Rob Browder

So, you DIY'd your Non-O 90-Day and 1st Year of extension. I see no reason an agent would have a problem doing your next 1-Year extension. If it was your FIRST 1-year extension after a DIY Non-O 90-day, then maybe an issue - but I doubt it.

Seasoning for 2 months before a 1-year extension application is standard for "in the bank" funds, though we sometimes see reports of offices demanding 3 months (happened to me at a remote-office). Some require a minimum of 400K for 'combo' applications - some won't do combos at all. If I had to guess from what you reported, your office want the 150K for 3 months. I'd show up with more in that account (200K+), seasoned the full 3 months.

Were you planning on using land-borders or an airport for additional visa-exempt entries? Even with an METV, you could be hassled, depending on where you use it. If going the visa-exempt route ... If land-entries, you will need to stay out a night or two when bouncing to Laos, possibly showing a ticket to your home-country (figure fully refundable one), hotel-booking in Thailand, and 10K Baht cash, upon return. Alternatively, pay an agent/van service to do same-day returns via Cambodia - possibly also same-day via agent at one location near Chiang Mai to Laos. If bouncing by air, on the 2nd entry you would need to have a flight-out + hotel booking + 10K Baht to show. Starting with the 3rd entry, you would need to start paying an agent for "pre-cleared entry" to return without risk of being rejected-entry.

I would apply in Cambodia vs Laos, based on recent reports.

Exactly - which is the problem. So, under Trump (as with previous POTUSes) Americans will keep getting poorer due to a labor-market so flooded, that wages don't keep up with inflation. Sure, there are "job openings" - but few pay enough to live beyond "hand to mouth." Then, they say "Americans don't want THOSE jobs," when the problem is the pay, not the occupation/work. Employers will say, "But I can't pay more, because my competition is hiring foreigners who will live 10-to-a-room" - which is why the laws prohibiting employing illegals must be enforced, and the work-visas stopped, to stop this cycle of poverty.

Homan the "hardliner" has already walked this back to the same old "Bad Hombres Out" policy of Obama. Trump was even MORE liberal (i.e. "weak") than Obama on the border - opened the child-detention facilities by exec-order, etc. Trump just "talks tough" on illegal-immigration. So, if they are NOT an illegal-alien who is helping depress-wages and take jobs from Americans (Trump hired them, too) - and therefore getting into trouble with the law to get money - then they might have problems. Trump and the MSM-Right media will make as much noise about those deportations as possible, to DISTRACT from the fact that the vast majority of Americans whose lives have been destroyed by immigrant-replacement and falling-wages, are as a direct result of the so-called "good" immigrants, who will not be targeted. MSM-Left will act like these involve mass-deporting "good" immigrants, and show lots of crying people. See "Tag-Team" - avoiding the primary issue Americans want resolved = their Careers back at Middle-Class pay. Trump also backed Musk's play to INCREASE legal immigration, even as the numbers show Americans being fired by the tens of thousands by the same companies hiring foreigners via those visas - and that the "jobs recovery" post-covid was almost entirely net foreign hires. Neither "flavor" of MSM will talk about that very much.

Interesting. ~ two years ago, I had that problem with one of my SIMs, but not the other. They are different providers. The SSO law is here: https://www.mol.go.th/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/07/social_security_act_2533_sso_1.pdf ... but I think the one you need is for your "rights" to a yellow-book / pink-id. I think the best thing for your case would be something from the SSO stating you need it to apply for the benefits. Maybe your local SSO office has something in writing. Hopefully the hotline can assist.

I got this too - "name must be in Thai script." All the banks said it was illegal for them to create an account w/o my passport # as the ID. Maybe the Rayong SSO office will still let you register a "farang" bank-account for payment, so do not have to pay at 7/11 every month - are purportedly more friendly there.

For money - because that money employs Thais. The oddball drunk is not new, but a fraction of those coming in. We just hear about more of it now, thanks to everyone having a video-camera in their phone/hand + social-media.

Agree - but wise to have one's documentation ready. "Outliers" are most bad-reports - until it happens to you. An IO questioning why the DTV was not obtained in the foreigners passport-country doesn't seem surprising for Thai IOs, who seem to think coming here to spend money too much/often is some sort of "grand conspiracy against Thailand." The closest thing to this report was from some Russians coming back with a DTV from Cambodia - asked to show proof-of-payment to the consulate for the DTV (receipt), then were let in.

