travel museums

You missed my point. I'm not asking about a working visa.

As I said, I met foreign retirees in Thailand that showed me their Thai passports.

They were never working in Thailand. When I asked they said they had first gotten their retirement visa then after years of living in Thailand became Thai citizens. 

Hi, 

Apologies if this has been answered recently, but I gave the last 357 pages a quick scan and couldn't see a list of requirements, costs, and approximate time for obtaining residency visa AND Thai passport for foreigners. 

A friend in the Philippines had residency visa canceled in the wake of Covid-19. He's allowed to stay but will have to apply again. I encouraged him to look at Thailand since there's an actual path to citizenship. He didn't believe it was possible anywhere in Asia. I told him the only other Asian country I ever met a passport waving foreigner in was Japan. A woman there got hers after working in Japan for a whopping 15 years. 

I told him I've occasionally met foreign retirees in Thailand who waived their Thai passports to prove to me they got it. From talking to them it seemed like a 6 year process. 

He likes to travel and I told him one of the main benefits is no more visa runs for all the ASEAN countries such as Indonesia which has terrible restrictions for exit. 

Hi, 

Apologies if this has been answered recently, but I gave the last 357 pages a quick scan and couldn't see a list of requirements, costs, and approximate time for obtaining residency visa AND Thai passport for foreigners. 

A friend in the Philippines had residency visa canceled in the wake of Covid-19. He's allowed to stay but will have to apply again. I encouraged him to look at Thailand since there's an actual path to citizenship. He didn't believe it was possible anywhere in Asia. I told him the only other Asian country I ever met a passport waving foreigner in was Japan. A woman there got hers after working in Japan for a whopping 15 years. 

I told him I've occasionally met foreign retirees in Thailand who waived their Thai passports to prove to me they got it. From talking to them it seemed like a 6 year process. 

He likes to travel and I told him one of the main benefits is no more visa runs for all the ASEAN countries such as Indonesia which has terrible restrictions for exit. 

It's extortion to pay $200 for a Thai visa that I'll use a few months. I'll just wait two month and go to KL, Jakarta, Bali, & the Philippines. Thailand can wait. Thankfully I spent a lot of time there before they decided they didn't want my money.

For $150 I got a straightforward 10 year visas for BRIC countries at consulates in NY. It took a few hours or days for each. The hassle of finding a printer while traveling in a third world country isn't worth it.

I'm home in New York now. I have the time to settle it. Their consulate is closed all week and would probably bust balls anyway. It's mind boggling that getting to Thailand is so hard. But if they don't want my money I'm happy to spend it elsewhere.

I'm actually considering skipping Thailand for the whole of 2018. Then I'll have four land crossings to use next Oct-Nov. I can do my trip unmolested by bizarre restrictions. They'll probably change the rules again by then.

I'm happy to hear that these bizarre visa rules are driving away foreigners and hurting Thai businesses. Money talks. I hope their economy completely tanks.

I stayed up all night researching. Pretty much all the info isn't on properly using a tourist visa. But gaming it to live there. Why live somewhere that doesn't want you? Plenty of countries that have no problem welcoming me and taking my money.

Yeah but I don't know exact dates and the baggage fees usually double that cost.

Less than 30 dollars to fly international? That's what I'd usually pay from Isan to BKK. Crossing the border by air has major fees. VTE to BKK is usually $200 minimum. You have to pay fees to both countries.

Thailand is competing for my tourism dollars with every other country. If they are going to make it difficult they will lose out. Plain and simple.

Their economy is already in the toilet. These arbitrary rules aren't helping. The changes are not even keeping the expats from living there. So what's the point?

Think about it. They're essentially going to lose two months of my tourism dollars to Malaysia. Not to mention the lost dollars to the border provinces When I travel through Yunnan to Kunming.

Thailand is losing thousands of dollars money on BOTH ends of my trip! That's crazy. I'm just a tourist. Why?

Last spring I probably dumped $1500 into Xishuangbanna's economy.  That could have gone to Chang Rai or Mai. Oh well.

Man this is pathetic.

China had no problem giving me a ten year visa with a standby listing.

Brazil gave me a ten year visa same deal. Took 1.5 hours.

I have a feeling Thailand won't though.

Why don't they get their act together.

Ten year visas for US citizens with 2-3 month entries is the new normal.

All the expats I talk to are still living in Thailand anyway. They are just manipulating the METV to spend 9 months in Thailand. It's so dumb.

I overstayed my Brazil visa by a month. When I left yesterday the IO just assessed me a fine and automatically rolled me over into a 3 month extension. He said I could come back tomorrow if I wanted. All this back and forth changing of the rules is unnecessary bureaucracy.

BTW, I'd still be out that application money. Why?

Just to apply you have to get a postal money order made out to the Thai government.

So you kiss that hard earned cash goodbye when you apply.

Hi,

I used both my Thai land crossings earlier this year.

I'm wondering when I'd next be allowed to cross by land into Thailand?

Is it 365 days from my last land crossing?

Or does the clock reset in 2018 (end of the calendar year)?

I have to say these new rules seem so arbitrary. It forced me to take a bus and fly out of Kunming last spring. I used to end my SEA trips by crossing the Thai border to get a cheap flight to BKK then a long haul back home. Now I do this in China. Kunming is exploding with budget options to Shanghai and Chengdu. Thailand's hurting their own air industry.

My first border crossing lasted just one minute. In January I wanted to get a new Cambodia visa so I just walked over and back. In March I did the same thing to get a new Laos visa. Though I decided I might as well spend a few weeks in Chiang Rai.

Actually that turned into a THIRD crossing after I spent an hour walking around Tachilek. The Thai IO officer at the Myanmar border suggested I pop over for a visit. She said not to worry about it. But exiting back into Laos a different Thai official gave me a big lecture and threatened to fine me. Hilarious.

The stupid thing is I barely spent much time in Thailand on these crossings. I know they are trying to discourage expats from living in Thailand. But these limits are also discouraging a lot of backpackers from visiting the poor border provinces. As well as forcing us to use China's airports to hub into SEA. Both seem like a bad deal for everyone... except China.

Hi,

I'm filling out my METV application for the consulate in New York.

Not sure it's worth pursuing this visa application for several reasons:

-Consulate is closed most of this week. I'm headed to Kuala Lumpur ASAP.

-They want to know my exact date of entry. I'm not sure of it.

-They want a confirmed ticket. I'll be flying standby or crossing by land from Malaysia.

-They want a hotel and I'm not sure where I'll stay.

-Visa is too expensive. $200 is a lot to risk getting rejected over a standby ticket or whatever. 

-Flying into Thailand under a visa-exemption is free and would probably suit me better anyway.

The advantage of an METV would be to travel via land from KL into Thailand. I'd like to stop in the southern islands. Then make my way to Malaysia and  back into Thailand.

Unfortunately, I used both my land crossings earlier this year. Do they recent on Jan 1?

I keep reading calendar year. I'd think 365 days from the last exit is more likely though??