ED visa for private lessons; also, traveling restrictions on ED visa?

[emb63]

Hi everyone, I am returning to Chiang Mai and would like to get more recent information about ED visas.

Just a little background: I was on an education visa for 3 months in 2010 through Chiang Mai University, during which I suffered the major meltdown of the entire Thai program there. The program was dissolved, and the 30,000 baht I had paid in instruction fees was stolen. To make matters worse, I had given my passport to them for extension a few days before the program dissolved, and was handed back my passport with a 21-day overstay for which I had to pay 10K baht (and potentially now have a black mark on my record in Thailand).

I would love to continue learning Thai, but I feel like I only want to take private lessons. Because of my previous experiences, I am somewhere between beginner and intermediate. I took private lessons when I lived in Vietnam and found it 100x better than studying in a classroom, since I learn languages very quickly and found it frustrating and boring to be held back by other students. Thus I believe that private instruction is a much better fit for me than group lessons.

Have you ever heard of anyone getting an ED visa with private lessons? Are the same number of hours required per week with private lessons (and what are those hours now—I keep hearing conflicting reports of 4 or 8)? Do you know of any schools offering this service? (The only one I saw online that might be doing it is Whalen, and it's $4000 US to do 200 hours of instruction, or $20 an hour, which seems crazy since I have seen many websites advertising regular private lessons for 250B per hour).

Also, what are the traveling restrictions if you're on an ED visa? I know you have to pay 1,000B to leave, but is it hard to get multiple permits? My boyfriend lives in Vietnam and I like to go visit him every few months for 2-4 weeks at a time. Would this make doing an ED visa impossible? Also, if I did private lessons or Skype lessons, do you would I be able to do more lessons during the time I'm in Thailand to make up for the fact that I'm going to be traveling a lot?

I don't see any other way to stay in Thailand besides doing an ED visa (I'm a digital nomad and already have work outside of Thailand). I already want to learn Thai and I'm happy to study so it seems like a good fit. However I'm scared that doing the visa will prevent me from having freedom to travel. Thoughts?

[sunnyjim5]

You should apply for a multiple entry tourist visa. This will allow as much travel as you wish for at least 6 months.

The visa will also permit you to undertake private Thai language tuition between your travels.

[lostinisaan]

You should apply for a multiple entry tourist visa. This will allow as much travel as you wish for at least 6 months.

The visa will also permit you to undertake private Thai language tuition between your travels.

And allows you to give Skype online lessons. Or not. Or both.

[bigt3116]

You should apply for a multiple entry tourist visa. This will allow as much travel as you wish for at least 6 months.

The visa will also permit you to undertake private Thai language tuition between your travels.

And allows you to give Skype online lessons. Or not. Or both.

A tourist visa does not allow any type of work when the holder is in Thailand.

[ubonjoe]

You could possibley get a multiple entry non-ed visa with documents from a school that would allow unlimited 90 day entries for a year. Whether you can get one would depend upon where you apply.

In order a get total stay of one year by getting a single entry non-ed visa and 90 day extensions at immigration requires enrollment in a course of study of 400 hours now.

[emb63]

You should apply for a multiple entry tourist visa. This will allow as much travel as you wish for at least 6 months.

The visa will also permit you to undertake private Thai language tuition between your travels.

I would love to, but I have not had 200,000B in my bank account for six months. I am also already in Asia and don't want to spend the money/time to go back to my home country (US). Does this leave me out of options besides ED?

[ubonjoe]

You could stay on a mixture of single entry tourist visas from nearby embassies and consulates and visa exempt entries dependent on your nationality.

You could get a re-entry permit for your trips out of the country to keep the 60 days entries and/or 30 day extensions of it valid that the tourist visa would allow.

[emb63]

You could stay on a mixture of single entry tourist visas from nearby embassies and consulates and visa exempt entries dependent on your nationality.

You could get a re-entry permit for your trips out of the country to keep the 60 days entries and/or 30 day extensions of it valid that the tourist visa would allow.

Thanks Joe, yes, this is the plan for the short term. ED visa is the plan for longer term. And with 400 hours a year required it seems like I will need to take a group class because the cost for private lessons would be astronomical.

[Cynical Sailor]

You could possibley get a multiple entry non-ed visa with documents from a school that would allow unlimited 90 day entries for a year. Whether you can get one would depend upon where you apply.

In order a get total stay of one year by getting a single entry non-ed visa and 90 day extensions at immigration requires enrollment in a course of study of 400 hours now.

In addition to Joe's advice, attendance of at least 70% is required to remain eligible for the Non-Ed visa. And yes, they do check.

The paperwork can be completed at your chosen school. Once the approval letter from the Ministry of Education is received you must then leave Thailand to apply for the visa. Vientiane in Laos is a convenient, cheap and (apparently) reliable place to get the visa.

[jacksam]

Forget the ED visa idea. Since your in ASIA already just obtain setv and continue doing so. You can extend these. You prob won't need to as you want to visit Vietnam often. You can book all your flights when cheap planned around your setv,s. You can peruse you thai language on your terms. There are many excellent private language teachers available.

Language aside there are many people living here using tourist visas. Also mix in as many visa exempt stamps you can obtain. Forget ed visa for your circumstances

[emb63]

Forget the ED visa idea. Since your in ASIA already just obtain setv and continue doing so. You can extend these. You prob won't need to as you want to visit Vietnam often. You can book all your flights when cheap planned around your setv,s. You can peruse you thai language on your terms. There are many excellent private language teachers available.

Language aside there are many people living here using tourist visas. Also mix in as many visa exempt stamps you can obtain. Forget ed visa for your circumstances

Thanks for your input. I'm now planning to do the tourist visa exempt/single-entry visas until the day comes where I want to be exclusively in Thailand for 6-12 months, in which case ED visa will be the way to go.

I guess my concern came from the fact that I read a lot on these boards about how difficult it's become to do extensive stays on tourist visas (at least compared to 2010 when I lived here before). I was under the impression that doing more than about 6 months this way was asking for trouble. But since the abolishment of the double-entry was so recent (and enforcement seems so inconsistent), I guess no one really knows how long it will take for shit to hit the fan anyway. At this point, going on vacation every couple months seems cheaper than any of the other visa options anyway!

Have you guys heard of anyone getting denied extensions at immigration because they had too many single-entry or visa exempt stamps?

[jacksam]

OP there have been reports of people being refused setv. Sometimes it's not clear why. Most likely is suspicion of working or insufficient funds. Also using the same boarder consulate for say more than 3 back to back setv.

Fact is there are MANY people living here using combination of setv and stamps. You could stay here for quite some time. Easy for you as you want to exit every couple of months