"Who else do they deal with? I haven't seen too many African or Japanese expats in HH! If it wasn't for us, they wouldn't have a job! "
Quite right and you bloody well tell them so next time you are there,do us all a favour .Slack idiots obviously fail to realise they are part of the Empire !
Take the inquisition with you as well .I am sure I saw one with a dodgy looking wart last time I was there .In the meantime the rest of us can start robbing banks and drug dealing to give the police something to do .I didn't pay my national insurance contributions to put up with this nonsense !
Fair enough, SJ, hadn't quite taken the point there. So dealing with a farang passport is OK as long as the farang himself isn't around? Hmm. Like so many other aspects of life in Thailand, all I can say is that in 5 years I must have been in immigration, tax and employment offices in Bangkok, HH and Samui at least 20-30 times and haven't had a problem yet that I couldn't deal with myself. Of course I could have paid a Thai 'agent' to do it for me at considerable expense, but I suspect I'd have been told on more than one occasion that there was a problem only a little present could solve.
I suppose it's all a question of horses for courses - what you're applying for, how straightforward it is, how patient you are, etc., but until I have reason to believe otherwise I'll stick to relying on myself.
"Who else do they deal with? I haven't seen too many African or Japanese expats in HH! If it wasn't for us, they wouldn't have a job! "
Quite right and you bloody well tell them so next time you are there,do us all a favour .Slack idiots obviously fail to realise they are part of the Empire !
Take the inquisition with you as well .I am sure I saw one with a dodgy looking wart last time I was there .In the meantime the rest of us can start robbing banks and drug dealing to give the police something to do .I didn't pay my national insurance contributions to put up with this nonsense !
I wasn't talking about someone who does not have any problems but those that do. There is no considerable expense.
I'm just trying to advise those out there that have problems that if they more-or-less meet the criteria then a Thai agent who has previous experience/contacts at Immigration/Land office/Work Permit Dept in Prachuap etc, can resolve sticking points for you.
When I was working in Indonesia where you had exactly the same sort of immigration and work permit problems, the company I was working for used agents all the time purely because of the time it saved.
It just didn’t make sense to have western salaried employees wasting hours at these bureaucratic functions when you could pay a local to do it for you.
I also get the feeling that they don't like dealing with foreigners, which kind of defeats the purpose of an immigration department - its like having a pilot that's afraid of flying!
I went with a Thai work colleague and although my Thai is pretty damn good (by my own standards ) and I was well presented (which is a rarity for me ) they ignored me and spoke only with him. Of course I understood the lot and often answered before he could - it made for a strange three way conversation.
SJ has a good suggestion, get a Thai agent to handle it, things can be so much smoother. Even if you're smart, fluent, and have been extending the same visa over and over for years they'll still make your life difficult if they want to.
Who is the happier man, he who has braved the storm of life and lived or he who has stayed securely on shore and merely existed? - Hunter S Thompson
Last year I overstayed by a month due to me being a total muppet and getting June and July mixed up. As my visa run out I was also then working without a WP. I thought I would be in big do-do but the girl sorted it all out and I didn't even have to go to Immigration at all. Fine for overstay, no fine for WP.
These agents do seem to be able to get things passed that we hit a wall with.
crazy88 wrote:Dress smart,smile,be nice,make conservation,make them laugh,do not try to tell them their own rules whether you are correct or not .
Crazy 88
Absolutely,spot on ! I recently got my 12 month extension so when I do my 90 day reports I'll take along some chocolates or beer Changs just for them to get to know me favourably.
OK lads and lasses I have been to HH immigration and got back home to BKK in about the same time it took yesterday sitting in the BKK office
For a little prospective on the thing,
6hrs waiting in BKK and even if it had been completed that wait would have still been there.
HH in and finished in half an hour and the seats are comfortable compared to the hard variety in BKK.
HH did exactly as they said they would do previously, no new forms bank account details were all they wanted to see.
No extra cost asked for, the 1900b paid last time was all.
From this visit I cant ask for more than that.
However I believe it was them that created the problem on my last visit by insisting my money be in a savings acc only, but that is now in the past and something to be learnt from.
I dont go along with the gifts (bribery) bit it only encourages them to start expecting presents and there will come a time when they wont do anything without it.
The policy now is decentralisation and the rational for it is "the shorter the chain of command the quicker things will get done" there is a sign in the BKK office that says so.
So each office is now a seperate entity that interprets the rules in their own way this might be fine as long as they are consistant but it leaves no higher power for anyone on this side of the table to go to if they feel they have been done.
As for agents: I know someone in HH who has been paying an agent? (who has a good friend in IMM) between 20kb and 30kb, sometimes more, every 3 months for the last 3 years to get a visa he was not entitled to under the rules, I am told he has parted with over a mill b in that time.
He is now on a pension and recently with the help of a friend (unpaid) got a legal 1 year visa, first time he has been to the IMM Office.
So when you go for 90 day report ask if there are any new requirements and be prepared
Yes they want house regristration and a map of where the house is.
I said I dont own a house and was told dont worry just make a map
I assume thats a map of where I am staying not a map of the house I dont have
So my vote is for HH over BKK and always remember the old school moto
Nill carborundem iligitimai
Immigration Office update and a couple of questions.
I went out there today, Monday the 25th, for my 90 day, a reentry permit and info on renewing my retirement visa.
Good news. . .the road isnt half bad! They seem to have dumped some gravel into the worst of the pits ( on top of the tuk-tuks that had fallen into them no doubt) and it is much improved since my last visit.
I got there early and found only one clerk on duty when I went in. She was very busy until the others finally wandered in anytime between 9:00 and 10:00. ( They open at 8:30) She did everything I needed, though we had to wait for a boss to do the final check.
90 day OK
Reentry permit OK
Then I asked about the retirement visa renewal.
She was clear about two things:
1. I now need the house "blue book" to show where I live.
2. I need EITHER 800,000 in bank. . .OR 65,000 pension. They wont calculate part of one and part of the other.
The latter surprised me and before leaving I asked the tall officer the same questions. He said that I could still make up the 800,000 with a combination of pension and deposit as before. He also added that even though the house is not in my name, just copying the blue book is fine and I dont need to get any kind of police proof or statement.
Something tells me that the spouse needs to come with me for the next visit!!
That's funny Chas, I've just got back from there for 90 day reporting. Saw the lady to the right of the tall guy.
I think she's got the Blue Book part wrong, as far as I've been told foreigners can't go on Blue Books until you have Permanent Residency. We can get yellow books.
If you rent you generally won't get on any book as landlords won't do it for tax traceability reasons.
The law does not require Thais or foreigners to be in a book for their present address.
) and I was well presented (which is a rarity for me 
I recently got my 12 month extension so when I do my 90 day reports I'll take along some chocolates or beer Changs just for them to get to know me favourably.
