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Yellow Book Question


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9 hours ago, Dumbastheycome said:

Agree. That is why I thought that it would have been easier and  faster  to use the Marriage  Certificate version as already there. But  maybe he had doubts about the accuracy? I don't know, can't read Thai.

 

I had no doubts. The person at the desk didn't find the translation of our marriage certificate satisfying and wanted a translation of my passport, too. 

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Here's one reason I want the yellow book: My wife has her own bank account. I have one here, too (though had to go to four banks before finding one that would open one for me...all cited random made up rules why they couldn't). We went the other day to six different banks to open a joint account and all six refused and gave the same explanation: no yellow book. They all said come back with a yellow book and they will do it. 

 

Could come in handy elsewhere...like getting my DL. 

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1 hour ago, JCP108 said:

Could come in handy elsewhere...like getting my DL. 

At present your passport number will be used as your ID number on your DL. When you renew it, if you present just your yellow book and ID card (as Thai Nationals do), instead of your passport and residency certificate from immigration, your passport number will be replaced by your Thai ID number on the new DL.

 

I used just my yellow book and ID card when opening a bank account at Krung Thai and Thanachart Banks. A bit more complex at Bangkok Bank. They will accept the yellow book and ID as proof of address and ID but they also ask for a reference letter from your Embassy and your Embassy will only ID you from your passport so will put your passport number in that letter. The Bangkok bank will then need to see your passport as well when opening the account. 

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7 hours ago, mancub said:

Go to Aumpher ,,,ask the req's . Go back next week to find they now want additional/different stuff !

Often works for Immigration also.

ps ,MFA in Ubon wanted me to "guarantee my passport was genuine" ie via British Embassy BKK, before they would consider endorsing passport copies.

Surprisingly. I do not have a yellow book!

Not surprisingly at at all. Next.

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8 hours ago, luckyluke said:

The costs are also relative, for one it is too cheap to delegate than to do itself, for another he prefer to do it himself as he consider the price to delegate as too high.

I don't see it as being mainly about the money. Personally I rather enjoy seeing if I can meet a challenge and even make something of a game out of it--especially if it's some BLOODY AWFUL process that our delicate TVF Posters whinge about and have to waste money paying some agent to do for them. I like to find the fastest, most efficient, most convenient way of getting it done. I also like seeing if I can get some friendly responses out of the Thais I'm dealing with, and I usually do, so that it's a pleasant interaction for both parties. Had fun joking around with the ladies at City Hall when I got my yellow book, even gave my phone# to one of 'em (still waiting).

 

In general I like the feeling of independence. "Do not go gentle" and all that. Few months ago I dealt with 3 government offices including SS in Laem Chambang--alone, not clinging to a skirt, and, with a few amusing fumbles, got everything done. Listened to music while sitting in the queue, had a book to read. The Thais were all quite nice.

 

I've been known to get lazy or even busy and pay a motorcy man to do my 90-day report, though.

 

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The pink ID card MAY help one avoid the farang surcharge at public hospitals. (Need some verification of this, but I will re-register with it at Banglamung and Queen Savang Vadhana Memorial next time I'm in the areas.)

 

If you have Thai SS health insurance it's also useful for identifying you at your registered hospital and making sure you receive benefits. (Thanks to Sheryl for this tip.) Now the card, if you have one, is used in lieu of the old insurance card they used to send out every couple of years. (Though somebody said he still has a card, SS wouldn't give me a new one but told me to use my pink ID.) If you get a card, you need to go to the SS office and get yourself in the system by your ID number.

 

Some don't know that Thai SS gives you B800 for yearly dental expenses if you fill out the form with the dentist. I keep forgetting to do that. 

Edited by BigStar
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17 hours ago, BigStar said:

So then, for example, does your agent deposit and withdraw money for you over the counter at the bank? You need a quick 5K for a little shopping, just call your agent and he brings it? And you want to mail a package or pick up a package at the PO. You call your agent and he does it for you? 

No call my GF who has my ATM card to bring money for me. ????

