Saga of the tabien ban (Yellow book).

[phinick]

Now that it's over it seems funny, but was very frustrating at the time.

I decided that I would like to get a yellow book in order to show my permanence in Thailand in the event I may need it for some financial, or other transaction, so off I went with my wife to our local ampur, in Huai Thap Tan, Sisaket,  where they told me that I would first have to get a letter from immigration, so off we went to immigration (80 km round trip).  There I was told that I would have to take my passport and pictures to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Bkk to get all of the paperwork that would be necessary for the ampur, and to have them certified at the American Embassy.

 

No problem, had my wife take me to the Ubon Ratchathani airport (220 km round trip), and I flew to Bkk, and got a room since I thought I could make a mini vacation of it.  Got an early check in, and caught a taxi for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs across town.  The taxi left me there, and after waiting in line I was told that immigration had told me wrong, and I should take another taxi to Ministry of Consular Affairs.  I arrived there and waited a couple of hours in line, was given the papers, and told that my papers would all have to be trainslated and then noterized by the American Embassy, but their translation service would not be available for four more days.  There were touts running around offering translation service outside of that building, and one found me, and said that he would have my 3 pages finished in about 1 hour for 900 baht, and return to me.  Well, it took about 2 1/2 hours, and I got back in a taxi to get to the American Embassy to complete my paperwork.  It was now about 1600 and the traffic was terrible, so the taxi driver suggested that he take me to a skytrain station, and it would be faster.  O.K.  skytrain to Chitlom, and a motorbike taxi to the Embassy.  I ran up to the window and was informed that it was 1703, and they were now closed, so would have t come back tomorrow.

 

Came back the next morning, and was told that I could not come in because I did not have an appointment, and the next appointment was tuesday. (it was now Friday).  It was suggested that I return home and make an appointment online, and return.

 

Made the appointment for 2 weeks hence, and then another flight to BKK.  Got to the Embassy with my appointment letter, and after about an hour had everything done for $50. USD per page, and got a taxi back to Ministry of Consular Affairs.  I paid them filing fees plus an additional 60 baht for them to mail everything to my home.  Wonderful, now I'm finished...........not so fast stupid farang.

 

A few days later after returning home, I received a large envelope from the ministry informing me that some of the pages were not translated properly.  We then contacted a translation service in BKK that we had used before and they send to send them all of the paperwork with enough money, and they would translate everything properly, and take care of everything with the Ministry.  We sent them the paperwork and money, and yes, they did as promised, and a week or so later we got everything we needed (so we thought) for the ampur.

 

Off we went to the ampur where they informed us that we needed another paper from immigration, again stating where I lived, and more pictures, so another trip was made.  Next morning went back to the ampur where we were kept waiting for 2 hours and then told to return the next morning with witnesses to sign for me.  Then next morning we returned with my MIL, SIL, BIL, and a neighbor.  We were kept waiting 5 hours while they produced the papers my witnesses were to sign, and we were told to call the next morning to make sure it was ready.  When my wife called, she was told that the witnesses needed to return to sign another paper.  We returned the next day, witnesses signed, and we waited to get the book.  After being there for 6 hours we were told that we should go home (it was now Friday) and we should call Monday morning to see if ready.  Called Monday, not ready yet.  Nothing Tuesday, and then Wednesday morning they called and said my wife needed to sign one more paper and they would have the yellow book.

 

We went back to the ampur, and after waiting 3 more hours, we had the tabien bahn farang.  The total time spent at the ampur was a little over 15 hours and spread out for 8 days.

 

To me this whole experience seemed more than ridiculous, even by Thai standards, and I was wondering what others had to do to get their yellow book.

[Clamhua]

Wow!! I admire your patience and determination to succeed in getting your yellow book...most would have put it into the top hard basket

[Lamkyong]

Fortunately  i applied for mine maybe a year ago  all that was required was my marriage certificate  wifes blue book and accompanied along with the village head man to certify that i actually was living  where i claimed  i live in Muang Kalasin 

 

i have heard /read  recently that different Amperes  do require  a selection of documentation  ,i certainly admire your determination/perseverance

 

about how much do you think you spent to achieve  your goal ??  

[KhunBENQ]

Day 1:

Drive to Amphoe with wife, passport and marriage documents (marriage had been registered years ago).

Being told to translate passport and birthday certificate at some local translator.

(birthday certificate for name of father/mother).

Out after about 1/2 hour.

Drove 30 km to neighboring district town.

Got translations done for about 1000 Baht or so.

No official stamps or whatever, just an "acknowledged" translator.

