buick

the line for security at DMK domestic terminal is very quick. i fly to buriram monthly and it doesn't take more than 5 minutes to get through security. they could arrive an hour before and have no problems. i once arrived 35 minutes before flight time and had no problem making it and i checked a bag, the check in lady said 'boarding starts in 5 minutes, sir'. it was 11:55am and flight was 12:30pm. the flight had been 2pm for several months so i planned to arrive early and have lunch there but instead headed straight to the gate !!

the desk i use for the car service is just outside the arrivals baggage claim in the domestic terminal. not sure what there is in the international terminal, i've never used it. i always fly out of BKK for international, only use DMK for domestic. are international arrivals directed to the domestic terminal for ground transport ?

what part of bkk were you headed to and what time of day ? maybe the driver wanted to avoid going there ? i've never had an issue with the DMK taxi's. just get the ticket, get in the taxi, and always the meter. i'm always at the domestic terminal though, maybe international area is different.

if it was me (and it can't be done online), i'd skip doing the report and take the risk of the 2k fine when you do your next report.

i don't recall seeing AOT at DMK. i fly to/from buriram frequently via DMK and use a taxi service similar to AOT. nice cars and 950thb to inner bkk. the booth to get the service is just to the left as you come out of the baggage claim area. i also use AOT at suvarnabhumi.

just a small correction, it is Silom Complex.

i'll add my name to those recommending the AOT car, although i stick with the camry, not the BMW 7 series. at DMK it is 950 and BKK is 1,200. the car desk is right as you exit arrivals/baggage claim. and the car is right outside the door. no hassle. and the drivers seem to know where they are going and take the best route.

i'd suggest sukhumvit soi 8, maybe adelphi suites ? and for about half that price you could go with stable lodge/hotel. soi 8 has easy access to BTS. ride it one stop to ploenchit and walk to embassy from there. or just walk from soi 8, probably 20-25 minute walk.

i'd opt for the taxi. right now, 8am rush hour into the city, google maps estimates 1 hour from suvarnabumi to shangri la. you will be traveling during rush hour but coming into the city will not be as bad as going out. the ride should be less than one hour for you. tell the taxi driver you will pay the tolls so you can use tollway to avoid any unnecessary traffic.

i once asked the thai embassy in Hong Kong if i could apply for the Non O there. they didn't offer a Non O based on retirement. i was visiting Hong Kong at the time and went to the thai embassy in person. i'd obtained a tourist visa there previously. this was about 7 yrs ago. in the US, i think the thai consulate in LA was issuing them for a short time. but i think they stopped doing it. maybe check their website for the current info. they do offer the OA.

if you want to avoid the ban, talk to an agent. they can often take care of the issue. it does take some time so if you are flying out next week, probably need to delay the flight. and probably need to pay at least 50,000thb for the service. in some cases, i believe getting a new passport is required but that may be for very long overstays.

there is a group of bars that are owned by a person that has been given the nickname 'the arab'. i've heard he's actually persian and possibly has american citizenship. so i'm not sure how the nickname started. midnite, which is referred to here in this thread, is one of them. these bars usually have some pretty girls standing out front so new visitors might be tempted to go in (most of the other bars don't use girls outside to lure customers inside). the locals know not to bother. bad things usually happen. if this story did happen, it likely happened in this group of bars. just use google to find out the bar names if you are interested. the arab has been discussed widely on thailand specific sites.

i went there a few times. i thought it was a decent place to go if you want to spend some time by the river. i've been to a few other places by the river and they weren't for locals, that's for sure. drink on the patio at the mandarin oriental, a table near a window with river view at icon siam, etc... some restaurants along the river get booked up weeks in advance. i thought aisatique was kind of a poor man's way to get riverside !! unless you want to drink canned beer standing up on a dock somewhere. i don't make it over there very often so maybe i've missed the 'local, non touristy places'.

i recently departed BKK via fast track and went airside to get to the immigration hall with the re-entry permit. they now have a sign posted on a support column viewable from the airside ramp going into the hall. with an arrow pointing to the direction of the office. it isn't the largest sign but it does imply that getting these after you are stamped out is not a big deal. despite thoughts to the contrary by some. if i read these recent posts correctly, at DMK, the permit office is after you get stamped out at DMK. so getting the permit after stamp out doesn't seem to be an issue. at BKK, i went through the fast track at TG check in (business class area). and the guy ahead of me went straight to the re-entry permit office. i trailed him the whole way from check-in. so it seems to be fairly common practice for some.

