BritTim

There is no law against what you propose. There is a very small chance that the wrong immigration official at Samui could (improperly) try to suggest you are "gaming" the system with your in/out, and hassle you about money and onward flight ticket.

According to https://www.bankbazaar.com/visa/thailand-visa-on-arrival.html, there is no Visa On Arrival desk for Thailand at the Chong Mek crossing. That is only a single source, and may be out of date, but is more likely to be correct than wrong. The UK Thai Embassy site (https://london.thaiembassy.org/en/publicservice/115123-visa-on-arrival?page=5d6636cd15e39c3bd00072dd&menu=5d6636cd15e39c3bd00072de) has a similar, but smaller, list that also does not have Chong Mek, but Thai embassy/consulate sites are notoriously unreliable sources of information. The best solution may be to get a re-entry permit during the quick initial trip to Thailand. This will protect the 30-day permission to stay from the initial VOA. The re-entry permit costs 1,000 baht, and is available from the immigration office servicing the province where you are staying in Thailand. If you have no opportunity to acquire a re-entry permit in advance, but plan to exit at Chong Mek on a regular week day, there is probably an immigration office in Ubon Ratchanthai province that will issue re-entry permits for people exiting at Chong Mek. If you cannot get a re-entry permit due to timing, there is no obvious good solution. There is an E-VOA service, allowing you to apply for the VOA in advance, but the delivered electronic visa can only currently be used at four main airports.

Since you want to use Savannakhet, while minimising time off work, here is my suggestion on travel. Take an overnight VIP bus from Bangkok to Mukdahan. This connects perfectly with the first international bus from Mukdahan into Savannakhet in the morning with no rush to get in your visa application before the 11:00 am cut off time. For the return, after collecting your passport the following day at 2:00 pm, plan on getting an Air Asia fly-ride ticket to return from Mukdahan to Bangkok, arriving in time for a needed night's sleep before work the next morning. There to no reliable way of flying that will get you to Savannakhet in time for the visa application the same day.

PR holders cannot get re-entry permits at the airport, as far as I know. Their re-entry permits are different, and must be acquired in advance from an immigration office.

2,000 baht for visa+same day return actually makes it more expensive than Ban Pakkard, which is probably why the visa run companies tend to use it.

As a general rule, a simple export business (with no Thai employees or office) seems to be OK without a work permit. Indeed, it is totally acceptable on entry to Thailand visa exempt to state that you are here to attend trade shows and buy products for export. If you want greater certainty about your specific intentions, I would suggest talking with the local labour office to check if they foresee any problems.

In the past, Mae Sot has been one of the very best crossings for a border bounce. The border pass (if not changed) is US$10, and there were no hassles on either end of the bridge. For those who do not like overland travel, there is an airport walking distance from the border with Nok Air flights to Bangkok (fares very changeable).

At many border crossings, a one-day stay out of Thailand is normally necessary. Historically, this has generally been true at the border with Malaysia. At the border with Cambodia, a Cambodian law means that a bribe is often necessary on the Cambodian side for same day return. In the past, a same day return has been possible at crossings with Laos and (when open) with Myanmar. That aside, at most crossings, your two visa exempts per calendar year were previously a safe fall back option when other ways of entering did not pan out (e.g. because a tourist visa application was denied). Right now, that experience from before Covid is of unclear value. There are certainly indications that all land crossings have tightened up, and the two "safe" visa exempt entries by land in a calendar year may no longer be as automatic as we expected before. Phnom Penh is not a great embassy to apply for a tourist visa. It may be OK, depending on your immigration history (as visible in your passport) and whether you have applied there before. If your application is denied, you will most likely get a cancelled visa with a nasty stamp in your passport that could impede getting tourist visas elsewhere. I hesitate to offer definite advice as both your exact situation, and current practice at embassies and border crossings are too unclear. If your remaining time in Thailand will be quite short, perhaps use a border run company who should be able to assess if you could have a problem. If you are trying to be a long stay tourist, use actual tourist visas, and be careful where you apply for them. Also, be aware that, even with a tourist visa, some airports (including both in Bangkok) might still deny entry.

Generally, you are supposed to stay one night in Cambodia, unless you have a multiple entry business visa for Cambodia. However, there is an exception when entering and leaving specifically from Phnom Penh airport. You can exit Phnom Penh on the same day you arrive. Your only potential issue could be the officials at the Bangkok airports who have been known to refuse to honour tourist visas if, in their view, you have spent too much time as a tourist in Thailand.

Unless you do not care about the cost, it is important to have clean, undamaged US dollars when planning to get a visa on arrival for either Laos or Cambodia. When the Myanmar crossings are open, you should also have US$10 for the border pass, though a couple of crossings run mandatory scams that do not allow you to enter Myanmar and return in the normal way. At those, you will be fleeced by the officials regardless of the currency you have. I believe keeping US$50-100 in your wallet makes sense for anyone who travels regularly.

Historically, Immigration at the Friendship Bridge, entering Thailand at Nong Khai, has been no hassle. However, some are reporting that the Thai immigration officials at the border crossings with Laos have been asked to tighten up. I do not think there is enough real world experience yet to judge the situation when entering at Nong Khai.

