text: Dr John Smith writes: New visa rule is ridiculous
  Thai immigration has made the following announcement;
  According to the New Regulation from August 13, 2013, when submitting application for Visa Extension if the validity of passport of the applicant is not longer than one year left before expiry, the extension of stay will be permitted not exceeding the expired date of passport. After the renewal of your passport of obtaining a new passport, you have to re-apply for Visa Extension by submitting required document and paying extension fee ( 1,900 Baht ). In case of overstay, the fine is 500 Baht per day.
  Source: http://bangkok.immigration.go.th/intro1.html
  In the past when your passport expired, you would get a permission to stay until the expiry date of your passport. When you had a new passport you returned to immigration to transfer the details to the new passport and get the remainder of the extension of stay placed in your new passport for free. The new policy means that now when you get a new passport because the old one has expired you have to apply for a new extension of stay, with all the accompanying paperwork and of course pay the usual extension fee of 1,900 baht.
  This will mean more paperwork and a better preparation for people who's passport is about to expire.
  In my opinion I find it very difficult to understand the mentality or blatant stupidity of the Thai immigration section in Bangkok. Not only do they rip you off at every turn but now they have found a new way to get money from visitors. No the immigration has come up with a new rule stating that if your passport runs out and you have an extension to your visa and you have to get it transferred to your new passport.....you can not do it. You will have to pay all over again and go through the laborious paperwork and processes from the start and you will have to pay YET AGAIN. My God as if the visitors to this corrupt country aren't penalized enough as it is they have to dream up new ways of ripping more money from us.
  It is unheard of in other countries and visas would be transferred for free to your new passport or at least have a minimal fee but here it seems the norm to make life for anyone who is not Thai very difficult and expensive.
  For the love of God people how many times do we have to pay for things that should be done for free as you have already had the money from the initial visa. Thailand should really start to get rid of all the niggling, petty, stupid rules and stop being so ignorant towards other cultures and visitors because your reputation as a very corrupt country just keeps growing and growing.
  Thailand should encourage people to come here to work and teach their children not keep cutting the throats of decent hard working teachers and visitors. It just seems to me that at every level of the systems here are just out to make money and don't care about people at all and they wonder why teachers don't want to come here and if they do they leave after the contract or sooner because it is so corrupt.