BritTim

You presumably found that on an embassy website, or had a consular official tell you it existed. That rule existed for a few months over a decade ago, but was found to be impracticable to enforce and was scrapped. Ignore what embassies tell you about anything but the services they provide themselves (including rules enforced by the Immigration Bureau). They are usually convincing and often wrong. At this time, there are no hard limits for stays as a tourist. Many embassies/consulates have local guidelines they use when granting tourist visas. For visa exempt entries, there is a hard rule of maximum two visa exemptions by land (or sea) during a calendar year. At airports, it is completely according to the discretion of the officials whether they consider that you are using visa exemptions in a manner consistent with regular tourism. Occasionally, airport officials will suggest that there is a maximum of 180 days possible per year as a tourist (and some members here will say that is logical because a tourist cannot be a tax resident). However, there is no such official rule.

One issue you have, besides lying about your current location, is the probable need to falsify the passport page copies you are told to provide.

It would be very interesting to the see extension stamp, and the visa it was based on, from your passport. What you cite is highly unusual. I have heard of Immigration failing to honour visas from consulates, but never extensions issued by an immigration office.

As someone else mentioned, this is almost certainly a misunderstanding based on their limited English comprehension.

Any overseas trips must be very short (a weekend trip would be OK). Students are sometimes known to travel. They just need to do so in a way that does not interfere with their studies.

Flying domestic within Thailand does not involve passing through immigration. There are no stamps for 90-day reports in your passport. If you have reported in person, you will have been given a small loose slip that indicates the next date you need to report. Failure to do a 90-day report does not risk deportation or blacklisting.

As stated, for safety, keep at least 400,000 baht in your account during the under consideration period for the extension of your permission to stay based on marriage (note: your permission to stay is not a visa, renewed or otherwise). There is absolutely no restriction on withdrawals as long as the balance remains above 400,000.

You can avoid it (either legally with border bounces, or by risking a fine).

To be more accurate, the extension must be approved at Division headquarters. Depending on where the immigration office is located, this means Bangkok, Mae Rim Chiang Mai, Khon Kaen, or Hat Yai. The headquarters for Eastern Division (while separate from that for Central Division) is also in Bangkok.

A university course gives you one-year extensions. Thus (with the assistance of an agent) you get the 90-day permission from the visa, immediately extended by a further 12 months. The (first) one-year extension is considered to coincide with a 90-day report. After that, you are supposed to do 90-day reports (unless you leave the country within 90 days). However, the penalties for non compliance are not severe.

Sound advice, but is very unlikely to result in the 15-month permission to stay (with no further extensions during that period) that is available with the Chiang Mai University program. Another option would simply be not to do 90-day address notifications. They can be legally avoided by doing border bounces (obviously with a re-entry permit which you can probably receive at the same time as the visa/extension) or just risk an eventual fine.

This is a question about extending your permission to stay in Thailand (without leaving) and not about applying for visas. If possible, get your school to give you a termination letter with a termination date about two weeks in the future. Immediately, visit Immigration with that letter to have your permission to stay adjusted. That will give you time to arrange the extension of stay based on Thai spouse after your permission to stay based on working has been truncated. It will also give time to react if Immigration ask for something you do not currently have before giving you the new extension.

It is important to appreciate that (unlike not having cash) lack of an onward ticket is not one of the valid reasons for denial of entry under Section 12 of the Immigration Act. Instead, back in the distant past, here was a directive that went out that those arriving should be able to show an intent to leave the country (not overstay). A credible itinerary was always supposed to be sufficient without an onward flight. Airlines have tended to insist on the onward ticket (or ask you to sign an indemnity form) because "credible itinerary" is not easy to measure objectively. At almost all land crossings (at least for Westerners) there has never been any attempt to interrogate new arrivals on their travel plans.

When you say 31 days, do you mean 31 nights or 30 nights? The difference is important. If 30 nights, you will have a one-day overstay when you leave which is not subject to a fine. However, for a two-day overstay, you will be fined 1,000 baht and it is considered a worse infraction.

I am reasonably sure there is more to this story than someone who has passed through immigration (and presumably paid overstay fines and received a blacklisting stamp) subsequently being arrested at the departure gate prior to leaving the country. There are several possible scenarios that come to mind, but just leaving via an international flight with a long overstay is not one of them.

If your flight is cancelled, you do not get a fresh permission to stay. Your exit stamp is simply voided.

For some strange reason, the authorities are under the illusion that Suvarnabhumi airport is in Thailand. They do not consider that people have left Thailand until their plane leaves the airport.

On divorce, your extended permission to stay based on marriage immediately ends. You are correct that the permission to stay remains valid in case of your wife's demise, so take care to keep her healthy until you have the confirmed extension in your passport.

I have no idea. In principle, you can get a work permit and work on a Non O visa based on marriage. Some other categories of Non O visa (notably based on receipt of state pension) do not normally allow employment (though an interesting thread a month or so ago suggests that even that restriction might no longer exist).

That makes sense to me. When you own multiple properties, the tabien baan will be different for each, but your profile is tied to your passport id. The downside, I suspect, is that you will need to create a new profile when you get a replacement passport.

(I have not done both.) Leaving aside the requirement for extra financial proof, the retirement extension is superior in almost every other respect. Far fewer documents are needed; there is no "under consideration" period (which can be problematic if you want to travel); you do not need to line up witnesses; your permission to stay does not immediately end in case of divorce; and you will usually not need to face the (annoying for some) house visits. Your local immigration office also prefers it, as it is much less work for them. A marriage extension does allow you to work. That is the most likely reason for going that route if you have the financial proof for a retirement extension. Are you aware of the LTR-WP (Long Term Residence Wealthy Pensioner) visa? If you qualify, that is superior to the regular extensions.

By law, all transfers into your account are supposed to be traceable back to their original source (money laundering prevention). Have you tried going to your bank and asking for the credit advice document associated with one of the transfers? You may be surprised at all the information it contains. That aside, most immigration offices will accept statements from your overseas bank showing the transfers, matched with the receipts into your Thai account. Some officials can be a-holes, but most will accept reasonable proof.

This is scaremongering. The worst the "big, big trouble" that you cite could amount to is a fairly small fine. By all means apply in person, but there is nothing reckless about attempting to use the online system instead (in spite of its shortcomings).

Definitely advisable if possible. I am not current on express passport applications in the UK. At one time, for a hefty price, even same day was possible. I think the minimum now might be seven days (in person at regional passport offices).

You can either acquire a new multiple entry visa, and continue doing 90-day border bounces; or you can apply for an extension of your permission to stay. The extension of your permission to stay can either be based on working; or can be based on Thai spouse. In the former case, apart from the work permit, you will also need a minimum salary from your Thai employment to qualify for the extension. For an extension based on Thai spouse, the requirements for the extension are different. The requirements for multiple entry Non O and multiple entry Non B visas are again different. A multiple entry Non B visa is usually difficult to get unless you are a director of the company. If you want to continue to use multiple entry visas, a fresh multiple entry Non O based on Thai spouse will probably be best.