randymarsh

3 hours ago, PoodThaiMaiDai said:

Yes, it is confusing because the sticker they put in your passport is good for 5 years, but when you arrive in Thailand they stamp your book but write a date on the stamp one year later.

 

But they do not tall you anything about it.

 

So unless you are aware or look it can be overlooked.

If you keep going in and out of Thailand regularly, do you get a new stamp for a year from your latest arrival?

And do you know the process to renew every 5 years?

12 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

It appears to be the extra privileges. For the ultimate privilege.

 

Source: https://www.thailandelite.com/at-your-service/card/elite-ultimate-privilege-membership?locate=en&popup=false

 

Superiority is here. https://www.thailandelite.com/at-your-service/card/elite-superiority-extension-membership?locate=en&popup=false

Thanks, it seems like a pretty significant price increase for a couple of extra things.  Plus the second one being called "Extension" made me wonder if it was an add-on or an upgrade to an existing visa.  They don't make things easy to follow.

I have another question.  Does anyone know of any suitable health insurance for an elite visa?  If I get the 20 year, I'd probably be looking at spending most of my time in Thailand but I won't be working.  I don't know if I should get an open-ended travel (holiday insurance), some allow you to extend while you're travelling.  Or whether a more formal annual health insurance policy would be more appropriate, and if so, with who?

Can someone explain the difference between these 2:

Elite Ultimate Privilege 20 Years  = 2m THB + 20k THB / year

Elite Superiority Extension 20 Years = 1m THB and no annual fee

2 minutes ago, BritTim said:

The expired visa is a non issue. Whether you will receive a visa exemption will just depend on your history of stays in Thailand, especially over the last year or so.

Which is why I got the tourist visa in the first place, all the fearmongering on here.  But I should be good as by the time I finally get round to going, I won't have been in for around 18 months.

I got an SETV from London in November and due to a few things that have come up, I'm not going to get to Thailand before it expires.

If I apply for a new SETV while this unstamped one is in my passport, will the embassy be ok with that?  Will they just stamp my old one as VOID?

Or my other plan as I don't really want to go through the pain of an online visa application again, as i still wake up with night sweats, would be to travel in on the 30 day exempt.  Will immigration be ok with this?  Again I guess they will just VOID my visa as expired and give me 30 days?

My instinct on this story btw is that its fake news.  No good sources.  The guys in Phuket and young, the vaping idea sounds more likely. 

5 minutes ago, tomazbodner said:

No, before passport control, as you're walking towards passport control, there are large cameras that look like having 20 cm lenses at the front. They scan the image in temperature and on the screen of operator there are colours from green to red - anyone in red has fever and is stopped and taken aside. Issue with this method is that you could be infected but not develop symptoms yet, so you would appear green on the screen.

Thanks. Can't picture this at all though.  I don't think I've ever been scanned? Or is everybody scanned?

You mean through passport control?  I always thought that was just a regular camera taking my photo

I've never heard of thermal surveillance before.  How does it work?  Is it just a fancy word for checking someone's temperature, or is it the futuristic scanning of literally everyone in the airport robocop style like I hope it is.

On 11/16/2019 at 2:16 PM, treetops said:

From where?

Uk application so London

On 11/9/2019 at 11:13 AM, treetops said:

He will require a hotel booking and return ticket just to get the visa issued surely?

No need. I got an SETV last week with no outward flight.

I've got an AIS SIM and I can see on the app I've actually had it for 2 years 7 months.  It still seems to be working while in the UK, e.g. I can receive SMS to it and make calls.  But how do I know when it will expire?  I can't see any expiry date in the app

17 hours ago, simon43 said:

My Elite visa in Thailand cost me 100,000 baht.

 

My one year, multi-entry business visa with work permit in Laos cost me 18,000 baht....

Why was your elite visa so cheap?

29 minutes ago, SERGERAMOS said:

Good luck with that if your from the uk getting a visa online is a total nightmare 

Agreed I did it last week.  Still get flashbacks.

On 11/7/2019 at 2:19 PM, randymarsh said:

Thanks.  If I get rejected, do I get a big red REJECT stamp in my passport?

