Rob Browder

I can see the point with Europe - especially given no reason for NATO to exist after the USSR + Warsaw Pact dissolved. Funny, though, how to spite the massive and growing national-debt, Israel gets more and more free tens of billions in "aid," plus deploying military-backup costing many billion more, every year - and they just happen to have a PAC (not registered as a foreign-agent) which donates heavily to almost everyone in Congress, and to Trump's campaign. You get what you pay for, apparently - and with a huge ROI on those "donations." The "DOGE" savings could never hope to recoup those ongoing losses, so don't hold out hope for paying down debt, or DOGE refund-checks.

Ok - so that isn't it - my first guess doesn't fit. But there is a big clue in that X-post: The steel used in the construction of the collapsed State Audit Office building in Chatuchak came from Sin Ker Yuan, a company which was charged in January for producing substandard steel. Previous investigation by the Ministry of Industry revealed that the rebar produced by the company, located in Ban Khai District, Rayong, did not meet required standards, particularly affecting its strength.

Provided you have proof of a flight-out, which is required, I have not heard of any case of denied-entry. This has been allowed for decades. I did read some reports regarding applying for extensions - one does have to actually answer some basic questions now about where you live, and how you support yourself. This change was the result of a directive. Before, you just "went through the motions," paid your money, and done. The folks discussing this stressed the importance of being polite in this process - then, no problem. There are three "Plan B" countries in the region I keep in-mind, where longer-stays are not a problem: Cambodia, Philippines, and Laos. Cambodia and Laos have 1-year "official visa" solutions which cost about the same as an Agent-procured 1-year extension for retirement in Thailand - in the ~$350 ballpark per-year. The cost is only a bit higher if below retirement age.

While poor-design is certainly to be suspected and studied - for those in older buildings, keep in mind: Concrete hardens over time - not "all at once." Years later, it is still getting harder every year. Therefore, a 2+ year-old building is significantly stronger than this one, even if built with similar flaws in design. Damage has been reported in older-buildings, but they did not collapse. My first guess, was that it is possible they were rushing - adding new pours, before previous ones had cured enough to support the weight added. It is also possible that pours which should have been contiguous were not. My next question would be the quality of the steel rebar. Of course, it could come down to simply a poorly engineered structural-design.

A "bad day" could mean "needs to fill his quota of denied-entries." Maybe he just got chewed-out by the boss, and his tea-money threatened, by not denying entry to "enough" people - reminded that denying-entry is what generates the tea-money. Wise move to go with safe-entry, if you have significant time (subjective) spent in Thailand in the last year or so. Agree - but would clarify to, "insufficient to be allowed-in again without paying tribute." That's all they really want. If no one was "staying too long," they would be heartbroken. They would be pushing to cut visa-exempt entry to 7 days, if that's what it took to get the tea-money flowing, again. The silly excuse to go back to 30-days for everyone, vs only the countries of the bad-actors, could be due to this.

Not fanboy, or really caring about peace in Ukraine, or he would not have re-started the aid which keeps the war going - though the outcome will not change. It's over - just a question of how many more people will die before the end is "official," and whether Ukraine will have to cede even more territory, as a result of further delay. Agree Putin's decision to invade was not to do with Trump. In his first term, Trump increased sanctions, started lethal-aid, and unilaterally withdrew from long-standing arms-treaties with Russia. I am not an Obama fan, but he was right that "Russia has escalatory dominance in Ukraine" - just as the USA would have, if the situation was regarding Mexico - which is why he refused the lethal-aid. The timing was because Ukraine was firing up a new offensive (shelling already started) - after refusing to follow the Minsk Accords* - and after more talk about Ukraine joining NATO and abandoning their non-nuclear stance. * (Ukrainian "nationalists" told Zelesnky they would not withdraw artillery - on video) All Trump or Biden had to do to prevent this war, was to tie any further aid to following Minsk, but they chose to ignore it- as did the German and French co-signatories, and the UN-Sec-Council, which had also signed-off. The French and Germans later admitted Minsk was just a ruse to buy time, to build up the Ukrainian military for attack.

You mean, doing the exact opposite of what he promised - just like the last time he was POTUS? I got the message by the end of 2017. But, evidently, many of those who said they supported the POLICIES he ran on (both times), yet STILL "support" him, do not have any principled positions - any more than Trump ever did. It's all "Rah, Rah, my team," and eating-up the North-Korea flavored, syrupy praise from every member of the administration - truly nauseating.

It would seem necessary for them to do this, to explain the 6-Mo permitted-stay they were stamping in the new passport, referring to a visa, which referenced the old passport. As well, I would be surprised if they did not link the old/new passports in their system when presented both of them upon entry. it will be interesting to get a 1st hand report. Please let us know what happens when you enter, @shdmn - though I would carry that old passport for every subsequent entry with that eVisa, regardless of what they stamp/write in the new passport.

A video was recently posted by someone denied-entry entering by air. Six-weeks into his 60 day VE entry, he flew out to the UK to see family - stayed for 15 days - then flew back. He was told by the I/O this was a "border run" to spite using less than 1/2 of his last entry's potential stay (60+30), being gone 15 days, and having a paid flight-out (a real ticket). Obviously, a "border runner" would have stayed the full-duration, then made a safe bounce to Cambodia - not flown all the way to the UK. A contact in Thailand he reached while in airport-detention could not reverse the denied-entry, but set up "safe entry" on his return (cost unspecified). Upon his immediate return, he was met by an IO off the plane, taken to an empty immigration booth, and stamped in. He does not state how much time he spent in Thailand last year, but mentioned a condo contract, which gives an indication. Anyone spending significant time here would be wise to use agent-help to enter Thailand - especially entering by air - and even more-so if flying from far away. What a Nightmare!!

Travelers checks are OK, too. I was using those, back in my tourist-entry days. Should only be 10K for Visa-Exempt - but better to have 20K, if worried. In addition to the wild-variance with IOs, how they treat you depends on your longer-term history in Thailand - not just how long since you last left (45 days, in your case). This is reflected in the cost of the "safe entry," at least with some providers. The service I saw advertising here was less - though also varied by history. I would guess you would be at the lower-end of the scale, given you are not doing a quick "bounce" back:

The way the 7-day extension works, one must leave once you get one - no other extension possible, after that. Hopefully the 21-day version from the BOI is different - but do let us know your experience.

I didn't know agents used that BKB branch. My guess, is they are often busy due to: 1) BKB closed a ton of branches, so the remaining ones are packed often, now. 2) It's a convenient branch for those getting their legit-paperwork for Immigration. But, thanks for the heads-up that some agents are switching banks - best if folks don't put off their extensions until the last-minute.

So, they won't change the policy for countries where the pay-rate is multiples of that in Thailand, right? Only change the policy for those with a MOTIVE to work-illegally in Thailand? This would be the sane policy.

Take a letter from your employer stating your last day of work to immigration before your job ends. They will change your permitted-stay to end on that date. Then, you can apply for an extension based on marriage. The office-policy will determine whether you can do this without having to leave the country and return. The work-permit is an issue with the labor-office, and your employer should handle this. EDIT - you can have a work-permit with a Non-O based on marriage, so no reason you would need to cancel it to qualify for the extension.

Be aware: The first 12-mo extension you get from a Non-O Visa must be for the same reason as the visa was issued. If you start with a Non-O Visa based on retirement, you could go straight to a 12-mo extension based on retirement.