Tourism minister finally recognises that "virus free" expats can play important role in tourism recovery

[hotchilli]

5 hours ago, NCC1701A said:

i'm doing my part right now.

 

staying in a hotel in Bangkok 100 meters from Crazy House. 

 

been here for 2 months and booked until October.

 

 

I've been squatting in your place in HH, only 5 minutes from the beach... might stay for another month, sorry the fridge is empty and beers all gone, local ladies miss you... but I'm doing my bit !

????

[Winky Wilson]

Tourism minister is correct. I hunkered down in Kamala Beach which is pretty much deserted. Everyone from my landlord to the cell phone shop to the venders are getting happily paid regularly by me. I don't plan to venture off though since my employer has me working remotely till I return home.  I'm not in any hurry to return to America unless immigration tells me it's time to go. 

[straylight]

Although I have lived as a resident here for 50 years, I stopped going to any temples or venues where the charge me more than a Thai. Best not to support racism of any sort. I was quite saddened when they stopped me and confiscated my 50% senior card for the BTS after they had sold it to me and topped up numerous times. They also fined me four times the max fare from the stored value. As a PR I am supposed to have all the same privileges as a citizen except the right to own land and vote. The MRT doesn't have this racist rule which is listed in the Thai constitution as illegal. I have an expat friend who carries a copy of the Thai constitution in English and Thai translation which when they tried to confiscate his senior card he read out loud in the BTS station. They quickly gave his cards back and told him to go. 

Edited September 1, 2020 by straylight

[JAFO]

5 hours ago, Grumpy John said:

Those of us having been here 5 years or longer could be given an easy pathway to permanent residency forgoing all the immigration hoopla

I agree. I have been here working and living and paying Thai taxes for quite a few years. I contribute to the domestic sector frequently traveling with my wife.  I seldom ever complain about living here because quite frankly I enjoy my life. I do have to say as a married expat living and working here, having built a home, pay taxes etc it would be nice to be given some path to stop all the immigration reporting. You would think with an annual current work permit that checking in could be eliminated. I cannot understand why after all this time that they have not developed a system to identify those folks unless its to generate jobs in the govt sector to manage it. 

 

The company I work for that moved operations offshore to Thailand has generated over 1800 jobs for Thai folks. From high level Thai managers to operators. 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 1, 2020 by JAFO

[spidermike007]

This utterly incompetent man should have been replaced when the lockdown first happened. He has always been in so far over his head. He is the very definition of an empty suit. 

 

He and his wife are worth $150,000,000. And he is supposed to have empathy for the working people of Thailand? For the 6 million in tourism, many of whom are currently out of work? 

 

Of course expats can play a part in helping the economy. We bring a fortune into the country. Duh! Let every expat stuck overseas come back tomorrow! No begging an overseas consulate. And give them an award upon arrival. And free five star quarantine. Show us something. Anything. 

 

Mrs Natee reported 4.7 billion baht in assets, 93% of which was investments by her husband Piphat, and liabilities worth 177 million baht. The family owns SET-listed PTG Energy Plc, which operates the PTG refilling station chain.

[rumak]

27 minutes ago, alyx said:

I guess you were ill informed 

thanks for saving me the trouble of posting that ( i was not going to).

 

 

[alyx]

16 minutes ago, MadMac said:

That is only the case if you travel for yourself and stay with family or friends. Again, if a hotel or guesthouse re-registers you this automatically renders the previous TM30 invalid. You are from then on registered at the hotel, which most certainly will not be the same province and address your immigration requires when you want something from them next time. But you can always quote your text ????

Thanks 

I have specifically asked about hotels and I am waiting for a reply.

I must admit that I am a bit confused by your post as, even if I stayed at some friends’, they would still have to register me (although the 24 hour rule has been relaxed)

[Cranky]

Total proof, if there was ever any doubt, foreigners are simply walking ATMs to be used and abused at will. 

[rumak]

Just now, spidermike007 said:

Of course expats can play a part in helping the economy. We bring a fortune into the country. Duh! Let every expat stuck overseas come back tomorrow! No begging an overseas consulate. And give them an award upon arrival. And free five star quarantine. Show us something. Anything. 

sp mike for minister of tourism !    

[spidermike007]

2 minutes ago, rumak said:

sp mike for minister of tourism !    

I cannot even count the number of things I would do differently. Expats would be treated like national heroes, for one. Long term visa fees would be waived entirely. I would lobby for an easy path to permanent residency, for any expat living here over ten years. The list goes on. 

[sambum]

I have mentioned a few times, (and been pooh poohed a few times by people who think they know better) that each ex pat who lives here spends on average 500,000 (Half a million) baht every year.

 

Multiply that by the number of expats living here (150,000 to 200,000 doing a Google check) and you will get a rough idea of how much the expat community contributes to the economy! Even taking the lower figure, it works out at 75,000,000,000 baht!

 

 

 

[rumak]

1 minute ago, alyx said:

Thanks 

I have specifically asked about hotels and I am waiting for a reply.

I must admit that I am a bit confused by your post as, even if I stayed at some friends’, they would still have to register me (although the 24 hour rule has been relaxed)

best to ask someone like  ubonjoe for answers to this type of question.

[alyx]

Just now, rumak said:

best to ask someone like  ubonjoe for answers to this type of question.

