LexMichdasean

Picked up my passport today; I have my TR60. Thanks for holding my hand, I hope the next guy finds this info useful.

Sorry, this was at the Thai Consulate in Georgetown, Penang. Can't edit it anymore unfortunately. Don't understand why that restriction would benefit the users, but whatever.

Went to the Thai Consulate this morning (Monday), got there 9.00am, a few people in front of me. Had everything printed already: Application form filled in, 2 photos, passport copy, bank statement for the past month, copy of confirmation of the first booked hotel, flight into Thailand, flight out of Thailand and my actual passport. And 160RM of course. Went very smooth, no further questions were asked, except for the hotel I was staying at right now. I only filled out the permanent address and they want to know your current hotel also. The clerk fixed that mistake for me at the spot. I now have a note saying to pick up my passport Wednesday 2pm, so fingers crossed there's a shiny new visa inside when I get there. They sent a girl wearing shorts that were too short away, so keep an eye on your clothes.

That's a little unfortunate... Maybe I should contact them on what I should bring? If I could only get a hold of that .pdf they're referring to... I already canceled my appointment, but good to know for fellow searchers, thanks.

Penang website is broken. The list of things to bring has a broken link. Is this link broken for everyone or just me: http://www.thaiembassy.org/penang/contents/filemanager/บริการสำหรับคนไทย/Visa Application Form.pdf I can however get to this form: https://image.mfa.go.th/mfa/0/3fsjzRYZ2e/Online_Visa_Application_Form.pdf But that doesn't have the list of paperwork I am supposed to bring...

I don't understand why people even want to use suitcases, they're (quite literally) such a drag... Backpacks are so much more convenient, I don't care about the "backpackers stigma". I just want it cheap and a TR60 looked like the cheapest option for 90 days, totaling around 90 Euros. Why pay too much for brown envelopes, it doesn't help the guy/girl working 14 hours a day in Central Mall... I don't care about the snarkyness, this is the internet, home of the vinegar drinkers, I'm used to it. But all these hoops I need to jump through in KL is giving me bad vibes, so I'll probably go with the VOA scheme. Not only because the stupid paperwork, but also because I am not sure how long they will keep my passport at the embassy. I don't mind spending the weekend in KL, but I sure don't want to spend any longer there. I'm now on Maldives, my feet are not ready yet for keeping my shoes on all day. Getting a VOA and doing a border run to Vientiane would probably be my second cheapest bet (around 3000thb I read). I just hope they're not going to ask for a return flight when I get to immigration for my VOA, because that ticket is set for the first week of November... Very good; nail in the coffin for KL, canceling my appointment there. Now looking into Penang, might even be a fun place to go even though I've been there before. Will update with my findings later.

I don't know. If I follow the rules strictly I'm supposed to get them a proof of payment for 90 days... I'm slowly starting to think I should go for the cancelling option or to ask my friend to come up with those invitation docs... If I knew this was such a pain in the ass I probably would have planned for a scheme doing the VOA and a border run.

Not one traveler has ever booked all that stuff up front right? How would they even find out about me cancelling and going to other places? I'm trying to use the search for this issue, but I'm not really getting some good info on the KL embassy. Guess I'm going to be one of the first to try this...

For clarification; I have an EU passport. Next week I'm traveling through Malaysia and after that I want to go to Thailand somewhere until November. TR60+30 would fit perfectly. I made an appointment with Thai Embassy in KL (this Friday) and got the PDF with the checklist. There is a section about paying your whole stay up front: "Proof of payment for accommodation for the whole period of stay in Thailand (the receipt must state the tax payer number of the relevant hotel/accommodation)" With my TR60 last year I didn't need that so I'm surprised. Of course I'm not planning on staying in the same place all the time, I'm mostly wingin' it. Is this requirement very strictly enforced in the KL embassy? I have my first 2 hotels booked and paid through Booking-com (only the first 3 nights, there's probably no tax info on those emails...), but after that I want to go to a room that has monthly rates and I want to pay that in cash after inspecting the room first (I'm checking out several options, I don't want to rush into it). There's no way to explain such a thing to them, they want everything in writing. How did you guys fix this? Just play their silly game and get something I cancel as soon as I get my visa? (What's the use of all that...) Should I be worried? Should I try to get some kind of statement from a Thai I know that I'm staying at their place as a backup? Does anyone have recently dealt with the KL embassy and did you get everything fixed? However gladly I would want to start an adventure; going in with the VOA and doing a border run would be a lot more expensive and doesn't really fit in my budget comfortably. Maybe some other time when I'm filthy rich... Asking an agency has the same budgetary downside, but if they don't give me the visa, I might be forced to (or do a run to Vientiane?).