Back
in 1990 - Ajarn.com, June
13, 2004
Ajarn.com has a great
article that explains exactly what it was
like to live and work in Thailand in 1990--the
convoluted process at immigration, the fact that
no one could get a work permit, the 'tax clearance'
procedure at Revenue Department, and the truly
terrible problems with cross-town travel before
the expressway, Skytrain, and meter taxis:
...The old hands will shudder to recall the
dreaded trips to the Bangkok immigration when
the most basic of visa extensions would require
you to go in three separate rooms on three different
floors. You started off on the ground floor, then
it was off to room 302 to join a large nervous-looking
group of visa applicants all shifting uneasily
on straggly rows of plastic chairs. Everyone waiting
for that magical moment when the officer with
all the medals would beckon you to his desk. There
was no queuing system. There was no losing your
temper but there were all sorts of communication
problems. The immigration officer didn't speak
a word of English, but that was your problem not
his...
...But if the thought of a journey to the Immigration
or the Labor Department had you quaking with fear,
nothing came close to the nightmare of the tax
clearance office. Tax clearance? What the hell
is that I hear you cry? Well, the system was mercifully
abolished in about 1991 but that didn't stop me
needing to perform the duty on three occasions.
Basically for anyone who stayed in the kingdom
longer than 60 days either working or as a long
stay tourist, you had to show the immigration
officer at your departure point that you had either
not been working or had been working and paid
your taxes like a good honest citizen...
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