Caldera

Thieving Pattaya Beach Road "girls", rejoice, more gold is on the way.

This serves as a reminder for those on yearly retirement extensions in Thailand that they cannot be taken for granted beyond the permitted to stay until date. Things can change, often on a whim. Malaysia did something very similar to their 2nd home program.

He's power tripping, he will accept the vote of the plebs only when it suits him.

It's unfortunate that they aren't flexible with regards to the date a visa is valid from, but that's just the way it is, it always starts from when it's being issued. They could make it more clear for applicants who aren't familiar with that, but there's no point in trying to appeal this - the fee has been collected, the visa has been issued as per their rules, case closed.

Visa run companies haven't used the Aranyaprathet/Poipet checkpoint since a long time.

Thai Visa Centre might be a victim of their own success. When a friend of mine asked them about this extension service about a month ago, they told him it would take 1-2 weeks. What tourist can give away their passport to an agent for 1-2 weeks? They need it for hotels, domestic flights, money exchange etc.

Nothing much to see, it's just a blend of incompetence and power tripping at work. They're members of the same police farce that can comb Pattaya and claim they haven't found any prostitutes, after all.

You can apply for another re-entry permit at either your immigration office ahead of your trip or at the airport when you fly out.

I'd guess a sensible assumption would be that a "successful longterm overstayer" (as per the premise of this thread) knows about TM30 and is smart enough not to check in at a hotel under their own name. Maybe they don't travel, maybe they have a Thai wife who does it for them, not a real problem in itself.

Denying entry to someone with a valid visa is quite a rare thing with Thai immigration, it has only been reported from a few airports and the Aranyaprathet border checkpoint. If you've come across a report contradicting what I wrote, then by all means, post a link.

As long as you avoid entering in Aranyaprathet (Poipet on the Cambodian side) , land border checkpoints with Cambodia aren't known to cause trouble to tourist visa holders.

Agreed, in Bangkok chances to get caught would be slim, and if you avoid a handful of hot-spot areas, even slimmer. That's assuming that you don't draw any attention to yourself by criminal activities other than your overstay. Police haven't taken any interest in me whatsoever in 15 years, and many friends living here in Bangkok say the same.

No, each time you enter with your METV, you can get one 30 day extension. It isn't a problem to get several extensions during a calendar year.

Yeah or maybe it was true 10 years ago. Not recently for sure.

Thanks for the update. I'm surprised you didn't know about the need for a bank statement, as you had checked the appointment site for Vientiane before (where this is also required). Great that you could sort it out on the spot.

That he points out that coming prepared pays off is good advice. Do you have all the required documents ready to apply for the visa today? Please let us know what was required. Your firsthand report will help others in the same situation. Consulates aren't always good at keeping their websites up to date.

That used to be an option at some point in the past, but not any longer. I'd assume there's no "proper" way around this, otherwise the visa run companies would still be leveraging it. You could ask one of those shady guys you've already met, but based on your experience with them so far, would you trust them if they told you they can facilitate it?

You can find minivans from Udon Thani Airport to (not across) the Friendship Bridge; at the airport there's a counter selling tickets. Then you'd use a shuttle bus across the bridge after stanping out on the Thai side.

I think you'll find that their limit is quite a bit lower nowadays, and as @BritTimwrote, they do take visas issued elsewhere into consideration as well. For someone with a fairly empty passport who doesn't mind spending 4-5 days in Phnom Penh, it's not a bad option at all, but I'd be careful with more "history" in one's passport. As you mentioned your Khmer wife, it's also quite possible that they have different rules for locals vs. visa runners.

What you wrote makes no sense whatsoever, as "agent-assisted" extensions are also an option for those who don't meet the financial requirements. Saves both the hassle and the visa running.

In Vientiane, you do need an appointment and they won't let you in without one. Agents can't help you with that. You could consider going to Savannakhet instead, no appointment required there.

I would expect more delays in the near future. As many high-ranking immigration officers are being investigated for corruption (according to recent news reports), it's quite possible that the guy who is supposed to sign off on your extension currently has other problems to deal with.

Their requirements are ridiculous. When will they finally raise the amount of money people have to show, but refrain from asking for proof of accommodation? Many people like to be spontaneous, and proof of accommodation is worthless anyway, as all major OTAs allow free cancelations.

That hasn't been possible since a long time (before 2006 or so?). The best they can do for you is handling the stamps on the Cambodian side, so you can just stay in noman's land and wait. Stamping out of Thailand and back into Thailand, on the other hand, isn't something an agent will do for you. But they do use friendlier checkpoints and have an understanding with the officials to smoothen the process for their clients.

In my case, I applied on a Friday and got the eVisa on the following Tuesday. That was in July. It's always a good idea to allow some more time for processing, so your plan sounds good. There's also Tet in late January, so getting the eVisa sorted before that kicks off would make sense.