Will Thailand Change its Visa Policies for Long Stay Expats?
Nov 7, 2013 Posted by Editor In Asia Tagged Thai Visa Comments 0
WILL THAILAND CHANGE ITS VISA POLICIES FOR LONG STAY EXPATS? – At meebal.com we hear a lot of foreign expats berating the Thai Visa system and yet despite the clearly erroneous system of obtaining a visa and maintaining a visa expats continue to choose to live in Thailand.
For such tolerance to be demonstrate one can only assume that Thailand is an incredible place to live but from simply viewing Thailand’s expat forums, such as ThaiVisa, it would appear that Thailand is indeed an unpleasant place full of racists, bigots and xenophobes.
The question begs to be asked… ‘Why on earth do expats live in Thailand?’ As a British national I certainly feel oppressed at times through Government and European legislation but of course the choice of residence remains my own and I do have the right to peaceful protest.
For the long-term foreign expat there are a number of visas available; including a standard long-stay non-immigrant ‘O’, a retirement visa, marriage visa or a working visa.
Regardless of which is applicable each visa either requires the holder to leave the Kingdom of Thailand every 90 day or report to their local immigration office.
In addition to the 90 day requirements each of the visas also requires renewing on an annual basis – but why?
The Thai Immigration officials cite a number of reasons including, but not restricted to:
Ensuring foreigners are not working illegally
Ensuring foreigners do no over stay
Ensuring a record of a foreigners whereabouts
The issues appear suspicious in that it’s not so much about compliance to regulations but rather the ability to control one’s movements and activities.
The issue of foreigners taking Thai jobs has been a subject of much debate to the point of exhaustion and yet despite the clear evidence that foreign expats are not having an impact on local jobs only leads to the conspiracy that the Thais are deeply racist, bigoted and indeed xenophobic.
According to research Thailand has an unemployment rate of approximately 2%. For a country with a population of some 63 million people that is extremely low.
Could such a rate be used as a testament to the current visa system that prevents foreign nationals from taking Thai jobs?
Nov 7, 2013 Posted by Editor In Asia Tagged Thai Visa Comments 0
WILL THAILAND CHANGE ITS VISA POLICIES FOR LONG STAY EXPATS? – At meebal.com we hear a lot of foreign expats berating the Thai Visa system and yet despite the clearly erroneous system of obtaining a visa and maintaining a visa expats continue to choose to live in Thailand.
For such tolerance to be demonstrate one can only assume that Thailand is an incredible place to live but from simply viewing Thailand’s expat forums, such as ThaiVisa, it would appear that Thailand is indeed an unpleasant place full of racists, bigots and xenophobes.
The question begs to be asked… ‘Why on earth do expats live in Thailand?’ As a British national I certainly feel oppressed at times through Government and European legislation but of course the choice of residence remains my own and I do have the right to peaceful protest.
For the long-term foreign expat there are a number of visas available; including a standard long-stay non-immigrant ‘O’, a retirement visa, marriage visa or a working visa.
Regardless of which is applicable each visa either requires the holder to leave the Kingdom of Thailand every 90 day or report to their local immigration office.
In addition to the 90 day requirements each of the visas also requires renewing on an annual basis – but why?
The Thai Immigration officials cite a number of reasons including, but not restricted to:
Ensuring foreigners are not working illegally
Ensuring foreigners do no over stay
Ensuring a record of a foreigners whereabouts
The issues appear suspicious in that it’s not so much about compliance to regulations but rather the ability to control one’s movements and activities.
The issue of foreigners taking Thai jobs has been a subject of much debate to the point of exhaustion and yet despite the clear evidence that foreign expats are not having an impact on local jobs only leads to the conspiracy that the Thais are deeply racist, bigoted and indeed xenophobic.
According to research Thailand has an unemployment rate of approximately 2%. For a country with a population of some 63 million people that is extremely low.
Could such a rate be used as a testament to the current visa system that prevents foreign nationals from taking Thai jobs?