Thread: Home visit

Tell me about it. I'm very hot tempered and if I get treated the same I'm liable to say something. The guy who I quoted knows this and advised me to just let the wife do the talking. But why does my wife have to be there? It's for a 'Retirement Extension'.

Originally Posted by Pragmatic

But why does my wife have to be there? It's for a 'Retirement Extension'.

Don't take her

That's what I'm considering, but she thinks they won't give me my extension and give me another 30 days and requesting she be in attendance the next time I visit.
As I've said before. I think KCI is a penal posting and the officers don't like being there. Hence their attitude.

Personally, I'd take the wife and let her do all the talking. Simply smile and give the monkeys what they want. You can only win battles against the Thai if you truly do not give a fuck about losing.
Todzzzz advice to sling your hook to Laksi in Bangkok or perhaps even Pattaya, for their Jomtien office, and take up residence there temporarily struck me as sensible in your circumstances, given the absurd demands being placed upon you.

Certainly, once you do get your extension I would seriously consider lodging a later of complaint to Immigration HQ and seek confirmation from them what the correct procedure is meant to be in Nakhon Nowhere. I would use a a good translator and submit the correspondence in Thai out of courtesy.

Good luck.

Originally Posted by Pragmatic

I think KCI is a penal posting and the officers don't like being there

Not what I think. I think they are fucking with folks in hopes of getting an express service back hander.

Originally Posted by Seekingasylum

I would seriously consider lodging a later of complaint to Immigration HQ and seek confirmation from them what the correct procedure is meant to be in Nakhon Nowhere. I would use a a good translator and submit the correspondence in Thai out of courtesy.

Good advice.

Originally Posted by Norton

I think they are fucking with folks in hopes of getting an express service back hander.

The guy that I spoke with today said he thought the same. I asked him why didn't slip them some dosh. He said he would have but they kept talking about corruption and he felt the interview may be a sting so stayed quiet.

I still can't see why you need your thai wife and all the documentation that you're married IF you're getting an extension of stay based on being over 50 (retirement)..

I for one wouldn't offer out a single baht on those home visits. The exposure to be caught out tryin' to bribe an officer would just be too high.

Originally Posted by toddaniels

I still can't see why you need your thai wife and all the documentation that you're married IF you're getting an extension of stay based on being over 50 (retirement)..

Neither can I but this is KCI and they're a law unto themselves. If I recall correctly Tod you berated me for taking my wife with me for my extension last year. How lucky you are to not being married and not living in this area.

Originally Posted by Pragmatic

Originally Posted by toddaniels

I still can't see why you need your thai wife and all the documentation that you're married IF you're getting an extension of stay based on being over 50 (retirement)..

Neither can I but this is KCI and they're a law unto themselves. If I recall correctly Tod you berated me for taking my wife with me for my extension last year. How lucky you are to not being married and not living in this area.

When I go to get my driving licenses renewed at Rattanaburi they insist on having copies of wifes ID card and house-book even though I have my own Yellow-house book. When I asked why and said what if I wasn't married they said" if you want licenses do as we ask or go elsewhere!!! " ...so it's not just Immigration that make up their own rules

Originally Posted by boloa

I have my own Yellow-house book.

I too have my Yellow Book.

Originally Posted by boloa

it's not just Immigration that make up their own rules

You are correct because even to obtain a 'Yellow Book' each district office is different in what documents are required.

Originally Posted by boloa

Originally Posted by Pragmatic

Originally Posted by toddaniels

I still can't see why you need your thai wife and all the documentation that you're married IF you're getting an extension of stay based on being over 50 (retirement)..

Neither can I but this is KCI and they're a law unto themselves. If I recall correctly Tod you berated me for taking my wife with me for my extension last year. How lucky you are to not being married and not living in this area.

When I go to get my driving licenses renewed at Rattanaburi they insist on having copies of wifes ID card and house-book even though I have my own Yellow-house book. When I asked why and said what if I wasn't married they said" if you want licenses do as we ask or go elsewhere!!! " ...so it's not just Immigration that make up their own rules

Folk should never lose sight of the inescapable fact they are living within a medieval society which seeks to control its citizens. The feudal measures in place that anchor all to their place of birth or residence are designed to ensure no one might escape the net.

It's third world and to expect them to forego their bureaucratic straitjackets is tantamount to treason, sedition and revolution.

Of course, one can have a little sport when they demand some document or other and ask why but invariably this is futile because no one can answer - they have all been told somewhere along the line by a superior officer and it is a feature of their culture to not question anything they are being told by someone socially higher than they.

Unthinking, usually stupid and illogical to a degree of imbecility but then, these are all hallmarks of what passes for the Thai consciousness.

That is why the place is such an incoherent mess.

^

We can break down Thegents post to simply say,

Give em what they want, get the business done and go home.

No point kicking against the wind here. Drive ya self nuts.

Err, that's what I have already said in my earlier response to Pragmatic.

^

Yes I was just breaking it down a Tad,

Your long winded responses confuse some of the readers who aren't so intellectual.

Originally Posted by terry57

^

Give em what they want, get the business done and go home.

No point kicking against the wind here. Drive ya self nuts.

Not always !!!...The last time I renewed my Driving License the guy behind the desk said to me " Farang can't have 5 year Car Driving License,only one year" so I replied " then why did I get a 5 year Driving License here 9 months ago for my Motorbike ?? "
He disappeared out the back and his superior came out and sorted my new License for me. I first guy stayed out in the back office until I left. After I left I looked through the windows and could see him peering out the office door to see if I had gone

If I had done as you say Terry I would have left with a One year License ...sometimes you have to kicking against the wind.......a little

You see it is exactly the mindset like terry and a TON of other foreigners have here (more times than not, influenced by their thai significant other) which make it hard to compel thai officialdom to follow the rules as they wrote them instead of how they imagine them to be.

