misinformation on forums in Thailand

General Udon Thani topics only!
User avatar
welshwizard
udonmap.com
Posts: 73
Joined: May 16, 2011, 6:52 am

misinformation on forums in Thailand

Post by welshwizard » March 6, 2012, 5:38 pm

Just for the people who live in their own world and not the same world as the rest of us and have the attitude “it never happened to me so it does not happen” .I have been to south Africa ,kenya,New York, Mexico live in east London mile end road ,Brixton west London, Liverpool, Belfast ,Cardiff and Swansea. I had great times and have never been robbed or attacked so it could not possibly have happened to anyone else. Something to think about before you post
My visa ran out a couple of weeks ago on a Sunday. Not wanting to go to laos on Thursday or stay 2 nights I looked on udon map and thai visa for info on overstaying 1 day. I read no problem 1 day no stamp, no fine.
I get to the border at mon 7.30 am and the imm guy said straight away go to the office. I sat in there for over 1 hour with 5 other overstays. Then the guy in the office who was thai police not immigration lectured us on what could happen to us for overstaying then fined me 500 baht and stamped my passport for a 7.5 hour overstay. Thai forums no problem “rubbish”.
I arrived at the consul in Vientiane at 9.40 am got my ticket no 146. At 10 am the 2 people at the windows went for break. By 10.40 the number was on 96 and as I read on the forums if you do not get your passport in by 12.00 you have to come back the next day so I was worried .Then a Dutch guy and his Thai wife sat next to me ticket no 222. I told him that no way would he get to the window by 12.00. His wife then went to the office and asked about the time and was told no problem the gates shut at 12 not the office window . I got to the window at 11.40 and same as most people was asked to get a copy of my entry stamp into Laos. Not the visa but the small stamp which obviously you cannot bring with you and caused so much chaos after handing my docs in having to go upstairs to copy the stamp and push back to the front of the queue.
Went to the office to pay and there were the other 145 people still waiting to pay. Finally paid at 12.45pm and left. There were still about 40 people waiting to put their passport in so the office did not shut as was as was stated by the know it alls on the Thai forums I also read a sign about new 90 day tourist visa but did not really understand It. Met the Dutch guy on the bridge and he had a 90 day tourist visa ?
The thing is do not answer with the rules as they mean nothing in Thailand.If you have not experienced it do not post what you think it should be .
I read on the Thailand visa website I could get a 1 year non o multi entry visa at any consul outside Thailand.The thai consul website in Laos states this and has the form and the price on their website . I phoned the ministry of foreign affairs in bkk and was told yes I could get it in Laos . When I said this to the young lady imm officer in Laos she said “ they say yes but I say no “ So rules mean nothing only being there counts for info.. Not sitting in your armchair on a retirement or marraige visa dishing out info on visas you have no experience of.



User avatar
Khun Paul
udonmap.com
Posts: 7743
Joined: September 16, 2008, 3:28 pm
Location: Udon Thani

misinformation on forums in Thailand

Post by Khun Paul » March 6, 2012, 5:51 pm

One I have always said speak to the people who know, which means go to the Immigration office and ask, nowt simpler, there are many and often posts that give me cause to think but in the main my advice has always been ask yourself do not trust a forum, a person standing next to you at a bar nor even your best buddy , all circumstances are different 30 years as a Copper told me that so my advice is to ask the authorities if you do not then beware.

Do not blame posters look in the mirror you will find the cause of your discontent, think before acting and if you don't know ASK...

User avatar
Charoensri
udonmap.com
Posts: 50
Joined: January 5, 2011, 2:30 am
Location: Udon Thani

misinformation on forums in Thailand

Post by Charoensri » March 6, 2012, 6:08 pm

Not much of a wizard are you? :roll:

Jello
udonmap.com
Posts: 1450
Joined: February 15, 2010, 1:34 pm

misinformation on forums in Thailand

Post by Jello » March 6, 2012, 6:49 pm

Welcome to the real world Wiz. I've gotten good and bad info from forums. You've got to take it all with a grain of salt and then go check it out for yourself and NOT depend on it to be correct. Things can change.

I do believe that people who take the time to post info are doing so with the best intentions (even if they are wrong or misguided). 8)

These forum are helpful only if people continuously post their experiences on the forum, which you have done.
However it would be better if you put you post under the heading of "visa run to Laos" or "1-day overstay fine" and wrote it in the spirit of sharing what you have found out instead of blaming the forum for the misinformation.
UFF DA!