The volunteer visa scam is no longer in operation, as best as I can tell. The alternative education visa scam (no intention of attending classes) is back as the preferred option. The bogus nature of the process is much less evident and easy to prove. Regardless, those applying for genuine volunteer positions through a legitimate NGO have nothing to worry about, and do not need to avoid anything.

In the past, I would have recommended flying to Udon Thani, crossing the Friendship Bridge from Nong Khai to Vientiane, and getting an actual tourist visa in Vientiane. Historically, entering Thailand via the Friendship Bridge to Nong Khai would have been 100% safe. However, it appears possible, based on some posts, that the situation with Thai immigration in Nong Khai might have changed. I still consider entering by air after three years continuously in Thailand on a combination of tourist visas, education visas, and Covid extensions to be a risky proposition. I wish I could confidently provide you with a safe alternative. In your position, I would still probably opt for Nong Khai. You could safely fly from Bangkok to Vientiane (cheap now on Thai Air Asia) just using the Friendship Bridge->Nong Khai->Udon Thani->Chieng Mai for the return.

If planning to go to Savannakhet by air (domestic flight within Thailand) and not wanting to use the Fly-Ride services of Nok Air or Thai Air Asia, I would suggest flying to Ubon. Nakhon Phanom airport is closer, but is a small airport, and you might not easily find a taxi. If you are hoping to take the early morning Nok Air flight to Nakhon Phanom, rushing to get to the Savannakhet consulate before the 11:00 am deadline for applications, you might be lucky and just make it. However, your chances would not be great. Have a backup plan in case you need to stay the extra night. Going on a Thursday might mean staying in Savannakhet until Monday if you fail to meet the (firm) 11:00 am .deadline. I found a two-year-old post on Trip Advisor that had this potentially useful snippet of information:

If Immigration at the airport are not working for some extreme reason, flights will not be able to leave with passengers.

Of course, his wife will need a Non O visa first, which cannot currently be applied for at immigration. Hopefully, an embassy/consulate neighbouring Thailand will issue the required Non O to a Filipina without difficulty.

If forgetful, or planning to leave Thailand by land, it can make sense to get the re-entry permit from the immigration office in advance. Otherwise, doing it at the airport when leaving (which is what I always do) is the easiest solution. By the way, being terrified of forgetting to get a re-entry permit, I have a post-it note stuck to my TM6 departure card to remind me.

Maybe, with an appointment but, more than likely, paid for VIP queuing.

There is nothing in the rules that stipulates that you must apply for a re-entry permit yourself. That said, individual immigration offices may not like you having someone else do it for you. An agent would be able to get it done, at another office if necessary, for around 1,000 baht I would think.

I travelled quite frequently to Thailand visa exempt in the past. I also never was asked for an onward ticket until around eight years ago, when airlines sometimes started asking, but could be persuaded that I would have no trouble entering. On a few occasions, the airline required me to sign a form indemnifying them of any financial consequences from a denied entry. It has been five years since I last entered visa exempt, but I can well believe that some airlines are now strict about the requirement.

Strange as it may seem, the relationship between Thailand Privilege Card and the Immigration Bureau has often been rocky, though this waxes and wanes. When things are really bad, Immigration is looking for ways to create problems. It is probably a disagreement over how much of the loot should be passed to senior officials within Immigration to facilitate a problem free experience. If I were in your position, I would be trying to make contact with an official at the airport with a view to making a small present (perhaps, 10,000 baht) to insure against Immigration being difficult.

I do not criticise individuals who are unvaccinated. I consider their decision to be misguided, but as individuals they have no impact on me. However, as a group, the unvaccinated or inadequately vaccinated are a major issue. If the Chinese were as well vaccinated as even the Thais, there would not be all the hysteria around their arrival in Thailand. They would have far fewer hospitalisations and, as with other countries, be overwhelmingly asymptomatic with the high rate of infection invisible. The especially infectious XBB strains are almost completely absent from China, and we are only afraid of catching the Omicron variants from them because they are Chinese. There is no rational reason. The end result of a population that is unvaccinated (or, in some cases, vaccinated, but only with a substandard vaccine too long ago for it to have any effect) is panic and irrational behaviour just as we saw over the weekend.

Yes, most are vaccinated. That does not mean they walk around with their medical records when unaware it will be a requirement. Do you walk around with evidence of Yellow Fever vaccination?

Many of those who are vaccinated, but turn up at the airport, not realising that they will be unable to check in because, a few hours previously, Thailand suddenly decided to require proof, will be sufficiently upset never to come to Thailand again. That will have happened to some people who carefully rechecked the requirements 24 hours before leaving for the airport.

The Chinese will have started booking flights as soon as the changed Covid-19 restrictions were announced. You can be quite sure that flights into Thailand tomorrow are booked solid. Vaccine coverage among the Chinese is low. Further, a two-dose regime of one of the main Chinese vaccines administered 18 months ago is pretty worthless. It is worth mentioning that reactions to Chinese arrivals at this time represent hysteria. Yes, there are big outbreaks in China right now, but there is a huge amount of asymptomatic Covid present globally, and the Chinese, unlike Westerners, will typically strictly comply with mask requirements.