Caldera

I'm not even sure if they currently "red stamp" passports at all. From recent reports, they seem to reject an application outright if they think you've already had too many tourist visa.

Nothing much to see, just a replay of the fake bomb detector fiasco, this time with fake bracelets.

31 minutes ago, NonthaburiBear said:

Not many people understand paypal.  The best way is to withdraw to your Thai Bank account and pay base on your Thai Bank acoount

Not if your funds originate in another currency. The exchange rate (or exchange rate surcharge) PayPal applies is quite bad.

6 hours ago, Thaiwrath said:

The younger Thais are, thankfully, getting better educated than their elders, a good thing.  

Indeed. Let's hope it will amount to kicking the dinosaurs out before they, like their parents before them, will resign to their "fate".

5 minutes ago, acenase said:

 Do you know if Yangon will still issue a tourist visa if it has the blue warning stamp from Savannakhet? I haven't seen any reports from Yangon on if they do a visual check on how many previous tourist visas you have in the passport. Seems like Savannakhet and Vientiane have stopped being the easy place to go and the only other option that has an Embassy near the Thai Border now is Yangon.

Yangon isn't actually nearby the Thai border and they won't give you a tourist visa if you have a warning stamp.

All their apps are <deleted>, based on countless reports here. Give it another ten years or so  and they might produce some decent versions.

3 hours ago, brewsterbudgen said:

Wow, I didn't know that.  So, westerners can just enter on a tourist visa and then live there for months? Is this because there are no Retirement, Marriage or other options?

You cannot really be that ignorant. Staying in a foreign country "for months" as a tourist isn't a problem pretty much anywhere in the world. Where many countries draw the line, in one way or another, is that you cannot spend most of the year there as a tourist.

Did they say which year?

For what it's worth, when I flew out from DMK a few days ago, only 1 out of 3 outbound immigration lanes I could overlook was using the fingerprint scanner. No idea why the others didn't work or weren't used, but it's quite surprising after such a short time in service. Amazing Thailand, fingerprint scanners that disintegrate after two months in operation.

I ended up in a lane where no fingerprinting was done. I, too, was curious if they were only going to scan the initial 4 fingers in my case, as I earlier had all 10 fingers scanned.

A gold bug who recommends gold, what a surprise! But constant yield? That's something even few gold bugs dare to claim, as it can be dismissed out of hand as nonsense.

"Saksayam added that the Immigration Bureau have the manpower and the counters in place. They were clearly not being manned in sufficient numbers to cope with the traffic."

Exactly. That could and really should have been fixed a long time ago.

8 minutes ago, RichardColeman said:

How can you miscalculate by 19 days something that is stamped clearly in your passport ? 

Who said it was miscalculated? Others have overstayed for years, for various reasons. We don't know why the OP's friend overstayed and it also doesn't really matter (you don't get the fine waived if you have a good reason) - what matters is how it's resolved.

Well you do have a fair chance to encounter muppets when you set foot in an immigration office, but with that said, it's rare that extending a visa exempt stay is that difficult (or, as it were, impossible).

Assuming that you won't stay in Nonthaburi until your initial permission to stay expires, what's your next destination? Chances are the office there will be more accommodating.

But of course, Visa paid for a study and got the result they can feel pleased with. Just how much effort it was to suppress the voice of the Rabbit lovers, we will never know!

There you have it, Chinamen and Indians. Thailand sees you as cash cows, but first and foremost as security risks. Welcome and please enjoy your holidays, but do keep them short.

32 minutes ago, Essex Reject said:

Is Phitsanouluk or whatever it's called really that boring? Actually, don't bother answering that.

You bet! I'd go psycho if I had to stay there for longer than a few days.

Considering Thailand's low average IQ, I wouldn't worry too much about brain damage. Cancer, on the other hand, is obviously a real concern.

"Cambodia and Thailand agreed to keep the ACMECS single visa programme online. We hope that in the next 10 to 20 years, the scheme can be expanded to include also Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam"

Finally, someone came up with a realistic timeframe. I'm looking forward to getting such a combined visa in 20 years time.

2 minutes ago, at15 said:

what is this less than 90 days and the last 6 months thing.  i have not seen this stated anywhere. just because an employee makes up a rule to save face in a certain scenario does not mean it applies to everyone. 

I guess that's the big question: Does it apply to everyone, or are they selective about applying that rule?

I won't be the one to try and find out in this case, because Savannakhet won't be part of my travel plans anytime soon, but if I were the OP who's already there anyway, I'd give it a shot.

2 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

They do not issue multiple entry visas in Vientiane if that is what you are wanting.

I guess you mean "do NOT". That's why married people often head to Savannakhet, not to Vientiane.

I see the Foreign Ministry is doing their very best to make foreign tourists feel welcome in their fairy kingdom. Couldn't they have been a bit more diplomatic (kind of their area of expertise, isn't it!?), by making their concerns known internally? Just saying.

I've often thought: If only the Indians knew what most Thais think of them, we wouldn't need to worry about being overrun by Indians.

I'm sure there are countries where his presence would be both more beneficial and more appreciated than in Thailand, of all places.

Unless his entourage fancies to spice up their usual, white choir boy fare, that is. Sadly, I'm not even joking! Thai mothers, you've been warned, lock your underage children safely away.

The official USD amount depends on the nationality of the applicant. $30 to $42, as far as I remember. Make sure that you have pristine banknotes, preferably the exact amount. I've never had a problem with them accepting my USD, but YMMV. I either just hand over dollars right away, or ask (politely) if I can pay in dollars in case they ask for Thai baht.

They tend to quote a fixed rip-off amount in THB, for as long as I remember. If you pay in THB, it's always more expensive.