Genuine request for the benefit of all expats living in UT

[Information]

Some months ago a genuine request from was made from a high ranking member of the Thai government.
The question was," How could the government make things better for farangs living in the Udon Thani province"
In response to this question a meeting was arranged with farangs from various countries of origins who got together and discussed the question.
As a result of this meeting a collective agenda was formed as a response.
The response was verbally communicated to members of the government and as a result, in the very near future, a further meeting will take place in Udon Thani between the same group and a high ranking member of the Thai government.
This request on this forum is designed to give as many people from this province the opportunity to input their ideas or suggestions prior to the meeting happening and the forum will be monitored for anything new that has previously not been included for consideration of inclusion to the existing agenda. This I believe is a unique opportunity in Thailand for all farangs to air their thoughts and ideas. I thank all responders in advance and will post a result of this meeting at a later date.

[bumper]

Sounds very good,. However I can't think of a thing.

Maybe presenting an Embassy letter of income. Or the bank letter but not both.

Lowering the requirements for the resident alien status for long term people.

Best I can come up with

What was discussed in the last meeting?

[Jello]

Lowering the requirements for the resident alien status for long term people.

I second that. It's my understanding (and I'm often wrong) that you must be working and paying income tax to obtain
residency, and people on a retirement extension visa cannot even apply.

So who are these "high ranking member of the Thai government" ? Forgive me if I sound suspicious but I recall a thread from a few years ago that also spoke of a meeting like this in vague terms. Give us some solid information Mr Information.

[pienmash]

Sounds very interesting ,,,,,, i certainly would have a few ideas and points to discuss at such a meeting . I will send you a pm with details .

This could well turn out to be a great opportunity to make some real progress in respect of expats residing in and around Udonthani .

mash

[davecryan]

This just does not settle well with me ...OK call me sceptical or cynical....who was involved in the 'farang" discussion group and what was the 'agenda'. Why was the communication to the Thai govt 'verbal' ?...no record!
Why have we not heard about this, from the long term members of this forum...truebrit etc ?
Just wondering !!

[jai yen yen]

I sincerely doubt any high ranking government officials could care less about expats in Thailand.

[Information]

Bumper..Thanks for the input.This matter is already on the agenda.
Jello....Thankyou and this area is already covered on the agenda.I'm sorry be patient at this time.
Pie and mash....Thanks for the input.
Dave....Please be patient,not all long term residents of Udon thani province use forums for their thoughts and actions.Thankyou for you input.
Jai Yen Yen....I'm sorry you think this way.Thanks for your valued input.

[maaka]

yes I can vaguely remember that previous meeting taking place, and I think it was with someone noble, or perhaps Ms Yingluck when she first got into government.. I recall seeing white fella's in thier best gear sitting around, whether it was on tv, the net , or somewhere other, I am not sure, but I think we discussed it here on UM, anywayyyyyyyyy..

I would like to see farang being able to gain residency, just like Thais do in my home country.

I would like to see farang being able to purchase free hold title to land of 1/2 acre or less..I would like it to apply to all land no matter the size, but know that wont happen. However, Thai's can purchase land in NZ freehold, ( except land on islands over a certain size ) so I would like to see a recipricol arrangement..

I think the requirement for 400,000 - 800,000 baht to be in a Thai bank come visa time is inappropriate. If one had residency then that money could be used for other purposes, that benefit the family, kids or couple..Indeed the right for farang to work, I feel would only benefit Thailand.

[trubrit]

Can I say it ? Here we go again. Longer term members will know over the years I have been actively involved with "meetings" with various govt depts , ministers of one dept or another, local governors, the mayor and city councillors, all on the subject of, one way or another, intergrating us(Farang) into the community. I have been excited at the talk, even wriiten on here about the good things coming our way, yes really believed they cared, only to be dissapointed , nay, frustrated, when after the initial euphoria, deadly silence.Sweet nothing. Not even a thank you from them for my time Just an occassional good lunch, which seemed to be the real purpose of the meeting for most of the attendees, a freebie.
No , I am afraid Mr Information I personally would want more knowledge of who you are and who you represent before I waste any more of my time on pie in the sky schemes .Sorry .

[KB_Texas]

As a fairly new expat to Thailand, I would like to see it easier to stay here. If nothing has changed from year to year, I am not sure what 90 day reports and re-submitting the same paperwork accomplishes. At the very least, do away with the 90 day reports if you are here legally via an extended stay/permission to stay visa. If there are issues with that person, you can always sort it out when they refile their yearly paperwork, or cancel their permission to stay if they do bad things.