i'm not sure how many 'stamped' pages are in your passport, but i have typically provided only the face/details page, the relevant Non O stamp page, and the most recent entry stamp page. i use one of the copy shops downstairs at CW and the gals that work there seem to know what needs to be copied. i've never been asked for a 90 day report but often i've not been in the country for 90 days when i'm getting the extension. last time (oct 2022) i did do a 90 day the prior month and was not asked for the slip about two weeks later (when doing the extension).

i'm going to manila for a week in feb. i've been there many times. i don't bother with Angeles. i like to stay in fort bonafacio area of manila. aka Bonafacio Global City (BGC). it is all modern and new, unlike other areas of manila. easy to walk around. no transport needed. nice hotels, restaurants, bars, etc... you can get to p burgos street in 10-15 minutes via taxi after 8pm or so (traffic not bad then). it is close to the airport if you decide to make a sidetrip to beach areas like boracay. i hated manila until i discovered BGC through a friend. there are youtube videos of the area (of course there are !!!). take a look. edit: for entry to the PI, you have to fill out an online Health Declaration Form. it can only be done 3 days in advance of the flight, i haven't done mine yet. if you are vaxxed, you don't need to do any testing.

the end of May is not bad. it is the first two weeks that aren't so good, holidays in the beginning and the middle. mine was May 31 and i always waited until the end of the month. now i have October 31, the second half of the month isn't all that good (holidays) so i do it first week.

i know what you mean. years ago i flew alot in econ and always got the permit at immigration. i got the multi as i had to fly out of the country every month or two, that was back before the crackdown on too many visa exempt entries.

like i said, i was same as you. i've got the multi at immigration. i've gone through the standard channel on a business ticket, bypassing the fast track, to get the permit. but once i was informed here on this forum that you can get one after being stamped out, that all changed. i will say i almost forgot to get one once, if the immigration officer didn't mention it, i probably would have forgotten about it. might of remembered at the gate and had to run back to the permit office !!

if you get a Non O in Sep/Oct, doesn't that mean you do you the one year extension 3 months later, in the peak of high season ? i think you want to do the one year extension in Sep/Oct which means get the Non O three months prior. May is a bad month for extension renewals also, alot of holidays in that month (i had May for a few years, now i have October). June is a pretty good month for renewals.

SOHO pizza soi 11 is the best pizza in bkk. i've had alot of pizza in bkk over the last 15 yrs. SOHO is #1 for me.

i might be wrong but i think there are two fast track lanes (not counting the special check in for thai airways business class). one of them is connected to the hall that has the permit desk, it is an easy, short walk and you never leave the immigration area to get to the permit desk. at least that is how i remember it (but maybe i was using the TG lane, it was awhile back). but more recently, i've used the fast track near the higher letters in the alphabet (check in counters) and there, i have to leave the immigration area, enter the terminal airside and walk to the other hall with the permit desk. so i've gone totally outside of the immigration area.

just accept it. i know it is hard. but it is true. immigration officers are ok if you have to get it after the fact. they don't need it to process your exit. if it was not desirable, why have they never said anything to me about it ? they say nothing.

years ago, i was the same as you. get the permit at CW in bkk, not a big deal for me to go out there, my schedule isn't full. i fly business class often and figured i had no chance to go through that lane and then get the permit. some things are a little messed up in thailand and i figured that was one of them (use fast track but blocked from the permit area). but i was told on this forum that it isn't a problem. i took the risk and it paid off nicely. since then i've done it alot, as i noted in a post above, i've even done it in the departure hall that has the permit desk (flying econ). the line was short so i got stamped out first and then got the permit. in the USA, at LAX, i got interrogated by the CBP guys years ago. they made it very clear that i wasn't in the USA until i got stamped in. so i then asked, 'if you arrest me for something now, does it make a difference whether i'm stamped in or not ?' they got upset with that question !!! i don't think it did make a difference.

it does not require an official to walk you back to the office. i've had the immigration guy in the fast track area tell me i need to go get the permit - i already knew that of course. they are very friendly about it. i've even done it in the non fast track immigration where the permit office is, the line for getting stamped out was short so i got in it and stamped out (in case it got longer) and then got the permit after. no bad looks at all. you should try it sometime and give us a report on how it goes for you. experience counts alot on these matters.