BritTim

While I cannot state this as definitive, all sources state that an entry using an ABTC is a business entry. It is not a visa exempt tourist entry. I do not believe that it would be eligible for a tourist extension. However, if you qualify for Non Immigrant extensions, these might be possible.

While I sincerely dislike this trend, it is a fact that using masculine or feminine pronouns in most situations is increasingly seen as politically incorrect. One would think that this would be dealt with by the use of "it" rather than "they", but that is not what the political correctness police have decreed. Unless referring to a specific known individual who has made known the pronouns by which they want to be referred to, it is safest to use "they" now in public speech and writing. I wonder how long it is going to be until old books begin to be reprinted with offensive words like "she" and "his" replaced with "they" and "their".

If leaving during the under consideration period without intending an early return, it would be polite to let the immigration office know. Obviously, in that case, you would not bother getting a re-entry permit.

When printing the PDF, make sure your printing options do not allow resizing of the pages.

That is the way the METV works. You can enter Thailand multiple times using the visa, but the permission to stay that you receive each time is the same as when you enter with a single entry tourist visa. Another option at the current time is the STV (special tourist visa) which allows you an initial 90-day stay, and the ability to extend twice by 90 days each time without leaving Thailand. You should not use the STV if planning to apply for a "conversion" Non Immigrant visa at immigration in Thailand.

Right now, if you are aged under 50, you will be very lucky to find an agent who can give you a solution allowing a one-year stay for 25K. Some agents will not even give you a quote. The best bet is probably a Non Ed visa and extension, but no guarantees.

No. The STV is extended in Thailand wit no need to leave and re-enter Thailand to prolong your stay. If desired, you can probably get an METV now, but making use of it for extended stays in Thailand is problematic. Unless wealthy (in which case consider Thailand Elite) or aged over 50, there are only flawed solutions.

One word of warning about the one-year extension (does not apply to the 60-day extension). If planning to travel, you need to apply for the one-year extension over a month before your departure, and make sure the immigration office is aware of your plans. The extension is initially taken under consideration, with an instruction to report back about 30 days later for the final, confirmed stamp. Thus, with your planned departure being April 12, I would suggest talking with your local immigration office the last week of February or right at the beginning of March. It may be better to just get the 60-day extension on this trip, planning to get a fresh Non O for your next trip.

There is no special stamp for a visa exemption. You just have the same kind of entry stamp that is used for every foreigner entering Thailand (with or without a visa). Just think of the visa exemption as allowing you to enter without a visa in your passport.

You can still get a re-entry permit after getting the exit stamp. (Indeed, at Don Muang, that is normal.) It becomes impossible once you actually board your flight to leave Thailand. I ensure I will never forget a re-entry permit by keeping a post-it note next to my data page in my passport with Re-entry Permit! in big red letters written on it.

It is at least 15 days. However, some immigration offices require longer, typically 21 days, unless you use an agent. If an application using an agent cannot be done with 15 days left on your tourist entry, it is probably time to find a new agent.

If you ask a random immigration official at a random immigration office, the chances are that you would just get blank looks. However, there is a real risk that, not wanting to disappoint the hopeful foreigner, you would get a definite and convincing answer. That answer will be less reliable than those you can get through this board. A general rule is that Thai officials will rarely know anything outside of their own area of responsibility. The local immigration office will have received no information on the rules being applied on either side of the first Lao-Thai Friendship Bridge. They would not even be able to give you accurate information on Test & Go.

As I understand it, the border crossing at the first Lao-Thai Friendship Bridge is theoretically open, only for those on pre-arranged package tours organised by authorised travel agents. However, I do not believe any such pre-arranged package tours via Nong Khai actually exist in practice.

The application for a Thailand Elite membership does not require you to pay any money up front. Once your application is approved, you then need to decide whether to pay and go ahead. As @ubonjoe advised you, it will be necessary to leave Thailand and return before the Thailand Elite visa can be placed in your passport. When on a Non Immigrant entry, no such conversion is possible. Even with a Thailand Elite visa in your passport, there is a chance that Immigration can refuse to honour the visa for cause. It has been reported that some in the upper echelons of Immigration are upset by the dubious procedures used by agents to get volunteer extensions for those who were not volunteering. This will need to be considered when the time comes to actually pay for the Thailand Elite membership.

Endemicity absolutely can refer to pathogens that are global or almost global. As an example, the influenza virus is endemic globally. Whether something is epidemic (an unacceptable pathogenic infection in specific areas), pandemic (similar, but widely distributed), or endemic (present, but considered acceptable without extraordinary health measures) has to do with the pathogen's impact, not its geographical spread. In some countries, SARS-CoV-2 appears already to be changing from epidemic/pandemic status to endemic. Typically, so far, this is in countries with very high levels of vaccination. Examples are New Zealand and Portugal.

I am sorry. I mixed up this thread with another involving Thai Smile. Since this is an international to international connection, this will probably be fine.

That is a very clear statement by Luma, and their position seems perfectly reasonable. If you are Covid-19 positive, but asymptomatic or with mild symptoms, this will likely impact your life for some days, but should not affect where you will stay, or greatly increase your costs. The only exception is that you may not be able to travel as you intended. Hopefully, travel insurance would deal with enforced postponement of travel.

According to the logic of the announcement of the further limited availability of Covid extensions, I believe the normal answer is no. Since you switched to a Non B visa and Non Immigrant entry, you are no longer treated as a tourist. (I think this is quite unfair to those on extensions based on working that suddenly end, but those seem to be the rules.)

Are you in Thailand on a tourist entry or on a Non Immigrant entry?

This is my guess. When maximum control zones were abolished, Thai Smile just considered the fact that Chiang Mai's published provincial rules were unchanged without considering the effect of the maximum control zones no longer existing. They are still erroneously enforcing rules that used to exist for Bangkok to Chiang Mai.

Did you list your flights in your enquiry, and ask specifically about that routing? To me, it seems quite unlikely that you can switch from a Swiss Air to a domestic Thai Smile flight without passing through immigration in Bangkok., but I do not know for sure.

The Thai Smile chart you cite suggests that vaccination and tests are required to enter Chiang Mai. I do not believe that is true, regardless of which province you are arriving from. Chiang Mai's rules have not been updated since July of last year, but the abolition of maximum control zones has made an update unnecessary. The simplified requirements that already existed when traveling from many provinces simply became uniform. It is true that Udon Thani still has stricter rules.

That chart is ridiculously outdated and absolutely useless. You need to research yourself the current rules for your destination. As an example, these are the current rules for Chiang Mai: http://www.chiangmai.go.th/covid19/assets/img/infoc/covid81eng.jpg In reading this, note that "maximum control provinces" no longer exist, so you only need to look at the simple requirements under "Travelers from Other Provinces".. You will see that neither vaccination nor tests are required.

It seems that, just as important as having a Thai passport, was telling the officials she was a Covid-19 risk.

This is bizarre. Your original post said you last entered Thailand through an airport on November 1st. Is this true, or did you leave Thailand and enter again through an airport at the end of December? If you have not left Thailand since November 1, this is what I think the corrected stamps would normally show: An entry stamp showing entry on 2021-11-01 with permission to stay until 2021-12-30 A 30-day extension of your permission to stay, giving a new expiry of 2022-01-29 The only explanation I can come up with is that the immigration officer took pity on you and gave you a backdated Covid extension rather than the regular 30-day extension. This would give the stamp you appear to have now of 2022-02-28.. You are a very lucky guy.