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Friend who is in his 30s is planning to get a METV and use border runs and extensions to use it up to nine months. The initial permission of stay is two months when entering Thailand the first time. 1a) Does he need travel health insurance at all? Or was that only a Covid requirement that is now halted? 1b) If he must have travel health insurance, will it only be checked for coverage of those first 60 days, and then after that he could use the extensions and border runs to keep coming back and they wouldn't check the insurance again at each extension and at each border crossing? Or would the insurance have to cover all nine months to avoid being rejected for the extensions or being rejected from crossing back into Thailand? Have been having difficulty finding current information about this.

https://www.thaievisa.go.th/tourist-visa On this page I'm seeing 20,000 baht for SETV and 60,000 baht for METV as financial means proof.

A further question: we have confirmed that my friend will apply for a METV. Since the initial permission of stay is 60 days, I think we need to buy a disposable one-way ticket to Laos that departs within 59 days of his arrival in Thailand (in case he is asked for proof of onward travel). I am also not sure if there is still a travel insurance requirement for someone arriving on a METV. Can anyone clarify? For example, if there is currently an insurance requirement for tourists traveling into Thailand with a METV, and if my friend plans to be here from January through September, does he need to buy the travel insurance only for 60 days, or will he have problems with re-entry and/or getting 30 day extensions after the first 60 days if the insurance coverage period is not through September?

Can you confirm that the visa was approved without having submitted the financial proof? Which embassy/consulate was chosen when you applied?

Very helpful, thank you. Do you know offhand if the METV has special requirements for approval and what the typical lead time to receive the visa after applying at the consulate? If not then no worries. It is very helpful to know that the SETV is only 90 days max including the extension. So we will try for a METV unless the application requirements are prohibitive. It looks like the METV has two month validity of stay, can that be extended +30 days for each entry? So that it would be possible to arrive Jan. 1st, do the +30 day extension, then do a border run on around April 30th instead of March 30th. Then come back in to activate another 60 day permission of stay on May 1st. Then do a border run at the end of June to get another 60 days (since the visa validity expires after six months) when coming back. Then +30 day extension so that he can stay until the end of September. I think that is how you're getting the 9 months out of the METV if I understood correctly.

Thanks, he is under 50 so that's why we were thinking to get a tourist visa and extensions. So the details I wanted to confirm are whether the 3-month tourist visa is still available by application to a consulate in advance, and whether the extensions are now limited to 30 days and two times (for a total of 60 days across two extensions, summing up to 5 months if they're used to extend a 3-month tourist visa).

I have an elite visa so this question is on behalf of my friend: he is quitting his job and wants to crash with me in Bangkok. I have space to host him for up to a year. He doesn't want to get a work visa or education visa. Is the best option still a 3 month tourist visa with two 30-day extensions, for a total of 5 months before having to return to the US? It's been a few years since I had to look into this. I think I heard that the 60-day Covid extensions are no longer a thing but the 30-day ones are still available and can be applied twice, right? Thanks in advance to anyone who knows offhand the best approach to take for giving him as much time here as possible before having to go back to the States (and without having to get a non-Tourist or elite visa).

This is the first time after doing the required annual 1-year extension for my Elite Visa that I’m doing a 90 day report. I tried to do the 90 day report online as usual on March 7th, and instead of receiving the “approved” email that normally comes, I received last night the following email message: “Your receipt for notification of "STAYING LONGER THAN 90 DAYS" will be due on 13/03/2023.“ What gives? The status of my last report from March 7th in the online site, where you can check the application status, shows “pending” - neither approved nor rejected. Should I wait to see if they approve it Monday or does the fact that my next communication from them told me to report on Monday mean that it was rejected even though the status doesn’t show rejected? Why would I have to report in person this time? Makes no sense. Extremely irritating if that is the case.

My preferred age would be 5 months or older. I’m ok with adopting or buying. I’ve not seen any available dachshunds for adoption or sale in Bangkok that were not very young, such as two months old or less. I’ve seen some around 4-5 months old in other provinces, but I don’t have a car and would rather find one locally within Bangkok. I’m already in the relevant Facebook groups for animal adoption and dachshunds for sale, so I’m asking here in case anyone knows of a breeder or adoption opportunity that would be missed just relying on Facebook groups.

I'd always bought a birthday gift for my Thai girlfriend because it's my cultural practice, but I thought that generally on a Thai person's birthday, they don't expect gifts or parties - it's more of a merit making occasion. I thought maybe the only really important gift giving occasions are anniversaries and Valentines Day. But someone earlier today told me there are three - those two, plus the girl's birthday. What do you all think is accurate? And how would you rank them in order of importance? I'd expect that anniversaries are the most important (e.g. for which the most expensive gifts would be given), followed by Valentines Day, and lastly maybe their birthday. But what do you all think?

Thanks. Didn't think of trying Shopee. Would feel more comfortable ordering from a pharmacy but that is encouraging.

Apparently the oral b12 is still making it down through the gi tract to get absorbed by a specialized part of the intestine which is a part that I lost to surgical removal.

