Caldera

Sounds like a prudent approach, but note that if you do need to pay the fine, you don't need to fly back to your home country, you could still fly to a neighboring country. What your school told you is likely true, so it's worth a shot to just try to leave as they told you.

If they actually do accept the DLT QR License, that would be great news for foreigners living in Thailand who have a Thai driving license but no other Thai ID. I already have that app and it works. Boarding domestic flights with a physical Thai DL has never been a problem, so I'm quite hopeful. Let's see.

At the Nong Khai border specifically, you have the choice, you can get an eVisa in advance or you can apply for a visa on arrival there. Aussies do need a visa, either way.

Based on the OP's report and the reviews above, I think it would be fair to say that they've changed dramatically. Some of their requirements go well beyond what's normal (compared with other Thai embassies and consulates) and reasonable. So it might be time to put Hanoi on the list of places best avoided for a tourist visa application.

It's too convoluted, as you still need to attend immigration to get your passport stamped after "online approval". If they had the good sense to open a service window at a BTS station in Central Bangkok specifically for this purpose, it wouldn't be too bad, but still having to venture out to Chaeng Watthana is a deal-breaker in my book. I've often spent more time traveling to and fro than at the immigration office.

That's a nonsensical generalization. I opened a Thai bank account two years before moving to Thailand, when I was already a frequent visitor. Just for convenience and to avoid having to pay ATM fees which were starting to become ridiculous. Nothing to do with any criminal activities. Nowadays, with QR code payments and whatnot, there are even more reasons to have a local bank account. Not for someone on a once in a lifetime trip to Thailand obviously, but for any frequent visitor (of which there are many).

This just goes to show that people have become scared little rabbits in recent years. When I first came to Thailand, the prospect of potentially getting scammed by a taxi driver didn't cause me any sleepless nights. Now with apps like Grab and Bolt at my disposal, there's even less reason to be worried.

Just to better understand, as this thread has been focusing on your past 7 months in Thailand, is there any prior history of Thailand visits visible in your passport? Additional tourist visas from before Covid or something like that? With just the one tourist visa from last year plus two visa exempt entries that had been mentioned, that level of scrutiny seems well over the top and would be a new development in Hanoi, which used to be quite a friendly consulate pre-Covid. That being said, mentioning a Thai girlfriend has always been a bad idea and often leads to consulates asking for a letter of invitation or other such nonsense. You might have been better off making additional hotel bookings to cover the entire time, as they can be canceled easily anyway. Too late for that now, but might be worth considering for later and by others. Thanks for your report and best of luck, hopefully they'll issue the visa after putting you through that ordeal.

This is about the Thai embassy's requirements when processing a tourist visa application, not about immigration's requirements at the Nong Khai border checkpoint.

The wording that the OP quoted, obviously. Which is from the RTE's own website. Assuming that you did in fact apply for a tourist visa in Vientiane as well, note my 2nd sentence. Sometimes they're lenient, but I wouldn't count on it and come prepared.

Far from "reforming" the RTP as he promised, police corruption seems to have reached an all-time record level under PM Prayuth. What a burden for whoever will be his successor.

Their wording is pretty clear. You might get away with giving them a screenshot instead of an actual statement, and/or with a document that shows your current balance instead of the 3 months they're asking for, but is it worth the risk? Most of the banks I'm using have a feature in their app that allows me to download a PDF statement for months I can select (typically going back 12 months max). That's what I'd do, for the current months plus the 3 previous ones, and print it. As long as the current balance is 20,000+ baht and the statement covers 3+ months, as requested, I don't think they're interested in individual transactions, so I'd probably do that for a savings account that has few if any transactions within those 3 months.

Did you check with your bank if they, in fact, rejected the transfer coming from DeeMoney, and if so, for what reason? Without knowing that, using any other method would be rolling the dice.

Unlike with most other Thai visas and extensions, there's a screening process in place for Elite visa applicants. How thorough that is is anyone's guess, it might turn out to be just a time-consuming paper pushing exercise.

An overworked security guard? That's a new one. Most seem that bored that they can hardly keep themselves awake.

It's 2023, just use your app to transfer money like most people nowadays.

You got a Non-ED extension from Nakhon Ratchasima immigration, but you don't study there and actually live in Phuket? Tread VERY carefully.

Right, it's a police farce.

How ironic.

Can everything be bought in Thailand? Yes, except for common sense, which seems to be unobtainable.

Some in Thai immigration don't want repeat customers (or long-stay tourists), others want to charge them extra for the privilege, and yet again others couldn't care less. It's a mixed bag, which explains that reports are all over the place as there's no consistency whatsoever.

Has it ever been any different?

I wasn't sure whom to believe, but Chuwit settles it for me. He's so well informed it's almost spooky.

Ask your girlfriend. As a Lao citizen, she's in the best position to know.

Safe as long as you don't care for air that is safe to breathe, that is.