How much do you pay to get a thai residence certificate ?

[jeab1980]

26 minutes ago, KittenKong said:

 

Every year my retirement extension is renewed. I pay only the official fee for this (1900B) and it takes well under an hour to do, spread over two days. I also do my 90-day reporting in minutes for no charge. 

 

I fail to see why anyone should have to pay a variable bribe for other services when immigration are clearly capable of doing a proper job for the official fee when they want to.

 

I have nothing against them introducing a real official fee of a fixed and reasonable amount for providing this letter if they wish. Given that the retirement bank letter costs 100B from just about every bank, that seems like a reasonable price to pay for a residence certificate though of course even that is way over the top when calculated back into a percentage of the salary of the person doing it. The main point though is that the fee should be fixed and official, and not a bribe or graft.

 

Like many other illegal things, graft is simply wrong and no discussion or argument will ever make it right.

Firstly I was not referring specifically to Immigration as I have next to nothing to do with them. There are many government agencies that provide a variety of things I need to make my life here run smoothly as you will be aware. I have abl no quams whatsoever in helping to get these things done a lot quicker with a small gift freely given by myself. Faced with a three or four hrs wait or a couple of hundred bht and 30 mins I know which way I go. It's not illegal to give a tip for good service which is the way I see it. If your happy queuing and paying exactly to the bht that's your choice. I on the other hand dislike queuing and so far haven't had to.

Edited April 28, 2017 by jeab1980

[KittenKong]

7 hours ago, jeab1980 said:

Firstly I was not referring specifically to Immigration as I have next to nothing to do with them. There are many government agencies that provide a variety of things I need to make my life here run smoothly as you will be aware. I have abl no quams whatsoever in helping to get these things done a lot quicker with a small gift freely given by myself.

 

Well, this thread was specifically about immigration and the residence letter so my comments relate particularly to that.

 

I've lived here for many years and have only ever had contact with 3 government agencies.

 

1) The land transport people for my driving licence. I just join the queue and pay the official price. It doesnt take long and only happens once every five/six years anyway.

 

2) Immigration. One hour once a year as mentioned. Official price paid:1900B.

 

3) Income tax. Half an hour once a year. Free.

 

Apart from that I have never had any dealings with Thai authorities nor do I ever expect to. The only person who ever asked me for a graft payment, apart from Immigration for a residence certificate, was a policeman who stopped me for not wearing a seat belt. I refused to pay him and took the ticket instead. The ticket actually cost me less than the requested bribe.

 

Edit. Actually there was a fourth agency: the land office when I bought my condo. Official fee paid, receipt given, no graft, took an hour or two, most of which time I spent eating lunch. Also a one-off that probably will never be repeated.

Edited April 28, 2017 by KittenKong

[dentonian]

22 hours ago, JackThompson said:

I should like to point out, that in my passport-country, everything is "by the book" - so we must hire "well-connected lawyers" instead of "well-connected agents" and then pretend this is somehow "less corrupt" than other countries.  It isn't.  It's just that the corruption has been converted to "official" corruption, and costs the citizen 10x more. 

You mean they enforce the laws in your home Country, so you bring the costs on yourself.

 

22 hours ago, JackThompson said:

I'll happily pay a small-fine at the side of the road for some small thing,  rather than a court-date with corrupt judges, fees for corrupt lawyers, fines for corrupt city-officials, plus corrupt-insurance-company rate increases.  And it isn't as if our cops in my passport-country are any more professional for all this "officialization of corruption" we have there - quite the opposite, in fact.

And one reason why road death rates are so high in Thailand, because the laws aren't enforced.

 

 

[JackThompson]

3 hours ago, dentonian said:

You mean they enforce the laws in your home Country, so you bring the costs on yourself.

And one reason why road death rates are so high in Thailand, because the laws aren't enforced.

"Brought on ourselves"?  No, in my passport-country, it is just well-organized corruption right to the top, making it "legal" to rip us off.  You could argue we did not keep abreast of the corruption and fight it, but we don't even have an independent press to help keep people informed, any more.  And our leaders are not nationalists - so don't give a flip what happens to the citizenry / culture / nation in the long-run.

 

As to Thailand, you could make the case that actual dangerous driving is not enforced strictly enough here - that's a reasonable position.  But I hope "traffic tickets" don't become a primary source of revenue for local-governments, or that mandate will expand dramatically.  I've seen how that works out.

 

One thing I love about Thailand is the freedom people have to start a little business with next to nothing in capital and participate in the market.  Consider "street vendors."  It's amazing to me that lobbyists for 711 are not able to shut them all down with regulations. 

 

Perfect non-chaos with total-safety is a prison - the antithesis of freedom.  Finding a middle-ground is not easy.  Thailand may not be perfect (it is made up of humans, after all) but their place in that balance between freedom and chaos is much better than any other place I have lived.  As part of that balance, I'll take that 500 Baht residence certificate fee over my embassy's "legal" fees, any day.

[KittenKong]

12 hours ago, dentonian said:

And one reason why road death rates are so high in Thailand, because the laws aren't enforced.

 

Absolutely. If the lousy drivers were jailed or banned, as they would be in the West, then Thai roads would be a lot safer. Here they just pay a bribe and carry on as before.

 

And of course the same applies to 90% of all types of criminal here. Pay a bribe and just carry on doing whatever it was.

Edited April 29, 2017 by KittenKong

[KittenKong]

8 hours ago, JackThompson said:

 

Perfect non-chaos with total-safety is a prison - the antithesis of freedom. 

 

Only for people who want to do something illegal. Personally I dont.

 

 

8 hours ago, JackThompson said:

One thing I love about Thailand is the freedom people have to start a little business with next to nothing in capital and participate in the market.

