BritTim

I cannot travel to North Korea (or even China) right now, and that is unlikely to change any time soon. Does that justify me asking for unlimited Covid extensions?

In 2019, with the possible exception of U-Tapao, every airport had examples of people being denied visa exempt entry on the basis of spending too much time in Thailand. There were also limits being placed on provision of tourist visas at every consulate in nearby countries. Even those with multiple entry tourist visas were having trouble at certain airports and land borders. How quickly people forget.

I can understand that this is what you want. Where we part company is in your belief that Covid extensions are provided partly as a convenience for people who would previously have been border runners. On the contrary, I think a contributing factor to the continued closure of the border with Cambodia, for instance, is that the authorities do not want to facilitate the return of the situation as it existed in 2019 where people were using border bounces to overcome restrictions on the length of tourist visits. Believe me, I am not one of those who thinks foreigners who want to stay long term in Thailand should have obstacles placed in their way. I simply believe that the consensus of the majority in authority in Thailand is that, apart from selected groups, they only want short term visitors. The current situation, with limited visitor numbers, affects that attitude somewhat, but not enough for unlimited tourist extensions or easy border bounces to become official policy.

The reality is that there are plenty of people quite willing to risk being killed, and who prefer that to being forced to wear a face mask to enter a 7-11. It is quite true that those people might well be deterred from coming to Thailand by the fact that there remains some, albeit inadequate, attempt to control Covid here.

There is an important distinction between an extension and a denied extension with 7 days to leave the country. Whenever you want to apply for an extension, but you do not qualify under any of the valid reasons, your extension request is denied, but you are not immediately on overstay. Instead, they give you 7 days to leave the country. As stated, there is no actual "7 day extension".

Well, I do not agree that someone who came for 30 days (visa exempt) two years ago has a better claim for a Covid extension than someone who came intending to be here for nine months on a Non Ed visa or, even, someone on a Non B visa who recently lost his job as his company went under due to Covid. The original intention was that a Covid extension was those who were unable to return to their home countries because of Covid (and you needed an embassy letter to the effect that this was the case). The authorities have never been fans of border runners, continually going in and out of Thailand to extend their stay indefinitely. The Covid extension was never intended to help out people who were doing that. In reality, with the number of real tourists so low, it would be in Thailand's best interests to allow almost all foreigners who want to stay to do so. However, that would certainly be a very different mindset to the one the authorities had in 2019.

With that stamp in your passport, you may find that the best an agent can do is a (dodgy) 30 to 90 day "medical" extension. Talk to a few agents to see what they can do.

In fairness, especially if people are older and have impaired hearing, learning a new language can be very difficult. I know enough Thai spoken and written, to get by. However, I would struggle if I was starting from scratch now.

Most likely, the main reason is that they want to give you a retirement Non O and extension rather than marriage. This is less work for them. In these kinds of cases where officials do not want to follow the standard regulations, there are various approaches that may work, but it is difficult. The number one rule is not to lose your temper. Continue quietly and firmly, in as pleasant a tone of voice as you can manage, telling them that you know the rules for a marriage Non O and extension, and are not in a position to depart from them. Good luck!

The hardest step, assuming you do not already have a Thai bank account, is opening an account to transfer in the money you will need going forward. This is doable, but may need some persistence. For the rest, it is not too bad since you have the money standing by. Enter visa exempt (as @ubonjoe suggests) and apply for the 90-day Non O and subsequent one-year extensions at Immigration in Thailand.

You are now on a Non Immigrant entry with a Covid extension. The underlying logic of the new requirements for a Covid extension is that you are not eligible for another kind of extension. Those, for instance, who are on a Non Immigrant entry and aged over 50 would be eligible for a retirement extension, and would be required to apply for this rather than a Covid extension. The argument that they do not have enough money would not be well received. If you are aged under 50 and not married, you can plead that Covid prevents your return home, and you are not eligible for another kind of extension. Having explained the intended logic, let me finish by saying that I do not expect all immigration offices to interpret things in this way. In particular, it will make a great deal of difference in many cases whether you are applying for a Covid extension yourself, or doing so with the assistance of an agent.

