rwilem

Just out of curiosity, I checked Lazada. The Note 12 G96 phone, 8GB/128GB model, is selling for 5000 baht. Infinix Thailand store, a LazMall seller. (I have no financial interest in the product, ha!)

I got an Infinix Note 11s about a year-and-a-half ago, for a good price (8 GB/128 GB, 6000 baht) on Lazada. Pretty popular item selling well at that time. Good phone, initial impression was good and that continued. And the phone looks great, too. XOS is not a bad skin, can just ignore/turn off some extras. The Note 12 series is out now, running at about the same cost or less, and as another post above noted the Zero 5G is out as well. Infinix may be flying under the radar but the phones are good, and are pretty good value in my opinion. I'm a satisfied customer. Oh, and I have not experienced overheating when charging. The recent models have fast-charging, and the battery drains at a slow rate, at least that's my experience with the Note 11s.

A 'block' can also be used in place of the word 'street' or 'avenue'. In the case above, the meaning might be, 'two streets away'. Distance not implied, rather proximity to the office.

Did you guys do the 'check status' of your accepted submission on the website? Sometimes the email telling one of its approval does not get sent (or ends up in the junk folder.) Do a 'check status'; you'll see whether it's still pending, or if it's been approved/rejected.

You did end up re-submitting and getting it approved, I take it? Even without the 'required' mark on the field, best to fill it in, it's kind of the key piece of info on one's status.

Yes, it's easy to do both, get the extension and then the re-entry permit the same day using the appointment system. This is at CW. Good rule of thumb is to make the re-entry appointment about an hour fifteen minutes after the extension appointnent. (Re-entry appointments are offered 15 minutes apart from each other.) Even if you get to the re-entry booth later than your appointed time---which I did one year when it took 50 minutes (a record!) for my passport to be returned to me at the extension section--with my appointnent booking in hand the re-entry staff just waved me in.

Pretty good flash price there, looks to be a great deal for that phone. Very popular model, selling well.

Should be easy to find a battery on Lazada. Usually on OEM battery, and if you're not up to doing the replacement, the phone markets usually have a few shops that'll change it out for a couple hundred baht.

Not a big player, but Infinix makes some good quality budget phones. I picked up an Infinix Note 11s a year ago on Lazada, in good part due to its outstanding sound output and its bigger screen size. Quite happy with it. Now the Infinix Note 12 is out and can be bought for less than 5000 baht on Lazada for the 6GB/128GB variant, and less than 6000 baht for the 8/256 one. You might want to have a look into these phones.

The appointment system introduced about three or four years ago has been a game-changer. Retirement extensions are pretty smooth, everything can be completed within an hour's time. Not a biggie to do it yourself, manage your own extension particulars. Keeps you clued up, too, on immigration matters, which is not a bad thing. If you would not be able to do it yourself, because of not being able to meet the requirements, then, of course, an agent's services would be the obvious way to go.

Yep, CW's never been a quick approval on the 90-day online reports. Some folks have waited more than a week, and in some cases had not received a result by the deadline day. (Necessitating a trip out to the office to do it in-person....ouch!)

Plus, from the website's 'check status' page there is a 'receipt of notification' column. For your approved submission you can hit the pdf icon in that column to download a copy of it. So from either the email or the website you can get the pdf.

Maybe a new trend will be starting at CW? It's regarding the turnaround time from a 90-day report online submission to approval. It's always taken from 3-4 days minimum to six days maximum to get a result. This time, submitted on Wednesday evening, about 7:45 PM. 'After hours', so to speak, office hours. Didn't bother to check the status yesterday. Checked it just now, expecting to see pending, and half-expecting to be waiting till next Tuesday (with Monday being a holiday) until I'd see a result. But no, that expectation was dashed. I was pleasantly surprised to see an 'Approved', and furthermore, to see that it had been approved yesterday, in the early afternoon. Not even 24 hours! At CW, that's a record, at least in my case. Good news, hope it's something that continues out there.

That's it in a nutshell, especially trying to enter through that border post.

Depends. Border run, extension, yeah. But say a guy has some reasons to want to stop in at Bangkok, has some other business or things to do, doesn't have to have to be all about the immigration issues. That works, too.

I get that, too. This was ten years ago, and my recall for what the situation was then--the first extension--was not going to be a one day deal, for the under consideration. It was going be some time, I want to say a month even, and the word confirmed by trustworthy, experienced guys there. That's what spurred me to just do it in Bangkok, to be done with all of it in one go on extension day.

Understood, and I know what he's doing. Making clear, even with the extra step involved for him, doing it all in Bangkok, or elsewhere, is an alternative worth giving some thought to, instead of being captive to the roadblocks at Jomtien.

