Caldera

Well your first problem is that you miss your flight that you aren't allowed to board, which could cost anything from 1,000 baht to a few hundred thousand baht. I don't see how you could claim that money back from Thai immigration, even if it's due to a mistake they made when entering the data. Then you'll most likely need to engage a Thai lawyer to get the problem fixed with immigration. You will be paying that lawyer, never mind that it isn't your fault. No idea how often this actually happens, it's certainly not something I've seen reported more than a few times.

I think you should be fine in Savannakhet, as they seem to focus on how much time you've spent in Thailand just before applying there. You will have stayed out for quite some time once you'll apply there, and didn't spend a lot of time in Thailand this year so far. Vientiane would be a safer bet though, as long as you have an appointment and meet their requirements. Personally, I'd try Savannakhet but make an appointment for Vientiane beforehand for a few days later. If Savannakhet gives you the visa, you'll save yourself the detour to Vientiane, just cancel your appointment there. If Savannakhet doesn't give you the visa, you're all set to apply in Vientiane

As it is, the "online" extension process is a joke, if for no other reason that you still need to attend immigration anyway. Hopefully they'll improve that process, at least for a simple 30-day extension for a tourist where (almost) no supporting documents are required.

During your ban, if you attempt to board a plane to Thailand, the airline will get a "do not board" message via APIS. There have been a few reports of people denied boarding after their ban was supposed to have ended, presumably because the end date was entered wrong in immigration's system. It's not "near impossible" to get that fixed if it happens, but not necessarily cheap.

With an overstay of "roughly a year", it really matters if it will be less than a year or not when he heads to the airport. The fine will be the same (20,000 baht), but if he has overstayed for one year or more, a mandatory ban will be imposed as well.

What we do know is that meth was involved. Either he went crazy himself, or someone he was doing drugs with did, by all appearances. Not the best way to have a safe and happy holiday.

Ah yes, a promise that previous immigration chiefs have made - and failed to deliver on. I vividly remember the "bad guys out, good guys in" campaign. Lots of rhetoric, a few arrests here and there, but most of those netted were low-hanging fruit such as overstayers. So they desperately needed those "smart cars", and again, pretty much no tangible results.

It just seems to keep getting worse year after year.

If you fly out, you will have no problem leaving, but if you apply for another extension in the future, this might well come up and cause you problems. It would be a good idea to have the extension canceled properly before leaving. If you leave overland, there's a good chance you won't even be allowed to leave without canceling your extension first.

Wouldn't you give your full European account number (IBAN) to anyone who wants to transfer money into your account? I don't think the BOI would accept an obfuscated account number. I don't think you have a legitimate reason to withhold your account number from them, as it's pretty normal to give it to 3rd parties.

I think there are at least two reasons: Firstly, the document checkers don't have a computer, so they'd need to let people through without knowing if a TM30 notification has been filed for them in the right area. Secondly, there's probably a high rate of sloppy online submissions by hotels. If they get the name or the passport number slightly wrong, a successful look-up would be doubtful. If they had wanted to implement this properly, hotels would scan the passport's machine-readable lines to ensure accurate data. Funnily enough, that's how it's being done in Cambodia.

The most likely reason is the bank statement. Your sister needs to provide an actual statement, not just a screenshot from her bank app.

Interesting, so it seems to be a policy change, not just a glitch in the eVisa website. Very unfortunate for those affected.

You can't be serious. Plenty of people to speak English with in Thailand. And here's a novel idea for anyone feeling bored in Thailand: study the Thai language! If that's not your thing for whatever reason, just choose your neighborhood wisely, most of my neighbors are educated (!) Thais pr fellow expats.

Congrats. How meaningful this particular achievement is among so many similar ones, I have no idea, but let's celebrate anyway. 🤣

I've seen a few older ones. They don't seem to stop being ladyboys, just tone it down. I guess it also depends on their job.

On the bright side, he was only brutalized, not sodomized. Nothing good seems to happen in Pattaya lately.

Seriously? I'd love to know what that translates to, in an actual USD amount.

It's really about time. Get rid of it.

How can you get bored in Thailand? If you get bored in Thailand, you'll get bored anywhere and everywhere, maybe it's you

I have no doubt that this is the direct result of the sheer number of Thais who have been found working illegally in South Korea, despite their claim that they want to enter the country for tourism. So they did need to step up their screening of Thai visitors.

I think they wanted to simplify the tedious eVisa application process and this might well be the result. For a single-entry tourist visa from a faraway country where the flight in itself is expensive, it really is quite pointless to ask for proof of having 20,000 baht in the bank.

They usually report their guests online. If you ask them nicely, they should be willing and able to provide you with a screenshot of their online notification, which would be acceptable proof (make sure to print it though, immigration loves paper).

It's always a good idea to take along proof of TM30 notification, as you can never be sure that they won't ask. The "current situation" can change from one day to the next, and sometimes you won't even get past the initial document check for obtaining your queue card if you can't show it.

For some strange reason, you don't seem to be in any hurry to resolve your situation. Now about that other guy, it doesn't matter if it's 1 year or 1.5 years, the advice would be the same.