Caldera

I don't think you'll have any real problem for such a short stay. In case you get questioned, have your ticket out ready to show.

... are a collection of fairy tales. There's only one document that matters here: the US constitution.

The police farce at work.

How To Milk A Hippo (for all it's worth)

Trump is toast, he's not even brave enough to go to a TV show or join another debate anymore.

If you join a border run with a company that does them, you benefit from the removal of the hard limit on visa exempt entries by land, no ifs no buts. If you fly in, I wouldn't expect airport IOs to be any more lenient than before. And in particular, if you play the border run game and later try to fly in without a visa, expect trouble. Airport IOs have a longstanding dislike of those same-day "out-ins". To me, the big open question is what happens at land borders without joining an organized border run. I'd guess a very inconsistent picture will emerge. This has already started, with some Lao borders requiring an overnight stay (as reported in another current topic on here).

What will come first, will you leave and reenter Thailand or apply for your next extension? If you leave and reenter, I would do nothing now. Quite possibly, this past missed TM47 notification will go unnoticed. Worst case scenario, they will fine you when you'll do your next TM47 (due 90 days after you reenter, don't miss it again). If you'll get your next extension without leaving Thailand in the meantime, there's no way around filing the notification late and accepting the fine. They won't process your extension otherwise.

Even if I accept your report at face value, my point is that this kind of "success story" (not meeting the official requirements, but getting lucky at an office in the sticks) just isn't reproducible. Which is why it's nonsense to tell people that their visa status doesn't matter.

Was that a TM30 from a hotel that you booked for one night? With my condo TM30s, I always leave the optional checkout date empty, which translates to "0 nights" on the printout. Sounds reasonable that the TM30 cannot be for too short (if it isn't open-ended by leaving the checkout date empty), as they'll send you a letter to that address.

That didn't answer my question though. I saw your follow-up posts and find your tale unconvincing. You did have a non-immigrant visa or extension thereof after all, you just claim that they didn't check. Anyway, this kind of story from the backwaters isn't unheard of. Whether false or actually true in a particular lucky case, you cannot rely on being able to renew for 5 years anywhere unless you have the appropriate visa status.

It would be great if you could outline which documents you had to give them. Just a TM30 and the usual passport copies, or anything else? Like a rental contract etc.?

I don't think so, but I'll bite. The DLT of which province gives an applicant who's in Thailand visa exempt at the time of renewal a 5-year driving license?

I disagree. For a Cambodian living in let's say Siem Reap who wants to apply for a Thai visa, not having to go to Phnom Penh makes the application process a lot easier and cheaper. Especially when you consider that it took up to a week to get a visa there, so an applicant either had to wait around or do that trip twice. The same applies to other countries where the eVisa system has already been rolled out, of course.

For the driving license, the visa status is also important though. If you do what the OP does and promotes here (entering visa exempt), you can only renew for 2 years, not for 5 years as those on a non-immigrant visa/extension.

If you have a pink ID card, that's all the more reason to have a longterm visa/extension. I really can't tell if you just got lucky or if airport IOs have a different take on this, but I'd be surprised if having a pink ID card but entering visa exempt excessively won't get you into trouble eventually. With people who spend a lot of time in Thailand visa exempt, immigration is more worried about them working illegally than them not having a place to stay.

The Bank of Thailand should finally force merchants to accept PromptPay as a payment option. It's ridiculous that 7/11 has been allowed to only accept their own corporate TrueMoney wallet for so long. They still seem to be reluctant to roll out PromptPay to ALL their stores, not just a tiny percentage. That being said, in my opinion cash should ALWAYS be an option, too. No banking app, merchant terminal and processing network is perfect, there have been outages before and that will happen again. Having cash for those who prefer it and as a fallback for the rest of us is just common sense.

It pales in comparison to Trump's bold lies, but still, it doesn't look good.

He's such a disgrace.

That says it all. The best country for who, or for what? Switzerland is great if you're rich and into mountains. Japan is great if you're Japanese. The United States are a madhouse, no idea why they're still ranking this high.

I'd be careful with giving assurances like that. As we know from previous experience, when it floods, it floods - little she can do about it right then. Of course there's things they could have done proactively...

Those prices are ridiculous.

That's the most interesting part, and potentially the biggest issue. From previous reports, other IOs seem to be of the opinion that you can only show them monthly transfers if your embassy is one of those that are unwilling to certify your income. You did ask them and they did give you an answer. Whether you can rely on them to stick to that answer a year later is anyone's guess - luckily it worked out fine in your case. For someone who (unlike you) doesn't have income that their embassy could certify if immigration change their mind, that would be a risky thing to try.

It would be best if you ask this in one of the tax threads and keep the tax topic out of this DTV thread. The DTV comes with no special tax provisions, which means that all the regular rules apply. Which may very well mean that you are (or will be) liable to pay tax in Thailand depending on your personal circumstances.

For me, Thailand has been good value ever since I moved here. Depending on lifestyle choices, I can see how it wouldn't be good value for others though.

Looters should be shot in the act, obviously before even checking their immigration status. It doesn't matter one bit if they are immigrants or locals.