raz0r21

9 years here with ED visas and tourist visas? thats impressive. Anyway, I would recommend thaivisaservice.com, they helped my friend out when he had some huge problems with his work permit and wrong dates in his passport etc. I have also used the same company for all my border runs, and tourist visa applications in Laos. Never any issue.

Where is this rule from? I have been trying to find it but theres no notice of it on Thai immigration website. They list the same requirements for tourist visa extensions as before.

have you moved or stayed in the same adress the whole time? seems weird to need a new one if you are staying at the same place. Sigh...guess I will have to ask for a new one after my next run just to be safe.

huh? I have never been asked for a TM30 during all my extensions here in Bangkok. Ive been using tourist visas and visa exempt stamps only. I have stayed in a hotel and two different apartments. Isn´t it supposed to be done by the condo owner? Just curious since I have never run in to this issue.

anyway, to continue this subject a bit further. I have contacted a muay thai gym in Bangkok about an ED-visa, and its a legit place that requires me to train 3x a week, so I will consider it as an alternative. The costs are about the same as learning thai, around 40-50k baht for a year or so. The upside is they have morning and afternoon classes to choose from, and you dont have to spend several hours there compared to a classroom.

yeah, i agree that its a grey area. I suppose its better to have some kind of proof of income tho, compared to the alternative which is working illegally in thailand. Yup also changed passport last year, my old one was filled with stamps. But they add up quick....

I can prove that I work in a different country and pay tax there, even if its done online. Can also show my income per year if its needed. I guess that will help.

Just for the sake of the argument, what is a "valid" reason for staying long term with a tourist visa? I mean some people save up alot of money and want to travel as a tourist. I used to work 6 months in my home country and spend 6 months here, just as an example. If there are no clear guidelines about the length of stay - then they shouldnt give people a hard time either. I don´t understand the logic, would much rather prefer some proper rules instead of playing guessing games every time I want to enter the country.

Yeah I have considered this. I have also thought of returning home for a few months per year, which should solve the issue as I am spending time outside of Thailand. Its just the amount of stamps that can add up and become a problem since I had that issue during 2019.

Thanks for all the replies guys, really appreciate it. I will look into studying in a university, might be an option as long as its not a very high pace. Regarding marriage, that is not something that is in the near future with my gf, as of yet at least :) I asked a visa agent about my options and they have a business visa for 65k + 35k for the initial 3 months, so 100k in total for 15 months which is way too much imo. I have also enquired about invoicing through a company in TH, but they want 30 % of every invoice i create. So all in all, not the easiest situation at all. Im guessing i can play russian roulette with tourist visas for a while, but it would be preferable to get a bank account etc here, which isnt the easiest on a tourist visa. And lastly, I love my job and I am trying to grow my business slowly but steadily to create more income. And yes, it is a choice :)

Hi, My situation is that I work freelance for several clients doing SEO work, through an invoicing company in my home country. This means I can basically stay wherever in the world, and I arrived in Thailand in september 2022 after 3 years of covid, with a 60 day tourist visa. After that I did a 45 day stamp border bounce, and am now going to extend with 30 days. The problem is that I am looking to find a visa that fits me in the long run, since I have already experienced questioning about staying "too long" in Thailand with tourist visas during 2019. Also, since I only earn around 1,2 million baht per year its very hard to find a suitable category. The business visa option is very expensive for me, and so is the elite visa. I am also not eligible for the retirement visa for another 10 years. Another option I have thought about is to start my own company here as I could invoice my clients from Thailand and pay tax here instead, but as far as I know that requires me to employ thai staff which I cant afford. I have also been thinking about studying thai, since I can work half days most weekdays, and then study in the afternoons. The problem with that is that the visa is only for 12 months, after which I will be back in the same situation. If anyone has some tips it would be greatly appreciated. Sorry for the wall of text!

Thats one of the mysteries of the universe ????

Yeah, I had several friends who had the same issues during that time. That was a rough year... but back then I couldn´t even imagine how bad it would get in 2020 ????

Okay I just want to comment on this since I have had experience with being questioned about "staying too long" in Thailand. Between the years 2016-2019 i was flying in every 6 months and staying for 6 months since i worked on and off back home, and it wasnt a problem until september 2019 when I was coming in on a new exemption at Suvarnabhumi airport. When I landed the queue was totally empty and the immigration officers had all the time in the world to scroll through my pages in the passport. They asked alot of questions about what I am doing in Thailand, if I have friends here, if I had any pictures of me on holidays here etc. They also said that I can´t stay longer than 9 months during a period of 3 years. I told them I had never heard about this rule. Whatever I said didnt help, even after showing them my exit flight ticket and answering all their questions. They then proceeded to take me to some immigration boss who asked about my income, if I knew how to speak thai etc. They also asked if I had a girlfriend and I didnt at the time so I said no. Also showed them a screenshot of my bank that I had an income from my home country. After 45 minutes to an hour of them saying "I dont believe you", i finally said okay well then I will sleep here at the airport and leave tomorrow on the next flight. Then they just stamped my passport and let me in.

I hope there will be some more info about positive test on arrival asap, I doubt people want to play russian roulette with their holidays.

No comments yet? This is complete insanity, especially if the proposal actually goes through. In peak high season they want to reintroduce covid restrictions? People are masked up everywhere anyway. Also, to flipflop with rules back and forth will just deter people from coming to Thailand. And covid isnt even that bad anymore for most us. Not to mention that vaccines dont stop the spread. So what is actually going on?