90 days is a frankly unnecessary burden?

gotlost said:
Do you agree with an editorial which said that the requirement for residents using non-immigrant visas to report their address every 90 days is a frankly unnecessary burden?

http://www.bangkokpost.com/
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I find it acceptable that the law requires foreigners to register their address but in my opinion it would be far more logical to report only whenever that address changes.
 
gotlost said:
Do you agree with an editorial which said that the requirement for residents using non-immigrant visas to report their address every 90 days is a frankly unnecessary burden?

http://www.bangkokpost.com/
Click to expand...

If I could find the editorial I would read the article. Notwithstanding, I find the requirement to report every 90-days absolutely unnecessary. I am not talking from a personal point of view but from a Thai Management point of view. What purpose does it serve? Aliens staying more than 90-days have, presumably, got a visa extension based on retirement or marriage or some other visa/work permit to remain in Thailand for a year at a time. Once a year those aliens go through the motions and extend their visa to remain for a further year. All details about that alien are fully recorded once a year. The only purpose of a 90-day report is to keep the immigration officers unnecessarily busy, add to the paper trail and fill up computer databases. They are recording your address, and the fact that you are still here, an extra 4 times per year.

There is already a requirement for an alien to notify Immigration of a change of address within 24 hours of such a move. What purpose does the 90-report really serve? None, IMHO. Therefore, shelve the 90-day report and save time, personnel, expense and waste of effort. It would also put a smile on the face of the alien and save him or her 4 unnecessary and nugatory visits to Immigration each year.
 
Can I be the Devils Advocate - Yes ,I get frustrated doing the 90 days run but we are suffering because of the few who flout the law . I only wish the UK government were more forceful in applying their immigration laws . For the majority of us it only represents less than half a day in an otherwise 90 days of not doing very much .
 
If all european countries would apply the same restrictions for foreigners being in "our" european countries, as we have here, 99% would be kicked out of the country within 48 hours ... that should be the first priority of our prime-ministers instead of taxing our people to death. But that would be poiitical incorrect would it ???
Annual saving from unemployment, health services, police, detainmentcenters, prisons, the legal system, schooling, crimesuppression, etcetera would reach into billions of euro/pound a year !!!!
 
billp said:
Can I be the Devils Advocate - Yes ,I get frustrated doing the 90 days run but we are suffering because of the few who flout the law . I only wish the UK government were more forceful in applying their immigration laws . For the majority of us it only represents less than half a day in an otherwise 90 days of not doing very much .
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Yes, you may be the Devil's Advocate but I am afraid I do not see the connection between a 90-day report and those that flout the law. If one flouts the law then presumably one does not bother with the 90-day report nor the need for any kind of visa or visa extension at all. They come into the Kingdom on a 30-day visa exempt stamp, fly low, stay below the radar and only surface when they have to leave - penalty a 20,000 Baht over-stay fine. I do not see that a 90-day report contributes anything to anyone. It certainly does not deter anyone who flouts the law, in fact, it may even work in reverse. It may actually encourage people to flout the law and accept that one day it will cost them 20,000 Baht.

Actual cost to stay legal per year:

4 runs to file the 90-day report - say 2,000 Baht in transportation expenses
1 visa extension each year:
1,900 Baht for visa extension
2,500 Baht for letter of income from British Embassy
500 Baht transportation expenses
500 baht for tea and biscuits in M&D
Total cost per year: Approximately 7,500 Baht per year.

If you stay below the radar, flout the law, you would break even on your 20,000 Baht penalty/fine within 3 years.

I my own case I have been here 10 years and had I flouted the law I would be better off to the tune of some 40,000 Baht plus. And I may add, I have never been stopped and asked to show my 90-day report or my visa extension. So, I ask the question again, what purpose does a 90-day report fulfill? It doesn't even top up the tea fund - its a free report!
 
I have a PR visa, and am required to report to the local Police Station every 5 years to confirm my address and submit an up to date photograph. Like others, I have to report a change of address in the interim should that occur.

I fully agree that 90 day reporting is totally unnecessary in my view.
 
nomad97 said:
4 runs to file the 90-day report - say 2,000 Baht in transportation expenses
1 visa extension each year:
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I agree with you completely Steve. However, to be pedantic, if you plan your reporting and extension visits carefully, you only need a total of 4 visits/year. T.I.C.
 
Since you can now do your 90-day report by mail, it really is a very minor irritation. You can even get somebody else to mail it, and yourself slip out of the country for a while.

This is in fact an old requirement which had lapsed, and was not in force during my first years here. It was revived some time in the early '00s.... to the astonishment of some old hands who had been here for 20 years and never done such a thing.
 
Yorky said:
I agree with you completely Steve. However, to be pedantic, if you plan your reporting and extension visits carefully, you only need a total of 4 visits/year. T.I.C.
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I agree! However, a couple of years back and you could not co-ordinate your visits. Nowadays, they will modify the 90 days on the third report of the year to co-incide with you visa extension.
 
isanbirder said:
Since you can now do your 90-day report by mail, it really is a very minor irritation. You can even get somebody else to mail it, and yourself slip out of the country for a while.

This is in fact an old requirement which had lapsed, and was not in force during my first years here. It was revived some time in the early '00s.... to the astonishment of some old hands who had been here for 20 years and never done such a thing.
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Oh no its not. They have moved the Surin Post Office to halfway between Surin and Krasang. Maybe okay for you but now its a day trip to post a flipping letter. I think Kap Cheown maybe closer!
 
nomad97 said:
Oh no its not. They have moved the Surin Post Office to halfway between Surin and Krasang. Maybe okay for you but now its a day trip to post a flipping letter. I think Kap Cheown maybe closer!
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Is there nowhere in the town where you can post a letter? Krasang, by the way, is 10 kms from my house; is the Surin PO that far out?

Or are you really just thinking of those expensive tea and biscuits?

(Just checked back; new PO is 3 kms from the centre..... yes, THREE. You could walk that!)
 
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isanbirder said:
Since you can now do your 90-day report by mail, it really is a very minor irritation. You can even get somebody else to mail it, and yourself slip out of the country for a while.

This is in fact an old requirement which had lapsed, and was not in force during my first years here. It was revived some time in the early '00s.... to the astonishment of some old hands who had been here for 20 years and never done such a thing.
Click to expand...

If you slip out of the country, nobody will need to mail your report. 90 days starts again when you return.
 
Okay, so I exaggerated about the tea and biscuits, maybe 450 and not 500 baht! As to the Post Office it is on the other side of town (west) from Robinson's (east) and where I live. Maybe about 10 kilometers through town and with all the traffic, traffic lights and police checks I could be through Prasat and on my way to Kap Cheown quicker.

pantsonfire ThumbUp6
 
Offtopic2. At least the Posties got a new Post Office. The BIB are still waiting on their quarter finished cop shop in Surin ,Poor Buggers. That's another issue the army has to look into, the missing funds for 600 Police stations.
 
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