BritTim

Good news. Start thinking now about what you will do 60 days from now if you are not lucky enough to land a job with a work permit.

That may or may not work. There are hardened officials who will point out the law that states extensions are at the discretion of the official, state they are are the official referred to, and state that they are exercising their discretion to deny the extension. They are rarely so blatant, but officials who are determined to give you a hard time (whatever their motivation) are not always easy to push around.

Question answered: there has been no airport tax on exit for a long time. CLOSED

I am unsure of your current status, based on your description, if you could scan and post all the stamps in your passport starting with your last entry into Thailand, it would clarify a lot. [Ensure that you remove personal identifying information first.]

I expect the first 90-day report with the new passport will need to be done in person. The online system does not seem to have all the information necessary to support doing the report that way.

If your embassy will not do them, you will need to find an agent who can get it done for you.

That is 100% true. However, I would mention that there are cases where an application for a multiple entry Non O visa in Savannakhet will succeed, but a strict immigration office in Thailand will find a reason to deny a 60-day extension.

Your understanding is correct. Commonly, visas are applied for outside Thailand, and extensions inside Thailand are of your permission to stay, not your "visa". In many cases, the use of the word "visa" to refer to any stamp in your passport is confusing, and leads to misunderstandings.

In this case, there is no ambiguity. He is referring to an extension of his permission to stay. There are circumstances where you can apply for a visa in Thailand. A common example is that after entering Thailand visa exempt, you can apply for a Non O visa (intending retirement) at an immigration office using form TM87.

Maybe, it is different at your office. Which immigration office do you use?

They can visit any time they like (or are told to). These random visits not associated with visa/extension applications, are not common, but happen from time to time. Nothing to worry about.

If you are returning after the "under consideration" for the extension stamp, you can definitely immediately use the money as soon as the ink is dry on the stamp.

That is incorrect at most immigration offices. The official rule is that the 800,000 baht must be in your account on the day you apply for the visa with proof that the money came from abroad. At most offices, they will waive the proof that the money came from abroad if the money has been continuously in your account for several months. A handful of offices have local rules, mainly designed to deter applications, and avoid them needing to do the work.

Specifically at CW, it is possible without changing your current residence. However, it will require three visits to Bangkok (or remaining in Bangkok several months). Unlike most immigration offices, Bangkok immigration will allow you to apply while in a hotel. They accept the explanation that you are staying in hotels while looking for a permanent place to live. You will need to be in Bangkok (i) for the visa application; (ii) at the end of the "under consideration" period to receive the visa and 90-day permission to stay; and (ii) for the application for first one-year extension.

To simplify, all crossings to Myanmar that were previously open to foreigners (with the exception of Ranong) were closed at last report.

The 90-day report should be done within the normal timeframe using your new passport (the one that is active). The fact that some stamps remain in the old passport does not affect the passport under which you are legally in Thailand.

That is actually a good suggestion. CLOSED

Good for you. I can assure you, however, that there is quite a lot of corrupt activity that takes place in Thailand.

Yes, by law you must submit a TM30 notification when foreigners are staying in a property that you own.

In Thailand, for anything other than petty bribes, corrupt officials will usually want to carry out the transaction via third parties (agents). As you write, directly asking for bribes is a high risk action.

It is not silly to question what immigration officials tell you, but in this case the information is correct. The 90-day report is needed when you spend 90 consecutive days in Thailand. For that reason, when you re-enter Thailand, the clock is reset.

The SMART visa can be useful for some people who qualify, but is really quite niche. For full details, see https://smart-visa.boi.go.th/smart/. Many who qualify for SMART visas might find the LTR (Long Term Resident) visa more attractive.

If you are already in Thailand on a non immigrant entry (which you are) you can directly get an extension of stay based on retirement. At the time when you visit Immigration to cancel your permission to stay based on working, you can at the same time apply for a new extension of your permission to stay using form TM7. The main requirement (for this first extension based on retirement) is that you have 800,000 baht in your name only in a Thai bank account that has been there for at least two months. This can be any account that allows the money to be withdrawn on demand with the only penalty being loss of interest. There is documentation around the financial proof that Immigration at Chaengwattana will want to see. The bank branches in Government Centre are familiar with what you need.

There should be absolutely no problem.

If entering visa exempt, the fact that you have a new passport is irrelevant. Immigration, on entry, has access to your full immigration history. Thus, we cannot pass an opinion on whether you risk being denied a visa exemption without knowing your previous history, especially on tourist visas and visa exemptions.