Visas and Stuff

There are always things going on in Phuket. We have recently had children’s day, a fair at Saphan Hin, a party at the university and soon it will be Chinese New Year. It all helps to keep Phuket fun. As well as all the regular attractions such as trips to the beach, you also have these special events for a bit of variation. It is not as if you are ever really struggling to find things to do.

I have just got back from my annual (well 15-monthly) visit to Penang to renew my marriage visa. I normally get a 1-year multi-entry. This visa allows you to stay for 90-days each visit, as many visits as you want for the 1-year duration of the visa. That is, you have to do a visa run every 90-days by hopping over the border to another country and hopping back again. It was an arrangement I was happy enough to accept. A visa run every 3-months is not a great hardship and we usually turn it into a family trip.

It is the fourth time I have made the Penang trip and I was beginning to look on it as a formality. Well this time I got a bit of a surprise as the consul turned down my application for a multi-entry and only gave me a single-entry 90-day visa. It goes to show you can never take anything for granted. The problem is the various Thai consuls around the region can and do apply their own interpretations of the regulations. In this case, they said I should have 800,000 baht in the bank (actually twice as much as is required for the 1-year extension of stay).

It is no use jumping up and down about these things. You have to accept them and find the best way of working with them. So I have 3-months to work out another visa option such as applying for the 1-year extension of stay. If not, then I do know people who actually go to Penang every 3-months. I really do not fancy that option but it is there as a last resort.

For the moment, it is nice to be back home. Tomorrow is teacher’s day so it is a day off school. I think we will go out somewhere.