 

Try the UK. Anyone can set up a business there even more cheaply and easily than they can here. And I wont even start on things like property purchase, which is 100% open to all and cheap to do in the UK, yet very expensive and restricted here. Dont forget the lese majeste laws, and the absolutely draconian (and quite appalling) defamation laws, all of which would be unthinkable in most Western countries.

Thailand is basically a very restrictive country but the many rules are applied erratically, and most can be circumvented by bribes. This should not be confused with freedom.

 

 

8 hours ago, JackThompson said:

As part of that balance, I'll take that 500 Baht residence certificate fee over my embassy's "legal" fees, any day.

 

That is not the issue. The embassy fixes its price and publishes it and gives you a receipt. It's all 100% above board. The immigration letter is just a nasty scam. As I pointed out several times, if a proper fee was introduced then the letter would probably cost 100B or so, which is fine by me. Even 500B would be fine by me as long as it's a proper official fee with an official receipt and not graft.

[jeab1980]

8 hours ago, KittenKong said:

 

Absolutely. If the lousy drivers were jailed or banned, as they would be in the West, then Thai roads would be a lot safer. Here they just pay a bribe and carry on as before.

 

And of course the same applies to 90% of all types of criminal here. Pay a bribe and just carry on doing whatever it was.

But we are not in the west thank goodness. I wish people would stop harping on about the west this the west that. You moved here no one twisted your arm or put a gun to your head and moved you. Leave the west behind there laws are not Thailand laws. Yes there's a lot wrong here but let the Thais deal with it slowly slowly chaci monkey as the saying goes. 

[phutoie2]

On 28/04/2017 at 3:00 PM, Siambrit said:

 

When I got the letter of residency from the amphur the wife just showed the tabein baan (blue book). I guess you could take along a utility bill or other letter with your name and address on it if your applying on your own.

Sent from my SM-G610F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app
 

 

I also live in Phetchabun province and the form in my case is issued by the towns Tessabaan. It is a proof of address for foreigners married to Thais, ie Myanmar citizens etc.  I had to show passport, marriage certificate and wife's ID card, Tabianbaan. The letter they gave me was free, it was all written in Thai, including  numerals. 

In my case I used it for renewing a Thai 5 year driving licence. 

Edited April 30, 2017 by phutoie2
error

[dentonian]

2 hours ago, jeab1980 said:

But we are not in the west thank goodness. I wish people would stop harping on about the west this the west that. You moved here no one twisted your arm or put a gun to your head and moved you. Leave the west behind there laws are not Thailand laws. Yes there's a lot wrong here but let the Thais deal with it slowly slowly chaci monkey as the saying goes. 

Thais rarely tip or willing pay bribes, so where does your practice come from...........the West.

[dentonian]

1 hour ago, phutoie2 said:

I also live in Phetchabun province and the form in my case is issued by the towns Tessabaan. It is a proof of address for foreigners married to Thais, ie Myanmar citizens etc.  I had to show passport, marriage certificate and wife's ID card, Tabianbaan. The letter they gave me was free, it was all written in Thai, including  numerals. 

In my case I used it for renewing a Thai 5 year driving licence. 

Why didn't you use it to get a Tabien Baan?

[jeab1980]

2 hours ago, dentonian said:

Thais rarely tip or willing pay bribes, so where does your practice come from...........the West.

No not at all my practise comes from Asia and other countries. Quite a common practise to tip for good service. Plus I belive your post is screwed slightly Thais rarley pay bribes LOL. Open your eyes. 

[dentonian]

5 hours ago, dentonian said:

Thais rarely tip or willing pay bribes, so where does your practice come from...........the West.

 

2 hours ago, jeab1980 said:

No not at all my practise comes from Asia and other countries. Quite a common practise to tip for good service. Plus I belive your post is screwed slightly Thais rarley pay bribes LOL. Open your eyes. 

So does mine, I can assure you it is not normal to tip in Asian Countries by their citizens.

The Chinese can be offended by tipping. They're proud people.

My Thai g/f never tips, nor receives tips in her business, except from foreigners.

 

I never said corruption wasn't common place in Thailand, I said Thais 'unwillingly' pay bribes, which you omitted from my context.

[Tom9999]

On 26/04/2017 at 9:01 AM, Wallander4 said:

Worst Immigration in Thailand ( Chiang Mai ) want 500B also even tho sign state its for free ...

 

Go to another Bangkok Bank branch - I only had to show passport to open account there

The Bank might accept as well your Thai Drivers license...

[jeab1980]

25 minutes ago, dentonian said:

 

So does mine, I can assure you it is not normal to tip in Asian Countries by their citizens.

The Chinese can be offended by tipping. They're proud people.

My Thai g/f never tips, nor receives tips in her business, except from foreigners.

 

I never said corruption wasn't common place in Thailand, I said Thais 'unwillingly' pay bribes, which you omitted from my context.

Sorry were did you say unwillingly? My Thai wife often tips in restaurants and the like. So do a lot of my Thai friends. So sorry but you are not correct about Asian and tipping. 

Edited April 30, 2017 by jeab1980

[dentonian]

14 minutes ago, jeab1980 said:

Sorry were did you say unwillingly? My Thai wife often tips in restaurants and the like. So do a lot of my Thai friends. So sorry but you are not correct about Asian and tipping. 

Read my original post. It was 'willingly', not unwilling' I originally stated, apologies.

 

I bet she never tipped before you married, they learned it from western practices, not their culture.

[jeab1980]

14 minutes ago, dentonian said:

Read my original post. It was 'willingly', not unwilling' I originally stated, apologies.

 

I bet she never tipped before you married, they learned it from western practices, not their culture.

You are not correct I have asked her about tipping before she has tipped for good service from starting work as do her friends.