Caldera

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.

Too risky, the IOs at the airport don't really have that discretion (the rules about blacklisting give no discretion to immigration whatsoever) and there are too many watchful eyes. Also, what do you do in case they reject your offer? It's then too late to explore other options. Any fixer who can still organize that will most likely use a land border. Coincidentally, when I used a land border crossing at the Thailand-Cambodia border earlier this year, a young European woman in front of me ran into a problem entering Thailand, because the IO couldn't find a record of her leaving Thailand the last time in the system, about ten years prior. She said she had flown home from Phuket Airport, the IO asked if she had her old passport with her, which she didn't. Eventually, she was let in, but it was a struggle. IOs probably have instructions for that scenario, as it used to be more common in the past. To be clear, I'm fairly sure that with her, it was genuinely a case of a missing record in the system. It's easy to see how this could be exploited by a fixer working with a "cooperative" IO at a land border: new passport, fake entry and exit stamps from the neighboring country. The Thai IO will have to decide what to make of the missing exit record from an entry years ago. Given the right incentive, this could be guaranteed to go the way I described above.

That's a confusing article as far as the actual reason for the arrest is concerned. The article mentions a second guy who was arrested and sent to a police station in Krabi, which to me indicates that he was arrested because an arrest warrant had been issued for him in Krabi before he attempted to leave Thailand via Phuket Airport. In other words, he was arrested trying to leave the country as a wanted suspect for committing some crime while also on overstay, but he wasn't arrested because of his overstay. With the guy sent to a Phuket police station for further processing, it's not so clear.

Really an incredibly dumb idea to resurrect such a term that people associate with travel restrictions of the dark Covid age.

That's generally something an immigration office will do right away. You could be unlucky with your office, or the official who needs to sign it is out for the day, but it's pretty unlikely.

Are you for real? You're asking if your landlord is entitled to establish the identity of his tenant (you)? Of course he is. And in Thailand, he even has an obligation to do so and to notify immigration of your stay.

You'll need to go back to your school to get a letter which confirms when your studies ended. Then you'll need to take this letter to the immigration office that gave you your extension based on studying, to have it canceled. It doesn't matter that it has expired in the meantime anyway. With a bit of "luck", they might even fine you for what they consider a technical overstay. If you think that's nonsensical because you actually left the country on time, you're not wrong, but you will pay anyway.

You ask your school for a letter for immigration which states on which date your studies will end. That date can be in the future, at least a few days. You take that letter to immigration, they will cancel your extension effective the date stated in the letter. With proper planning, you can proceed as you've outlined.

An education visa/extension doesn't allow any kind of work, including volunteer work. The way you describe this mess, the German government will have to liaise with their counterparts in the Thai government to fix it. Realistically, that will take years (if it happens at all), so I'd say chances are slim that those who currently can't get visas or extensions can pursue their dream to volunteer in Thailand. Well at least not legally.

I didn't count them, I added them up correctly. Something you don't seem to be familiar with. Get in touch when you need help again, three digits seem to be more than you can handle.

It never fails to amaze when someone goes the extra mile trying to be smart. Even more so when they fail. As Thai immigration counts the arrival day and as next February will have 29 days, it would have been 335 days, not 334. Not that it matters, of course, because your comment was completely irrelevant.

With Kasikorn Bank, you can get your debit card right away, and your name on the card will be "Privileged Customer". No problem at all, I've never bothered to update my postal address with then.

If your flight is canceled or you don't make it to your gate on time to catch your flight, they won't give you another visa exempt entry. You're right, if you leave on the last day of your permission to stay, that might well trigger an overstay situation if you don't manage to fly out on that day (for whatever reason).

I've seen some reports of some people being asked for proof of exiting Thailand at Aranyaprathet, but that border crossing is a special case anyway. Never heard of it happening anywhere else.

Correct, you can be on an extension based on retirement in Thailand, but work outside of Thailand. That isn't - and has never been - a problem.

Thanks for the update. Did they give you this overstay stamp for less than 24 hours overstay at the regular immigration counter, or did they send you to the overstay desk?

I guess that's possible, but it would just add more confusion, as "employment prohibited" really isn't the same as "permission to work not included" (with the visa).

Sure. If you enroll at a university in Chiang Mai to study there, but instead of moving to Chiang Mai continue to live in Phuket, that would obviously be dodgy. If you want to stay in Phuket, you should be able to find a language school there that can facilitate an education visa and extensions based on studying there.

Nonsense. There are plenty of reports from people with lengthy overstays (and I mean multiple years) who were processed at the airport as described in this thread. You're just scaremongering.

Well, what can I say... they just approved me already, on a Sunday morning. Quick and painless indeed.

Extensions based on marriage are a pain. Intrusive photos, house visits including the questioning of random neighbors, the under consideration period... No good reason not to go for the retirement extension other than the higher financial requirements. If you can satisfy them, save yourself some hassle.

From what I've recently heard and seen, it's better than ever. Well worth a (repeat) visit I'd say.

I had used TrueMoney a few years again, when I was initially able to register with just my passport. Then they tightened their rules and made it a pain to show them additional KYC documents in a Line video call that you had to schedule with their KYC team, so I didn't bother. Reading this thread with recent positive experiences, I signed up again yesterday and it was painless enough. Assuming that they'll approve me after the weekend, I'd be happy to use TrueMoney again, as I found it quite handy back then.