edwardandtubs

The contract is worthless and you'll never see your deposit again.

It's not hard to say at all. There's a 24 hour grace period at airports but not land borders. As you haven't provided any details it's difficult to know what happened to you.

Yes.

This is also my experience and the last time I did it was the end of last year. I think there's a difference between asking for and insisting on a TM30. They asked me once at CW but when I said I didn't have one they just looked it up on the system. This contrasts with Laksi where they did actually send me away to get the printout. So people saying "yes you need it" are not being very helpful unless they have an experience to share where someone was actually sent away to get it.

Thank you but I'm not sure this was the problem as putting in two search dates within 7 days led to the same problem. Perhaps the issue was that the initial TM30 report had a check out date one month after the check in date and then when I booked another month no new TM30 was done. This appears to be what the 7 day message is referring to. So the apartment manager is going to do another TM30.

I've done it twice and on neither occasion was I "ushered into an office" or given an "overstay stamp" as some here are claiming. Just a small handwritten note.

I always redact my bank statement and got an SETV evisa from the London embassy without any problems.

Last time I was there they asked me for it but when I said I didn't have it they just looked it up on the system. I know if you go to extend a visa exempt at Laksi they sometimes insist on you printing a copy. Anyone have recent experience of this extending an SETV at Chaengwattana? On a related note, anyone know about a 7 day limit for searching the TM30 website? I know you can easily get it using the app but my apartment manager is trying to do it on a PC.

If you look at the sample they have on their website it doesn't look much like a fully paid up ticket, which have the logo of the travel agency like Expedia or the airline if booked direct on top. All it would take is the IO at the airport or the airline staff to say, "Where did you buy this ticket?" and you're screwed. It's great that there are no reports of this happening yet but to say there's no risk of it happening in future is not true.

I mean if you're stopped while entering at the airport and the IO wants to see your flight out. If you said, "Sure! I'll just buy this $16 one from onwardticket.com. I can't actually fly with this ticket but it is a valid reserved ticket!" they would obviously not accept it. The reason it works is not because it's "a valid reserved ticket" but because the IOs have no idea what it really is. If and when they realise people are using this website they'll stop accepting it. Anyone using it is therefore doing so at their own risk.

And if you explained all that to an immigration officer, what do you think their reaction would be?

And I'm sure if the immigration officers or airline staff knew that what you were showing them was a throwaway ticket they wouldn't accept it. It's just a matter of time before they get clued up on this and start to reject it.

Their website FAQ says, "Can I use my flight reservation to fly? No, this is a flight reservation only. Please contact us if you want to pay for the flight to receive a ticket you can use to travel." That seems like an unambiguous "No" to me. The "please contact us" sentence appears to refer to a different service that has nothing to do with the "flight reservation only" service.

Excellent news in theory but will it be a full-size store? Central bangkok shopping malls don't typically have the space available in a place like Mega Bangna.

How could it be fully paid for though? The "agent" doesn't offer that service.

No that's not fraud because the requirement is only to show a ticket at the time of check in that can in fact be used to fly you out of the country.

Not apples and oranges at all. Both involve making a fraudulent misrepresentation to the airline, ie a claim that you have a ticket to fly to an onward destination, which you don't in fact have. Neither is actually going to get you to the place you're (dishonestly) claiming to go. Rent a ticket appears to have worked so far but there's no guarantee that's going to continue. They both work because the airlines are not fussy enough to check.

I'm not saying it doesn't work just that there's no guarantee based on the notion that it's a "genuine" ticket. Provide one post where an edited pdf has been rejected. Both of them work but only one is free.

Whether it's a "genuine" reservation or not is irrelevant. If they are going to inspect your ticket, they're clearly going to want a ticket that can in fact be used to fly you out of Thailand. What are you going to say if the person checking your ticket points out that what you've shown them is clearly from the onwardticket website and can't actually be used with any airline?

Last time I applied I arrived at the same time as someone who paid the 200 baht while I filled in the form myself. No difference in the time it took. I suppose if you have a phobia for form form filling then it's a nice service but there's no real benefit.

As the story comes from Thaiger you'll have to ask ChatGPT.

I was pulled aside because I tried to enter visa exempt but in the waiting area I checked my email and my SETV had arrived a couple of hours before landing. This was a definitely a factor in the head IO's more relaxed attitude so to be ultra cautious the OP and his girlfriend might consider getting one.

The official VIP fast track immigraton service will be of absolutely no help to you at all. You can contact an agent and they offer dodgy services where you meet a "helpful" immigration officer in another part of the airport and they give you a fast track entry but as others have said, clearly not necessary in your case. A lot of people are talking about being "questioned" by immigration, which sounds mysterious and rather scary but having been through it myself, it really isn't. Here's what happened. The IO at the gate you queue up at spent ages scrutinising my entries on his computer. He didn't say a word to me but contacted someone on one of the official smartphones you can see on the desk. Another immigration officer came to get me and took me to a corner where there's an office, some desks and a waiting area with lots of seats. About 20 people are waiting there, mostly from the Middle East, India and Africa. He gave me a form to fill in and told me to wait an hour to speak to the IO in charge. The form just asks you how much money you have in cash, the accommodation you'll be staying in and your return flight number and date. When the IO in charge came over I wouldn't say I was "questioned". We just chatted about my holiday plans and then she said I needed to buy a ticket that returned me to the UK within 90 days. Everyone was polite.

I just uploaded the hotel booking document again and got the visa no problem. I think in general the advice to create a "not applicable to tourist visa" jpg is unnecessary. It's easier just to upload the same document twice. You can do that with the proof of residence document (just upload your passport again).

It's good of you to share one of your fantasies with the forum.