Briggsy

@Marvo Firstly, have you grasped you need to be physically outside of Thailand to apply for a DTV? You cannot apply from within Thailand. You seem to be suggesting you could apply online for a DTV from within Thailand or you could apply for a DTV at an immigration office within Thailand. Both are not possible. Assuming you know the above, then I assume your plan is to go outside of Thailand, presumably with a re-entry permit keeping your extension of permission to stay alive based on marriage and apply for the DTV in your home country. I suspect the embassy would not be concerned about this. I applied for my DTV with a live Non-Imm O (no extension) and they did not mention it. However, assuming you obtain the DTV, you then have a minor logistical issue. You would need to re-enter Thailand on the Non-Imm B re-entry permit. Then cancel the extension at your immigration office, surrender the work permit and leave Thailand within 7 days. The Immigration Office would say nothing as they would know nothing about your DTV. And finally re-enter on your DTV. The DTV has a validity of 5 years so no time issues there. I think this makes sense.

Back in the day it was obligatory for the police in these situations to report the media a) the contents of the ashtray b) the number of empty beer bottles in the room and then draw conclusions from that. With the march of technology, time must have moved on.

And the relevance to my post is?

Yamaha Aerox?? Powerful? 155 cc.

Food contamination, be it bacterial, foreign objects, whatever, can of course happen anywhere. I personally find that a small restaurant where the person preparing the food is the owner or closely linked to the owner seems to correlate with a lower chance of contamination than a restaurant staffed by mainly kids on low wages with no vested interest in the short, medium or long-term success of the establishment.

Yes, he will still need to find the 20k for overstay PLUS he will likely be convicted of 'insulting public officials' resulting in a separate fine. There was an identical case several years ago, also in Phuket. He ended up getting locked up for months awaiting his court case on the 'insulting public officials' charge. He then kicked off during the court case! I can't find the report now.

Initially the London Thai Embassy will be looking for an account with monthly statements holding the required funds (£13,000, can't remember) so you need a monthly statement from a current account. A Premium bonds bond record will be rejected. The money does not have to season so you can just move it in to the current account a week before the statement date. Application must be made via the online evisa and you need to be outside of Thailand when you apply. Think of the two steps are separate and discrete. The cancellation of the work permit and permission to stay based on the Non-Imm B and then the application for a DTV visa. They will not impact one another. On a wider point, are you sure you want a DTV? As a spouse of a Thai, you have other options which may be better such as a non-Imm O visa with the option of extension based on marriage to a Thai.

I am going to stick my neck out and say this accident was wholly avoidable.

Another question they like to ask is "What you do in Thailand?" The truthful answer is I have a DTV visa under the WORKcation category which allows me to WORK remotely. The issue is the visa is stamped with "Employment prohibited". I doubt the IO is going to quickly grasp the nuanced difference between 'working remotely' and 'being employed in Thailand'. I will therefore avoid the word 'work' at all costs and perhaps use a stock answer, 'abide by the conditions of the visa' or alternatively, more accessibly, 'go Pattaya'. Answering in Thai may also give the wrong impression (see earlier 'work' comment). It's a minefield! 🙂

Good job he was wearing an armoured jacket.

They have a tendency to be rather trusting, naive and unaware of dangers. However, their recently-arrived immigrant community is giving them a lesson at home, whilst the Thais are giving them a lesson abroad.

There was a study undertaken which showed that Thai drivers are genetically incapable of using roundabouts.

I just looked up what a phytotoxin is. It is any substance that is toxic to plant growth. This could be a herbicide or it could be a chemical produced by an insect, a microbe, the plant itself, etc. No shortage of herbicide use or biodiversity here (insect/microbes/plants) I am binning the phytotoxin theory until further evidence is produced.

Wet cloth, Chinese style?

Did you shower in your home country?

