Caldera

You've conveniently left out the cost of the visa for Cambodia that most nationalities require. Add another 1000+ baht for that, maybe another 300 baht for Cambodia's immigration to allow you to exit without staying overnight. Once you've done that, you're then facing Thailand's worst land border for border bounces at Aranyaprathet. Depending on your history, they might well refuse to let you back in. Sounds like pretty much the worst plan possible to me.

Jomtien has applied this rule during high season for many years. For some funny reason, they seem to think it helps them at those times when their office is super busy.

I've always known that he wasn't really in it for the money. This just proves that he's completely happy with nothing more than a few hundred million baht of retirement funds. Seriously though, his real "flaw" (besides holding the country back at gunpoint obviously) was that he did nothing to rein in those seriously greedy elements in his government who were allowed to rob the country of billions and billions.

Yeah right, take your pick.

Are those the same "tech people" who managed to keep the site completely offline for more than a week?

It really only matters if a flight delay (or cancelation) forces you back landside, because in that case you'd need to be processed by immigration again. They'd simply cancel your exit stamp, which might not leave you with enough time to arrange for your departure without overstay if you had already maxed out your permission to stay.

When I used the new website last week, I was actually shocked how well the whole process worked. For the first time in history, ThaiVisa was down and immigration's web services were up, so I couldn't even have asked for help here if I had needed to. The only thing still missing was the export feature that seems to be rolling out now. I wished I could report that my screenshot was accepted at the immigration office, but they just handed it back to me and said it's not required. Would I EVER show up there without a TM30 receipt? Of course not, it's completely unpredictable.

Of course you don't realize it, but most of your comments are nonsense. Just use the correct terms, how difficult can it be. Visa for a visa. Extension for an extension.

Nonsense.

If I had just one word to describe this government, it would have to be "desperate". Now with Cameron back, I fully expect we haven't even seen the worst yet.

I think your biggest problem might be that most nationalities get only two visa exempt entries per calendar year at land borders, which limits the number of short shopping trips across the border. Other than that, I don't think you'd have a problem at that border crossing in your particular situation.

At Laksi it's hit and miss. At Chaeng Watthana it's hit and miss. If you don't make sure you have a current TM30, you take your chances. Dr Jack's advice is solid.

While they're already here to "look after" Chinese tourists, maybe they could also police unruly (Taiwan-friendly that is) Thai media outlets... OR, the Thai government could grow a pair and ensure that the Chinese government understands that Thailand is a sovereign country, and proudly so.

Simplify things, it's supposed to be fun. Make it 90 days, get rid of the tourist visa (60 days) and the option to extend (30 days). Then no tourist will need to deal with a Thai embassy (or the shoddy eVisa system) before their trip or with a Thai immigration office during their trip any longer. Which would remove all the hassle for those who wish to stay longer.

If you have to ask...

Never say never, but it certainly doesn't happen a lot. Still, the sign-off required might bring something up that proves to be a stumbling block.

All farang in Pattaya are trash, but some are a lot more successful at being trash than others.

That's not the case. Airports of Thailand has a list of acceptable documents for domestic flights. I often fly with my Thai DL for ID, which is acceptable. Here's that list: https://www.airportthai.co.th/en/which-documents-are-accepted-for-domestic-travel❓/

I don't buy your explanation. It's not impossible that this is what actually happened in Phuket, but rather far-fetched and thus implausible. One of those arrested was sent off to a police station in Krabi, so a much more likely explanation than yours is that those arrests were the result of arrest warrants being executed when suspects attempted to leave the country. That they were (also) on overstay just gave immigration an extra reason to pat their backs.

Great that it worked out, but those processing times are ridiculous.

Yes, you can use it later (once issued) as planned in that case.

Yes, they take your picture and fingerprints at land borders, too.

Yes, nowadays they use exactly the same system including the biometrics.

Serial trolls voting for fellow serial trolls, off to a great start I see.

The fine for less than 24 hours overstay is only waived when flying out. When using a land border, you will always be fined.