BritTim

The initial Non Ed visa will, indeed, only be for 90 days. This will be extended in Thailand by one year at a time with the assistance of the school. If your child will study at an international school in Chiang Mai, do not worry. The school will have lots of experience, and your child's immigration status will be easy to deal with. For a trip out of Thailand (whether during the initial 90 days, or when the permission to stay has been extended) you need to get a re-entry permit (1,000 baht at the immigration office, 1,000 or 1,200 baht at the airport). For proof of residence for a child, the passport is sufficient. For proof of finance, just provide a note that, as the parent, you take responsibility. Should any mistake ever be made with respect to your child breaching immigration law, there is no drama. A child up to the age of 15 is not subject to penalties.

It is more likely that they will fall into those categories if they do not have positive occupations to fill up their lives. Being aged over 50 does not guarantee that you will end up a sozzled pot head, addicted to bar girls. (Yes, quite a few can end up that way.)

Those who are cautious might well be uncomfortable with having an imperfect understanding of everything that is happening at Immigration. But, that conflicts with the whole idea of using an agent where you take it on faith that the agent knows what to do, and trust everything is done correctly without verifying that properly.

This is not correct. Prior to possession of an appropriate entry from a visa or extended permission to stay, the Labour Department can give you a kind of pre-approval document that indicates you and the company qualify in principle. However, the work permit itself will only be issued once you have the correct immigration status.

I guess that might be possible for some if they drink enough the night before.

You are like me. I hate signing anything that looks like a legally binding document without understanding what it says. That said, routine documents placed in front of you in whatever language when applying for an extension can probably just be safely signed.

Where on earth did you hear that? It seems so totally improbable that I would just ignore it unless you were told this by an extremely credible source. I could believe the opposite: that they previously accepted black and white photos, but now insist on colour.

Yes, it is well known that Thai officials love to lose face by being shown they are not applying the rules correctly.

Mondays are usually truly awful. If at all possible, delay your trip by a day.

There is no need ever to leave. Apart from the one-year check in that you already mentioned, you just need to do the five-year requalification at the half-way point.

Officially no TM30 notification is needed after returning to Thailand with a re-entry permit. However, be warned that some Immigration offices make up their own rules about when a fresh TM30 notification is required.

1) No. 2) In principle, you do not need to spend any time outside Thailand before returning. There can be issues at some land crossings are are not specific to those using multiple entry visas. Avoid using the crossing at Poipet/Aranyaprathet. 3) To maximise use of the visa, do a border bounce just before the visa expires to get a final 90-day entry. You then have the option of applying for a further visa outside Thailand, or applying for an extension of your permission to stay at Immigration in Thailand.

I can confirm that single and multiple Non O visas (age over 50) are available through the e-visa system for some countries' nationals. For example, UK citizens who qualify can get them. It is quite likely that this still varies by country, even when the e-visa system is used.

No payment, and once you show you were out during the university summer break, there will be no issues.

The 60-day extension to visit your Thai spouse is allowed.

I find this extremely surprising. I have never before heard of the Labour office issuing a work permit to someone on a retirement extension, and changing from an extension based on retirement to one based on working would not be possible without a work permit. I am not aware of this ever happening. It would be very interesting to see all the passport stamps. The big selling point of the new LTR-WP (Long Term Resident Wealthy Pensioner) visa is that it optionally comes with a fairly unrestricted work permit. Are you sure this is not what your friend has acquired?

Some essential annotations will be made in your new passport, and you will then receive an entry stamp in the new passport reflecting the end date specified on your re-entry permit. If you have been out of Thailand for more than a few days, also expect to be interrogated as to how you can still be studying after failing to attend class for x weeks. Ideally, you have a letter from your university that explains that they knew in advance of your departure, and that it does not affect your qualification to continue with the course.

By law, if you do not have a multiple entry business visa for Cambodia, you are supposed to spend one night in Cambodia when doing a border bounce. You can invariably pay a small bribe to have the Cambodian officials turn a blind eye to this requirement. It is true that officials on the Thai side are insisting on (at least) an overnight stay when you do a border bounce at most crossings with Malaysia. I think this is mainly enforced when people want to use visa exemptions. As far as I know, this is not a requirement under Malaysian law, just something Thai Immigration on that border has decided to introduce on their own initiative. Rather larger bribes (to Thai immigration) are required to circumvent the policy. There is no such problem with the Lao and Myanmar border crossings.

Most people whose spelling is flawed are able to spell their own names!

That is, I fear, a possibility. It is unlikely, The airline supervisor will no doubt have seen cases like this before, and be aware of what might lead to serious problems. This ought not to.

Contrast your experience with that of the people who applied the next day. According to another post, the consulate was mobbed on Thursday morning with visa run company groups.

Unless arranged in advance, you can (as is nearly always the case) expect outrageous prices for private taxis from the airport.

The biggest advantage of the Non O-A visa (as you point out) is that you avoid the need to bring money into Thailand. As against that, it requires insurance, police checks, health certificates (that are often a pain to get in the US) and a slightly longer application process as endorsement of the application by MFA headquarters is required. Having to leave Thailand every 90 days would be a drag for those who dislike travelling. However, Saigon, Luang Prabang, Angkor, Penang, Singapore etc. are great places to visit for many who have not previously spent much time in South-east Asia.

It is worth mentioning that the multiple entry visa gives you the option of border runs after 90 days. You still have the option of applying for an extension if you wish.

Depending on your nationality, you may be able to apply for a one-year multiple entry Non O visa based on being over the age of 50. I would definitely suggest the Non O (even if only single entry) over the Non O-A. As you correctly pointed out in your post, the main challenge in getting a one-year extension of your permission to stay from a Non O visa is the required possession of a bank account. One way or another, that can be resolved. If necessary, employ the services of an agent to sort it out. With a Non O visa, there should be no issues at the airport.