@JimmyTobacco I understand your confidence in the unlikelihood of denials of entry for DTV-holders and I hope that you are right and that the visa is honoured by Immigration for the full 5 years. However, as somebody who has lived here since the 1990's and particularly through the noughties where many people were denied entry every single day, particularly at the 2 Bangkok airports, I don't fully share your confidence. The METV had stringent financial requirements, not dissimilar to the DTV. From memory, I think it was £5000 in GBP compared to £11,000 in GBP. The METV had to show ongoing employment in the UK (home country) just as the DTV workcation category does. Both the METV and DTV have a "no employment prohibited" stamp on the visa. Both the METV and DTV are multiple entry. Previously the METV was not available in neighbouring countries (not sure about now). The DTV is though! Making the DTV easier to obtain. Immigration do not like long-stayers popping out to get a visa at Phnom Penh or Vientiane. It sets them off. As you correctly stated the METV was 6 months (which could be stretched to 9 months) so there is no long term access unlike the DTV in which there is long term access. So the DTV is more likely to irk Immigration and lead to denials of entry. Many people who used the METV never, absolutely never, used visa waiver entries as they flagged you up to Immigration. However, it didn't matter, they were still denied entry. You are mistaken about the DTV requirements. Many people obtain them under the 'soft power' category by booking a dentist or doctor's appointment or cooking course in Thailand. Again this may well irk Immigration. There is no need to show employment in a foreign country under the 'soft power' category. You seem to be unfamiliar with Section 2 denials of entry. There is no investigation, discussion or questioning regarding 'means of supporting oneself'. The stamp is just placed in the passport. It is a done deal. It is simply a catch-all legislative clause they use to justify (weakly) their actions. As the last 20 years in Thailand have proved, the Immigration Department does not care about the MFA and certainly not an interview in English to a Youtuber. They care about the Interior Ministry and if somebody sufficiently senior there gives the instruction to deny entry to DTV-holders spending the majority of their time in Thailand, they will deny entry. So, you can see, there is actually greater reason for Immigration to start denying entry to DTV-holders than to METV-holders. Will it happen? Well, it depends on what very senior officials decide. Let us hope my concerns are unfounded. If it does, I would not be in the least surprised, slightly disappointed, yes, but not surprised.

The model of the molecule is an ethanol molecule not a methanol molecule. Presumably this infers this particular drink is safe.

They happily deny entry for METV's where they are of the opinion that the foreigner has stayed in Thailand for too long. METV's are also multiple entry visas. They use the 2 catch-all sections in the legislation for denial of entry, Section 2 "no appropriate means of supporting oneself" and Section 3 "suspected of working in the Kingdom". Remember that a visa does not guarantee entry. Immigration has the right to deny entry. We have been down this road before. MFA issues visas via its embassies and Immigration does not honour them at the border. However, we may be jumping the gun here. There are no reports of denial of entry for DTV-holders yet. It is very early days yet. I will be paying close attention. I suggested the first denials of entry may come filtering through in the middle of 2025 as that will be when the visas may be a year old. Foreigners staying for 350 days out of 365 in the first year will undoubtedly draw the attention of Immigration. What Immigration do is another matter.

Thanks for the report. I had a feeling this was going to happen. I wouldn't be surprised if we start seeing denials of entry around the middle of 2025. It could well be me! MFA says one thing, Immigration says the opposite. No such thing as a free (or 10,000 Baht) lunch. 😒

Why are Thai drivers on the railway road more dangerous than Thai drivers on other roads. This is what I was driving at. What are the dangers of the railway road?

Usually not. However, they are expected to negotiate the release of their employees and foot any bills.

In developed nations, pet owners are encouraged to have their pets microchipped. I think this potentially could save a lot of inconvenience, say at Immigration. They could just scan you rather than asking for packs of paperwork each time. It would also help in this type of situation when your corpse is washed up on a beach. "Beep", scan et voila they know who you are.

What exactly is the danger?

Does nobody here ever do "No Comment" interviews? Or do all Thai criminals take the "It's a fair cop" line and then dutifully make a full confession.

I would go with the Western country address.