Ricohoc
udonmap.com
Posts: 1718
Joined: February 8, 2007, 5:37 am

misinformation on forums in Thailand

Post by Ricohoc » March 6, 2012, 7:04 pm

There's also that component to consider that says that what you did today may not be good enough for you or anyone else to do the same thing the same way tomorrow.

gudtymchuk
udonmap.com
Posts: 676
Joined: January 1, 2010, 12:57 am

misinformation on forums in Thailand

Post by gudtymchuk » March 6, 2012, 7:32 pm

Sorry you had a bad day Welshwizard but feel compelled to relate how this and other forums have been very helpful for me. Some examples: Wanted to know where in Udon to find pipe tobacco and was given directions to a shop on Phosi Rd. Needed a dentist to repair a broken denture and received many helpful replies. Found a great little pasta restaurant, (Coppies), etc, etc. Just a few examples of the helpful information I've personally received via forums. Anyone who has lived in Thailand knows that dealing with Thai government/ bureaucracy is a very hit and miss proposition. What's valid one day may not be the next and what is required at one office will be widely different at the next office. When in doubt it's always the best bet to go to the source.....
What happens if you get scared half to death twice?

User avatar
parrot
udonmap.com
Posts: 10925
Joined: March 19, 2006, 8:32 pm

misinformation on forums in Thailand

Post by parrot » March 6, 2012, 7:34 pm

I get the impression wiz thinks people make this immigration stuff up. Maybe some do. But years of living here and talking with other people about their own experience tells me: what works for one person doesn't necessarily work for another....even under identical circumstances. Would you prefer to go back to the carbon paper and letter writing days when information (good or bad, right or wrong) wasn't shared on public forums?
Your problems could have been avoided had you not overextended your visa....by one day or by one second, you overstayed. I don't see what "I have been to south Africa ,kenya,New York, Mexico live in east London mile end road ,Brixton west London, Liverpool, Belfast ,Cardiff and Swansea. I had great times and have never been robbed or attacked so it could not possibly have happened to anyone else. Something to think about before you post" has to do with your overstaying your visa. Nor why you would want to rant against people who relate their own personal experiences on a public forum.
JMHO

User avatar
trubrit
udonmap.com
Posts: 6158
Joined: March 16, 2008, 12:30 pm
Location: Having a good time .

misinformation on forums in Thailand

Post by trubrit » March 6, 2012, 7:49 pm

welshwizard wrote: . Not sitting in your armchair on a retirement or marraige visa dishing out info on visas you have no experience of.
Well Taffy us lot sitting here on the above visas aren't an exclusive group, anyone can join if they have a Thai wife and income or savings equal to 400k a year, 800k if they don't have the wife and are over 50 .So why not simplify your life and get the same visa as us. If you have the monetary requirement .Any person trying to circumvent those requirements has little or no sympathy from me. In fact I feel they complicate our lives by making the powers that be introduce further regulations to stamp it out, thus effecting us .
Ageing is a privilige denied to many .

User avatar
harmonyudon
udonmap.com
Posts: 1729
Joined: December 2, 2010, 9:46 pm
Location: Udon-Jakarta-Kupang-The Netherlands

misinformation on forums in Thailand

Post by harmonyudon » March 6, 2012, 8:18 pm

The immigration office in TH or Th-embassy/consulat outside TH issue Visa's.
Info and/or advice from 3rd parties can be confusing.

See also:
http://www.udonmap.com/udonthaniforum/q ... 01-15.html
OP has a point.

In south-east Asia an officer is in a bad mood or dont like you at that moment
perhaps you can come back the next day....smile...smile...and...smile..... :D :D :D ;)

User avatar
Asiaphile
udonmap.com
Posts: 490
Joined: August 9, 2008, 4:35 pm

misinformation on forums in Thailand

Post by Asiaphile » March 6, 2012, 8:27 pm

welshwizard wrote:My visa ran out a couple of weeks ago on a Sunday. Not wanting to go to laos on Thursday or stay 2 nights I looked on udon map and thai visa for info on overstaying 1 day. I read no problem 1 day no stamp, no fine.
I get to the border at mon 7.30 am and the imm guy said straight away go to the office. I sat in there for over 1 hour with 5 other overstays. Then the guy in the office who was thai police not immigration lectured us on what could happen to us for overstaying then fined me 500 baht and stamped my passport for a 7.5 hour overstay. Thai forums no problem “rubbish”.
HUH?!?!? :-s :confused: [-X
BobHelm wrote:I believe that IF YOU ARE LUCKY you might get away with being 1 day overstay at the airport, on the way out of the country.
http://www.udonmap.com/udonthaniforum/p ... ay#p282453
Asiaphile wrote:If you overstay by 1 (one) day and try to cross from NK to Lao you WILL be fined, as I found out the hard way. The day of grace given is only observed at AIRPORTS, not at land borders.
http://www.udonmap.com/udonthaniforum/r ... t=overstay

User avatar
greatsnake
udonmap.com
Posts: 110
Joined: December 8, 2009, 10:02 am
Location: Udon Thani, Thailand

misinformation on forums in Thailand

Post by greatsnake » March 7, 2012, 12:05 am

welshwizard wrote:Just for the people... you have no experience of.
Quite frankly, you come off as a complete nut job from your post. I'm surprised you weren't deported if your response to the Thai Immigration officials was similar to what you posted.