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Two or three years ago I went through all the fuss of getting this "Yellow book" thing.  Birth and marriage cert officially translated, photos outside my house with Khun wife and Phu Yai Ban, two visits to Bangkok and hours in local 'land office.'  Result; a yellow book that no immigration official has even shown the slightest interest in.  I have Thai driving licence and bank account with Kasikorn without this 'book' so why do I need it? In my opinion a waste of time and money.  I cannot understand why this Thread keeps coming back.

Nobody on this Forum has ever been able to tell me the advantage of Yellow Book.   One Immigration official at Chiang Rai told me I should get a YB 'because I needed one'

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1 hour ago, Robin said:

Two or three years ago I went through all the fuss of getting this "Yellow book" thing.  Birth and marriage cert officially translated, photos outside my house with Khun wife and Phu Yai Ban, two visits to Bangkok and hours in local 'land office.'  Result; a yellow book that no immigration official has even shown the slightest interest in.  I have Thai driving licence and bank account with Kasikorn without this 'book' so why do I need it? In my opinion a waste of time and money.  I cannot understand why this Thread keeps coming back.

Nobody on this Forum has ever been able to tell me the advantage of Yellow Book.   One Immigration official at Chiang Rai told me I should get a YB 'because I needed one'

Individual advantages have been highlighted on various threads on this forum many times.

 

To group every advantage together, it's easier to use a YB and ID card than not have one. It's called CONVENIENCE.

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2 hours ago, Robin said:

Nobody on this Forum has ever been able to tell me the advantage of Yellow Book.

Been told countless times. But it isn't critically necessary, you see. Nor does anyone this Forum care in the slightest whether you have a Yellow Book or not. Congratulate yourself as you wish.

 

Just another lesson in the power of selective perception. I first learned about this from dear old dad (RIP), who illustrated it when reading his daily newspaper. The parts that he agreed with jumped out immediately. He'd underline them and even cut them out and post them on the fridge door where none of the family members could miss them.

 

The parts that disagreed--often the most important that critically refuted his somewhat naive beliefs--he totally failed to see. His paper was like a piece of Swiss cheese melted to close up all the holes. 

 

We commonly see this on the forum among our ace Shopping Mall analysts who've never seen any shoppers in Thai malls. ???? They cannot exist!

 

Hence, no point in repeating the rather minor advantages for you (unless you have Thai SS). You'd simply ignore them and later just repeat the same thing. SOP.

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7 hours ago, Robin said:

Two or three years ago I went through all the fuss of getting this "Yellow book" thing.  Birth and marriage cert officially translated, photos outside my house with Khun wife and Phu Yai Ban, two visits to Bangkok and hours in local 'land office.'  Result; a yellow book that no immigration official has even shown the slightest interest in.  I have Thai driving licence and bank account with Kasikorn without this 'book' so why do I need it? In my opinion a waste of time and money.  I cannot understand why this Thread keeps coming back.

Nobody on this Forum has ever been able to tell me the advantage of Yellow Book.   One Immigration official at Chiang Rai told me I should get a YB 'because I needed one'

I've just come across a list of uses for a YB/ID card that I sent to somebody a year or so ago on this forum. These are just times when I had used them in the previous year-eighteen months.

 

Of course you can do all of these without having a YB/ID card but having them makes things much easier and more convenient:

 

Open a bank account

Replace stolen bank cards

Buy a car/motorcycle

Buy a mobile phone

Buy a sim card/mobile package

Obtain/update a home/office internet connection

Renew a Thai driving licence

Domestic flight ticket

Register at a hospital

Register at the tax office

Thai prices at various parks etc

Sending/collecting mail/parcels via the post office

Book into hotels

Proof of residence when renewing my annual extensions

Anywhere an ID is used as a deposit

In fact anywhere proof of ID and/or proof of address is needed.

 

 

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26 minutes ago, john terry1001 said:

In fact anywhere proof of ID and/or proof of address is needed.

Not always since they are not always accepted for some things. I have heard of it not being accepted at banks, airlines, immigration and etc.

