BritTim

It really depends on whether you consider long stay tourism (staying somewhere for extended periods for pleasure) is a real thing. I personally, for instance, consider snowbirds who spend many months each year in Thailand to escape the cold weather winters in their own countries to be tourists. Obviously, not everyone agrees.

You are correct. Officially, no funds seasoning is required, but many offices do insist on two month seasoning anyway.

I have no words of comfort to offer you. In general, requirements have tightened pretty much everywhere in the region. Although requiring an appointment, Vientiane is less likely to deny a tourist visa application then Savannakhet as long as you satisfy all the requirements. Previously pretty good (no recent reports, but hopefully no news is good news) are Yangon and Kota Bharu. Depending on your nationality, if you are in your home country, application for a tourist visa through the e-visa system may be less likely to be denied than at an embassy/consulate in the region.

That limit has only been applied (without additional factors) in the last couple of months. There has been a marked increase in the risk of denied tourist visa applications recently, to the point where the most respected visa run company organising trips to Savannakhet will no longer accept those planning to apply for tourist visas.

Talk to the university. Assuming they have a number of foreign students, they will have experience with this issue, and be able to advise you on the process which certainly is possible.

The 12 month extension can become similar to a multiple entry visa by purchasing a multiple re-entry permit. Assuming you have entered Thailand with a single entry Non O visa, the 12-month extension requires that you have 400k baht in a Thai bank for at least two months prior to the application. With a 12-month extension, there is no need to leave Thailand unless you want to. If you stay over 90 days, you need to submit an address notification. One issue with the 12-month extension that you need to carefully think about is that the application is taken under consideration, and the approved extension typically only stamped into your passport about 30 days later. Generally, this means being in Thailand for over a month to accommodate both the application and the return for the approved extension. (It is possible, with a re-entry permit, to leave and subsequently return during the under consideration period, but you need to ensure that Immigration knows of your plans in advance.)

It is very unlikely that you would have the slightest problem getting a visa exemption entering via the Friendship Bridge 2 from Savannakhet. Do not squander those two visa exempt entries by land. They should be husbanded for situations like the current one where you unexpectedly failed to get a visa from an embassy/consulate. Going forward, getting tourist visas anywhere in the region as a long stay tourist is becoming difficult, if not impossible. You might get one in Vientiane (need an appointment). Other possibilities are Yangon and Kota Bharu.

It is well worth ensuring you have a few US dollars in clean, undamaged notes. In this case, it would have saved you approximately 310 baht.

Yes. If you prefer, you could also get 60-day extensions of each entry and only do a border bounce about every 150 days.

You could get a multiple entry Non O visa in Savannakhet to visit your Thai spouse. They might ask to see evidence of 20,000 baht in a Thai bank account. This is a requirement for all visas there, and not specific to the Non O. If looking for a tourist visa, your chances would be better in Vientiane. Savannakhet recently became strict in handing out tourist visas.

According to the letter of the regulations, there is no reason why a retirement extension from an entry on a Non O visa based on a Thai spouse should not be allowed. Many immigration offices, indeed, will be quite happy to support you in this as it is less work for them than a marriage extension. That said, it does depend on the immigration office, and some may raise obstacles.

Unfortunately, there are (as far as I know) no embassies or consulates near Thailand that will issue you a one-year multiple entry Non O to visit your Thai child. It is easy to get single entry visas. At one time, Penang issued the multiple entry Non O to visit Thai child (with proof of 400k baht equivalent in the bank) but a recent report said they no longer provide them. You could contact the Thai embassy in the UK to see if you can apply for a multiple entry Non O to visit your Thai child through the e-visa system and (if so) the requirements. It might be possible.

You need the LTR application to be approved (including the financials) before you can take that approval to get an LTR visa sticker placed in your passport by the embassy/consulate. The approval process is not the work of the embassy/consulate.

It is the TM86 or the TM87, depending on whether you originally entered Thailand visa exempt or with a tourist visa.

Sadly, Joe passed on recently. RIP.

With a multiple entry Non O visa, you must do a border bounce every 90 days (or you can, once per entry, get an easy 60-day extension to visit your Thai spouse). There is no way of activating a new entry without exiting and re-entering Thailand. The LTR WP (Long Term Resident Wealthy Pensioner) visa has higher financial requirements than a regular Non O or Non O-A visa.

When applying for the initial Non O visa, there is zero chance of using the combination method unless you can get an income letter from your embassy. If you can get an income letter, check with your local immigration office to see if they will accept the combination for the Non O visa application. Most often, they will not, but some will.

Yes, you can go straight for a one-year extension without ever using a 60-day extension. However, your schedule may still create difficulties. When you apply for the one-year extension of the permission to stay from your most recent entry, this is taken "under consideration" with a report back date typically about 30 days later. It is possible (with a re-entry permit) to take a trip outside Thailand during the under consideration period, but (i) you should ensure that Immigration knows of your plans; and (ii) you need to be back in Thailand before the end of the under consideration period to receive the final approved extension stamp. The consulate in Savannakhet will not issue you with a new multiple entry Non O visa if the old one has not yet expired.

This thread has run its course. As suggested by a couple of members, it is now CLOSED

The stupidest aspect of the whole affair is that, as a Thai who entered on a UK passport, she was entitled to request one-year extensions of her permission to stay. The official who was extorting those bribes will almost certainly suffer no consequences. I assume that there is no proof, only the unsupported claim of an "overstayer".

I can offer no guarantees, but this is what I remember. At one time, Vientiane was happy to issue pretty much unlimited tourist visas. They subsequently tightened up a bit, but were always willing to give you one if you did not already have two issued by them visible in your current passport. As other embassies/consulates in the region tightened their requirements, the queues became horrendous (similar to Savannakhet a couple of months ago). This was before the appointment system. For a while, they tightened their requirements further in an attempt to deter crowds of applicants from overwhelming them. After the appointment system was established, I think they reverted to the two tourist visas from them guideline. Over the years, Vientiane has been mostly friendly. However, they have been under pressure at times to be stricter, and (as I explained) have also at one time needed to be strict to deter being overwhelmed by hordes of long stay tourists. Good luck!

Is she aware that withdrawing money from the account after your death would be illegal?

Kenya is a little bit of a special case. Some parts of the country involve no risk of Yellow Fever infection. The remaining areas have little risk. When entering many countries, the authorities will take this into account in cases like your friend's, but probably not Thailand. Usually, the only exception to the vaccination requirement when travelling from a country with any risk of exposure is if the person is less than nine months old. Nevertheless, if your friend can prove that she only visited areas that are free from Yellow Fever, the airport health authorities might clear her.

Was that with a visa or using visa exempt entries? If the latter, could you explain where you were able to do this, and whether there were any special circumstances involved.

Technically, that is true. It is also true that some nationalities are not entitled to any border bounces at all if they do not have a multiple entry visa. My post was intended to provide a simple explanation that is accurate for 99% of the users of this forum.