Hal65

As a US citizen I'll be visiting Japan at the end of my most recent ED visa. I was thinking of getting a tourist visa from the Thai Embassy there instead of doing a stop in Vientiane. Does anyone have experience getting a tourist visa at the Japanese embassies? I'm wondering how hard it is.

Hi I was planning this for the future, trip not taken yet

Has anyone ever gotten this visa (or extension of stay) before? Happens if someone is suing you or accusing you of a crime, but the crime or evidence doesn't justify jail yet. Length of stay attached to the case right? How slow are the courts? Anyone know a lawyer who can advise?

Pattaya and Krabi have flights from Dubai, and Samui from Singapore and Hong Kong. As an American with a long history of EDU visas, I typically enter Thailand through Chiang Mai. I come in on Tourist and convert to EDU. Are Pattaya, Krabi, and Samui low on immigration officer scrutiny like Chiang Mai? Or more like BKK, DMK and Phuket?

I can confirm they are still there and also close 8pm. My guess is the Terminal 21 guy was mistaken. He probably meant to type 20:00, not 22:00 as their closing hour

The 2nd Rd DHL and Naklua Rd Fedex both close at 6pm. But I have noticed that the Central Festival 5th floor UPS table, and Terminal 21 UPS, close at 8pm and 10pm. For someone on a night schedule this really helps. Have you guys seen any other UPS stores around town? I am on Soi Buakao Google maps claims there is one in Big C Pattaya Klang: https://www.google.com/maps/place/UPS/@12.9303573,100.8869361,15.46z/data=!4m6!3m5!1s0x310295fceccffb25:0xdff528b42843bd0b!8m2!3d12.9352298!4d100.8948128!16s%2Fg%2F11c5x7b9q7?entry=ttu I went there and no one knew where it was. I even searched the parking area for it.

Anyone have a good apartment cleaner they can recommend? I stay in Pattaya.

My plan is to always enter through CNX. Chiang Mai seemed pretty easy. I need to go to Cambodia for a few days at a time. Over a year I may need to do it 3 to 5 times. It can be timed to look like mostly weekend trips to a neighboring country.

Is it "harder" to get approved for? Or just costlier at 3,800 baht? I assume unlimited re-entries? Do I need to prepare an excuse for it? I am considering using an agent. In my case, the US embassy Cambodia (Phnom Penh) has next day appointments for notary service (I'm in real estate) and BKK is 2+ weeks booked out. I probably need a cover story as that blows the lid on my stay in thailand for "education"

So back on the Thai Elite, has there ever been a period where they appeared to roll out new pricing, determine it was too high, and actually lower it? My guess is no but I'm happy to hear otherwise.

I'm in the long term ED visa crowd, my most current one will take me over the 10 year mark in Thailand. ED it is until I'm 50 in 12 more years. Or if they decide to do a serious crackdown, off to the Phils or Cambodia. As we are seeing here it's a pure monetary decision as to what will happen. If Thailand becomes rich enough to expel us middle income expats on non-work visas without much dent to their economy, they will. If not, they won't. Putting personal desires aside I think in another 10 years they will be rich enough to clamp down hard.

The 100 person restriction on the 5m visa is reflective of the fact they do not intend to sell many of them. You are buying the 15 year for 2.5m and another 5 years for 2.5m. The only people who would do that are so value unconscious that they prefer Singapore and similar. The 15 year at 2.5m is the most comparable visa to the old 20 year at 1m. Less commitment to less people, for more money is their calculus. Given the flood of 10k applications per year, they had the leverage to do it. The "right" amount of people will still pay more for less years. I'm in disagreement that it was a COVID surge. China and Asia grows richer by the year. This is 21st century elite pricing.

I was planning on getting the 20 year next year. But going from $32k to $143k scuttles that plan. Based on pricing per year being lower on the smaller visas they are trying to commit to less years while asking for more money. I hope the market punishes them harshly. I think it will not. My guess is many wealthy Chinese will happily pay for 5, 10 and 15 year visas at the higher price points.

I'm not clear on why you suggest this over getting the passport card? I got the PP card and verified on ID.me

I got a big refund and as a fraud prevention measure they required me to verify with 2 IDs before processing it. You always pay US taxes, you are taxed on global earnings minus taxes paid to nations with mutual tax treaties.