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To date I have  not yet  had any occasion to present  my  yellow book. But the ID  card  that is obtainable having done the  Yellow Book thing has been  quite  useful in satisfying the requirements  that have occurred several times already  during this  C-19  event.Officials or others designated  to carry out functions on behalf of are  quite  happy to accept that ID for whatever  purpose they have  because it is in Thai script which averts the need to  struggle or pretend  to understand the  English  version  in my Passport or  non Thai  Driving  license.

Given the diversity of the origins of many foreigners in Thailand who present to Thai "authorities", or others with apparent legitimate cause, and despite the  International convention of  Passports  being  in English it is not unsurprising  or  unreasonable that the core information being asked or confirmed  is provided  in Thai that is  non verbal, non  disputable, and generally acceptable. I deliberately  avoid  "interpretable" because I have  no  idea how identification via translation from some languages is achieved at all at times ! 

 

 

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Used my Yellow book to get my Thai DL without having to go to immigration for a certificate of residency.  Made it also easy to buy my MC and my Car, no issues or hassles about needing another certificate of residence. Opened up bank accounts with my Pink Thai Non-Immigrant ID and yellow book as well.  Everything already in Thai on the documents, made it easy for the bank.  Also use my Thai ID to check in for flights, well I did before Covid shut it all down, and easily rented cars in other provinces after arriving by flights by Showing my Thai Dl.....I guess the small amount of trouble it took for me to obtain these items many years ago for me has at least been worth it.  To each his own I guess....

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2 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

Not always since they are not always accepted for some things. I have heard of it not being accepted at banks, airlines, immigration and etc.

I can only comment on when I've been successful.

 

Immigration have never refused my Yellow Book when I've offered it as proof of address (when doing extensions every year for example). None of my friends possessing yellow books have been refused either. 

 

As for banks. I've opened accounts at Krung Thai, Thanachart and Bangkok Bank, all using my yellow book and pink ID card. (although Bangkok bank was more complex). Haven't tried at other banks so haven't been refused anywhere else.

 

As for Airlines, to use your pink ID card, your ticket must be booked in exactly the same name as written on your ID card. Refusals can occur, for example, because tickets are booked in English name but the ID card only has the name written in Thai.

If you want to use your ID card you must book the ticket with your name written in Thai. 

 

One thing to remember is that, in using the Yellow book and ID card we are imitating the system that Thai Nationals use. If a Thai uses their blue book, that's what we should do, likewise, if they need to show their ID  card we should do the same and, if they need to supply both, so must we. 

 

One of the biggest complaints by expats is refusal and that occurs because they try to use the YB for ID when it only proves address, plus, although to ID card contains the address on the card it is purely for Identity and, on it's own cannot prove address.  

Edited by john terry1001
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10 hours ago, BigStar said:

What part of "withdraw over the counter" is difficult for you to understand?

Hmm, never done withdraw over the counter in my life. There was no need for that.

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On 5/23/2020 at 4:14 PM, john terry1001 said:

Of course you can get by without a yellow book/ID card even for 17 years. You can get all the documents together every time for 'normal business, banking, visa, drivers lic etc'........but getting a yellow book/ID card means CONVENIENCE. Compliance in providing the correct documents to get your yellow book is a 'one off' and is not that much more complex than doing your annual extension/driving licence, etc, and after that everything is so much simpler when using your the yellow book/ID card for all your future applications...........even if you stay for another 17 years.

 

Is it vital you have a yellow book/ID card ...........NO

 

Is it quicker, easier and much more convenient to use a yellow book/ID card every time ...........MOST DEFINITELY.

No not MOST DEFINITELY according to my imm office.  Gave me the impression it was MOST DEFINITELY useless.  But of course that is the problem in Thailand that each office has different rules/requirements.  And that is why I said "I found" rather than making a blanket statement about the whole of Thailand.  I will try to put it simpler for you:

 

In my experience, during 17 years here, with various visas, work permits, drivers licenses, banking etc, it is MOST DEFINITELY not quicker, easier nor more convenient to use a yellow book.  It is MOST DEFINITELY a waste of time IN MY EXPERIENCE!!

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13 hours ago, john terry1001 said:

I've just come across a list of uses for a YB/ID card that I sent to somebody a year or so ago on this forum. These are just times when I had used them in the previous year-eighteen months.