 

Day 2:

Drive to Amphoe (see day1).

Show translations.

Little to no questions asked (wife asked my to shut down ).

Fist attempt to print failed, book to the bin.

Second attempt OK.

Out in less than an hour with YB.

 

Yes I know that was quite lucky.

I think I would have given when being pointed to Bangkok, MFA etc.

 

The hard job was long ago (about in 2000)  in registering marriage in Denmark with Thai administration. Quite a hassle.

 

Edited August 31, 2016 by KhunBENQ

[Peterw42]

There was a thread running last week about new ID cards, and a guy in that thread was saying how he got a  yellow book with a tourist visa and his GF blue book. No two offices are the same.

[worgeordie]

They seem to be making everything more difficult for us Farangs,

with new regulations from the Government, and Immigration making

up their own as they go along.

Lucky I got mine few years ago with very little fuss,then it was handy

as you could use it to obtain free treatment in State Hospitals.but that

only lasted a couple of years.

regards worgeordie

[Pib]

Around 8 years ago when the Thai wife and I arrived to retire in Thailand I wanted to get a Yellow Book since I figure it would make some things easier to do while living in Thailand like opening bank accounts, buying vehicles, and other stuff.  I came here on a retirement O-A Visa and been doing annual retirement extension of stays since.

 

We had already bought our home in Bangkok during a couple weeks visit about 9 months earlier.  So, we arrived and moved straight into our house which only had a few sticks of basic furniture we had bought when finalizing the buy.  For the next few months we are basically buying a lot of household goods,  basically running around buying stuff, waiting for our household shipment to arrive, opening up new accounts like bank accounts, buying a new vehicle, etc.

 

During the vehicle buying process at a close-by Toyota Dealership the car salesman took a liking to us and we had told him how I wanted to get a Yellow Book.  We bought the vehicle during our first two weeks of arriving.  The salesman took the wife and I to the local amphur/khet office and between the wife and him signing documents in support of me getting the Yellow Book, I got the book in about 3 hours within 2 weeks of arriving Thailand. 

 

Now the amphur/khet office did require the wife's Blue Book, our marriage certificate which I had in the original Thai language and the translation to English from decades earlier, and other docs like my passport, etc. But I didn't have to go get anything translated/certified by some other Thai govt agency or my home country embassy.    And the cost was only around 20  baht for some office administration processing fee.

 

In my case getting a Yellow Book was easy and fast.   But everyone's results will vary from easy to extremely hard to just failure.  A lot depends on your local office that issues the Yellow Book.  

 

And a couple weeks ago I got my pink ID card which uses the Yellow Book's number.  About six months ago when asking the same office I got the Yellow Book at about getting the pink ID card and pointing out I had a Yellow Book it was a "No Way Jose" type answer.  But when following up/asking again last month something seemed to change and the answer was sure since I had a Yellow Book. Went to the office to get a pink ID card and 20 minutes and a 60 baht fee later I walked out with my pink ID card.

 

Yeap, everyone's results will vary when trying do certain things in Thailand like opening a bank account, getting a Yellow Book, getting a pink ID card,  etc.  And a lot depends on the "local office/agency" you have to deal with as standardization of policies/rules which may appeared standardized on paper but in reality the actual implementation of the policies/rules seems to vary greatly.   

 

 

[swissie]

The yellow "Tabien Baan" is useful, when it comes to acquire a Thai Drivers License. Otherwise it is of no further beneficial use for a Farang. Especially is it of no benefit, when the goal is to secure some "property-rights".

Cheers. 

[Happy Grumpy]

1 hour ago, Peterw42 said:

There was a thread running last week about new ID cards, and a guy in that thread was saying how he got a  yellow book with a tourist visa and his GF blue book. No two offices are the same.

 

 

No true.

 

 

No two officers are the same. 

[Jujus]

13 minutes ago, swissie said:

The yellow "Tabien Baan" is useful, when it comes to acquire a Thai Drivers License. Otherwise it is of no further beneficial use for a Farang. Especially is it of no benefit, when the goal is to secure some "property-rights".

Cheers. 

Well, it simplifies some procedures as you can use your 13 digits Tabien Baan number instead of your passport number in all official documents. It becomes your local ID number. The same goes with a blue Tabien Baan if you are a Permanent Resident, to an even stronger extent.

[Boon Mee]

8 hours ago, swissie said:

The yellow "Tabien Baan" is useful, when it comes to acquire a Thai Drivers License. Otherwise it is of no further beneficial use for a Farang. .

Cheers. 

