Thread: ED visa for Thailand step by step guide

Sorry in advance this is long, perhaps if you stick with it you will find it of value..



The ED visa has become a "catch all" for people who can't/don't qualify for other types of visas in Thailand. Honestly if someone's under 50 y/o, not married to a Thai, not working legally here on a B visa and work permit, there are few options for them to stay here long term other than the ED visa or back to back tourist visas (which is getting tougher to do).

There are a couple of things "nedaaa" didn't point out. You can't just go to ANY Language school (of which there are no shortage here in the glorious "Land 'O Thais"). You've gotta make sure the one you select is registered with the Ministry of Education because it's that registration which allows them to get you the correct paperwork to leave the country and apply for an ED visa at a Thai consulate or Embassy.

The MOE has a minimum 4 hours a week that you must study Thai. Some schools have the minimum hours set much higher and it is up to the individual school if they want their own criteria for attendance so they issue ED visa support documentation higher than the MOE. Honestly, a foreigner could learn Thai possibly the rest of their life at a measely 4 hours a week and NEVER get past "2-word-tourist-thai" or "phrozen-phrazes".

Most schools can get that paperwork from the Ministry of Education in a matter of days NOT weeks, especially now seeing as the process is online and schools can see the progress of the application by logging in to the MOE website. I know several schools where students paid their tuition on Monday and their paperwork was ready that Friday. Some schools will try to charge you an "express service fee" which is just another way to get more of your hard earned baht.

Right now I think in Bangkok tuition for a year long Thai program which meets the MOE minimum ranges from a low of 18,500 to a high of 34,000 baht. These are schools which target the foreigner who wants to learn Thai, and they are registered with the MOE, so getting your support documentation for the ED visa isn't gonna be a problem. There are also a LOT of schools out there who aren’t registered with the MOE so don’t provide “visa assistance” yet have incredible Thai language programs. They concentrate on teachin’ Thai NOT on figuring out how foreigners can stay here. Their clientele is usually business people already here on B visas etc, so a different demographic entirely.

Another thing is; once we're grown up, the way we acquire knowledge is "hard wired" to a degree. We don't learn like children by soaking up information like a sponge no matter how it's presented. You hafta be sure that the school you choose teaches Thai in a way that "clicks with how you learn". Some schools do nothing more than teach "rote Thai phrases", which only makes "parrots". Those are people who can parrot sentences in Thai, yet the minute the conversation goes "off script" they're lost.

There are enough Thai language schools in Bangkok registered with the Ministry of Education so that a student can find a good match between how they learn things and how the school teaches Thai to foreigners. I'd NEVER suggest that a student transfer money to the first Thai language school they find thru "Google". Come here, visit a few schools, most all of them let you sit a "sample class". That way you can "try before you buy". It's not gonna help you to find out the school you paid your tuition too teaches Thai in a way that doesn't mesh with how you learn things.

Also when you do visit a perspective school, look at ALL their text books, at the vocab being presented in the chapters, talk to currently enrolled students (on a break OUTSIDE the school) to see if they feel they're getting "bang-4-the-baht" in terms of learning Thai. Schools wanna sell you their program, they're much less concerned about how you learn, but that should be your primary concern when thinkin' of attending a school.

An intelligent person may wonder how I know this stuff? Well I've been to about 20 Thai language schools here in Bangkok and written reviews about 10-12 so far. Wanna read the reviews Google; "Tod Daniels Thai Language" and you should find me. <-shameless plug

My motivation to learn Thai was different from most people. I realized because your average run-of-the-mill Thais possessed marginal english, I had to be able to communicate with these people to get things done here. It came to me that close to 65 million people in this country can speak/understand read/write Central Thai (the government approved version of Thai the country over). I realized they ALL couldn't be smarter than I was (some for sure but not every last one of 'em). I am basically a "self taught" learner of the language (although I did attend an all too well known school for a year, after I'd taught myself to read Thai already). Now I can speak/understand, read/write & type Thai, and I ain't the sharpest tool in the shed. If I can do it just about anyone can,

It takes time, it takes motivation, and it takes having the language presented in a way that makes sense to you. Thais learned this language by rote, by having it literally beaten into their heads as kids, and as adult non-native learners who possess a "mother language" already, we don't learn well that way. We wanna ask questions, make leaps in logic based on our mother tongue compared to Thai, etc.

Anyway, good luck. . Again, sorry this was long. ..