 

Of course you can do all of these without having a YB/ID card but having them makes things much easier and more convenient:

 

Open a bank account

Replace stolen bank cards

Buy a car/motorcycle

Buy a mobile phone

Buy a sim card/mobile package

Obtain/update a home/office internet connection

Renew a Thai driving licence

Domestic flight ticket

Register at a hospital

Register at the tax office

Thai prices at various parks etc

Sending/collecting mail/parcels via the post office

Book into hotels

Proof of residence when renewing my annual extensions

Anywhere an ID is used as a deposit

In fact anywhere proof of ID and/or proof of address is needed.

 

 

Have done all of those without yellow book with few problems.  The problems have been mainly due to incompetent staff not paperwork or yellow book.  So it has been far more convenient to not have the yellow book considering the run around one has to go through to get one (depending on your amphur)  The pink ID card is a separate issue, this topic is yellow book.  So for me it is MOST DEFINITELY a waste of time.

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11 hours ago, john terry1001 said:

As for Airlines, to use your pink ID card, your ticket must be booked in exactly the same name as written on your ID card. Refusals can occur, for example, because tickets are booked in English name but the ID card only has the name written in Thai.

If you want to use your ID card you must book the ticket with your name written in Thai. 

 The topic is yellow book not pink card but even using the pink ID seems a problem compared to just showing your passport which is all that is required.  Why start writing your name in Thai when you dont need to?  Use your passport. 

 

Just put it in a frame on the wall with your yellow book and get over it.  We have all made mistakes in our life you know.

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10 minutes ago, transam said:

After chatting up our local head man I got my yellow book in about 20 minutes, since then I have never had to mess about or pay money for a residence thingy, so for me it is MOST DEFINITELY not a waste of time. ????

Again it depends on your amphur, traffic and imm office.  Local head man here cannot provide a yellow book and both Imm offices and traffic offices I have attended last few years will not accept yellow book.

 

However, in your case, you are correct.  if it only took 20 minutes, rather than hours and possibly days for me,  then it is  MOST DEFINITELY not a waste of time.  

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On 5/23/2020 at 1:08 PM, couchpotato said:

Agree to a point, but have found my Pink ID card very helpful in the past few years, and of course you must have the Yellow Book first, to obtain the Pink ID card.

Also the yellow book and pink ID card are accepted by immigration for your address purposes if extending retirement or marriage.

But of course each to his own thinking.

Never tried the pink ID card so cant comment.  However re immigration and address purposes my imm office wont accept yellow book.  In fact I dont remember having to prove my address when extending marriage visa (extension of stay).  maybe they just use my wifes blue book.

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The main thing to keep in mind with a yellow book/pink ID is, ITS YOUR NAME IN THAI.

 

It cannot be used for any "existing" situations where a Passport (NAME IN ENGLISH) was used as primary Identification, bank account, license, airline booking etc.

 

A yellow book can be used to open and operate, a new bank account (the account name will be in THAI), a new drivers license (the ID number on the license will be Thai ID from yellow book, not passport), an airline booking made in Thai script.

 

There is a fundamental difference between a passport (no address and name in English) and a yellow book/pink ID (name in Thai, a Thai ID number and an address).

 

You cannot use a yellow book/pink ID to operate an existing bank account that was opened with a passport, Its in a different language to the account name and has a differnt primary ID and ID number..

You cannot renew a license, issued with a passport, by presenting a yellow book, Again, its in a different language and a different ID number.

You cannot book an airline in English and present a yellow book/pink ID as identification, its in another language.

 

You can, open a new bank account, get a new license, book an flight using yellow book/pink ID. Then you can lock your passport in the safe and use the yellow/pink ID until your dying day.

 

The yellow book generates a Thai name and unique Thai ID number that can be entered into Banks, 7/11 computers, mobile phone providers, land office, DLT, etc etc. in the same data field that the information for a Thai person is entered.

Edited by Peterw42
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2 hours ago, Peterw42 said:

You cannot use a yellow book/pink ID to operate an existing bank account that was opened with a passport, Its in a different language to the account name and has a differnt primary ID and ID number..