Sure 

but I am asking at the source ...

[Sean60]

We, The non showering, dirty expats????????

[rumak]

9 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

I cannot even count the number of things I would do differently. Expats would be treated like national heroes, for one. Long term visa fees would be waived entirely. I would lobby for an easy path to permanent residency, for any expat living here over ten years. The list goes on. 

or,  what is life without dreams   555    I've been here 25 years,  daughter is a thai citizen, i live on her property,  speak thai , heck ! I even have a gik (ok, that part is not true ......anymore . )               but still just a "visitor" of course.    

Edited September 1, 2020 by rumak

[fakser]

5 hours ago, Dumbastheycome said:

Seems  so ! 

I also object  to being forced to learn to play  golf while my wife  goes shopping  unsupervised and unrestricted !

I am in big trouble. I am the one who makes the shopping while my wife is out with her friends

[flyfrog]

If they want us foreign workers to travel in Thailand they should start to cancel the double pricing IMO????

[rumak]

2 minutes ago, alyx said:

Sure 

but I am asking at the source ...

what source might that be ?    ubonjoe is a moderator here with great knowledge of these matters.

what source are you thinking of ?  if you think immig will give you the correct answer then you do not know that all offices do not interpret "laws" the same

Edited September 1, 2020 by rumak

[Dumbastheycome]

2 minutes ago, fakser said:

I am in big trouble. I am the one who makes the shopping while my wife is out with her friends

Hmmmm. Surrounded  by  unsupervised  women  too ! Tsk tsk !

[whitfield]

They really must make up their minds, in January they want us to report to immigration if we leave our home for a night, now they're  begging us to go to hotels.  Perhaps they should compromise and offer special deals on short-time establishments.

 

[vandeventer]

You scratch our back and we will scratch yours. There are a lot of retired expats in Thailand

that have a hard time with hospital bills as insurance for those over 70 is very high

or not available. So I am not saying it should be the same as Thais at 30 baht a day.

You could double or triple it. After living here more than 20 years you can be more human.

[thailand49]

An admission? It is a shame you can't do anything about it just another dead end comment when you start to end all the crazy restrictions just to get into Thailand that now would be really news!

[George FmplesdaCosteedback]

53 minutes ago, alyx said:

Please be advised that if you relocate to another province or another part of your province for a short-time period, you are not required to register a TM30 again. 

As others have pointed out nothing is ever what it seems or straightforward in Thailand. My point here is what does "short-time" mean in Thai? An hour usually, but this is really open to interpretation by whoever you are dealing with at the time. 

Best wishes, G

[Bangkok Barry]

6 hours ago, Grumpy John said:

Those of us having been here 5 years or longer could be given an easy pathway to permanent residency forgoing all the immigration hoopla we go through 12 monthly

You are funny. I've been married to a Thai for close to 30 years, been living in Thailand for 25, and Thai law still forbids me to live with my wife in Thailand. I can get a visa - over and over and over and over and over again - to visit her, but I'm not allowed to live with her on a permanent basis as people do in the real world. Permanent residency is not a realistic dream for all but a very few.

[Mavideol]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

Exactly what the minister is planning was unclear.

not for me, it's clear they need our money, double charging, visa hurdles to get more money and many more, if they were smart (I know I am asking too much) they would have used us from the beginning, who better then us, expats, can promote Thailand, some of us spend a huge amount on a monthly basis, we could spend more if they knew how to work with us, all has to do with attitude and trust.... they should change their attitude towards us and they should act as they care and as if they know what they doing and/or speaking about, built our trust, stop the BS

[Mavideol]

5 hours ago, holy cow cm said:

Ah yes... The good ole expat and foreigner walking wallet. How about offer us people staying here over 3-5 years solid permanent residency for the price of $10,000.

that would be a dream come thru, unfortunately no chance, all this hipe just to attract our attention and maybe some of our money, as soon as the coffers are replenished they will kick our rear end

[Mavideol]

1 hour ago, George FmplesdaCosteedback said:

Did anyone tell Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn about the TM30, or is this another case of speaking without thinking first?

 

This story was in The Nation on August 5 and posted in Thailand News on the 6 by Webfact:

Source: https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30392475

555 correct but this week we didn't have the BS laughing post from TAT, usually on Monday's, this one came a day later 555

[sherwood]

Well lick my cods and call me Welcome.

 What a joke!

[alyx]

1 hour ago, MadMac said:

That is only the case if you travel for yourself and stay with family or friends. Again, if a hotel or guesthouse re-registers you this automatically renders the previous TM30 invalid. You are from then on registered at the hotel, which most certainly will not be the same province and address your immigration requires when you want something from them next time. But you can always quote your text ????

Again...you are ill informed.

I have just received the réponse to the specific point you are raising 

 

“With regard to your inquiry about TM.30, please be informed you that if you stay at a hotel a few days and then return to your permanent residence, you are not required to re-report TM.30 again.”

 

I hope this clarifies that 

[Bangkok Barry]

1 hour ago, apetryxx said:

Expats living here can get a pink card, that should be all one needs for Thai like discounts and promotions. Easily done at Tessabahn if you take a little time to do it.

I had a go at doing this. The officer spent about 15 minutes finding reasons I couldn't, all the while waiting for me to offer an incentive. I walked out.