Caldera

If your main objective is to save money, take the bus from BTS Morchid to immigration (Chaeng Watthana) instead of a taxi. You won't be able to save much, if anything, by doing a border run instead of getting an extension.

It might be as simple as the immigration supervisor getting a kickback from those 800 baht charged for detention. The more detainees, the more money they make. Now that their nice little VOA gravy train has been stopped, they might well be desperate to pursue other revenue streams.

I do realize this is Thailand we are talking about, but charging people such a fee for detention which is involuntary by its very nature really shouldn't be legal anywhere in the world. It's shameful. How about the IDC in the city, do people get charged for their stay there as well?

Waiting for the fine print and actual implementation should keep us entertained for weeks, if not months. ????

I've got the feeling that it's not predictable with 100% certainty. In my previous passport, I got 4 SETVs from Vientiane without getting the dreaded stamp. Not all of them were back to back though, maybe that helped.

1 hour ago, pumpjack said:

breezed through immigration at swampy, paid my 10 days overstay and sent on my way ,

not even a blacklist or not even an overstay stamp

I'm not surprised that they didn't blacklist you, as you "surrendered" with less than 90 days of overstay.

I am surprised, however, that they didn't give you an overstay stamp, that seems very unusual. Did you get a receipt for the payment of your fine?

The form says "refused entry", so if you want to be truthful, you will need to disclose the incident at the border.

Just disclose the situation as stamped, not as it really happened: You were being asked to show cash, you were unaware of that requirement and didn't have cash on you, thus you were denied entry. That shouldn't affect the outcome of your application in Australia.

Failure to mention it might come back to bite you (possibly much later), but being too truthful in the sense that you actually had the money and Thai immigration denied you because of being racist probably isn't a good idea either.

Easy, hang out until 3AM. Once you come back home, it will be peace and quiet. ????

It's true, you can get a tourist visa at the Royal Thai Embassy in Yangon. Hopefully someone will have an update with their current requirements - it's been a while since I was there and things tend to change.

2 hours ago, tumama said:

Did they ever cancel it for suspected fraud when you used it? And did you use it overseas during prolonged periods?

They've never cancelled my card, but my overseas travels are short, one month max before using the card in Thailand again. I've never informed them of my travels, but if you stay abroad for a long time or if your transactions amount to a substantial sum, I guess that would be a good idea.

23 hours ago, poohy said:

A friend on Sunday tried to use his Kalashnikov card to pay for setting up website .(USD in USA)

it was refused went into bank Monday was told cant  use kasikorn ( not Kalashnikov) for oversea transaction unless you have work permit,

Sounds like he was given wrong information by the bank staff. I've been using my Kasikorn cards overseas for years - without having a work permit.

5 hours ago, inThailand said:

Isn't anyone offended about such an invasion of privacy at your own home?

It seems to be standard practice at least for extensions based on being married to a Thai. Ultimately, it just goes to show to what extent many expats are willing to bend over.

Yes, there can be legitimate reasons for a home visit, but a professional police force would focus their attention on a small number of suspicious cases instead of wasting their time on visiting all and sundry.

8 hours ago, elviajero said:

They don't need to use section 12.10 because, as I have repeatedly said, 12.2 is a catch all that applies to all long term tourists and is a legitimate reason to deny entry.

You've said it repeatedly, but it is nothing more than your personal interpretation of section 12.2. By  merely repeating your opinion, you don't elevate speculation to fact.

So far, I haven't seen any actual evidence presented by you. You cannot point to any ministerial regulation or police order to that effect that has been made public, so you've been making ridiculous claims of secret orders that you clearly wouldn't have any actual inside knowledge of either.

If I had to speculate myself, based on knowing how many things work in Thailand: Orders are deliberately vague (e.g. "scrutinize long-term tourists"). They can and will be interpreted differently by different officials. That's what we see, no need to dream anything up that isn't there!

In the case of renting a condo, I find it strange that no TM30 report is being filed as a regular part of the move in procedure in the OP's case. When I started to rent my condo in Bangkok, the staff at the condo's office prepared the TM30 form, had my landlord and myself sign it and made the photocopies they needed. I can only assume that they took that form to immigration to report my presence.

To me, it sounds like the actual problem at the Kanchanaburi crossing is that Myanmar doesn't give a border pass to Turkish citizens, either in general or at that particular crossing at this time.

If that's indeed the case, then Thai immigration did the right thing by not letting the OP exit, as they would have been denied entry to Myanmar without having a visa for Myanmar.

Or get the visa for Laos in advance, at the Lao embassy in Bangkok or at a Lao consulate, if that's feasible. Then you can cross the bridge anytime it's open without having to worry about the VOA.

3 hours ago, Silktouch said:

“  Despite the Approval Letter that has been received in the initial stage of the application procedure, Member who has record of any type of over staying more than once will be rejected at the immigration when affixing the Elite Visa stamp later. “

I'm confused, where does it say "in the past three years" as you had mentioned in the OP?

7 hours ago, gunghang said:

The only question is: Will DMK airport link be open by the end of October?

Assuming that you mean the ARL extension to DMK, no it won't be open yet.

4 hours ago, Bountyhuntr said:

What about Cambodia? It's like 3-4 days to receive a visa?

3 days (apply in the morning of day #1, collect in the evening of day #3) via an agent. As of last month, they required a bank statement and a flight out, no hotel booking. They probably won't issue a visa if you already have many tourist visa in your passport. Otherwise and if you can meet their requirements, it's fine.

2 hours ago, stretch5163 said:

Have they changed the process as when I recently did my trip you get your Laos visa on the Lao side not before you clear Thai Immigration ? 

I'm wondering the same, that has been my experience as well - Lao VOA on the Lao side, after clearing Thai immigration and the trip across the bridge.

2 hours ago, elviajero said:

I'm not twisting anything. You are clearly implying that leaving and re-entering the country somehow exempts a person from the visa system.

I don't see how I'm implying that. Someone who leaves and re-enters the country is obviously subjected to the "visa system". Just what exactly that system means and how it's applied is rather inconsistent.

I don't see anything wrong with using these inconsistencies to your advantage. Thais often do the same, for example when applying for Schengen visa - some European embassies are known to be more lenient than others. Not taking advantage of that would be outright foolish, and the same applies here.

As for your long-winded opinion piece that follows, I think you've made your opinion known many times before. You won't convince me, but maybe you convince others - keep it up!

I've never been asked for any actual evidence. They do ask for a full address though, down to the room/unit number and including sub district & district. Many tourists don't seem to know the district their hotel is located in.

I've often seen other applicants being asked for any missing details, leading to delays due to phone calls being made and such. My best guess is that it's all about form - I don't think they perform any checks to establish if you actually stay where you claim you stay.

1 hour ago, Kaalle said:

Also if you have used up your exempts dont worry too much about the border crossing if you are denied a visa. There are helpful agents and immigration staff that love thousand baht notes for some really strange reason. Cant wrap my head around it...

Ha! So you went back to Thailand instead of heading to Savannakhet to try to get a visa there?