Correct

The rules, I believe have, for a long time, been 20,000 baht per person (or 40,000 baht per family) if entering with a regular visa or visa exempt. There is a reduced requirement of 10,000 baht (20,000 per family) if entering on the 15-day visa-on-arrival.

People have been saying for over 18 months that China's zero Covid policy was doomed to fail. The reality is virtually zero mortality from Covid over that period, an economy growing, China's international competitiveness improving, schools open, almost no restrictions on everyday life except for the restrictions on overseas travel. Maybe, in the end, people will be right, and SARS-CoV-2 will become endemic in China as in most other places, but there is no evidence of that yet. Also, blaming China for the economic woes of countries that have not controlled Covid is mostly unfair. China is working and exporting. There is much about China that I do not like, but the rest of the world could, and should, have learned from China's approach to containing Covid.

I considered adding some information about what lawyers do to get around the law that foreigners cannot own land. The technique used is to set up a company that is, on paper, Thai owned, but in reality where you have control. Such games have been declared illegal by the authorities, and occasionally, action against such shell companies has been taken. Personally, I would not take the risk. For further information, read https://www.samuiforsale.com/real-estate/foreigners-warned-on-land.html

They definitely allow people to enter with a good copy of their passport. Think about it. In many cases, someone's passport will be inside CW as you return to retrieve it from Immigration. I have done this.

They may terminate your permission to stay, however.

Assistance with a legit retirement extension will typically include: assisting with getting the correct documents from the bank; filling out and checking the other documents; transporting you to and from immigration; and VIP queuing so you only need to spend a limited time at the immigration office. Including the 1,900 baht regular fee for the extension, you should expect to pay a good agent around 7,000 baht. I regard this as reasonable. For assistance with a marriage extension, the price will be higher.

It is 99.9% certain that the stamp is legit. The only extensions available for someone on a VOA are Covid or medical. I would not necessarily expect a special annotation indicating the reason for the extension.

Short answer: unless this is a BOI sponsored company (which means a company that the authorities believes brings unusually big benefits to Thailand) the answer to all your questions is "no". Land ownership is one of the benefits that BOI sponsorship can confer, but the application is complicated, and forget using this as simply a way to overcome normal laws against land ownership by foreigners.

This article reports that the TAT is starting a major campaign to attract Chinese tourists travelling via the Chinese-Lao railway (via Vientiane) into Thailand via Nong Khai. Clearly, this only makes sense if the Vientiane/Nong Khai border is open. Has anyone seen supporting evidence that this is going to happen? Presumably, it would need to use Test & Go with an initial one night stay in a SHA++ hotel in, say, Nong Khai or Udon Thani. https://www.nationthailand.com/thai-destination/40011394

It varies a lot depending on where in Cambodia you go. Sihanoukville, and a few other places, have become effectively small Chinese cities. Many other towns are virtually untouched.

Indeed. Sweden can be really dull (both physically and mentally) during the winter. It is great around mid summer, and I would be very interested in spending mid June until early September there. For December until February, somewhere like the Greek islands would work, but is also a nice time to be in Thailand. For someone with limited finances, that is not practical, unfortunately.

If you like small Southern Chinese cities, you will probably like Sihanoukville. It actually differs from a typical Chinese city in the presence of the casinos. However, it is nothing like the Westerner friendly town of a decade or so ago, and now has little Cambodian or Vietnamese influence.

I sympathise. This is difficult. Before making any decisions, together with your GF, discuss the situation with an experienced counsellor. The unhappy state of your GF may not be primarily that she does not like Sweden. It is very possible that she is bored with your relationship, and looking for a way out. However, there may be ways of fixing the situation so it becomes tolerable for all of you.