sandyf

And that can vary in the same office. I have had 5 home visits now and no two have been the same. Last one was in Nov and just one guy turned up, instead of the usual three. He had brought a tripod and just took a few photos that included himself and left.

There is a healthcare surcharge on most visas to the UK including student which was probably the case. Tourist visas are at their own expense.

If you are from eligible country you can get 15 days visa exempt into Vietnam and a nicer experience. Only problem comes if you need to go to the consulate.

Air Passenger Duty is based on how much legroom you have. Does that equate to equality.

Why would a comparison be misleading. Only yesterday the forum was debating the Asia Power Index with many thinking Thailand should be at the bottom. Obviously you prefer there was no Tourist Tax Index in case Thailand was at the bottom. The arguments come from people complaining when there is nothing to complain about.

"just the passport and the application." as you said before, not a typical experience. In my early days I only used Pattaya and Bangkok which were far too busy to be friendly and from 2008 until 2014 lived here on a visa so never stepped inside immigration. I have never noticed any anti-foreigner attitude, only a tendency to move the goal posts from time to time, frustrating, but their world their rules.

I certainly haven't missed the hypocrisy on this forum. You have obviously missed the fact that everything in this life is relative.

I wouldn't trust VFS on anything. A bit the same with the embassy. When I had a problem before the embassy intervened and helped out but that was before they moved the consular dept to India. I would be going to the UK anyway so no bit deal.

API is not collected at check-in, the airline check that the booking and passport match or you will not be allowed to board. With the introduction of self check-in machines that check is now also carried out before security. API is intended to facilitate advanced passenger processing and check-in is too late to be of any use. Many airlines have incorporated it into the booking process and ask that is supplied at least, I think 3 days, before deprture. It is not mandatory and if people have no interest in reducing immigration queues they can continue to ignore it. All inbound passengers to Thailand pay 30 baht for advance processing, I often wonder why people are not complaining about that.

Difficult to say any experience is typical. I started in 99 and have lived here since 2008, so a fair amount of experience. Certainly things have changed like some embassies withdrawing income letters and the introduction of the E-visa. IOs having a bad day is unlikely to change.

Quite. I would be embarrassed if I didn't know the difference between visa and visa status.

If you had ever applied for a tourist visa to enter the UK you would know what xenophobia actually looks like. The whinging on this forum is unbelievable. Over 40 countries tax tourist in various ways but when Thailand does it, like armageddon.

The trend on this forum for interpretation to be taken literally when it suits the agenda. "insurance coverage for tourists" is to insure hospitals are covered for uninsured tourists. Maybe they should have made insurance mandatory instead.

Not generally the case, most countries now require API and many airlines have it included, Emirates certainly but I don't know about Thai Airways. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advance_Passenger_Information_System

Of course you are. Scores going down are irrelevant if others go down further. Thailand is a middle ranking country in the index despite the fact this forum prefers to think otherwise.

There is nothing new and extensions have never been automatic. About 20 years ago I was asked to prove where I was staying for an extension. About the same time on another I had to change my flight. Went to Bangkok and asked for a 3 day extension. She asked why, I explained and she said get it right next time. Gave me a 5 day extension.

You are having a laugh, the so called "racist" Thai government makes it very easy for foreigners to enter and remain in the country. My wife has just applied for a UK tourist visa, for the 11th time, the application form is 16 pages long. As for remaining in the country, virtually impossible for most.

Nothing new. I was told the same thing at Jomtien abut 20 years ago.

Mine is due to expire Jul 24 so in Nov I will just accept the reduced extension. Will let the passport expire, renew in the UK and return on a new visa. Last PP renewal I did in Thailand and took over 11 weeks, not going to do that again.

The downfall of many who think they have been clever.

So no need for the Blacklist then. "Natorn also gave as examples of overstayers men involved in marriage scams, who con women they meet via the Internet out of money to pay “fines” for them after they arrive in Thailand, and drug smugglers who move narcotics through Thailand. Natorn stated, “[w]e are not always aware of how many of them are left running around since it’s too easy to enter this country, … . So my intentions are to tackle this matter by re-enforcing this new policy for the security and for the sake of this country.” https://www.loc.gov/item/global-legal-monitor/2016-04-06/thailand-blacklist-for-foreigners-who-overstay-visas/

The narrow minded views are quite unbelievable. You do not want to acknowledge that English is not the first language of the Thai IO and prefer to believe all text should be taken literally. When you enter the country, any visa held is superceded by visa status. The function of Immigration is to monitor and manage visa status. The TM87 is an application to change visa status from "exempt" to Non O, and TM86 from "Tourist" to Non O. Your so called "visa" is nothing more than domestic housekeeping for the change in status. Most of the confusion arises because people use the word "visa" as an adjective from "visa status" alongside it's use as a noun. A proper visa(noun) is issued outside the country and, for Thailand, have been a sticker in your passport for at least a decade, with some now an E-visa.

It is quite straightforward. Immigration do not issue visas, visas are used to enter a country and you cannot enter if you are already there. It is nothing more than a paperwork exercise to convert a visa status from "exempt" or "tourist" to "Non O" status to facilitate a 12 month extension. In case you didn't notice, Thailand stopped using a stamp for visas a long time ago.

Quite. I had put the re-entry No down as the visa but the IO looked at me and said "Do you have a visa?" I said No,I have a re-entry permit. He looked puzzled, looked through my passport and the at the screen for about 5 minutes. He then asked where I lived in Chonburi, although I had put Muang in the address. I said with my wife, and she is waiting over there for me. Just grunted and stamped the passport. Hope you get someone else.

The MFA say it shouldn't be done, retirement and marriage extensions should be from a Non O. Like many things here it will probably depend on the IO at the time.