 

I ask as I'm doing a bit of an experiment as I'm applying with a 1 way flight and only 1 nights accommodation booked.  I'm not doing this to be lazy, I'm doing this because in the real world this is how I live, I keep my return open and I don't plan ahead on my exact locations for an entire 90 days.  I fail to see why they ask for such things and I'm hoping if I am successful, it will put others at ease.

Replying to myself in case anyone's interested.  I applied for a SETV through the London Embassy.  Ignoring all the problems with the online application, which was a nightmare, I was able to get a visa with:

A one way flight ticket to Thailand

One nights accommodation booked for my day of arrival

Proof of residence I uploaded my passport page again

The main takeaway is they are not fussed about return tickets or onward travel.

The amount of threads on here about rejections, it makes me wonder why people bother flying at all as no one gets in.  I've just got a new SETV from London and I haven't been in Thailand since almost a year ago today.  But I have been in Thailand quite a bit since 2015, on a combination of visa exempt + extensions, UK applied tourist visas, Nong Khai / Laos crossings, and Vietnam applied tourist visas.  

Here's my rough time in Thailand history

September 2015 for 6 months (entered on exempt and got a Double Entry visa in Laos - who remembers those bad boys?  Simpler times)

September 2016 for 3 weeks (visa exempt)

December 2016 for 2 months  (visa exempt)

May 2017 for 7 months (tourist visas)

NEW PASSPORT from here onwards:

March 2018 for 2 months (visa exempt)

September 2018 for 2 months (tourist visa)

What are my chances of getting in considering I've never been rejected before, have never overstayed, and haven't been in Thailand for 12 months?  I usually fly with Finnair because the A350 is so good, but I don't want to be rejected back to Helsinki.  OMG THIS IS SO RIDICULOUS.

32 minutes ago, simon43 said:

Having an Elite visa does not allow you to legally work as a digital nomad or online in Thailand.  That visa specifically states that work is not allowed...

 

I had a 5-year Elite visa, AND I was working online (teaching Science).  Therefore, I wasn't 100% legal and I knew this.  Although I never had any problems about my visa or online work, I decided that I wanted to stay 100/% legally wherever I lived, including 100% legally working online.

 

Therefore, about 4 months ago, when my Elite visa was expiring, I relocated to Laos, got a one year renewal, multi-entry business visa and work permit that allows me to legally work online, but not work in a bricks and mortar business ????

How the <deleted> did you get a work permit for working online for your own business?

Why do you keep talking about 'round trips'?  If you fly into BKK on a one way ticket and have another ticket to Vietnam, what do you mean by 'round trip' ticket to Vietnam?  You mean a return ticket from BKK to Vietnam?  Why would this matter?  In fact it might raise more questions as it looks like you're already planning a second trip to Thailand on a visa exempt.

You can fly on a one way ticket to BKK and make sure you have a one way ticket out to ANY COUNTRY IN THE WORLD inside 90 days.

Do you still have to apply for an METV in your own country (UK?), or is it now possible to apply from Laos, Vietnam etc.  Ask as I am travelling in on a SETV but if possible, might move onto an METV after that without coming home.

If you fly in from UK and they reject your visa at Suvarnabhumi, either METV or SETV, do they make you fly back to UK?  How does it work?  Who pays for the flight back?  Or can you just fly to somewhere like Nam instead.

Why would you get rejected if you have a valid METV?

Thanks.  If I get rejected, do I get a big red REJECT stamp in my passport?

I ask as I'm doing a bit of an experiment as I'm applying with a 1 way flight and only 1 nights accommodation booked.  I'm not doing this to be lazy, I'm doing this because in the real world this is how I live, I keep my return open and I don't plan ahead on my exact locations for an entire 90 days.  I fail to see why they ask for such things and I'm hoping if I am successful, it will put others at ease.

Agreed there wasn't one positive thing about the entire process.  As some have suggested, have they deliberately designed this in the worst way possible?  Or is this peak efficiency in their world?

I'm pretty good with a PC, I work in IT, and fortunately I know how to compress image files etc.  Uploading images was just one of many many problems with the process though.

I can imagine I'm in the 10% here, that being those who don't give up completely.  

What docs do I have to include in the post?  I did the online application and it doesnt seem like I have to print out hotel bookings, bank statements etc again.  They were already submitted online, so what would be the point?