At a border near Chiang Rai, one report indicated they were demanding (of non-agent customers only) the overnight (or 2) in Laos, a flight "back to your passport country" and proof of payment for it, to bypass the "rent a ticket" system. Anyone flying-solo on border-bounces should be prepared for a "worst case" - a fully-refundable ticket to one's passport-country + rental-accommodation for the next stay in Thailand + staying a couple nights in the border-country. This is what I always did (now on retirement). I often stayed overnight somewhere mid-way in Thailand on the way back, as well. Getting up at 4AM for a high-speed minivan ride at 5AM is not my cup of tea - makes me nauseous. If they did them at a reasonable hour, it would be more appealing. If I had to do this in the future, I'd make my own way to the border-crossing the day before, spend the night, then meet the agent-van at 10AM at the border.

How long ago did you do this at Rayong? I know it varied by office initially, but the main-office in Bangkok (area) said it was required when I applied (successfully) 2+ years ago. Yes - if you wish to apply to get into the Thai SS-Health plan, after quitting a job, it is required. (caveat Rayong, if above report is current-year - but I think is not possible any more without it) For others, many opinions on whether "worth the trouble" or not - but the OP has that specific case/need. IMO, the delay at some amphoes is to "time you out" on getting into the SS-system. Some in officialdom seem to resent our doing this.

Yours is not the first case where a local-office said we needed to keep doing them repeatedly - even if not leaving, and living in the same place continually.

Checking for the brown-envelope, which bypasses the financials?

So ... this is only required of Indians, right? Just sarcasm - but insane to do this to everyone over ONE office and ONE foreign ethnicity. If the applicant is from a country where "under the table" illegal-work in Thailand pays more than a legit-job where they come from, then it makes some sense to apply more scrutiny. Note also that this change added about 10K Baht to the cost of an agent-acquired marriage-based extension to cover the district sign-off.

That is not the case at all - that most Thai smiles to us are "fake." Thais are generally very kind, nice people. Everywhere has some jerks/racists, and those concentrate in certain govt-depts here, IME. As far as how customers are treated, of course business-owners/staff "smile" at customers for business reasons. Staff complaining about customers out of earshot? Same as anywhere else. Customers are often a PITA - especially those who never worked retail/restaurants/etc themselves / stood in the other's shoes. Of course, "beggars" should not be here at all - should not be Thai's responsibility to pay for them - and the same attitude should prevail in our passport-countries, if "our" govts respected us / our interests at all.

Nice straw man - implying every Thai job. In any case - the expats living in the sticks spend locally - which is helpful, but not the majority of the support-funds. Many of the family members of those Thai households work in tourist areas, and send part of their earnings (derived from tourist's and expat's funds) home. Other family-members are gf/wives of expats living in tourist-areas, and those expats fund the "send home" money.

For us, it was a long drive, and literally the entire day at Immigration - 3 officers reviewing the paperwork/pics/etc. Then for the home-visit, need 2 witnesses - so, must pay 2 local Thais (not family members) to show up and sit around eating/drinking until immigration arrives, gets their id/housebook info, etc.

Cambodia via agent works. To do by air, if worried about hassle from immigration on return, that is because they want you to use their agent-friend to "pre-clear" your return entry: https://aseannow.com/topic/1336926-setv-metv-still-around-now-that-visa-exempts-are-now-60-days/?do=findComment&comment=19217493 ... or this one: https://www.facebook.com/srthaivisaservices/

Unless you pay their agent-friend for each entry - then you can stay here indefinitely as a tourist on border-bounces. "Not Paying them off," is what they are trying to stop.

Definitely print it out. Make a color-copy, so the landlord's (ex-gf's) signature is in blue.

That is crazy - one can usually get that 60-days "visit wife" extension on any type of entry. A 12-mo extension is a different thing - the 1st one must be based on the same reason as a Non-O visa's reason. It could be an "encourage agent use" policy.

"Millions of families" or "half" of them - who said that? Straw-Man much? The fact is, a LOT of families in Issan are supported by funds we spend into the Thai economy, which make their jobs exist. That is 100% True.

A couple of guys from India who used it to work illegally? Those were the "fake marriage" cases cited in the news, which I recall. A Thai wife - even a "fake" one - would cost more than most agent-solutions currently on-the-table. Maybe immigration was mad the Thai wife was getting too large a cut of "their" action? When the agent-cost for marriage-based went up to 35K Baht, following the change, they "fixed" that problem.

Not if taken from funds earned before Jan 1, 2024. Also, for some with dual-tax treaties, not if the source of funds is from a state-pension.