BrandonJT

I've done it before. But it can get confusing because the system tries to use your computer/phone date and time in showing you the available appointments. So when I'm in the US it is showing me appointments for 8PM-5AM for example.

Officially it's this: If you are entering visa on arrival, you must be able to show 10,000 baht if individual or 20,000 baht for a family. If you are entering visa exempt, you must be able to show 20,000 baht if individual, or 40,000 baht for a family. It makes sense under the old 15/30 day scheme. Double the money for double the amount of time. It appears many immigration officers, especially at land borders, either don't know the rules or just default to the 10,000 baht so they can give the same number to everyone.

I usually stay in Huai Khrai when I'm in Thailand and was just there for 2 months ending in January. Make trips to Mae Sai fairly often. What type of information are you looking for? If I don't have answers the Thais I know who live up there may.

Being poor is expensive. Most Thais don't have any other option than to buy cheap.

Then your friend either had an emergency or lied to the embassy.

All entries to Thailand (and any country for that matter) are at the discretion of the immigration officers at border control. They can deny you entry if they want for whatever reason, it's at their discretion. There are 3 requirements to enter as a tourist, but not often asked for: 1) Proof of funds (20,000 baht in cash or equivalent in another major currency) 2) Proof of onward travel (a ticket out of Thailand within the number of days you'll be stamped in for, not counting any potential extensions) 3) Proof of lodging (most often a hotel booking for the first few nights)

You would have been fine going to Chiang Khong. You just have to spend 2 nights in Laos now (which you did in Nong Khai as well) and they might have asked to see your flight back to Germany as well as 10,000 baht in cash. Not sure if Nong Khai is enforcing those other requirements or not though. There is no such thing as a 15 day entry stamp for someone with a passport from a visa exempt country.

Your UK drivers license should be acceptable. It's one of the recommended things to use for this if it has an address on it (some country DLs do not have an address). There shouldn't be any issues accepting a bank statement from a Thai bank account showing the required visa funds.

Fast track now has automated gates as well as of about a month or two ago.

If they accept it, yes. As they need your passport number in order to file a TM30 for you.

There's no such thing as a 30 day visa exempt anymore.

In Thailand, always print everything.

Most people now leave through automated gates and do not receive an exit stamp.

There are many reasons that could trip you up if you previously used an agent that would prevent you from doing it yourself. You'll find out when you go. If they accept your application then you should be fine, otherwise they will basically tell you that they will not do it and you will either need to use an agent again or you will need to exit and start over.

You apply for the visa where you live. You'll need a copy of your lease/rental agreement at most offices and a TM30 from where you stay. The detailed list is something you need to get from your immigration office. Go there ahead of time and ask them for their handout to do a conversion to non-O retirement visa. At the same time ask them for their handout for the 1-year extension as you'll be applying for that 2 months after you apply for your visa conversion.

December

The CoR I have from Bangkok reads my name as Mr. First Middle Last. My drivers license also says Mr. First Middle Last. I can't say anything about Jomtien as I've never used either the Immigration Office or the DLT there.

In Chiang Mai there are so many factors it's difficult to say why you might be given such an answer. But I can assure you, not only is it possible for tourists to get a COR in Chiang Mai, they can also get it the next day. I know, as I got my license in Chiang Mai doing exactly this when I had visa exempt. You submit your application and ask for expedited processing. Costs 500 baht, no receipt, and you pickup the next day. Reasons that might cause them to tell you no to either getting a COR at all, or getting the next day COR: Too many people in line Already committed to too many expedited certificates for the next day Other immigration officers nearby Supervisor/superiors nearby It's a day that ends in y and the officer doesn't feel like it For Chiang Mai, either wait until there are less people in line and no one is around and ask again, or come back another day and try again.

Medical visa, no. You would have to get that before you traveled to Thailand. Medical extension, possibly. Your hospital/doctor must arrange documents that state you CANNOT leave Thailand. Not that you shouldn't, or that it won't be easy, they need to say that you are unable to travel. With that you might be able to get an extension at immigration for medical reasons. But these have been notoriously difficult to get, especially in Bangkok. Basically if you are able to go to the immigration office, in their eyes you are well enough to travel and leave Thailand. For those who are truly in bad shape the hospital has to arrange the extension for them and those are the situations where it is generally acceptable to immigration. Regardless, the first step is going to be your doctor/hospital to see if they've dealt with this before and get their support.

1) You must have a long-term visa or extension in order to get a 5-year license. Without that you will receive another 2-year renewal. This may vary from DLT office to office, but I've never heard of this particular item varying. 2) You are correct that you must have the 5-year license in order to get an IDP. You should be able to get it immediately after receipt of your 5-year license.

Possibly. But since you've already been getting annual extensions it might be possible to do yourself. Is your extension from Jomtien office and not some far flung province? This is one of the reasons people cannot do the next extension on their own. The other is that when you switch to non-O visa inside Thailand with a Pattaya agent, they get both the 90 day non-O and the 1-year extension all in the same day generally. And if both of those in your passport have the same date, every immigration office in Thailand knows you used an agent and will tell you to do so again. But in your cause if neither of the above applies, and you have the required funds in your bank account for the entire year previous, you can likely do it on your own next time.

That's literally the entire point of a re-entry permit. A multiple-entry visa does not require re-entry permits because it's multiple entry. And a re-entry permit does not make it function like a multiple entry visa, because the time on your stamp continues ticking down while you are outside of Thailand. A re-entry permit does not give you any extra time, whereas with a multiple-entry visa you get a brand new stamp with full days each time you enter.

This question comes up from time to time, and the answer, like basically every answer in Thailand, is that it depends on who you are standing in front of at passport control. You can ask the officer to not use your visa, but they generally will want to use it. Yes, they will see that you have a visa in the system. There have been reports of people who wanted to do similar to you and didn't even mention that they had a visa, and the officer asked them and then stamped them in on the visa regardless of what they wanted. The only thing you can do is ask them not to use it. If they require you to use it, you just need to get a re-entry permit (1000 baht) before you leave so that it is still valid when you return.

It doesn't have to be done on the same day. Why would it? Step 1: Get letter from company. Step 2: Cancel work permit for a future date Step 3: Cancel extension for a future date All of those things are separate, but need to be done before the date work will stop if you want extra time to leave. Otherwise you must leave the same day you stopped working.

I told you, you can do this ahead of time. You don't need to do and leave the same day. Also most immigration offices will not let you cancel the extension unless you have the cancelled work permit, so you can't just leave that to the employer.