Thailand's Education visa (ED) just changed dramatically
For people out there that were looking for a relatively inexpensive way to stay in Thailand long-term, the Education visa was always the way to go. This has been easy and fast in the past, but unfortunately because of the actions of a few people, the entire system was overhauled, and at least for now, this is not an option anymore.
For many people including but not limited to digital nomads, the education visa was a fantastic way to get an unobstructed year in the Kingdom with very little problems. You signed up for a school, attended classes 3 or 4 times a week and then carried on with your work-life in the other time(legally, I'm not suggesting anyone should be doing otherwise - digital nomads get an exception on this in almost every country because of various reasons.)
This visa also carried with it the added benefit of learning something that was genuinely useful for you, the student, while living in Thailand long-term. It really does feel great to go to a restaurant and be able to communicate not by pointing or using pigeon-english to get your way through the situation. It is also rare enough for foreigners to speak this "one-country-language" that your efforts in doing so is genuinely appreciated.
It seems daunting, and it is; but there is a huge sense of accomplishment achieved when you can read the language as well.
Well about 6 months ago it was revealed that there was a group of people who were engaged in nefarious activities such as scamming Thais out of money via social media. These victims were normally lonely older women and of course this is terrible, although not terribly uncommon globally. Once the perpetrators were busted, it turned out that most of them were here either on expired visas or with education visas at schools they never attended.
My reaction to this would be to bust the schools that were allowing students who never attended to continue to have a visa and not report it to immigration. This seems the logical approach to me. However, the knee-jerk reaction on the part of Thai Immigration was to cut out EVERYONE.
Previously you could sign up for education visas year to year to year and as long as you paid and actually attended classes you got a free pass. When you went to immigration you could expect a little bit of a grilling in the understanding of Thai, but if you had actually been attending classes this was no problem and was actually a bit of fun. Now, unless you have NEVER had an education visa before, you will be denied and some of the schools, in an effort to continue making money are encouraging people to simply get a new passport each year to scam the system. I can't say for certain, but i think that lying on a Federal document is frowned upon (such as requesting a new passport that you have not, in-fact, lost, is a serious crime.)
Also, even if it is your first EVER education visa, you are now required to attend classes 8 times a week. This is not casual learning and if you are a digital nomad it is a bit too intrusive into your life. They are also apparently quite vicious to the people who are attempting to renew said visa (you have to do so every 90 days) and it is completely up to the official who is interviewing you whether or not you have learned enough to continue to stay in the Kingdom and attend classes. So if you get an officer on a day when they are in a bad mood (which seems to be frequent,) you are not going to "pass."
So the point is, this once fun, fulfilling, informative, and easy system of enjoying the wonderful country of Thailand has been all but completely shut down. It remains to be seen how long this will last but since the military currently runs the country, it is unlikely to change until an actual government has been elected.
The good news is that I don't think a great many of you out there were actually interested in moving here long-term. Some of you ARE digital nomads and if heading towards SE Asia was something you had in mind, the hot-spot has change from Thailand to Vietnam, so I would recommend having a look over there. Dozens of my friends in the digital nomad community have already moved to Vietnam, and i will likely be joining them in the next year or so.
What a shame the few scam artists have ruined things for everyone else.
The whole business sounds like an unfunny and unwanted sequel to "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels," the very funny movie in which Steve Martin and Michael Caine compete to scam rich ladies out of their money.
I'm glad you have friends to ease your moving to Vietnam, if it happens, as moving can be stressful at the best of times.
And after you learned all those Thai consonants too, which I, at first, mistook for an illustrated series of insults you can make with your fist.
If you do go to Vietnam, the likelihood is it will be an exciting and wonderful chapter of your life. My nephew recently visited, and apart from sending me some silly selfies, in which he pretended to be a stressed Martin Sheen, in his dank room, at the beginning of "Apocalypse Now," he had absolute raves for Vietnam, and the kindness of the people he met there.
Best wishes. :)
due to some silly retards robbing people on social media, Thai has banned visas for all, it means now its no more easy to get student Visas to study in thailand. though it doesnt mean much to me but i feel sad for the ones who had a real intention to study hard and get quality education out there in Thailand. Thanks for the updates of Thai laws @gooddream. looks like the government wants to change all lawas all of a sudden. first that owning Bikes laws and now this is. thanks for sharing..
Thanks for the Thailand laws which have been updated for foreigner students. All thanks to those stupid Scam sh***ts who destroyed everything and now the situation is tense for everyone. Perhaps i think it is quite a good step from Thai government. This may stop some crimes.
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Hiii... Gooddream
Great Post.
I think it's a great move, although it will have adverse consequences on the innocent ones. But who in the first place would choose scamming over education? Some people are just not serious in life. Also, I never knew Thailand is being governed by the military. Why is that so, and why hasn't a government being elected?
Here the bigger crime is done by the school authorities to keep the students who never attended their class and by doing so they are only harming their own countrymen
Agree. but I believe those are private tuition centers that accept a foreigner student for a good fee.
Not only this happens in the country mentioned in the post. It may also happen in other countries which wanted to help foreigners for a higher education.
Yes helping other is good but when it harms their own countrymen that's not good.Now the govt should keep a proper watch on education visas.
yes true... not only education visa, maybe there are another forms of visa too. who knows
Dear @gooddream thanks for sharing this news. This is so sad new for the needy people. Its because of some fellows who took the advantage of the facility by immigration. I hear many people have got entry on student visa but never attended classes which is completely misuse of it. This is truly not fair with those who are actually in need of it. Such scam people made it worse. Seems govt is now willing to make some sudden changes in guidelines.
this post has highlighted an immigration problem not only in Thailand but maybe in another part under-development country
Of course, there are other ways to get a long stay visa in a country but a student visa seems to be one of the most convenient and easy to get alternative.
However, having said that, this change of immigration law has inconvenience to many people who are not able to get a long-stay visa but genuinely wanted to do a decent and legal job in Thailand. I empathize with you if you are one of the affected people.
You and I know that not all the cases are a legitimate application for the purpose of study abroad but for their own personal agenda. If this is the case, it is a matter of time more people make use of this path to get the long-stay visa.
If one is not a 100% legitimate student, then one should not complain about the changes to the immigration policy as the authority is to their job to strengthen the law.
Thailand's laws are really up to the mark.