Oh, and post a PRICE LIST of services in the immigration offices to ensure we pay what we are supposed to pay. It would seem that some officers use farang as a source of personal income. To us, this is just plain wrong and leaves a very bitter taste.

KB

[pienmash]

Nothing ventured ...nothing gained springs to mind ,,,,,,,,,,, lets hope something positive does come from the planned meeting , having relayed my views/ ideas to Information i believe this has got to be given a chance and time will tell.

mash

[JimboPSM]

Retired immigrants provide one of the easiest and most valuable “invisible” exports that Thailand has, yet all too often the immigrants who provide the benefits of these “invisible exports” are treated as lepers by some representatives of the Thai Government instead of being the valuable economic asset to the economy of Thailand that they actually are.

Assuming a profit rate of 10% on exports, each retired immigrant is actually equivalent to some 8 million THB of exports every year (or if married to a Thai, 4 million THB of exports) something that is far easier to achieve than actual exports.

Economists will also tell you, that in addition to the obvious direct economic benefit of these “invisible exports” there is also the much harder to quantify economic multiplier benefit.

Anyone who understands the service business model knows that one of the most highly prized income sources comes from long term service contracts – and long term service contract income is effectively what retired immigrants provide.

It would be interesting to know if the Thai Government and/or the Bank of Thailand has ever undertaken a detailed economic cost / benefit analysis of retired immigrants – because with the increasing bureaucracy with all the hoops that have to jumped through it sure doesn’t seem like it.

It should be recognised that, especially since the financial meltdown of 2008, the number of retired people from other countries with a pension (or pensions) equivalent to 800,000 THB has declined fairly substantially and will continue to decline for many years to come.

It should also be recognised that for many retirees making their personal financial arrangements fit in with the “financial requirements” of the Immigration Department costs them money, they can be asset rich while being cash and/or pension poor in conventional terms - some kind of asset valuation alternative should be considered for retirement purposes.

Many of us do recognise that unfortunately not all immigrants are good news; regrettably there are a small number of undesirable immigrants, the Thai authorities should kick them out of the country and ban them from returning – in my opinion such an action would be welcomed by the majority of decent law abiding immigrants as these undesirables are an embarrassment that only the Thai authorities are in a position to deal with effectively.

[papaguido]

Can I say it ? Here we go again. Longer term members will know over the years I have been actively involved with "meetings" with various govt depts , ministers of one dept or another, local governors, the mayor and city councillors, all on the subject of, one way or another, intergrating us(Farang) into the community. I have been excited at the talk, even wriiten on here about the good things coming our way, yes really believed they cared, only to be dissapointed , nay, frustrated, when after the initial euphoria, deadly silence.Sweet nothing. Not even a thank you from them for my time Just an occassional good lunch, which seemed to be the real purpose of the meeting for most of the attendees, a freebie.
No , I am afraid Mr Information I personally would want more knowledge of who you are and who you represent before I waste any more of my time on pie in the sky schemes .Sorry .

I'll put my stamp on all of the above, only because I recall TB's involvement...which in the end led to know where.

Will also concur in advance to Stan's post whenever he get's around to posting his views

[downunder]

I personally would like to know who determined the selection of Farang to represent us at the Meeting with the Thai Officials. I am concerned that we will be misrepresented and we should be aware of just who is about to make decisions for all of us. I would like to have a special meeting at a time and place to select the people that we all want to approach the Government. Make an agenda in English and Thai, have a Secretary to take notes and publish these notes on this thread so we all can get the FACTS.Important is we should know who is representing us and that we are getting the right message through to the Thai Authorities

[trubrit]

Concur 100% with Jimbo's post. Some may recall the "Udon Thani our home" project, sure its in the files on here somewhere. The project was initiated and funded by the senate representative for Udon, Khun Hanchai. At the meeting were representatives of the local Chamber of Commerce, they came up with some absolutely amazing figures of the contibution made to the local economy by Farang in the area, and to their credit seemed to be the only ones who appreciated it and welcomed further participation tapping the knowledge some of us possessed. However when the chairman went on, out came the usual sterotyping, starting with a presentation of the advertising material to accompany the project. Guess what? There were the Thai dignitaries displayed in all their finery alongside a portrayal of Mr &Mrs Farang. the man wearing shorts, flowery shirt and safari hat alongside his obviously farming wife in sarong and sandals. I immediately raised an objection but it was dismissed. Thus ended my involvement.
To save Information the frustration and idignity I experienced I will give the following advice. Remember Thai's in positions of authority are not interested in what you think but simply want your confirmation of what they do .
As to what I would like to see. Forget all those niggly little things previously mentioned .Just get us men with Thai wives the same rights that Thai men get for their Farang wives,. That would solve 90% of the problems.

