BritTim

Going for a tourist visa from HCMC is a decent plan. Doing that, in addition to avoiding entering Thailand via either of the Bangkok airports would be even better. There is a small risk of Immigration (improperly) denying entry with a tourist visa at the Bangkok airports. This has not been reported ever at Chiang Mai airport as far as I am aware. Also safe, twice per calendar year, is visa exempt entry at almost all land crossings. It is only at airports where there is close scrutiny of your immigration history.

Last year, when it appeared the STV scheme was going to end, there were announcements that new extensions based on entry with an STV would end on the same date that entry with STV visas ended. That does not mean the policy will be the same if issuing of STV visas is again extended. It is a bit of a worrying indication though.

The bus you took going from Vientiane to Udon also runs in the opposite direction. However, they will not allow you to take the bus going to Vientiane unless you already have a Lao visa. If you are not in a hurry, the Mukdahan to Savannakhet bus ticket includes the leg from the border to Savannakhet bus station. However, you might have to wait anything up to 30 minutes for a bus to come to pick you up.

The retirement extensions at Jomtien are dead easy. What can be a problem is the application for the Non O visa. A different set of officials handles that, and they have been known to be problematic. I hope all goes well.

You write that this is not teacher, so I assume you will be working for a Thai company. If the company has employed foreigners before, they should already know what is required. If not, you should try to visit the local labour office with someone from the company, and have them explain what is needed to get the provisional confirmation that you qualify (a key document when applying for the Non B visa). Unlike most sectors of Thai officialdom, the labour department tends to be helpful. In most first world countries, it is now possible to apply for a criminal records check online. What is your nationality?

The usual international buses you might use are Udon Thani to Vientiane. You need a Lao visa in advance as the bus does not wait for people getting a visa on arrival. Mukdahan to Savannakhet. This is convenient for those arriving by long distance bus at Mukdahan bus station. No Lao visa in advance is needed. Your bus ticket can be used for later buses, as necessary, if the application for a visa on arrival delays you passing through Lao immigration. Through tickets from Bangkok to Vientiane are usually best avoided. These are not really "international" buses. expect waiting around for some kind of van to arrive on the Lao side of immigration to take you into town.

Under those conditions, you would be very unlucky to be denied entry, but it is conceivable if you hit the wrong immigration officer. Coming with a single entry tourist visa would reduce your risk. Historically, with a visa, you would be completely safe if using certain airports, such as Chiang Mai.

Border bounces by land for visa exempt entries are very safe at most crossings, but are limited to two per calendar year. Although visa exempt entries by air are potentially unlimited, they are risky in practice. When you enter by air, requesting a visa exempt entry, Immigration at the airport is supposed to scrutinise you to determine if you are using the visa exemption for "regular tourism". This is open to interpretation and, if you have recently already been in Thailand for a long time as a tourist, could result in a denied entry.

The agent is proposing a Non Immigrant visa (most likely either volunteer or education) giving 90 days, followed by a 12-month extension. There is no way to significantly reduce the cost of either of these by not using the full 15 months, though a bit of a reduction is possible in the case of an education visa/extension for an informal school. 90k seems quite high, but I am not up to date on the latest cost for these kinds of visas/extensions. It is possible that some agents might be able to get you highly dubious medical extensions of 90 days at a time, but I would advise you to stay away from that.

Coming back after years away you will have no problems entering. When you need to start being careful is if you again start coming often with only short gaps between your visits. At that point, it would probably be prudent to avoid the Bangkok airports (or any airports if entering visa exempt).

My understanding is that this route is no problem now, and you can use an e-visa for entry to Vietnam.

If the company's lawyers closely examine the Thai law on this, they might provide a negative opinion. Thailand Elite stating what is true in practice is not a legal opinion, and trying to hold them responsible for statements on their website would not be practicable. All that can be said is that there are tens of thousands of long stay remote workers in Thailand, and millions of tourists every year who engage in some work while here on holiday. None of them have been or will be prosecuted. If there was a good way to specify in law what is tolerated, the Thai authorities would probably do that. They consider it easier just to base enforcement on what is good for Thailand and its people. Going after foreigners who make their money in a way that has no impact on the country would be, not only unhelpful, but actually detrimental to Thailand.

