Can I send my passport and application to a friend who lives in my home country and ask him to resend it to the embassy there? He can then post it back to me once he gets it back...?

This had come up a couple of time recently, try a search

In a nutshell, you CANNOT send your passport from Thailand to get another Thai visa, any such visa may be spotted by the immigration officer and cancelled.

You CAN however send your passport from, say, Malaysia to get another Thai visa (via an address in your home country). In fact even doing this is technically illegal as you are supposed to be within the jurisdiction of the consulate issuing the visa but you're unlikely to get found out.

Do remember that doing this will leave you in a foreign country without your passport which may contravene the laws of said country.

I have studied this forum for hours looking for this issue- thanks for clarifying! I am in japan and the emabssy here doesnt allow me to apply fopr a visa as I am not a permanent resident of japan.

I have studied this forum for hours looking for this issue- thanks for clarifying! I am in japan and the emabssy here doesnt allow me to apply fopr a visa as I am not a permanent resident of japan.

Do you have time to get a second passport at your embassy in Japan and post that off. I would guess that would be the legal way to do it.