BritTim

It is true that sometimes the airline will not ask. If they do, it must be an onward flight booking.

The airline will not accept a hotel booking in lieu of an onward flight booking. They will not even accept on international bus ticket leaving Thailand.

The Special Tourist Visa still has onerous requirements. Even if possible to get, it is not really a good choice. An METV requires border bounces every 60-90 days, but is overall a better choice in most cases. If not wishing to leave Thailand, at a price, agents can find solutions.

For a three-month stay, you should apply for a single entry tourist visa (60-day permission to stay) and extend this by 30 days at an immigration office inside Thailand. There is no insurance requirement.

They are both a sure thing.

Where would you apply for the METV, and why would you need a multiple entry visa? I assume you do understand that you can stay just as long (without a border bounce) with a single entry tourist visa as with a multiple entry tourist visa. I am missing why you think an METV will benefit you, and just reiterate that an METV is only available via the embassy (or an official consulate) in your home country.

I was also surprised by @ubonjoe's advice. I think what he was implying is that, although strictly speaking the TM30 notification is required, if never interacting with Immigration, they will never know and the administrative omission is academic. I think this attitude is reasonable. The worst that could happen would be a fine, and that is highly unlikely. Some may feel that laws, however nonsensical, should always be adhered to. In that case, of course, the TM30 notification should be made.

Are you sure that is the case for second and subsequent Covid extensions? Almost everywhere else, the Covid extension starts on the application date for the first Covid extension, but at the end of the current permission to stay date for subsequent Covid extensions.

OP ... appreciate that, when moving away from the agent supported extension (which I do think has merit) it is not enough to have the 800,000 baht in the bank prior to the extension. Immigration will want to see bank statements for the prior 12 months, to verify that you have been in compliance with the requirement for 800,000 baht in the bank for three months after your previous extension and two months before the current one (as well as 400,000 baht continuously for the rest of the year). Having transferred 800,000 baht, you may need to use an agent one last time, planning to switch next year. A possible alternative is to leave Thailand (without a re-entry permit), return visa exempt, apply for a Non O visa at Immigration (800,000 baht in your account on the date you apply, with proof the money came from abroad) and later the one-year extensions as usual. The first extension only requires that the money be in the bank for two months on the date you apply, and the 90 days from the Non O visa comfortably accommodates that.

Yes, you are correct.

Extending a Non Immigrant permission to stay for any of the allowed reasons is not a problem. If you are married to a Thai, you can apply for a further one-year extension of your permission to stay based on your spouse. If over age 50, for instance, you could also apply for a one-year extension of your permission to stay based on retirement. What you cannot do (when in Thailand on a Non Immigrant permission to stay) is apply for a fresh Non Immigrant or tourist visa. Make sure you understand the difference between a visa and a permission to stay.

Vasu Exchange is on the corner of Sukhumvit Soi 7/1 if I remember correctly (Nana BTS station). If up around Pratunam, SuperRich Green main office usually gives very slightly better rates than Vasu, but there is not much in it.

There is no way to convert from a non immigrant permission to stay to a tourist permission to stay without leaving and re-entering Thailand. A possible approach if you will only stay five months at a time is: Having allowed your non immigrant permission to stay lapse, apply for a single entry tourist visa and use the new visa to enter Thailand. This will give you a 60-day permission to stay. Depending on your nationality, you may be able to get the visa via the e-visa system, or may need to apply direct to an embassy/consulate. Extend the 60-day permission to stay at immigration for a further 30 days. Extend the permission to stay at immigration by a further 60 days to visit your wife. The requirements for the 60-day extension are easy. The main requirements is that your wife must go to immigration with you. This will give you a total stay of 150 days (149 nights).

The Thailand Pass no longer exists, so the requirements for issuing one are no longer of anything other than historical interest.

A visa exemption means that you do not need a visa to enter Thailand for a short period for tourism purposes. It is available mostly to citizens of wealthy countries. Those with a permission to stay from a visa exempt entry have options to extend their stay also. Some citizens of, generally, middle income countries (such as China and India) do not qualify for visa exemption, but can queue up to buy a visa at the airport allowing only a 15-day stay and no ability to extend their stay further. That is what a "visa on arrival" means.

If arriving by air, and your total time in Thailand is less than about 180 days per year, you are unlikely to have a problem with visa exempt entry. There is no specific limit on visa exemptions when entering by air, but airport immigration will scrutinise your immigration history to determine if, in their view, you are abusing visa exempt entries to stay longer than is compatible with normal tourism.

With the introduction of the e-visa system, multiple Non O visas were discontinued (except for the Non OA). However, there have been reports that the e-visa system now supports multiple Non O, and London allows them. I cannot confirm this based on personal experience.

If your friends are American, they do not qualify for a 15-day visa on arrival. They will receive a visa exemption, providing currently a 30-day permission to stay but in February almost certainly 45 days. It is early to be sure of Covid related requirements. Currently, you would need either (i) at least two vaccine jabs; or (ii) a pre departure Covid test.

That is difficult to predict, but it is clear that almost all the key decision makers favour the proposal, and I think you can rely on it happening.

For most visas, guarantors are not needed. The visa application form must accommodate visas of all kinds. You can leave the guarantor fields blank. Again, the Occupation field probably does not matter unless you are a Vietnamese national.

The disadvantage of using a Pattaya agent is that you will almost certainly end up being officially resident at a fictitious Pattaya address. However, even if you use a Bangkok agent, your application might well end up being processed through Pattaya unless you explicitly ensure otherwise.

Not all exchanges will give you Dong, and there is a chance exchanges that will, in principle, do so may be temporarily out of Dong. However, the main office of major exchanges like SuperRich will almost always be able to accommodate you.

All extensions cost the same 1,900 baht, even if it is a one-year extension.

Usually true. However, if your home country is somewhere like Singapore, changing before you travel is absolutely fine.

You may need to change a small amount at the airport. Keep this to a minimum as the exchange rates there are very bad. Probably, the only worse rates are at the hotels. Once away from the airport, currency exchanges provide better rates. If changing large amounts, it is worthwhile to use the most competitive exchanges like SuperRich Green or Vasu Exchange. Ideally, use them at their main offices in the middle of a regular working day. Their rates are very slightly worse at satellite offices and at odd hours (when they are defensive against currency fluctuations when senior staff are not closely watching the market). The difference is quite small, though, if this is inconvenient.