of visa runs out. Just a simple calculation  which most primary school children can do. 

Those born before the age of the smartphone or indeed before the age of the calculator may well have difficulties with such things, I feel fortunate to be older in that respect.

22 minutes ago, simoh1490 said:

Those born before the age of the smartphone or indeed before the age of the calculator may well have difficulties with such things, I feel fortunate to be older in that respect.

That's why I posted the suggestion; to point out that it is a pretty easy thing to simply ask Seri, "What will the date be..."  Easy, Fast, Efficient.  You're never too old to push a button, ask a question, and get an answer.

 

There are lots of situation where it would be pretty tedious counting out days or weeks on a calendar especially if they are far into the future.  A smartphone will give you the answer in a split second. 

5 minutes ago, Kohsamida said:

That's why I posted the suggestion; to point out that it is a pretty easy thing to simply ask Seri, "What will the date be..."  Easy, Fast, Efficient.  You're never too old to push a button, ask a question, and get an answer.

Hmm, what ya gonna do if one day all of the devices stop working, what's your fallback plan, for many I suspect it will be continuing to stare at blank screens, hoping and imagining whilst feeling happless and lost! 

22 minutes ago, simoh1490 said:

Hmm, what ya gonna do if one day all of the devices stop working, what's your fallback plan, for many I suspect it will be continuing to stare at blank screens, hoping and imagining whilst feeling happless and lost! 

My fallback plan?  I'd do it in my head obviously.  Until that happens though, I'll save time and be more accurate doing it the easy way. 

 

My suggestion was aimed at people who have to do a LOT of date planning where it often involves dates way into the future or with specific constraints. 

 

I am simply offering a suggestion that many would agree is helpful and positive.  There's no reason to be obtuse in your reply.

No need to be obtuse, no need to play devil's advocate, my but you're a sensitive lad! 

34 minutes ago, simoh1490 said:

No need to be obtuse, no need to play devil's advocate, my but you're a sensitive lad! 

Just sayin, some people reply with nothing helpful or positive, and seem only intent on eliciting an emotional response with their negative and obviously inflammatory comments.  I guess they get a perverse pleasure from that, or maybe the only way they can feel good about themselves is to tear other people down. 

 

I'm sure it's well received by some of the trolls on this thread and will result in a few "likes" and "ha ha's" from them, but it's at the expense of everyone else who is simply here to share useful and pertinent information. 

19 minutes ago, Kohsamida said:

Just sayin, some people reply with nothing helpful or positive, and seem only intent on eliciting an emotional response with their negative and obviously inflammatory comments.  I guess they get a perverse pleasure from that, or maybe the only way they can feel good about themselves is to tear other people down. 

 

I'm sure it's well received by some of the trolls on this thread and will result in a few "likes" and "ha ha's" from them, but it's at the expense of everyone else who is simply here to share useful and pertinent information. 

 

And as a matter of fact I see you already got a few from a couple of the usual suspects I'm talking about, so congratulations on improving your comment count.

Lighten up dude and stop being so sensitive, jeeze, it's not the way you think it is!

 

You're pushing a technology solution, I'm playing devil's advocate with you on the use of technology versus the ability to think without it, there are many who can't do that today. Playing devil's advocate is not trolling nor tearing people down, it's causing them to think, being intelligently provocative to stimulate thought, if you haven't learned that much thus far your education in life has parts missing. So now you've turned the whole thing into an over sensitive downer it's not fun or stimulating any longer, I'm 

 

.....OUT.

15 minutes ago, simoh1490 said:

Lighten up dude and stop being so sensitive, jeeze, it's not the way you think it is!

 

You're pushing a technology solution, I'm playing devil's advocate with you on the use of technology versus the ability to think without it, there are many who can't do that today. Playing devil's advocate is not trolling nor tearing people down, it's causing them to think, being intelligently provocative to stimulate thought, if you haven't learned that much thus far your education in life has parts missing. So now you've turned the whole thing into an over sensitive downer it's not fun or stimulating any longer, I'm 

 

.....OUT.

Sorry, my comment was misdirected at you in last post; it was intended for another member who was obviously trying to mess with me as I described.  So, my apologies about the "comment count" remark; I retracted it .

 

I agree that playing devil's advocate can be a good thing that stimulates debate and greater understanding for all, but NOT when it's only intent is to incite an emotional response and nothing more.

 

I know this is off-topic for this thread but in light of honest debate, I disagree with you about "technology solutions".  I am not pushing a technology solution.  Smartphones are no longer cutting edge technology.  They are as much a part of our culture and everyday living as electricity, televisions sets, and landline telephones, and that is as true for a senior citizen as it is for a young kid.  So what's wrong with embracing the positive aspects of it? 

 

Not intending to be confrontational; just asking what's wrong with that?

The due day of your next 90 day report is printed on your receipt.You count back 15 days and record it on your calendar or whatever system you choose

 

You can then decide to report online,by mail or spend part of the day at Promenada.     I know.... its incredibly complicated.

3 minutes ago, Sparkles said:

The due day of your next 90 day report is printed on your receipt.You count back 15 days and record it on your calendar or whatever system you choose

 

You can then decide to report online,by mail or spend part of the day at Promenada.     I know.... its incredibly complicated.

Just curious; if you do your reporting online do you get an immediate confirmation (proof that it has been recorded by Imm) via email or SMS, or is it mailed to you by Thai Post.  If mailed, how long before you get it?

FYI, in the FAQ about 90-day reporting, it states that you need to have a copy of the previous paper that showed when you reported in and when you are next due. 

I went and did mine a few days ago and didn't have the paper. They didn't even ask about it. 

I promised a report on my visit to Immigration about two weeks ago for an annual extension.  This is for the benefit of those who are married with a dependent spouse who share the same extension date.   There was a change in procedure.  I post this chiefly for the benefit of those who might be seriously inconvenienced by reason of distance from home, banking, etc.

 

The rationale given for the following change is  "too many priority extensions" to process. 

 

Heretofore, when one spouse was eligible for priority service, the other went along concurrently, both extensions granted smoothly and easily together.  As of two weeks ago (See suggestion below), the ineligible spouse has to join the regular cue AND provide (a) new original bank letter (of other financial proof) of the sponsor, (b) FRESH appropropiately updated bankbook(s) --- if used --- (c) sponsor's passport, (d) a copy of sponsoring spouse's passport ID page, and (e) copy of the sponsor's new approved extension page, and (f) copy of marriage certificate.

 

There is a choice, however, of going through the regular queue line together, the sponsor preceding the dependent. Up to you.  In this case, two visits were needed since we arrived in the early afternoon for the first  (seeking priority) visit and the regular cue was already full for the day.

 

After all was said and done for both extensions, I spoke with the ranking supervising officer on duty as well as the processing officer explaining that such a policy, particularly for those coming from some distance from the office really could be a great inconvenience --- especially with no prior notice! The concern was noted, not ignored.  Whether there will be some change back to the old procedure I can only speculate.  In the meantime, if you fit the profile, be advised to plan accordingly.

 

Otherwise, both extensions went smoothly.  No particular waits in either case.  As others have reported, the extension business at Immigration has recently been rather slack.   

2 hours ago, Kohsamida said:

Just curious; if you do your reporting online do you get an immediate confirmation (proof that it has been recorded by Imm) via email or SMS, or is it mailed to you by Thai Post.  If mailed, how long before you get it?

I did an on-line 90 Day Report last week.

 

From memory it was about 1 day after submission/ acceptance by their system that I got an email advising me to log in to the immigration site and print off my 90 Day letter to keep in my passport.