Caldera

Excellent, best of luck and safe travels!

Didn't they put an "under consideration" stamp on your blue receipt that tells you when to return to the immigration office to get the visa?

Not good at all.

To view them as a "foreign family" is quite mind-boggling, considering that the wife is a local and that their children also have Thai nationality. It doesn't really surprise me as I've seen enough similar remarks, but that kind of retarded mindset sours my enjoyment of this otherwise positive story.

Sinking those troop transport ships should be easier than fighting them in the battlefield. Go for it.

The timing couldn't be better. The Democrats are too woke and the Republicans are too Trump. Having some commonsense middle path option could be attractive to many who are sick of the extremists - on both sides - pulling the country apart.

How did that show at the sending end (Australia)? Did they refuse to transfer the money outright, or did they process the transfer and then Bangkok Bank bounced the money?

Hat Lek is a border crossing with Cambodia and is, like all the other land border checkpoints with Cambodia, currently CLOSED. In normal times I agree though, it's a relaxed and friendly checkpoint.

Yes. They take you to the border, across the border, and back to the same airport once you're done. I can see quite a few takers for this, that van ride from Bangkok to Mukdahan and back is one helluva long road trip.

Yeah sure there have been various crackdowns, but those schools/agents are enterprising and they can always find willing MoE and immigration officials "somewhere" to keep the lights on. It's all a bit ridiculous really, even the infamous airport crackdowns ultimately only serve as a marketing tool for safe entry services. It doesn't even matter if that's intentional, or if there are genuinely two distinct factions of IOs, overzealous vs. corrupt. The result speaks for itself!

Can't you just hand in your passport at your school when you attend a class? I'd be more worried about mailing it, too.

I think the OP has a proven track record of not getting caught.

Why even bother with a tourist visa? Visa exempt currently gives you a 60-day stay as well. What's next? Another education visa?

I've wondered the same. Probably took a bus from somewhere in Vietnam to Pakse in Laos and then entered Thailand at Chong Mek.

As you've overstayed for 11 years, your entry stamp most likely isn't in your current passport. You haven't mentioned it, just that your passport is valid, so make sure to double-check to take along the passport with your entry stamp as well, as they'd need to transfer it before they can place the overstay and exit stamps into your current passport. Check in as early as possible, processing your overstay will take some extra time.

Health and safety in Thailand in a nutshell: Consume weed, have a fight, get electrocuted.

He conveniently left out the role of his daddy in the decision making process.

I think you'll find that the price is quite variable and depends on your "history".

Better ask the generals who they want.

Fight you can. Lose you will. Bye.

Again? Didn't they just revise those rules? Forgive me, I've lost track with all that flip-flopping that's been happening left, right and center...

Same in my case, my passport number changes with every new passport issued. Here's the thing though: Unrelated to the mobile banking mess, AIS asked me to redo the ID verification in March, in order to keep using their VoWiFi service. So they did register my new passport number, just before the banks' matching exercise which was due in April. Kasikorn Bank, by the way, was one of the banks which didn't require me to get written confirmation from AIS that my SIM card is in fact mine. So their matching seemed to go alright in my case.

A "retiree with funds" currently has at least FOUR different "retirement visa" options at their disposal: Non O, Non-OA, Non-OX and LTR. Living in Thailand on visa exempts or tourist visas obviously isn't among those options, but you can try and take your chances.

Option A: The agent walks away from this line of business and only offers a hand-holding service to those who have the money in the bank in the future. Option B: The agent, in collusion with their IO counterpart, will get creative and salvage the "no money in the bank" extension business. We can only guesstimate how much money they would lose by choosing option A, but I'd daresay it's enough enticement to go with option B instead. How exactly they'll do that to minimize their risk and maximize their profits remains to be seen, but I have little doubt about the outcome.

Worth noting that this topic is about Krungsri, and that they are about to get rid of their "website" banking as well - so same as with SCB, you'll have to use their app from October on. I agree with you that this is a benefit of using Bangkok Bank (and Kasikorn Bank as well). For how much longer though, I'm wondering? They may well make a similar move soon.