Hello everyone, I have an autoimmune disease which required removal of part of my intestine. Unfortunately, I will probably need a vitamin b12 injection once per month for the rest of my life. It is an enormous hassle and bloated expense to do this at a hospital every time versus doing an at home self injection as is possible in many countries. Does anyone know if vitamin b12 injections can be purchased from a pharmacy in Bangkok for self-administration at home?

Hello everyone, I'd really appreciate your help figuring this out. After trying to do the 90 day report online, I received the rejection reason "Visa validity date is incorrect." However, this is what my visa looks like: the "Date of Expiry" says "23 DEC 2026." So I accordingly filled in the online form this way: "Stay Visa Expire: 23/12/2026" I therefore don't understand why the submission was rejected. I'll note that I couldn't make sense of the checkbox that I've circled in red on the screenshot, in case that was supposed to be checked. Is the problem that they don't understand that the elite visa doesn't expire this year, or is the problem that I have to choose the date when the elite visa is required to be annually renewed (which would be "23 DEC 2022" I believe, even though the expiration date is 2026, because I understand that's when I must go to immigration and pay a fee to renew if I don't exit and re-enter the country before then)? Can anyone help clarify? Thanks so much.

Cool, it is very helpful to hear your reassurances. Really appreciate it. At least seems we don't need to worry about much risk of the building collapsing after ten years lol. Probably can't take that for granted with some of the newer construction projects these day!

Thanks for your response. We're not very qualified to assess the condition based on our own inspection of finer details, so generally speaking, how long do you think this type of building typically lasts in acceptable condition? 50 years after it's built? 70 years after?

I think that the brick is painted over but these are the photos I have:

Hello all, I've gotten some amazingly sound advice from this community in the past so I wanted to ask for your insight about a condo purchase my girlfriend is considering in Bangkok. She doesn't have a large budget, but found a condo in Ekkamai for 600,000 baht. The building is 30 years old but it's made of this material: "อิฐมอญ อิฐแดง". I don't know the right translation but it's a type of red brick (can see photos from Google: see search results). She's been told by the owner that this material is quite resilient and the condo, having been built 30 years ago with this material, will last many more years. At 600,000 baht I think that as long as it will last another 10 years it's not a disaster and if it lasts another 40 years it's a good deal. The on-site visit seemed OK, there were no obvious maintenance defects in the walls, ceiling, or floors. Do any of you have insight about how much longevity a building constructed 30 years ago with this material should likely have?

Thanks. It sounds like maybe there's a small chance they'll approve with a warning note it but if it's not approved by Tuesday morning (June 28th), I'll go to Chaeng Wattana immigration to report in person then because that's within the seven day window of June 22nd for still avoiding a fine.

First time I tried using this system for online reporting. I had a piece of paper that showed "date of next notification" as June 22nd. I got it submitted today which is June 23rd. Some questions: 1) In this situation, will it be rejected for being a day late? (And is the date of receipt going to be counted as the upload date, which is today, or will it be counted as the date that it's processed by the officials -- maybe three days from now?)?. 2) Also, if I am assessed a fine for being late, I think for a single day the fine should be 200 baht, but how will I be asked or required to pay the fine with an online report? 3) Am I going to find out three days from now that I must go in person to Chaeng Wattana Immigration and pay a fine of 200 x 4 days = 800 baht, and have to do the report in person because that's the only way they can collect the fine? Any insight would be appreciated, as I have never tried to file this online before now and am not sure what to expect.

I have a relative who is not vaccinated and wants to visit Thailand after it opens up on July 1st. I've read articles now stating that Thailand Pass and the Covid insurance requirements are being scrapped from that date onwards. I'm having a harder time finding information about what exact requirements are still imposed on an unvaccinated tourist entering Thailand after July 1st. Does anyone know this yet?

Thanks for these replies. Entering the country on a marriage visa also requires the 50k insurance for Covid, right, so there's actually no difference between the insurance requirements for entering on an Elite Visa versus entering on a marriage visa?

It seems maybe this rule about insurance was created after you extended? Thread about it is from November:

I saw a website marketing the Elite Visa which indicated that $50,000 of insurance coverage is required for the visa. Elsewhere, I've seen it claimed that this requirement only applies when entering Thailand. So there are three scenarios that are unclear: 1) Someone has an Elite Visa, exits Thailand, and re-enters. Is the only insurance requirement currently the special Covid-related travel insurance requirement, and does this requirement have a coverage length less than the one year of stay that gets activated upon entering Thailand with a preexisting Elite Visa? 2) Someone obtains an Elite Visa while already inside Thailand at the Immigration Office. Will they be forced to show that they have insurance? 3) Someone goes to the Immigration Office to pay the 1,900 baht extension fee to activate another year of stay on their Elite Visa. Will they be forced to have insurance? Does anyone know for sure about which these three scenarios cause us to be forced to purchase health insurance vs. which ones don't?

Hahaha. I'm learning the ropes in LOS. As many pointed out here, yeah, the "you need work permit" defense against doing what I asked or giving me what I wanted, in this case mobile banking, was <deleted> due to ignorance or laziness. I went to a different branch today after reading these replies and they set up my mobile banking - hooray. So it's been resolved. Glad I've learned that "need a work permit" is a common excuse for laziness, and to doubt it the next time I hear it.