Caldera

It's quite a bit more substantial than many had expected.

Only his legal problems are bigger than his ego. That's how big they are

Mobile.

The ads have been totally out of control lately, both in quantity (high) and in quality (low). At this rate, the site will become completely unusable within a few months.

I don't see how you would be able to link such a new SIM card to your Thai bank account without being in Thailand.

Not maybe. If you fly via Don Mueang, it's a certainty that you will need to clear immigration there. As your plan is to enter Thailand at Chiang Mai Airport, you'll need to make sure that this will be the first Thai airport you land at.

Yes, having been denied entry to Thailand previously wouldn't make you ineligible for using a Thai airport for airside transit later on.

If you're denied entry, they'd bounce you back from Chiang Mai Airport, you wouldn't be able to get on a domestic flight to Suvarnabhumi Airport. Most likely, that would mean flying back to Laos, and making further arrangements from there.

That COULD work. They want to see 3 months of bank statements and they want to see that you have enough funds. I'm not sure if they'd be hung up on lower balances in the past or go through the laborious task of calculating averages as long as the current balance is sizable (significantly more than what's required). As you're in Laos anyway and already have an appointment, it would be worth a shot (nothing to lose). I think the other options are a no-go.

Were you already on a non-immigrant entry from something else before you applied for this extension? Such as studying on an education visa for example? You can't go straight from a visa exempt entry to the extension you've posted.

So besides the extension stamp and the re-entry permit stamp that you have, you should have a few other stamps, one of them being a non-immigrant visa issued by the same immigration office (Trang). That non-immigrant visa stamp has a line named "Category", and in your case that category would be "B" for business which should be clearly written on it.

At the tax office, the worst that can happen is that they don't give you the TIN / send you to the "correct" tax office. Unless you can prove a change of residence and have documents for where you actually reside, they would almost certainly be of the opinion that you need to get your TIN in Trang, where your current extension was issued. If you'll run into trouble with your "visa" elsewhere is hard to tell, this being Thailand. The process and circumstances you describe sound dodgy and evoke memories of the now infamous "volunteer visa" that was once popular. Did you enter the country with a non-immigrant visa, or is there another stamp from Trang Immigration in your passport that is a non-immigrant visa issued locally? I'm surprised that you don't have a work permit, was it explained to you by the agent why you don't need one? You don't work, I get it, but for that kind of extension they must have come up with some kind of a relationship between you and a company.

I agree on the "zoo" aspect. As the OP seems to dislike using vans, getting a private car to the border would be an option in both cases, at similar cost. Ultimately, as you said, both would work.

Why don't you post your actual EXTENSION stamp, redacted as necessary? We all know what an re-entry permit looks like, but it doesn't help answer your question. If your agent got that in province A but you don't actually live there, you probably wouldn't have much luck rocking up at the revenue department of province B asking for a TIN. That's one potential issue I could see without seeing your stamp. Don't worry about the 6 months, you could tell them you paid withholding tax on interest that you want to claim back or something.

Why not go to Nong Khai as @DrJack54 suggested already? He can use the Lao eVisa on the Friendship Bridge 1, there are more flights from Don Mueang to Udon than to Ubon, and transport to the border is more frequent as well. Chong Mek is an obscure little border post, hardly on anyone's map who doesn't want to travel in Southern Laos

You can't use a Lao eVisa at the Chong Mek land border crossing. You can get a Lao visa on arrival there, it's a quick and easy process but costs you an entire visa page of your passport. Personally, I wouldn't go there for a border bounce coming from the Bangkok area, but if you're interested in spending some time in Pakse or on the Bolaven Plateau, you can consider it.

Yes, but of course Pita knew all that and saw what happened to those others. So it's quite mind-boggling that a bright mind like him didn't deal with it proactively. I sincerely wish him the best and hope he will become PM as is the Thai people's wish, but he has left himself vulnerable and I fear his impressive victory might end in tears. Can't say I'm not somewhat disappointed and expected more awareness.

On the bright side, no swastika to be seen, that's always a relief around here.

I'll be dead and that's it, I don't buy into any religious fantasies.

He's right, of course, but is it really wise to say this out loud right now?

It's still closed.

Yes, still closed.

Good move (forward 555). It's really time that the Thai government treats its citizens as adults who can make those choices for themselves, by themselves.

Neither Vientiane nor Savannakhet will issue you a tourist visa if you fail to provide them with the 3-month bank statement they require. You seem to be in Laos already. To apply in Vientiane, you need to book an appointment, usually a couple of weeks in advance. You appear to be a bit underprepared. How long do you plan to stay in Laos? Edited to add: Regarding visa exempt entries by land, the limit of two per calendar year is strictly enforced, but doesn't apply to nationals of some countries that have a bilateral agreement with Thailand. What's your nationality?

Are there actually any countries that allow same-sex marriage, but only if both spouses are nationals of that very country? Genuine question. At face value, that looks like a very unlikely scenario to me. If and when same-sex marriage arrives in Thailand, they will probably just extend the existing framework. What they might NOT want to allow is letting foreigners who aren't allowed to marry at home marry in Thailand instead. But there's already a framework for that in place, too, as any foreigner who wants to marry in Thailand needs to produce "freedom to marry" documents.