Why is this not in place already for a long time? What are the Europeans scared of? With millions of illegals and fake “refugees” overrunning Europe exhausting their welfare and social services because of their idiotic immigration/refugee laws imposed by the dumb dictators in Brussels! Are they worried a few Thais would overstay? Most Thais are decent hardworking, honest people and many would love to visit without the visa hassle -and there are plenty of jobs in Europe those who wanted to stay legally could fill.

You are asking the wrong question - you should ask what size of solar system should I put on my roof to have the house cool all the time with a very low electricity bill. Thailand is solar heaven you can easily produce 20-40 kwh every day yearly average with a home solar system - depending on the size- that pays itself in 4 years or less. And if you really want to splash out get a backup system that will cover the time when the sun is down as well. Get a professional to calculate your usage and the size of solar system you need and have fun watching the electric meter spin backwards when you produce more than you use every day.

The landlord is responsible to register you. If the landlord is not doing it or is presently not able to do it tell them they have to do it within 24 hrs of your arrival or they will be fined by immigration. In Chiang Mai the fine is 1600 baht. You could do it yourself but you need your passport, rental contract or lease, completed form and signed copies of both the housebook and ID of the landlord including the landlords phone number.

Correct - he should show both passports on arrival and will be stamped in in his new passport until the end date of his retirement extension. Provided of course his retirement extension has not expired before his return and he has a valid re-entry permit in his old passport.

After returning he can then visit his immigration office and transfer the needed stamps into his new passport.

This is correct but not to worry - if she has 25 days left - the conversion from any stay -visa or not - to Non immigrant will be done which gives her 90 days and when the money is seasoned for at least 60 days the Non immigrant will be converted to the 1 year retirement extension so your friend will actually get at least 14 month.

But 28k for an agent?? In Chiang Mai - at Best Friend Visa - I paid 14.900 Baht and they took care of everything

Sorry I just checked and the entire process is now Baht from converting the stay to non immigrant to 1 year retirement extension.

@Casey *******

this article is nonsense probably old - it mentions a copy of the title deed when it should be the tabian baan and departure card which does not exist anymore when you fly into Thailand. Immigration does not care if your landlord is busy the law states a foreigner must be registered within 24 hours of arrival at the residence. And no -Chiang Mai is not giving you an extension without the TM30 - like I said we just had 2 couples that where given the run around by immigration -even though they had their TM30 but because they failed to update them when they recently returned to the same address from abroad they could not get a visa extension without updating the TM30 first and had to drive from Central Festival to the airport immigration office to get it updated.

@Casey *******

you will need it whenever you need an extension from immigration - in Chiang Mai at least - no extension without the TM30. They could impose a fine because the registration was not done within the 24 hour timeframe. And if you submitted all the documents in copy you mentioned they should have given you the receipt of notification -that’s at the bottom of the application. Maybe they are just trying to be difficult who knows? Maybe the landlord argued with them on the phone. The problem here -like with so many others I met at immigration- is that it is the landlords responsibility to register you but many landlords don’t even know about it or simply just don’t care.

What The IO told you is total rubbish.

The landlord is responsible to register you within 24 hours unless the office is closed - then on the day it opens again.

Of course they have not thought that through because many landlords either live in a different city/province or even a different country. The landlord might be sick in hospital. In the absence of the landlord - the application, a signed copy of the housebook and ID card/ passport plus phone number is enough to get your TM30. But in this case I would insist the landlord shows up to register you otherwise you might end up paying the fine for her.

The landlord was NEVER involved in updating your TM30 when you return from abroad. How would a landlord even know if a renter has been traveling abroad and the TM30 has to be updated within 24 hours of return unless the immigration office is closed on that day.

The landlord might not even live in the same city or not even in Thailand.

It is your responsibility as the renter to update the TM30 upon return. Don’t be fooled by people telling you that you do not need to update it when returning from abroad. - You will find out latest when you need an extension or anything else from immigration that you do need the updated TM30.

Two couples we know have recently be given the runaround by immigration when trying to extend their visas because they had not updated their TM30 when they returned from abroad to the same address.

No you don’t have to update your TM30 if you travel within Thailand and return to the same address that is written on your TM30. You only have to update your TM30 when you return from abroad to the same address. Different address -the property owner needs to make a new TM30.