Yellow House Books

Hi All,

Last time I was in Udon I managed to procure something called a yellow book - not to be confused with the Thai blue book which AFAIK cannot be obtained by non-Thai nationals.

Lots of Amphur visits and paperwork were involved, copies of all my docs, Wife's docs, Sponsor

Its a valuable document and saves heaps of paper work and needless revisits if u need drivers licences , buying a car, renting , marrriage and u need immigration letters . Mine was easy to get with one 1 hour visit to the amphur. cost was approx 200 baht ??? Cost me more for the extra larger pictures required.

Its the 2nd best thing to your passport if your dealing with the Thai agencies etc.

Its also very helpful when ur applying for work visa's for other countries and u go to the Embassies in BKK, once they see that book, its a lot easier, as its getting harder to apply for visas from outside your country that has issued your passport. It establishes ur residency in Thailand. so ur not see to be transitting and applying for visa's on the run.

Lee

I got mine when i was engaged etc and my fiancee was a Doctor and we just walked in with my passport ( it did have my " expert" work visa from the KK Uni where i was teaching trauma medicine )

she needed her home book, she is the owner of the house, her Id card , etc.... a few forms and my large pictures and it was ready in 3 days. didnt even have to go to the immigration in Udon.

Having said that, my mate in KK, tried with his wife who was from Nam Pong but they live in KK and Nam Pong had never heard of them b4 !

He went to a solictor in BKK to get it in the end, as it was too complicated as it was 2 provinces,

I imagine u will need the log term support of the person on whose book u will go under, then ur visa ( not sure of a tourist visa will be enough ) BUt if u have sponsors letters ???, passport,

Back in Udon next week after 9 weeks in Algeria, see u in Down Under bar ??

Warwick

The yellow and blue books being referred to are the "tabien bahn" (house registration papers), are they not? Farangs can only have/be in yellow books. They are what help you get a driving licence too.

Lee,

I think Wazza said... "back in Udon next week after 9 weeks in Algeria

Yellow Tabien Bahn house paper. You must first of all have a permanent residence here in Thailand, it can be where you live with your wife or girl friend but she must be the senior name on the normal blue one for the residence. Her parents house paper will not do.You must be here on at least a semi-permanent basis, ie; long term visa.Now a few misconceptions. You still must always have your passport with you, it is not a replacement for that legal requirement. It does not give you ANY additional rights as a Thai citizen. ie;you cannot vote, stand for polictical office, nor is it a permission to work.As regards the rules for obtaining one in Thailand. If you qualify you can get very easy, in quick time. The hard bit comes in the details needed from your home country. It goes without saying, criminal record check, what is not often realised is a check is made that there are no outstanding court orders for maintenance of ex wives or dependent children, so if you have watch out for that registered letter and possibly deductions from your pension or other income at source.Now the following applies to the UK but I am not sure about other countries.You renounce your right to any further use of the National health Service, also you are barred from obtaining any further cost of living pension increases. If you are over 70 your UK driving license is forfeit.
You will receive annual requests from the Pension office to get a doctor certified letter to state you are indeed still alive.Your address on the yellow book has to be recorded with your embassy for future reference.
Okay, a few plusses. You can use the book as proof positive when applying for driving license, purchasing a car or motorbike or opening a Thai bank account.Maybe, just maybe, you can get into a national park at Thai price, they all seem to have different rules on this.
In my opinion, and I don't have any maintenence orders outstanding.The benefits are outweighed by the hassles involved, and I can easily get the proof of residency from the immigration office if I want to do the aforementioned things.
Just a further note. You cannot get a yellow book if there is not an official blue tabien bahn to cover the property you will be staying at. So sole ownership of a condo for example will not qualify you.

For Australian Citizens the financial issues that Val has quoted for UK guys actually occur when u leave Australia and u have signed ur declaration as a non-resident of Australia for taxation purposes. That is if you dont sign off from Australia, u can still travel and work, however, they can then still nail u for taxation, as ur still regarded as resident for taxation purposes, no matter what people with their own personal experiences have.
Any tax audit will soon advise you of the obligations.

Australia does have a tax sharing agreeement with Thailand, so Aust citizens working and paying tax in Thailand ( eg schools / or private companies ) will still have their names registered some where in BKK. KPMG generally arent wrong on these types of issues.

MODS - sorry if this is seen as drifting away from the original topic. God lets not have a topic on Taxation issues for all of us !!!

Val,

What documents would one need, to get affirmed at the British Embassy for the Yellow Book?
Once these documents have been affirmed, which Thai Government agency needs to rubber stamp them?
Foriegn Affairs or Immigration?

yikes, doesn't sound like worth the trouble. don't think usa has any rules of lost pension. gov't medical is useless overseas anyway. sure the registration info would be appreciated by anyone looking for you.

still asked/required to have immigration letter to purchase car/truck, well at toyota anyway.

U.S. government regulations for gov't/Mil pensioners are quite strict in stating that if you take the citizenship of a foreign country they can indeed stop your pension.. Would they do it??? Probably, if you did a formal renunciation of your citizenship at a U.S. Embassy (they have a form for this).. But, for merely attaining a residency permit I haven't seen any penalties....

Prenders88 wrote:Val,

What documents would one need, to get affirmed at the British Embassy for the Yellow Book?
Once these documents have been affirmed, which Thai Government agency needs to rubber stamp them?
Foriegn Affairs or Immigration?

You have to get a certified Thai translation, then take to Ministry of Foreign affairs for stamping. Takes one day normally but most translation offices will do it for you, about 500bht inc postage to your home.

Incidentally, the yellow book/tabien bahn/house registration book, is not about citizenship.

I got one on the house I lived in in Udon, on the back of my Thai landlady's blue book.

I was not asked for any translations of anything certified by the British Embassy, nor was I asked for any evidence of income, nor any evidence of no criminal record wherever, nor did I have to renounce my right to use the NHS in the UK, nor did I have to supply a medical certificate.

I did have to provide copies from my passport and sign forms and pay a little money, and my landlady provided copies of her blue book and ID card and signed forms. Oh and some photos.

It's to confirm you live at the address stated and is useful if buying motor vehicles, contracting to receive an electric supply, installing telephones, subscribing to UBC, etc in YOUR NAME.

If such things are set up in your GF/wife's name, then a yellow book is less essential.

There are always exceptions to the rules and obviously you were lucky this time Arjay. although I do wonder about your" I paid a little money" quote. the details I gave where given me by the department that gives the yellow book and therefore I must assume them to be correct.