To show that you can indeed "fight city hall and win" I will relate a totally off-topic but vaguely extension related story.

I had an acquaintance who had a yearly extension of stay based on being over 50. However this year she would have been out of the country when the date came up to apply for a new yearly extension. In fact she would be leaving the country almost 90 days before the expiration of her current extension and not return until several months after that. We showed up at Chaengwattana with all the documentation, bank letter, bank book, obligatory copies AND a copy of her flight itinerary showing when she was leaving and when she'd come back.

The first officer said, CANNOT!, Can't do it, not at all. You can't apply for a new extension any earlier than 45 days before you current extension expires! She recommended letting this extension expire and start the entire process over from square one next year when the lady came back into thailand. I told her, that it didn't make sense, in fact it was nonsense and in this situation it wasn't gonna work. I said we have provided proof that this person wasn't being deceptive, wasn't tryin' to scam anything, plus in the immigration rules it says "individual cases may be decided at the discretion of the officer" and I was asking for her to use her discretionary powers. She wouldn't budge.

So I pushed it all the way up the chain of command to the 4 stripe lady who runs the entire section. Of course that meant I had to present the same argument to three other subordinate officers each time going one level higher. The head officer had already seen and heard the story by the time I finally sat down in front of her. She scolded/chided me saying "Mr Tod you shouldn't ask for things like this". I told her, even though you say I shouldn't ask, I'm allowed to ask and I'm asking.

She finally agreed to send the file upstairs for "consideration". Now this was on a Tuesday and the lady was flying out Saturday, so when she said they'd take it under consideration I cautioned the officer with "don't consider it too long, she leaves Saturday". Low and behold, Thursday morning she called me, told me to bring the lady out and they gave her a yearly extension of stay stamp, 87 days early! And no she didn't lose any time, they just added a year to her current expiration date. We also got another re-entry permit synced to the new extension too and she was good to go.

IF I'da taken the b/s knee jerk answer "CANNOT" off that first officer I wouldn't have found out that you can indeed push a rope IF you know how to.

I totally believe because we're foreigners here (especially so, if you can speak something that actually resembles thai) we can get a free pass dealing with bureaucracy outside the normal restrictions which thai-thai dealings take place. We (or maybe just me) can push officials way further compared to what a thai can. For the most part thais are shit scared of anyone in a too-tight uniform with colored string and bangles hanging off it. There is just no way a Thai would argue with an officer like I did or push it up thru 4 people, EVEN if that thai was totally in the right! They just culturally can't/won't do it, or if they do it, it's very rarely.

Don't always believe that tripe like; we're guests here, don't rock the boat, do what they want, don't make plob-lems, blah-blah-blah.

Anyway, end of the oh-so long off-topic story. . .

Originally Posted by toddaniels

You see it is exactly the mindset like terry and a TON of other foreigners have here (more times than not, influenced by their thai significant other) which make it hard to compel thai officialdom to follow the rules as they wrote them instead of how they imagine them to be.

I agree Tod. The shit that's going down at Kap Choeng is beyond belief but my missus believes if we go about it the Thai way it wouldn't happen. She firmly believes that I take some kind of offering and give it willingly, not necessary money, may be a basket of fruit. Bless her.

my missus believes if we go about it the Thai way it wouldn't happen

How does that logic work exactly? The unnecessary kowtowing, foreskin tugging, reams of extra paperwork, plus the home visits for extensions based on retirement have been happening at KCI since at least June!

Funny enough I had one immigration officer who graciously made a copy for me, using her copy machine (which BTW: is under every officer's desk at Chaengwattana) say in engrish, "You give a tip for me?" as she handed me the copy.

Now I don't know if she was joking or not but I said in thai, "I'll give you a tip that has real value." She looked at me expectantly and I said, "Learn to speak English!"

The look she gave me was priceless!

Originally Posted by toddaniels

her copy machine (which BTW: is under every officer's desk at Chaengwattana

They will not let you use their copier at KCI. You or your wife is expected to walk 150-200m down the road, raining or not, to get copies done. Best make sure you get the copying right or off you go again. I'd be fooked if I didn't take the missus. My walking ain't so good, but do they care?

Originally Posted by toddaniels

How does that logic work exactly?

She thinks they'd treat us more kindly if we arse licked more.

Originally Posted by toddaniels

reams of extra paperwork

It has been increasing every year. It's only the home visits and the 30 day under consideration that have really changed.

Here's a new t-shirt I thought up. I know amazing it's not a KISS t-shirt huh?
This is the front:

"See, Report STOP Corruption"

This is the back;

"Solve the problem this life(time)
Don't wait for the next one"

There is word play too, because the word ชาติ can mean country OR life. If I didn't have the second sentence the first one could be interpreted as "solve the problem for this country". Even for me that was too much.

I'll wear it out to Chaengwattana tomorrow and see how it plays with Thai Immigration Officers..

So, if I'm not posting for a few days, keep an eye out on the thai news for someone at a Police Station wearing this shirt.

Originally Posted by toddaniels

I'll wear it out to Chaengwattana tomorrow

A threads no good without pictures. Can you receive food parcels in Thai jails?

^
Not sure but tomorrow I'll find out...