POST BAG Visa rules hurt married people

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Just an article taken from the "bangkokpost" website,some guy complaining about the visa rules,that he is married with a thai lady.why the minimum income to proof is 40K baht a month.. etc..
Personlly,I got tired to complain and get angry from these things,can't control or change it either.
Just follow the rules,guys,making scenes in the immigration office won't help you with your application nor give you any respect in the eye o the officer in charge.. (I've seen some situation like this in the past).

I agree with him that 40K is way too high requirement,especially when it's only the husband (farang) income to show (can't show combine income with thai partner/wife anymore).

TiT. Take it or leave it ! 

POST BAG Visa rules hurt married people
Published: 8/10/2009 at 12:00 AM
Newspaper section: News

Shouldn't a married couple be allowed to live together?
I have been married to my wife (a Thai national) for over two years. We decided to settle in Thailand rather than in my home country. We are not rich but live happily. Our main problem is that each year visa regulations are modified, making it extremely difficult for us to actually live together.

Last year, I met the visa conditions and was granted a one-year extension of stay, being (technically at least) supported by my wife. By the way, isn't marriage supposed to be about supporting and caring for each other rather than one person ''supporting'' the other?

This year there's been a new change in the regulations and it appears that I do not meet the requirements. I will have to leave the country every 3 months in order to obtain a non-immigrant visa to ''visit'' my wife.

Shouldn't couples legally married by Thai authorities, as we were, be granted the right to live together as husband and wife?

If they were afraid for my wife's welfare, I would be more than happy to show my bank statement and transfer money from overseas to a Thai bank account. But I was informed that I need to work in Thailand. And if I do find a job in Thailand, I might later be accused by a Thai politician of stealing jobs from the Thai people.

I would also like to know the criteria used to define ''sufficient income''.

In this regard I am particularly interested to learn on what basis foreigners married to Thai persons need to justify a personal income of at least 40,000 baht a month (not even combined with the income of the Thai partner). Is this the minimum income deemed necessary for an acceptable standard of living in Thailand? If such is the case, I would suggest the government review both the salary scale of its employees and its handout policy towards the poor. Handouts should be increased dramatically and cover 90% of the population (gross estimate) living below the apparent poverty line of 40,000 baht a month/person. If such is not the case, then I would like to know:

1. Is it just plain racism or xenophobia? In that case, the government should simply enact a law forbidding Thai citizens to marry foreigners.

2. Is it an encouragement for foreigners married to Thai citizens to ''steal'' employment from the Thai people? In that case, lawmakers may soon be rewarded.

3. Or do lawmakers genuinely imagine that foreigners, being such a strange human species, cannot survive in Thailand with less than 40,000 baht a month (not including the Thai spouse's salary or the sums in bank accounts both from overseas and within Thailand)? In that case, the authorities need a reality check.

I did not choose to live in Thailand to become (or feel) rich. I chose to live in Thailand simply because it is my wife's country and because, for many reasons, it remains a lovely country.

In the meantime, would-be students who ''study'' Thai language for a huge 180 hours a year (less than 30 minutes a day) just need to pay a ''school'' around 25,000 baht/year to get an Education Visa and multiple 3-month extensions of stay without having to leave the country.

And they do not need to show any proof of sufficient resources or income. I read some advertisements stating that they can now do so for 10 years in a row, leaving the country only once a year. I already speak and read Thai, albeit not fluently, but I might probably need to become a ''student'' in the end.

Or we'll just go back to my home country where my wife and I would be allowed to live together as husband and wife.

VISITING HUSBAND

[urleft]

All said and done we are visitors to the Country, and as an old American saying states:  When is Rome, do as the Romans do.   

From and economic standpoint it makes sense, if you are going to let people stay for extended periods, make sure they add wealth to country and are not a burden. 

Instead of monthly income, I thought you could have a certain amount in a Thailand bank, somewhere between 400,000 - 800,000 baht.  So if you plan right it should not be that much of a hardship.