User avatar
Bandung_Dero
udonmap.com
Posts: 3614
Joined: July 10, 2005, 8:53 am
Location: Ban Dung or Perth W.A.

misinformation on forums in Thailand

Post by Bandung_Dero » March 7, 2012, 6:51 am

Most of us have made mistakes whilst dealing with the Thai authorities no matter what we have read or been told, IMO just a life experience. Get over it!
When it comes to immigration issues there is not many better informed than lopburi3 on TV, he also occasionally posts here.
Sent from my 1977 Apple II using 2 Heinz bake bean cans and piano wire!

douglas
udonmap.com
Posts: 1193
Joined: July 4, 2007, 4:05 pm
Location: Udon Thani
Contact:

misinformation on forums in Thailand

Post by douglas » March 7, 2012, 5:39 pm

Hi,
I agree with most posts. Boards are for info. only. They are not the bible. If you overstay, IT IS YOUR FAULT, nobody elses. And you sow what you reap. You might get away with it in some soft countries, like the U.K., but i think LOS ts right in doing this. I wish other countries would follow suit. Why, oh why, not ask for info. from Imm. Not rocket science. As it states in your passport "Applicant must leave the kingdom within the date specifed herein offenders will be proscuted". Think yourself lucky this did not happen, you would not like it. And don't blame anyone else but yourself.

User avatar
welshwizard
udonmap.com
Posts: 73
Joined: May 16, 2011, 6:52 am

misinformation on forums in Thailand

Post by welshwizard » March 7, 2012, 9:19 pm

greatsnake wrote:
welshwizard wrote:Just for the people... you have no experience of.
Quite frankly, you come off as a complete nut job from your post. I'm surprised you weren't deported if your response to the Thai Immigration officials was similar to what you posted.
I do not understand.What response to thai immigration ? i never really spoke to them . I am posting about the farangs who answer every post without knowing what they are talking about same as you

User avatar
welshwizard
udonmap.com
Posts: 73
Joined: May 16, 2011, 6:52 am

misinformation on forums in Thailand

Post by welshwizard » March 7, 2012, 9:23 pm

douglas wrote:Hi,
I agree with most posts. Boards are for info. only. They are not the bible. If you overstay, IT IS YOUR FAULT, nobody elses. And you sow what you reap. You might get away with it in some soft countries, like the U.K., but i think LOS ts right in doing this. I wish other countries would follow suit. Why, oh why, not ask for info. from Imm. Not rocket science. As it states in your passport "Applicant must leave the kingdom within the date specifed herein offenders will be proscuted". Think yourself lucky this did not happen, you would not like it. And don't blame anyone else but yourself.
i do not blame anyone but myself but i read on this and thai visa forum iit would be no problem to overstay 1 day. If not for the info on these forums i would have not overstayed

User avatar
welshwizard
udonmap.com
Posts: 73
Joined: May 16, 2011, 6:52 am

misinformation on forums in Thailand

Post by welshwizard » March 7, 2012, 9:43 pm

trubrit wrote:
welshwizard wrote: . Not sitting in your armchair on a retirement or marraige visa dishing out info on visas you have no experience of.
Well Taffy us lot sitting here on the above visas aren't an exclusive group, anyone can join if they have a Thai wife and income or savings equal to 400k a year, 800k if they don't have the wife and are over 50 .So why not simplify your life and get the same visa as us. If you have the monetary requirement .Any person trying to circumvent those requirements has little or no sympathy from me. In fact I feel they complicate our lives by making the powers that be introduce further regulations to stamp it out, thus effecting us .
Mr true brit you are on every post i have ever read on udon map .Must have a mass of knowledge to answer every post. I suppose i am to you and a few, others i am a cheapie charlie. I live in Thailand on a limited amount of money with my lovely wife . I live in Thailand not farangland. I have never been to nutty park,night and day top mansion irish clock etc.I live in Thailand not a little house rented on an ants nest estate so i can not get the same visa as you and really do not need your sympathy I try to obey the thai visa rules. I do not need a forum to find where to buy bread or an english breakfast. I just go out and look Why not simplify your life and go out and live it. What i do expect is that if you post on here it is accurate information not what you have read from a website.
I have read posts on here asking a question and i think i am 99% sure of the answer but not 100% so i do not post then i see answers which i know are 100 % incorrect

User avatar
rick
udonmap.com
Posts: 3238
Joined: January 9, 2008, 10:36 am
Location: Udon, or UK May-August

misinformation on forums in Thailand

Post by rick » March 7, 2012, 10:26 pm

Going back to the original post, 2 things i spotted quickly.

