highland66

On 5/28/2019 at 9:48 AM, Good Lord said:

Sorry if this is a little off topic: I strongly I assume that you only pay the membership fee AFTER they approve you. So when, the waiting period is over then you transfer the money to their account.

Correct. I got my Elite Visa last week. It took longer than I expected for me to get approved, a little over two months. Once you are approved, they send you an email with the bank wiring instructions. You pay the fee, and the final step is to get the Visa put in your passport.

I scheduled an appointment with an Elite representative at the Bangkok immigration office. I went to meet her, she took my passport, and while I relaxed and ate lunch she took care of everything. She handed my passport back to me 30 minutes later, with the new Visa in it, and I was done. 

Really looking forward to using this when I fly into BKK airport! 

I've been waiting almost two months for mine. Sent another email to the elite visa office a few days ago to request an update. No response. 

The last couple of times I flew into Bangkok, I was told (very firmly) to apply for a proper visa - so I applied for an Elite Visa over a month ago. I didn't realize the Elite Visa process now takes two months or perhaps even longer. (This is new, apparently it used to take a few weeks at most.)

So I've been out of Thailand in a neighboring country for the past four weeks, while waiting to hear from the Elite Visa office about when I can pay for the visa and receive it. They can't give me any firm time frame. It might take another month. I don't know. And I'd much rather be in Thailand while I wait for it, rather than staying in hotels outside of Thailand. 

Tomorrow, I have a ticket to fly to Vientiane so that I can cross by land into Thailand at the Nong Khai crossing. However, the flight from the neighboring country I am in, to Vientiane, has a one-hour layover in Bangkok. And according to the airline, I will need to pass through Bangkok immigration in order to get on my transfer flight to Vientiane. 

My question: do you think I going to be scrutinized at Bangkok airport, and possibly denied entry, if I am simply trying to pass through to get my connecting flight to Vientiane? If they were to turn me back and say "go back to the country you flew in from," I'd be alright with that. I would check into another hotel in a neighboring country and keep waiting for my Elite Visa.

Unfortunately, I've heard from close sources of mine, that now - if they deny you entry - it means they don't just turn you back. It means you are sent to the detention jail under Bangkok airport until you can work out a flight back to your home country. I do not want to take that risk.  

Any thoughts or advice? Bottom line, will I get scrutinized passing through immigration for a transfer flight to Vientiane, the same as I would if Bangkok was my final destination?