Mee shy.

 

It's also useful for getting the Thai fee at National Parks.  Taking out phone contracts etc.

I received mine several years ago after going toe to toe with the local Amphur Paalaat (Deputy Sheriff)

It was the first one she had ever issued and it took several 'sit-downs' with her before it was granted.  The usual - marriage cert, house blue book were required but absolutely nothing concerning Immigration - two separate entities.

Edited September 1, 2016 by Boon Mee

[macster44]

 

I was fortunate to get mine near Samut Sakhon at the local Amphur.   Here on a tourist visa. Presented blue book, one witness.

approx 4 hours out the door...no fee.  Bought the girls who were doing the paperwork a 12 pack of Yakult and a smile from me.

I am single with a thai partner and no other papers were requested.  I feel very fortunate !!

 

macster

[muzmurray]

14 hours ago, phinick said:

I decided that I would like to get a yellow book in order to show my permanence  address in Thailand

 

14 hours ago, phinick said:

we had the tabien bahn farang alien/foreigner

 

:-)

[Peterw42]

7 minutes ago, macster44 said:

 

I was fortunate to get mine near Samut Sakhon at the local Amphur.   Here on a tourist visa. Presented blue book, one witness.

approx 4 hours out the door...no fee.  Bought the girls who were doing the paperwork a 12 pack of Yakult and a smile from me.

I am single with a thai partner and no other papers were requested.  I feel very fortunate !!

 

macster

 

I dont know how you did that, I lived a Samut Sahkon and the amphur wanted birth certificate, letter from consulate etc, translated into Thai. 

[arithai12]

I got mine with the help of an agent. I don't remember how much I paid to the agent, but I don't think it was much. She told me exactly what documents I had to produce, and took care of everything else. We went together to the local city office, and I was called to pick it up about a month later.

 

I have found the yellow book to be useful every time I had to proof my residence here.

[Boon Mee]

Another useful aspect of the Tabien Ban Leung is the ability to obtain the Gold Card - depending on your local Government Hospital that is.

Mine accepts it but I've since heard some government hospitals are not issuing it to the Farang but you know how that goes.  Nothing is written in stone in this country.

[Lamkyong]

8 minutes ago, Boon Mee said:

Another useful aspect of the Tabien Ban Leung is the ability to obtain the Gold Card - depending on your local Government Hospital that is.

Mine accepts it but I've since heard some government hospitals are not issuing it to the Farang but you know how that goes.  Nothing is written in stone in this country.

 

please explain THE GOLD CARD thanks

[Boon Mee]

1 minute ago, Lamkyong said:

 

please explain THE GOLD CARD thanks

It's not really a card as such anymore but at my government hospital it's a laminated  document that shows my 'details' as they apply to receiving care.  No longer the 30 baht deal although the doctor's fee is waived but you pay for the Rx.

[colinneil]

I do not understand why so many farangs have such massive hurdles to jump when applying for the yellow book.

I got mine over 3 years ago at local amphur (Banphai).

Wife and myself went in, saw the boss lady. Wifes id, bluebook, my passport, marriage paper, mothers name, fathers name.

Job done in maybe 20 minutes, easy so very easy.

Walked out with my yellow book.

[Thaimike370]

I asked my wife about a yellow book one evening, next day she went to work, when she returned in the evening, she had my yellow book.  No problem.

She is worth her weight in gold!

[Lamkyong]

1 minute ago, Thaimike370 said:

I asked my wife about a yellow book one evening, next day she went to work, when she returned in the evening, she had my yellow book.  No problem.

She is worth her weight in gold!

 

i presume your wife is employed by one of the many government departments in your area ??

[maoro2013]

All I needed was a form 'alien resident in thailand' from Korat. I think my wife would have provided some evidence of our address, her blue book most likely. We had to make a return trip the next day back to Korat to pick up the form which was sent to Bangkok and back overnight. Koran is 170 kms from home but all in all worked well.

 

The amphur accepted the form without question and we left with the yellow book in 15 minutes.

[TerryLH]

"It's not really a card as such anymore but at my government hospital it's a laminated  document that shows my 'details' as they apply to receiving care.  No longer the 30 baht deal although the doctor's fee is waived but you pay for the Rx."

 

That sounds like the regular hospital card that anyone would get when registering to use a hospital.  The number on it tells the staff where to find your file.  

What it looks like will vary from hospital to hospital, but the purpose is the same.

[MikeyIdea]

10 hours ago, swissie said:

The yellow "Tabien Baan" is useful, when it comes to acquire a Thai Drivers License. Otherwise it is of no further beneficial use for a Farang. Especially is it of no benefit, when the goal is to secure some "property-rights".

