Search the Community

Hi, I'm on a tourist visa, visa exemption now, and I went to the temporary immigration office in Bangkok (the one behind IMPACT center) this morning. A police woman told me they don't do 30 days extensions (form TR7) without a letter from your embassy. She told me if I wanted to stay maybe I should look into an education Visa. Wrote an email to my embassy but I'm sure they're not gonna be helpful at all (as usual). My question is: I've been offered a volunteer visa 3+12 months for 60k baht. Do you guys have any other cheaper/better alternatives to stay longer? Thanks a lot!

1) Thailand Elite expects full payment of the 500,000 before they have that visa affixed at immigration. Never heard of a sales agent offering financing. 2) Not sure what country you're originally from but you can pay Thailand Elite by credit card (either in full or in part) so that might help you. Many banks offer interest free cards for the first 12/24 months but that depends on the card type/promotion. Obviously you'd need to be eligible for credit and have a local address in the country where you apply. 3) You can't get a Thailand Elite visa "last minute" in respect to the Sep 26th Amnesty. TE requires a background check and processing by immigration/MFA and this takes ~ 6 weeks. Your current visa/stay permit under which you are in the country needs to be valid on the day the visa is changed to TE. 4) As mentioned by others the Special Tourist Visa 90x3 was announced yesterday but this only affects people outside the country 5) Education visas take a lot of time and require paperwork from MOE. Schools and agents have stopped taking customers for charade-ED Visas and legitimate universities just started their academic year so likely no more intake and visa processing possible. Maybe some agents can still make a volunteer visa work but I'd inquire about this rather today than tomorrow and have the 55-60k cash in hand, ready to pay. IF they even take you at this point. Hope it helps!

Would you mind me asking, how old was this guy? I would imagine that most of those who die in hospital would be here on retirement, so, there is notionally 800,000 to be recovered right there, and possibly a house or condo too. If it is the case that some of these deaths are young folks, possibly here on a work visa, education visa, or perhaps even tourists, well, okay, I'll reluctantly admit that there is some argument for insisting that everyone be insured. Before they put an additional burning tire on the neck of their tourist industry, however, they should be absolutely certain that this genuinely is a problem big enough to be worth crippling that income. In fact, I would argue that, at the same time as introducing an insurance requirement, they should balance it out by getting rid of all short-term visas (tourism, education, volunteer, medical etc) and simply have an up to one year visa waiver for all countries eligible for the current visa waiver. You present your insurance cert, from any credible insurance company, and the IO stamps you in until the final date of your coverage. In a sense, your insurance becomes your visa.

I know of a couple of instances of people being refused extensions at Chaeng Wattana in Bangkok on Education Visas, with officers requesting proof they are actually studying. One of the guys was a long termer but too young to get any other type of visa so he was dodging about on tv's and ed visas for ages. He's still here but sorted himself oput with Non-B and WP now. Anyway... good luck to those still clinging on as they will eventually fall off the edge at some point. That much is obvs from current shenanigans.

That is not true. My ex from Philippines was on an education visa for a year. She went to class, and never paid extra for any extensions.

Any work in Thailand requires a work permit. Reason? They want your tax money. You don't want to pay tax in the country you live in on an education visa that was given and is maintained on false pretenses. You can't have your cake and eat it too. Get legal and pay taxes or think about relocating elsewhere would be my advice.

Ok fine, but can I still get one? I can 30 days extensions for a long time until I get my education visa

Also, can I get an education visa without leaving the country? I will attend a language school no problem, not trying to cheat it at all.