You can, but you must register the YB/ID card in you bank account along with your PP.

 

2 hours ago, Peterw42 said:

You cannot renew a license, issued with a passport, by presenting a yellow book, Again, its in a different language and a different ID number.

Yes you can, but its your ID card that replaces your passport, not your YB. Your YB replaces your residency certificate.

If you present both your YB  and ID card your new passport ID number will be changed to your Thai ID number. If you only present one they will also want to see your PP to confirm your PP number. 

 

2 hours ago, Peterw42 said:

You can, open a new bank account, get a new license, book an flight using yellow book/pink ID. Then you can lock your passport in the safe and use the yellow/pink ID until your dying day.

 

The yellow book generates a Thai name and unique Thai ID number that can be entered into Banks, 7/11 computers, mobile phone providers, land office, DLT, etc etc. in the same data field that the information for a Thai person is entered.

Yes, as I said and, being in the same data field that the information for a Thai person is entered, it's much more CONVENIENT ????.

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3 hours ago, ThaiFelix said:

No not MOST DEFINITELY according to my imm office.  Gave me the impression it was MOST DEFINITELY useless.  But of course that is the problem in Thailand that each office has different rules/requirements.  And that is why I said "I found" rather than making a blanket statement about the whole of Thailand.  I will try to put it simpler for you:

 

In my experience, during 17 years here, with various visas, work permits, drivers licenses, banking etc, it is MOST DEFINITELY not quicker, easier nor more convenient to use a yellow book.  It is MOST DEFINITELY a waste of time IN MY EXPERIENCE!!

Have you actually got a YB and pink ID card??

I've been coming here through work for 26 years and have lived here since I took early retirement in the UK for 16 years and, even though things were generally easier in the early days, unlike your apparent experiences I found it much quicker and more convenient once I had my YB and ID card.

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3 hours ago, ThaiFelix said:

Have done all of those without yellow book with few problems.  The problems have been mainly due to incompetent staff not paperwork or yellow book.  So it has been far more convenient to not have the yellow book considering the run around one has to go through to get one (depending on your amphur)  The pink ID card is a separate issue, this topic is yellow book.  So for me it is MOST DEFINITELY a waste of time.

Right at the start I said you could do everything without needing a YB or ID card, they're not vital but I stand by what I said, using them is much more CONVENIENT. I link the two documents together because, like Thai Nationals and the Thai system, depending on what you're actually doing, you sometimes have to supply both. So the ID card is not a separate issue. 

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3 hours ago, ThaiFelix said:

Never tried the pink ID card so cant comment.  However re immigration and address purposes my imm office wont accept yellow book.  In fact I dont remember having to prove my address when extending marriage visa (extension of stay).  maybe they just use my wifes blue book.

If you've never 'tried' the pink ID card you've never tried opening a bank account or renewed a Thai DL using just a YB and ID card together have you!!!

 

You say Immigration won't accept your YB yet go on to say "I don't remember having to prove my address when extending marriage visa (extension of stay)". Have you actually presented your YB to Immigration as part of an application?? Immigration in Si Racha certainly accepted my YB when I presented it as part of my Marriage Extension just two months ago.

 

Immigration now appear to be supplying a standard list of 'required documents' for both retirement and marriage extensions, although that list is still open to interpretation by individual IO's. But I haven't heard of YB's being refused as proof of address. What Immigration Office do you use??

 

You appear to be slagging off a process you haven't been using (properly).

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4 hours ago, ThaiFelix said:

even using the pink ID seems a problem compared to just showing your passport which is all that is required. 

Where pink ID card is accepted, it's far more convenient to just whip out of your wallet, where it serves as carry-along official ID, than transporting and guarding your passport. Where the yellow book is accepted, it's far more convenient, and cheaper, to show than having to make a trip to Immigration to get a certificate. Period. Trying to create some all-singing, all-dancing rule for the yellow book/ID card then using that to argue against them is just the usual straw man argument.

 

For the 10th time: nobody says they are necessary and nobody cares in the slightest whether you have them. This topic isn't about you or the merits. 

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