ED visa

[grenville]

I would like to stay for 1 year in Thailand and wouldnt mind learning some thai. What Is the cost and is this a good way to go I a 46 old Aussie

[grenville]

I would like to stay for 1 year in Thailand and wouldnt mind learning some thai. What Is the cost and is this a good way to go I a 46 old Aussie

I'm sorry but I assume an ED visa is an education visa and you qualify if you enroll in a thai language course. Is this right and does anyone know the best way to organize it

[Scumbag]

I am not certain of the costs but for some reason I am thinking about 12000 Baht for a 1 year course in group lessons. However, you do not have to go the ED visa route if you don't want to. You could try to get a multiple entry non-immigrant type - O visa before you leave Australia. This will allow you to stay in Thailand for up to 15 months with border runs every 90 days.

 

I am moving this to the visa forum.

[jepnoms]

I'm sorry but I assume an ED visa is an education visa and you qualify if you enroll in a thai language course. Is this right and does anyone know the best way to organize it

 

There are a lot of language schools that offer 1-year Education Visas, Walen School seems to be the one that you hear of most often although there are quite a few others. Walen last year was about 25,000 baht for the year course, which allows you to get an education visa, and they'll help you get setup with all that. The course is only 25,000 or so, but there are other schools that offer it much cheaper. Doing it through a school and all the 'proper' way though, trip to Laos or Cambodia for the initial, trips every 3 months to immigration, travel and your time, misc other expenses, seems to come out to over 40-50k baht by the time you're done. You will get Thai language classes for a year though so that's a nice plus.

 

It's probably best to do everything as legit and properly as you can, just in my opinion, plus it'd be helpful to learn Thai at the same time. Up until recently when you went to Jomtien every 3 months it was pretty in and out, now however they're sort of cracking down a bit it seems on people misusing Education visas, you now have to do a brief sort of interview to show you actually know some amount of Thai, it's all still pretty relaxed though and I don't know whether they've actually yelled at anyone or not.

 

If you look around there are some pretty nice schools in and around Pattaya, Walen is probably the most expensive at 25,000 baht or so for a year course, and there are definitely others that might be anywhere from 10k-20k baht or so. Any of these schools if you stopped by would help you along the way and explain all the steps you need to take in order to get your Education visa, they're pretty much doing that all day so they seem real familiar with it.

Edited November 23, 2010 by jepnoms

[crabb-man]

I did some research on this issue in the beginning of the year and talked to about 5 different schools in the area.

PLC (www.plcpattaya.com)was very detailed and accommodating to answer all my questions.

Here is an example of a few of those questions to help the new guys get a handle on some of the steps:

 

1. Are you saying your school is qualified to allow me a 1 year education Visa?

YES we get all your nessary documents via the education department, by whom we are licensed by for you to take to the local immigration department.

 

2. Do I have to do border runs every 90-days with this visa?

No, there are no border runs, but like all Farangs ( me included.) you have to report to the loval Pattaya immigration department every 90 days to show your face, its free and usually take ten minutes.

 

3. Can I go to my local Thai consulate or do I have to go to the Royal Thai consulate to apply?

There are only 2 of them in the USA They are the same one body, the Royal being the polite name, but tell them what you intend to do and they will advise you accordingly, but has mention in my first email they usually ask for a letter from the school where you intend to study, plus a copy of the school licence.

 

4. Are the text books and other materials included in the price?

We have our own two books and system which we think you will easily understand & follow, they cover the whole course and are B.100 each.

 

5. How long does it take to get approved for this ED Visa?

They are not the fastest people arround, but usually once we do the documents, it takes about one week to get them signed

 

6. Can I choose how many hours of class I take a week?

YES the days and time, but you must study two hours a week.

 

7. Where is your school located?

We are in between Carrefour and foodland stores on Pattaya Klang Road, (Central Road.) same side of the road