Bangkok Alex

So, the rank falls but they improved by 5 places?

If your employer takes care of the cost, some agencies offer taxi services to do a border run to Cambodia. Was 6k baht as of last year. They come pick you up at 4am and bring you back to your place around 2pm. Safe driving and comfortable enough to get more sleep. And privacy. I would recommend that.

I second that. If you arrive slightly before opening and if possible with all or most documents ready, you'll be out within an hour or so. If you come around 10am, be ready for a long day indeed. Place gets packed real quick. They usually ask tm30 for people who provide a condo address and not a hotel from what I observed. I might be wrong about that.

Thank you. Have tried to contact them by phone but it was fruitless.

Sorry if it was already announced elsewhere. Thank you in advance.

It is not indeed

You are right on both accounts

I was charged 4,500b at DMK and 5,000b at BKK. They give you a waiting point near immigration at the airport. An IO will come get you, processes you in 2 minutes at an empty desk. No question asked and you're out. Not cheap, but very efficient and practical if you have a long history in Thailand and no long term visa.

I have dealt with Friendly Thai Visa at both bkk airports and it went very smooth and i was out of the airports within minutes. Hope it helps.

If you decide to use a border service and don't mind spending a couple thousands more, I recommend doing it by private taxi service. 6k thb, they pick you up at 5am from your place in Bangkok and bring you back there about 2pm. No hassle and much more comfortable. Can contact Friendly Thai Visa on Line, Robert is great. Hope that helps you or others.

Am I allowed to? Was thinking could PM interested people.

You can always use a visa agency with connection at DMK or Bkk airports. You'll be let in within minutes with no question or no need to present anything. Price I paid is 4,500 to 5,000 baht. Hope that helps you as another safe option.

Regarding Elite, yes the visa and benefits were nice. I had a BMW series 7 pick me up and bring me back for international flights. I had a nice staff quickly bring me through immigration. But I decided it was not worth the price. Espeically by today's standards. My personal choice. Now, the agency i used also has services to do border runs to Cambodia. This time they recommended me their services for airport landing and for the price, I thought it worked very well. I can give contacts in private if it is of interest.

I used to have an Elite visa from 2014-2019 They told me that it was the only reason they let me back in. Meaning I was kind of proper in the past I guess and spent money here. That's the best way I can speculate

I'll just share my personal experience. In June 2023, I came back from a 3 days trip to Cambodia at BKK airport. Even though i chose a male IO that looked to process people fast and I dressed properly, I was pulled aside for my extensive history in Thailand. I was grilled for over 2 hours before they finally let me in. Main reason is they stated I used to have an Elite visa, but to not come back with no visa under no circumstances. Then, I stayed here for a year using multiple visas through agencies (which makes my my passport very dodgy now haha). I did 2 border runs this year. I had to leave the country earlier this month. My border run company offered to facilitate my arrival by plane even if I did just a 1 day trip out of Thailand and came back. I was quite nervous honestly but went with it. I did a 1 day trip to Kuala Lumpur and when I came back to DMK, a female IO was waiting for me at a meeting spot, showed me my photo on her phone, I said yes. She escorted me to a booth, processed me and I was out in 2 minutes. Service costed me 4,500B but was most certainly efficient. Not afraid to travel anymore now. Hope that helps some

Thank you so much for that. The money was earned a few years ago indeed. I will read the link very carefully.

Thank you all for your advices. I have been in Thailand close to 17 years. I used to buy and resell condos in the past here and still own a few. I have been renting for myself since a year ago as I didn't want to invest here anymore. But the unit I am living in right now makes me really happy (been here 6 months) and I am considering buying it or a similar one within the building that I really love. It will be for long term living. The money i earned was before 2024 and I should be able to prove it as it came from the sale of assets back in France. I will get deeper into it to make sure I don't make any mistakes. Any further tips or advices are always welcome!

Can you please elaborate?

Thank you for your post, I will look for that thread and hopefully it brings me the right answer

Hi everyone, I apologize if it has been answered in other threads. I am currently in the search for a new condo to buy in Bangkok. From what I understand, I'll have to pay a 25% tax on the money i send here if I spend more than 180 days in Thailand in 2024. Been living here a long time and not looking forward to spending 6 months abroad. Can you please confirm if this is actually the case? French nationality if that even matters. I'm sorry if my post sounds naive, I haven't followed the tax news much as I didn't expect to purchase a new property until recently. Also, I'm not interested in opening a company. Thank you so much in advance.

You can usually do your extension within 2 weeks of expiry but that being said there is no firm actual rule. You can try your luck earlier if you feel like it. Please be reminded that visa exempt extensions are done at the IT Square Laksi office.

You make a good point. I believe OP will have to clarify if he crossed a border to enter Thailand once or twice so far in 2024. Sorry for jumping the gun if I misinterpreted it.

January did count. You cannot do any more border runs till next year.

My experience today: The team kept following up with me and gave me a great service. Taxi was 10 minutes early, came pick me up 5.50am from my place. He drove fairly safely and we arrived 9.45am. I was warned that I may be asked to bribe immigration 1,000B since I have an extensive history here in Thailand. The lady IO was indeed complaining about my passport while turning pages. The contact from the company implied we'd give the bribe and she stamped me in quickly, no questions asked. The border was dead empty today, which was great. I managed to get in and out in 25 minutes. Couldn't be happier. My driver quickly finished his early lunch and we left at 10.30am as I wasn't hungry. We arrived back at my place just before 2.30pm. All in all, a great experience. I paid 7k, but would be 6k if you have a more normal passport history. I hope it will help others in the future that were thinking like me from Bangkok. Thanks everyone

It is quite cheap, really hoping it's not a scam... will confirm tomorrow how things went