SIM cards are cheap and easy to obtain so why not get, as I did, a SIM for data only and pick up a portable wifi device? I got min in China but you can get them on lazada for about 900 baht, smaller than a phone and just as effective

Haven't needed mine since coming here, nor did I need them in China. Mine were destroyed in a fire in 2008 and getting replacements proved a problem because the records from when I graduated were not computerised and we're damaged due to flooding in the University archive, took me 18 months of checking just to get my diploma replaced! I think, like many government run things in Thailand, it comes down to where you are applying. Much like immigration these government bodies place their own interpretation on the rules and chop and change them to suit themselves.

Yes, but 3 times in 12 months for a criminal record check! That's taking the p****

Great, so 6 hours in a minibus just to give them my fingerprints AGAIN. Can't see why it can't be done at a local station. There is a highway Police headquarters 400m from my house. What, the Thai police don't have an intranet for passing info from one station to another? Ridiculous. All so I can turn up, with my passport (!!) at the labour office. Seems a complete waste if time having biometric systems if they can't speak to each other. Ah well, TIT, if a jobs worth doing it's worth doing half a**Ed and as complexly as possible.

@Frank *********

yep, I think I'd keep the $1,000,000 in my bank account and move to a country that does actually allow me to obtain citizenship based on residency, not on how much I line the pockets of the already rich public figures.

But look on the bright side, at least when (or if) it becomes official you will have to come here on a charter flights or private plane. That means you'll be in an aircraft with x number of people who have all tested negative for Covid. Unlike repatriation flights where of the passengers are Thai and HAVEN'T been tested. Kinda makes the £250+ for testing seem a bit pointless if you're going to be cooped up in a plane pumping recycled air around for 16 hours!

You mean nowhere crowded like say...AN AIRPORT!! Really, so how did you get here. It's all a farce.

I'd carefully check the fees too. I once got charged 9000 baht duty on a package even after showing them the receipt from the company stating the cost of the item was only 3200 baht. They insisted I pay or the package would be sent back so I made the excuse that the language barrier was causing a problem and asked them to wait while I called a friend (this was in China) who spoke Chinese. I made a point of asking if I was talking to the Chengdu police headquarters and could I be put through to Capt. Lou. Magically the tax bill dropped to 250 baht!

If you're working it can be at the behest of your employer. I opened a Krungsri account when I first arrived in country because that was the bank the company used. Latest job wouldn't pay into a Krungsri account so insisted I have a Bangkok Bank account. Payroll payments in Asia seem to be about 20 years behind.