Cheers. 

 

Not quite. It is also very useful because you can be made Chao baan of your condo or the house you live in

 

And it is a document that all Thai's know of and accept, except for the lovely colour of course

[Paul Laycock]

Same as Colinniel, no problems at all, had it now for over 10years.

[Bangkok Barry]

I've managed to live here for nearly 25 years without it, and your experience doesn't encourage me to change that.

[louse1953]

16 hours ago, Clamhua said:

Wow!! I admire your patience and determination to succeed in getting your yellow book...most would have put it into the top hard basket

All this for something that is next to useless.Better off paying the letter of residence occasionally.I can't even get past the "must be married"bs.

[louse1953]

11 hours ago, Pib said:

Around 8 years ago when the Thai wife and I arrived to retire in Thailand I wanted to get a Yellow Book since I figure it would make some things easier to do while living in Thailand like opening bank accounts, buying vehicles, and other stuff.  I came here on a retirement O-A Visa and been doing annual retirement extension of stays since.

 

We had already bought our home in Bangkok during a couple weeks visit about 9 months earlier.  So, we arrived and moved straight into our house which only had a few sticks of basic furniture we had bought when finalizing the buy.  For the next few months we are basically buying a lot of household goods,  basically running around buying stuff, waiting for our household shipment to arrive, opening up new accounts like bank accounts, buying a new vehicle, etc.

 

During the vehicle buying process at a close-by Toyota Dealership the car salesman took a liking to us and we had told him how I wanted to get a Yellow Book.  We bought the vehicle during our first two weeks of arriving.  The salesman took the wife and I to the local amphur/khet office and between the wife and him signing documents in support of me getting the Yellow Book, I got the book in about 3 hours within 2 weeks of arriving Thailand. 

 

Now the amphur/khet office did require the wife's Blue Book, our marriage certificate which I had in the original Thai language and the translation to English from decades earlier, and other docs like my passport, etc. But I didn't have to go get anything translated/certified by some other Thai govt agency or my home country embassy.    And the cost was only around 20  baht for some office administration processing fee.

 

In my case getting a Yellow Book was easy and fast.   But everyone's results will vary from easy to extremely hard to just failure.  A lot depends on your local office that issues the Yellow Book.  

 

And a couple weeks ago I got my pink ID card which uses the Yellow Book's number.  About six months ago when asking the same office I got the Yellow Book at about getting the pink ID card and pointing out I had a Yellow Book it was a "No Way Jose" type answer.  But when following up/asking again last month something seemed to change and the answer was sure since I had a Yellow Book. Went to the office to get a pink ID card and 20 minutes and a 60 baht fee later I walked out with my pink ID card.

 

Yeap, everyone's results will vary when trying do certain things in Thailand like opening a bank account, getting a Yellow Book, getting a pink ID card,  etc.  And a lot depends on the "local office/agency" you have to deal with as standardization of policies/rules which may appeared standardized on paper but in reality the actual implementation of the policies/rules seems to vary greatly.   

 

 

I have had little problem opening bank accounts,that is what a passport is for.They either want your biz or not.Can't see a yellow book helping,it just confirms where you live.

[rawhod]

1 hour ago, colinneil said:

I do not understand why so many farangs have such massive hurdles to jump when applying for the yellow book.

I got mine over 3 years ago at local amphur (Banphai).

Wife and myself went in, saw the boss lady. Wifes id, bluebook, my passport, marriage paper, mothers name, fathers name.

Job done in maybe 20 minutes, easy so very easy.

Walked out with my yellow book.

 

I have tried four time to get a Yellow Tabian Baan at our district office (Kweng) at Nong Hoi, Chiang Mai, and have now given up.

 

The Boss Man has issued YTB's before to condo owners, so he knows what to do. He even showed us his file and I had my hands on a blank YTB, but no joy.

 

He kept changing the requirements at each attempt.

- if you were married

We married

- need 4 witnesses rather than 2

Sorted out 4 witnesses

- need one witness to be a government employee

 

Finally he said that if we had children he could issue one...

[louse1953]

10 hours ago, Jujus said:

Well, it simplifies some procedures as you can use your 13 digits Tabien Baan number instead of your passport number in all official documents. It becomes your local ID number. The same goes with a blue Tabien Baan if you are a Permanent Resident, to an even stronger extent.

Well my passport is only 7 digits and one letter,so a lot easier,especially to remember.Is your 13 digits committed to memory?