1. It is quite possible that a post was not clear in their description of what they call an immigration office, but when talking about being able to renew you visa on a monday when it expired on a Sunday, this is because it is an immigration Office like that in Udon - which i believe is closed on a Sunday. Therefore if your visa/permission to stay is being processed there, you should be able to get away with it because YOU COULDN'T ON A SUNDAY. But the immigration office on the border was open, therefore you could have done your border run on the Sunday. Therefore you got done.

2. 12 month multi-entry - their is still plenty of misinformation about where you can get these. Some claim to have got them in Neighbouring countries, but the rules at most consulates are that you can only obtain then in your country of origin (i.e. where you got your passport) and most posters state this. Single entry 3 month visa's do seem to be available, but i am a little uncertain as to what proof of income they ask for (in UK have to have proof of income for visa if non-img. 'O'.)

But obviously a forum is only a guide; and rules can change anyway. Recently some one i know got a triple entry tourist visa - he didn't realise you actually had to leave every 2 months - cost him 20,000 when he crossed the border. Visa's are serious business and research, research and read everything is only common sense.

User avatar
Khun Paul
udonmap.com
Posts: 7743
Joined: September 16, 2008, 3:28 pm
Location: Udon Thani

misinformation on forums in Thailand

Post by Khun Paul » March 8, 2012, 7:40 am

It is so simple that anyone can ascertain ( even those with a small amount of intelligence ) if your Visa, or whatever runs out at the weekend, you renew on the Friday before, ok a pain but with any country I have ever visited if the expiry is on the weekend, I politely point it out and they normally change it, even here,one cannot renew on a weekend so why end the visa on a weekend, sometimes the officers don't think, often it is a clerical error.

Does not really matter whether you are living in a mansion or a small house, loads of dosh or limited income. Lack of foresight or lack of commonsense is the main problem in dealing with any Government office especially here. Here people assume that the officers, do have a certain amount of flexibility in dealing with people who break the rules, either by mistake or even on purpose but with good reasons, unlike Europe where that could be taken for granted, here they do not, they stick to the rules with a rigidity that often worries me. However once you realise that, you then have to work out a way to avoid any further problems.

Immigration officers are no different to other Government Agencies here, staff are afraid to bend the rules for fear of being criticised by their supervisors, so no-one will make a decision , the reverse is also true, Supervisors do not want their subordinates to think they are soft. Once you understand that then you deal with any problems in alike manner, make them feel that they are important and know the answers and you'll get along fine.

Personally I have never had a problem, even in Nong Khai but that does not mean I am complacent, I just ensure all the i's are dotted and the t's crossed and always take a copy with original docs just in case. I also speak to them if I not happy or uncertain about something. Not rocket science but it works, I never accept what anyone else says as in the main most ore BS's me and you only get half the truth anyway embellished to make themselves look good.

So Welshwizard, I am sorry that you were done as it where, hopefully a learning curve for you a factor to be taken into account, I'll leave you with a comment attributable to the Lord Budda,
' Never believe anything you are told unless you have checked it out for yourself and found it to be true '

Jing Jing
udonmap.com
Posts: 566
Joined: January 12, 2008, 8:44 pm

misinformation on forums in Thailand

Post by Jing Jing » March 8, 2012, 2:26 pm

Khun Paul
Never believe anything you are told unless you have checked it out for yourself and found it to be true '
but unfortunately here in LOS it seems no matter how careful you are and how many times you double check information the final answer may not be what you were told.

Example I asked before I left LOS what the process for a non-immigrant "O" visa was. I checked this three times before I left. When I came back to Immigration after getting the visa I checked again ... now the rules had changed :confused:

I have been told by the head of Thai Immigration his officers will make mistakes but it is not their fault it is my fault because I'm supposed to know the rules. [-X How are you supposed to know the rules if no one has a actual document listing the rules. I have a booklet "Extension of Temporary Stay in the Kingdom of Thailand" Immigration Bureau Royal Thai Police. I obtained the booklet at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and was told it is not correct. :shock: The booklet and the brochure given out at Udon Immigration differ on the requirements for an extension of stay when supporting a Thai national are different. It seems if you are lucky the first time you apply for a visa and don't run afoul of the rules you are safe. If you are unlucky you will be in for a rough ride until your luck changes :-#

Jello
udonmap.com
Posts: 1450
Joined: February 15, 2010, 1:34 pm

misinformation on forums in Thailand

Post by Jello » March 8, 2012, 6:54 pm

Jing Jing wrote: I have a booklet "Extension of Temporary Stay in the Kingdom of Thailand" Immigration Bureau Royal Thai Police. I obtained the booklet at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and was told it is not correct. :shock:
Might as well consult the magic 8 ball! :lol:

Image
image hosting
UFF DA!

Post Reply

Return to “General Udon Thani Forum”