Let me clean this up, too late to edit Not too sure about that. The TM-30 doesn't necessarily require a leaving date. I almost the same thing, though years ago. Staying in Pattaya, but I went to Bangkok to do the one-year extension to a single-entry 90-day Non-O. Stayed at a guesthouse, made sure a TM-30 was filed. Went to CW just to deal with an on-the-up-and-up office, And my research here informed me there'd be no 'under consideration' period, uf I did it in Bangkok. Friends in Pattaya assured that I'd get an 'under consideration' period, that was the Jomtien practice. Who wants that? (They also thought Bangkok, too, would do that. I had read the reports, and It was worth it to me to just go to Bangkok and take care of it in one go there.) Only needed the single trip to CW, as I already had the Non-O visa. I met the requirements, and got the one-year extension, without 'under consideration'. Back in Pattaya a few days later, I recall some of the 'old hands' there were quite surprised. But that was the easier way for me, in my case. You have an extra step to negotiate, but you won't have any two-month rogue seasoning requirement to deal with. Even with the extra step for you doing it there might be the smoothest path. Though an agent can make everything right for you in Pattaya, too, this is true

And if you are checking email for the result notification, make a point of checking the spam folder. Sometimes emails from Immigration make in-box, sometimes they end up in the junk folder. Anyway, best just to check the status on the website. The result seems to show there earlier than the time the a 'results' email is received.

A TM-30 requires you to state the entire time of stay. One night in a hotel or guesthouse doesn't meet that requirement for non-imm O 90 day stay Not too sure about that. The TM-30 doesn't necessarily require a leaving date, when I've done my own. I did this, though not quite the same thing years ago. Staying in Pattaya, but I went to Bangkok to do the one-year extension to a single-entry 90-day Non-O acquired in the home country. Stayed at a guesthouse, made sure a TM-30 was filed. Reason I went to CW was just to deal with an on-the-up-and-up office, and knowing from my research I'd get my passport back at the time of the extension with no 'under consideration' period. Friends in Pattaya had assured me that I'd get an 'under consideration' period there, as the folks in Pattaya were telling me that would be the case if I did this at the Jomtien office. They also thought I'd get that in Bangkok, too, but my reading all the reports here informed me I'd be done and out the day of the extension application. I didn't want have the thing held up a month, so I went to Bangkok. Just a single trip, because I already had that Non-O visa, met the requirements, and got the one-year extension, and of course, no 'under consideration' review or anything. Back in Pattaya a few days later, I recall some of the 'old hands' there were astonished that it was all done. They had actually thought I was screwing up by going to Bangkok to do it. But that was the easier way for me, in my case. You have an extra step to negotiate, but doing it there could still be the smoothest path. But an agent can make everything right for you in Pattaya, too, this is true.

Nope, a hotel or guesthouse will be sufficient. That will be the address you use on the application form. Even better, check that the place will file a TM-30, that'll make it official.

This too, is what I would advise, if you prefer to get the ball rolling without using an agent. Up to the OP. The Bangkok office, CW, unlike the one at Jomtien, doesn't go rogue. Take care of business there and the OP can be squared away without having to deal with Jomtien's wildcat requirement.

Yep, as you say 'walk up service' is it for the certificates at CW. Not on the list for appointment bookings. Can take some time to complete it there, depending on the turnout for business at the B desks.

Hey, there you are. OK, entry stamp for a 45-day visa-exempt was in the now-expired passport. The new one had the 30-day extension. And so when exiting at the land border, they copied the entry stamp into the new one? And at a charge of 500 baht. Been in the same situation at the airport, but I don't believe the expired tourist visa/entry stamp was transferred (I was also on a 30-day extension to the tourist visa). Nope, at the airport just could see immigration was updating their record of my entry/exit history on the now-expired passport and connecting it to my new passport number. Took a few minutes, but no problem, on my way after that. At a land border, certainly more 'discretion' comes into play. What all did they do in your case? Seems that nothing should have been required to be put in the new passport, that seems odd. But maybe a case of 'make work/play for pay?' Well, at least you did beat the agent!

I think you may have mistaken the email informing the report has been submitted, is accepted, with the one that would tell you it's approved or not. After being accepted, the submission is 'under review' before a result (approved/rejected) is provided. At CW, the 'under the hood' process will take anywhere from a few days to several, or more, depending on the backlog, holidays, etc. Some offices provide same day results, but CW doesn't. So when you submit online at CW, you're looking at at least three days, and could be longer. You can check the status of your submission at the website; it'll show pending until there's a result. In my experience, the result email comes a little later than the result one can view on the website. A successful report will always have the due date for the next one.