[rjj04]

As I read "Information"s post and a few of the initial responses I got a strong feeling that I had somehow gotten an old thread mixed up as a new thread. Deja vu? Check the dates... no Sept 12 2012... double take, not 2011? not 2010? hmmm. But, it is the same content as a year or two ago... ah yes "Udon Thani our home"...

A prediction, the first post will show up in a PowerPoint presentation in a Thai govt meeting somewhere showing how the beloved expat "farang" were duely informed of the concern the govt has for them. The expat guests were asked for their valued input... so on and so forth.. a dry cough...item checked off... and move on to the next item on the agenda.

Seriously though, as JimboPSM mentioned (with another quality post), with the massive financial benefit we bring to this land, you'd think we could just get a little R.E.S.P.E.C.T. here With Vietnam and other SEA countries possibly opeing up to allowing foreigners to buy land you'd think they might be a tad worried here... nope! I really wished another SEA country would put their thinking cap on and understand how much of a financial punch we could bring to their country, and treat us commensurately, much much better than this one has... the Thai govt might then, and only then, treat us a bit more like we treat them in our own countries. .... sorry dreaming again.

[redwolf]

With a new forum owner, recent posts asking where everyone lives (if you replied you gave away your IP address which can now be correlated with your physical location), and now this request of what would we want, -it does make sense to at least ask "Information" who you are. You joined yesterday September 11th, have you posted in all forums or just Udon Thani?

May I ask in very direct fashion? Who are you?

Thank you and this area is already covered on the agenda.I'm sorry be patient at this time.

Can you post a copy of "The Agenda" you already have in hand?

You refer to us as farangs, which seems to hint you might not be an expat or a foreigner.

This I believe is a unique opportunity in Thailand for all farangs to air their thoughts and ideas.

This also, -is NOT unique at all. All of us have heard this many times and many places in Thailand for many years.

If you are a farang yourself, we would know you regardless of what social circles you frequent. In very very realistic terms, -it seems a bit presumtuous of someone to join the forum a day ago, then ask such a broad question, yet choose to remain TOTALLY ANONYMOUS, asking us to be patient while you handle everything, and thanking us one by one for our responses in much the same manner a politician would.

We foreign expats are not citizens here, nor will we ever be, even those who have obtained a Blue Book e.g. Permanent Residence. Thereby I don't see any realistic way you or this unidentified group of foreigners from different countries of origin can create the kind of change you are inferring is possible. We don't have rights here. Any Thai citizen could easily object to not being asked the same question.

If you are some kind of genuine agent acting on our behalf, removing our doubts as to your identity is a first key step.

A vague 7 word response to my post regarding this will not suffice.

Please take my reply in a positive light, -I remain pessimistic at present, yet have afforded you the opportunity to clear things.

My only request of the Thai Government is for all of it's agents in all capacities in every region to follow the existing laws of Thailand, instead of making up, and enforcing, their own rules.

[parrot]

An expat gets a new Thai driver's license for one year, then renews it for 5 years. It'd be nice to do the same thing with visa renewals. Maybe after renewing annual visas for the third or fourth time (or so), an expat could receive a 5 year renewal. Or for expats who have been here for several years, 90 day checkins would no longer be required.
As it is today, I'm treated the same as any other expat who just comes here.....despite having been here for 16 straight years.
If nothing else can be done for the expat community, get rid of immigration officers who ask for money for services rendered. Not only will you get rid of some undesirable falangs (who try to skirt immigration rules), you'll make the rest of the legit expat community feel more comfortable when they visit immigration.

On the positive side, I'd like to complement the people at the transportation department (driver's license) who operate efficiently and (as best I know) do not ask for money under the table for services rendered. Likewise, the government offices that deal with house registration/identification cards as well as those at the social security office always seem to have a smile on their face and are willing to help. Thank you!

[broon97]

If this is genuine, which I am beginning to doubt, publish the 'secret' agenda and get some valid comments.
Without the agenda there is no credibility.

[merchant seaman]

If this is genuine, which I am beginning to doubt, publish the 'secret' agenda and get some valid comments.
Without the agenda there is no credibility.

Beginning to doubt??