As a practical matter, you can work anywhere, including in Thailand, if neither your employer nor any customers are in Thailand. Strictly speaking, there ought to be some limitations, but the authorities have decided to tolerate any work that does not potentially deprive Thais of the same work. Thus, what the Thailand Elite folks say about remote work is true. Also, if careful, you can avoid being liable for Thai tax. The key guideline is to keep current year income separate from your savings (different account) and only bring in money that was not earned in the current year. If you fail to take this precaution, the Thai tax authorities are very unlikely to come after you, but they technically could.

Your local immigration have no control over this. They submitted paperwork to division HQ for an extension based on the old passport with its expiry date, and received authorisation to issue the extension. They would be risking their jobs if they gave you an extension that was not authorised. I do recall that, at one time, Immigration would issue extensions that ran beyond the expiry date of your passport. That ended long ago.

Visa exempt entries returned to the standard 30 days a long time ago (when quarantine under Covid precautions was discontinued).

The honorary consulates (which appear to be in the process of being phased out) receive no MFA funding. However, the embassies and official consulates are funded. I am not sure of the exact mechanism for making up the shortfall in revenue when a decision is made to waive visa fees for a while.

1,000 baht (TR) and 2,000 baht (VOA) The TR visa usually costs more than 1,000 baht and is paid in local currency, but the base price is 1,000 baht.

If really serious, take a look at Doctors Without Borders. They want well qualified individuals, but are continually looking for volunteers willing to work in remote areas. They are one of the very best large non-profits, possibly having the greatest real impact of any international organisation. They manage to keep their administration costs very reasonable considering the complex nature of their mission, and working with them will not leave you out of pocket.. Depending on your nationality, your government may sponsor volunteers to work overseas (such as the Peace Corps in the US). Not especially recommended, but representative of the kind of volunteer program you can easily be accepted for is Warm Heart Worldwide in Thailand. These kinds of programs are not scams but, as is quite common, they expect you to cover all your own costs. The work is not bad. The advantage of this particular program is that it is based in Phrao, quite an attractive area without being as remote, and lacking in infrastructure, as some of the other legit options.

Absolutely though, on reflection, there might be one minor exception. Many organisations keep the CCTV footage locally. Whether you would call that a "server" is debatable though.

While 1,000 baht is the base price, most embassies/consulates actually charge more, partly by applying inflated exchange rates. If a temporary fee waiver for TR visas is introduced, it will apply everywhere, regardless of the local price. My own sense is that the fee waiver is probably not coming at this time, as the authorities have seemed more upbeat in the last few weeks on the projected tourist arrivals. However, nobody really knows.

I agree, but it would be surprising if they had any servers that store data locally at all. I would expect their "server" room to contain nothing except some networking equipment and a firewall appliance with built-in VPN for access to the (remote) servers. Storing data at individual branches just complicates security and backup. You are right, though. After a fire, there is probably a lot of necessary electrical and network rewiring needed.

Before suggesting suitable organisations, it is important to know what kinds of voluntary work you are willing to engage in, and whether you are willing to live anywhere in Thailand, or want to be near a large town. Do you have qualifications (for instance, medical training) that make you particularly appropriate for certain kinds of projects? It is an advantage if you can speak Thai and/or other local languages. You may be expected to cover some of the costs for accommodation or food. Be aware of the following Legit organisations sponsoring you for a visa will expect you to actually engage in voluntary work, and a lot of it. This is not just a matter of registering with an organisation and getting a rubber stamp visa. There are a lot of scams where for profit companies get you to both donate, and carry out work while provided low quality accommodation and food. Be careful!

I appreciate your annoyance, and some of the precautions do amount to security theatre, rather than dealing with real threats. That said, the fact that you are accompanied by a kid should not make it easier to circumvent security precautions. It would not be good if taking a bomb into the embassy relied only on planting it on a kid going in with you.

If the immigration officers want to deny you entry for other reasons, they might ask to see those things (especially the cash/travellers checks) as the denied entry actually becomes mandatory as soon as they check and you cannot provide them. The real reason might well be that you have been spending more time in Thailand as a "tourist" than the officers consider reasonable. Under normal circumstances, Western travellers will not be asked to show the cash or onward flights, the only possible exceptions being people coming very often or people who look very poor. Note, however, that the airline will more often than not want to see evidence of a flight leaving Thailand.

I would just add that an METV might well be your best option, though you need to get this from your home country before coming to Thailand. A border bounce by land every 90 days is really not that onerous. From anywhere in Thailand, it is a same day process.