Central Scrutinizer Posted October 3, 2006 Report Share Posted October 3, 2006 Point? Search me. I can't figure out what the hell they are shooting for with this stuff. It can't be to make money, because the dumb shits could be making plenty more by letting us do our visa renewals in country for the same cost as stepping out of the country. Every 90 days I need to step into Cambodia and pay the Khmer 1,000 baht and then walk back into Thailand (at no cost). Whereas the Thais could just stamp my 1 year Imm O marriage visa every 90 days at the nearest Immigration office and charge me 1,000 baht that would go into Thailand's public coffers instead of in to Cambodia's, or Laos', or Burma's, etc. It makes no sense economically. So as you say, what is their real purpose? If it is all about keeping foreigners from working here on tourist and VOA visas, well, that is just bullshit. As it stands now, anyone can come here on a 90 day tourist visa, and then extend another 90 days on back-to-back VOA tourist visas. For 6 months. A quick flight back home, grab another 90 day tourist visa, and back for another 6 months. Still working your bar, or teaching English, or whatever it is the Thais don't want these people doing. Silly buggers. They've made it more difficult, but hardly impossible to do. But, I do notice they've not done anything much to discourage the Thai companies themselves from hiring people without work permits or proper visas. When will there be a big crackdown on these schools? When will these Thais be fined and jailed for hiring illegals? Never, I'd fancy to hazard a guess. But then there are rumors going around of a crackdown on the schools soon as well. Let's hope so. Cent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cavanami Posted October 3, 2006 Report Share Posted October 3, 2006 ...But if you go from bank branch to bank branch, it is almost guaranteed that you will eventually find one that will let you open a deposit. I went to 4 different banks and got 4 different answers when I opened my bank account. One bank said they could open the account but I may have all the money confiscated in 6 months by the government as the account would be "illegal". NICE!!! NOT!!!!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cavanami Posted October 3, 2006 Report Share Posted October 3, 2006 So foreigners from eligible countries can stay on tourist / 30 day transit visa combos ad infinitum? (30+30+30+90+30+30+30+90 etc?) The only difference would be those previously using 30 day transits only now have to include a Penang type visa run every three months? Whatâ??s the point? It appears that the point is all about $$$. Now a visa run will cost more, for the travel and to pay $125 or whatever it is for the Thai visa. Doing the 30 runs, you paid 0 for the 30 visa on arrival, so Thailand will cash in a little. Also, if they are "forcing" a person into other visa options, then they will be looking for tax $$$ at the end of the year? The $$$ in the bank account get 15% tax pulled on the interest automatically. In the end, it is all about $$$. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cardinalblue Posted October 3, 2006 Report Share Posted October 3, 2006 I don't think it is all about money because in the end they will lose many people trying to stay here in one fashion or another... It is the same mentality of "we need to raise beer prices because there are less people coming.." If it was about money, they would make it simple and have incentives to stay in their country; it is just the opposite - having many barriers to figure out how to stay or visit... The main problem is that these people don't have clear objectives on what they are trying to do..So with a nebuous understanding of what they want or don't want, they end up with poorly designed objectives and it will be worse as the people asked to enforce them will experience frusration because each case will be different when they will have to add up number of days and number of visits while the person is trying to explain their case... A really mess has been designed and the worse yet will be the implementation of a mess.. CB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
limbo Posted October 3, 2006 Report Share Posted October 3, 2006 Cent, One reason given was that they want to get rid of a lot 'rif raf'. Apparently at the border they can't check if you're on a blacklist but the Embassies/Consulates can. So every 90 days you're required to register with such an Embassy or Consulate. It was stated that this law was not against English teachers, dive instructors, bar owners etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cavanami Posted October 3, 2006 Report Share Posted October 3, 2006 TIT What you say is logically correct...but "their" dim view of things, they "think" they will make more $$$ I do not want to think about the implementation...the poor immi official, trying to sort out what the hey is going on??? In the end, the "tourist" will lose, Thailand will lose, the average Joe Thai person will lose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.. Posted October 3, 2006 Report Share Posted October 3, 2006 The so called married manâ??s visa. This allows the foreign, legal spouse of a Thai national to extend a non-immigrant visa for up to 12 months from the date of the last entry into Thailand. The minimum cash in a Thai bank is 400,000 baht. As with the retirement variant, checks will be made in future to ensure that the cash is not simply put in a bank and then removed. This visa is issued in Bangkok only... Interesting. I haved always gotten mine from the LA Consulate. But then again, I could only stay 90 days, but the visa was good for one year. So now they are saying that you cannot do this anymore and that the visa I had (90 day stay) is now not available? And it seems that owning (or at least co-owning) millions of baht in property does not allow me to gain access to the country. Pretty fucked up, so far... Cheers, SD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Central Scrutinizer Posted October 3, 2006 Report Share Posted October 3, 2006 Suadum, "to extend a non-immigrant visa for up to 12 months from the date of the last entry into Thailand" I think this means 'if you try to get a year extension on your original one year Imm O marriage visa while in Thailand'. It shouldn't be a problem if you go back home when your year is up and get another Imm O in the west/where ever. At least this is how I am reading it. Go to Thailand from the home country with an Imm O and stay one year with the 90 day 'step outside the country' renewal. But if you try to renew for a year while still in Thailand you need to show/leap the 'extra' hurdles to get another year renewal. I hope that is what they are saying anyway. Cent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dumsoda Posted October 3, 2006 Report Share Posted October 3, 2006 I'm confused !! But it's not hard to confuse me. My passport shows 10 or 11 "visits" so far this year. As I figure it, if I'm barred for 90 days there will be 2 "Very" unhappy people....but at least My Bank Manager will be smiling Cheers DS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gadfly Posted October 3, 2006 Report Share Posted October 3, 2006 I went to 4 different banks and got 4 different answers when I opened my bank account.One bank said they could open the account but I may have all the money confiscated in 6 months by the government as the account would be "illegal". This is why I think the Bank of Thailand has not rescinded its 'no work permit = no bank account" rule. The rule is totally impractical, and it creates this sort of confusion. This isn't a change, but it's rule that I have never liked. Even if you have a permanent residency status, you still need to separately qualify for a work permit. In other words, you don't have to ever do a visa run or whatever and you can stay here forever, but you may not be permitted to work so that you can eat, pay for a place to live, support your family (if you have one, and while I don't, most foreigners with this status do) and basically support yourself while you live. Work permit rules change all of the time and that could change so that you are no longer entitled to work here even though you have been legally working here and paying taxes for the past, say, 10 years or so. This is pretty much unique to Thailand, and no official has ever come up with any policy rational for the rule. Part of the problem is that the Immigration Department and Labour Department are in totally separate ministries. There is a one stop shop that brings officials from these two branches of the government together in one place, but each department still develops and applies its own set of regulations based on its own agendas and these two separate departments don't coordinate with each other when developing these regulations. The other part of the problem is that legitimate policy goals (e.g., getting Farangs who live here to pay tax, keeping out criminals) get mixed in, or more likely used as a cloak to justify, exenophobic protectionist measures. I guess a bit of this happens everywhere, but Thailand seems to excel in this area. I was hoping that Thailand will adopt reasonable policies in this area, but I was hoping for too much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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