Friday Night

Today's song is: Runnin with the Devil  .. Van Halen

Great news: The Stones are releasing a new album!

I am able to stay in Thailand for a year because I have a Non Immigrant "0" visa which are typically given for either 'Retirement in Thailand' or 'Marriage to a Thai National'. Thailand also offers a 30 day visa on arrival as well as a 90 day visa which has to be applied for outside of Thailand at a Thai embassy in your host country.  Most visitors to Thailand are on a 30 day on arrival visa. I used to visit for months on the 30 day visa but I had to leave the country and come back in. This usually meant I flew to Malaysia or Singapore for an overnight-er.

To qualify for a retirement visa you must have 800,000 Baht in your bank account or an income of 55,000 Baht a month. I never have 800,000 baht in my bank account but I do make 55,000 baht in pension a month. Of course I have to prove this, so I go to the Canadian Embassy in Bangkok with my bank statement printer out showing my pensions being deposited into my account. The embassy then issues me an affidavit stating my income which I then submit with form 7 to the Immigration department at the government Complex out near Don Muang Airport. Of course there are the obligatory passport photos, photocopies of my passport, copies of my lease, a fee, etc. The first time you do it, it is challenging unless you have a friend to walk you through it which I did.  Thank you Ron!The complex is so large, you could put 4 soccer fields in the inside open court.

Once you have the visa you still need to report in every 90 days to tell the government you are still there, and where you are living.  This is much different than Canada where you get a 6 month visa and the government has no idea where you are, or even if or when you left the country.  Most countries make you go through immigration when you enter and when you leave, but not Canada although I hear they are planning to change that process. 

It is pretty quiet on my night activities as we are await the arrival of Thavorn's two older children so they can babysit Jaidan and Thavorn and I can both go out and party together. We have not been able to do so since Last April.  We are both looking forward to some music, dance and pool.

TTYL