raz0r21

At least 1 month. They want to see that you dont live in Thailand on a tourist visa, or work without a permit. If you are worried, prepare evidence of your income from another country. Even with long stays out of Thailand you can still get questioned tho. With your history I would bring every single document possible. Flight out, 20k baht cash, income statement, bank statement, travel plan, paid hotel booking, etc etc.

In another thread OP wrote that he has stayed 10 months out of 12 in total, which is usually the time Immigration will start to tell you to have another visa. No time out of the country is frowned upon in my experience, and i strongly suggest you dont play with fire. Get another type of visa, stay out of the country for at least a month, or prepare to roll the dice.

Yeah, it would be better for everyone if there was more clear rules. But TIT , this is thailand. Just have to go with it

which rules are being broken specifically?

Lol. Now you are just trolling. Since there is no limit on tourist visas, or how long you can stay as a tourist... its up to the immigration officer to decide. Like someone else wrote, this has been discussed ad nauseam. The reasons for someone staying a long time as a tourist differs a lot. Some people take a year off from work, there are so many different scenarios (2 of which i just used as an example).

Ever heard of sabbaticals? Snowbirds? Such a narrow minded comment.

So, back on topic. The OP had a tourist visa... which requires a flight out of Thailand. Or at least my embassy does. So why did he have to book a flight on the spot? Didnt have the ticket with him? So many questions.....

There are many foreigners who own properties and stay in them during the winter months, or rent apartments for longer periods of time in Thailand. And as you wrote, METV visas can be applied for to be able to stay longer than 180 days. As far as I know, the 6 month rules can sometimes be used as a guideline to decide if a tourist is actually a tourist. But there are also other factors to take into consideration, and every case is different.

since you have a visa issued by a thai embassy, and months inbetween last entry... i dont see the problem. However, its always a guessing game. I would bring proof of being a tourist, 20k baht, ticket out of thailand, hotel booking, maybe even income/bank statement.

As far as I know a tourist visa should be fine since its granted by an embassy. I have however witnessed the IOs telling my friend to "go back to his home country and get a visa", after back to back stays and TR:s from Vietnam. I dont know where you are entering from but if you have a TR from a embassy from your home country and have spent some time outside of Thailand it should be ok. Just saw you are gonna enter on your second entry. Afaik it should be fine.