BritTim

Since they have a Thai mother, the two sons are entitled to Thai nationality. That would ease the issues of staying in Thailand significantly. However, they may not want to claim this since it would lay them open to potential military call up when they reach 20 years old. I believe entering Thailand visa exempt (or with a tourist visa) it should be possible to apply for a "conversion" to a Non Ed visa to study at a formal school. The trouble is that, although it should be allowed, Thai public schools tend to stonewall attempts to register foreign children. If the family is financially well enough off to afford private schools, it will be much easier. I recommend getting tourist visas or Non O visas to visit Thai family for the boys. They will need the maximum possible time to make the long term visa arrangements.

Just phoning your wife to tell her that she has a customer is surely OK. However, selling anything from the shop is definitely against the rules, and could get you into trouble. Your activities may be tolerated, but it only needs one zealous official or vindictive neighbour to potentially put you in a world of hurt.

Your options are Use form TM87 to apply for a Non Immigrant visa at Immigration from a visa exempt entry Pro: no need for travel Con: bureaucratic process with application under consideration; requires at least 15 days (more at some offices) left on your current permission to stay on the day you apply Travel to Savannakhet Laos to apply for a Non Immigrant visa Pro: less bureaucratic, and visa issued day after application Con: cost and inconvenience of travel If you go to Savannakhet for the visa, I suggest applying Tuesday or Wednesday. It is often extremely busy Monday and Thursday when visa run groups tend to arrive.

If you plan far enough ahead, and can make the required appointment, best is probably Vientiane. Recognise that there is no embassy/consulate in the region that will issue you unlimited serial tourist visas these days. If you want to be a long stay tourist, you will need to find a solution other than tourist visas and visa exemptions.

You will definitely not have a problem with three visa exempt entries with each stay being short.

The requirement that you can only apply when in the country where the embassy/consulate is located is longstanding, predating the e-visa system. It would, indeed, be very convenient if you could apply for serial tourist visas (especially METVs) without ever needing to do more than border bounces to use them. However, the authorities have decided not to make it easy to circumvent the limits on visa exempt entries by land by simply using continuous online visa applications.

It seems you were entitled to a visa exempt entry by land (i.e. they were not offering to help you circumvent the rules on two visa exempt entries per calendar year by land). Under those circumstances, I am surprised they felt able to extort money from you. Did they tell you you would have to spend the night in Myanmar if you wanted a visa exempt entry, before offering you a special deal for same day re-entry? On going to Laos for a visa, there are some considerations to be aware of. In Vientiane, you need an appointment. In Savannakhet, you will be fine if applying for a Non O visa, but they are very strict now about granting tourist visas.

Obviously, it would have been better if she knew the rules. However, kudos to her for changing her decision (which involved some loss of face). That is quite unusual in a Thai official.

How did your border bounce at Ranong go?

We are all confused here. If you plan to have a tourist visa when you arrive in Thailand, and will extend it, what is the purpose of your trip to Saigon? You can already get 90 days from your first tourist visa and extension. 90 days is greater than the 85 days you plan.

You can apply for the tourist visa at the Thai consulate in Saigon. Note that you need an appointment to apply there. The rules on residence do not apply when applying at some Thai embassies/consulates in the region, including Vietnam. Make sure you carefully meet all the requirements for a tourist visa application in HCMC. It is not a friendly consulate these days.

I imagine it would be almost a requirement, depending on the age of the child.

It will definitely be regarded as work. However, it might be tolerated if all you are doing is sourcing Thai products and selling them online. Risky.

Allow an extra 20 minutes, though it will usually take less.

Officially, the answer is yes.

There is no 90-day reporting when you are outside Thailand. Immigration does not care how much time you spend outside Thailand as long as you attend Immigration in Thailand, when necessary, for the annual extensions of your permission to stay.

Part of the reason is probably because the company often handles all the paperwork, and (if the company is using this service) they probably do not frequent this forum.

You can optionally apply at immigration for an extension of your permission to stay from any of the entries from a multiple entry visa.

Not needed.

Autochannel was for those with Thai citizenship or for those with Permanent Residency. In recent years, it has been suspended for those with PR.

Trying to leave by land with any overstay of more than a few days is inadvisable. Immigration may well refuse to process the overstay, and tell you to leave by air. That is apart from a slight risk at roadblocks near the border. To answer your question directly, the domestic flight itself involves virtually zero risk.

I tend to agree with what you wrote, especially the likely impermanence of the rules for retirement extensions. I disagree with your doubts over whether the Thailand Elite membership benefits would be honoured (at least, as far as the visa privileges are concerned). Continuing to honour the visas costs virtually nothing, and the reputation damage of repudiating the visas would be huge. Many people will take the view that you choose whatever option seems best based on current conditions, and find another solution later if rules change. That tends to be my mindset: short term oriented. Those who are worriers might well decide (i) financial proof for a retirement visa might greatly increase and/or unobtainable health insurance become a requirement; (ii) current Thailand Elite options for new members that could be an alternative might be withdrawn; (iii) agents might no longer be able to help; and (iv) locking in a Thailand Elite membership now (especially 20 years) gives peace of mind for the foreseeable future. That is a pessimistic viewpoint (not one that I have taken) but it is not irrational.

If you are asking about applying for a new visa at Thai immigration just after transferring money between accounts, talk to the immigration office to see what they require. This is an edge case. For extensions, the funds must be seasoned. For a visa application, you need proof the funds came from abroad, but most immigration offices will accept funds seasoning as an alternative. Will they accept proof you have had the money for months, with a chain of custody showing movement of the money? I do not know.

They are extremely busy, and have been forced to become strict with tourist visas to avoid being completely overwhelmed. However, they are basically good guys who do not want to unnecessarily hassle you.

If possible, arrange to come to Thailand for six weeks each year around the time the extension is due. If this is not possible, you will need to start again, either with a similar type of visa and extensions, or an alternative.