10years

Nobody getting Sidegra? ฿100 for 1 pack of 4 50mg pills before discount. 😀

Indonesia requires 2 QR codes to complete entry. One is filling out a health questionnaire online. But apparently no one checks this. I was not asked to show this QR code. The other QR code is ostensibly for Customs but in fact is similar to the deceased TM6 arrival card. While you can go online and get the QR code before departing for Indonesia, you can wait till you pass immigration and do it at the airport by using your hand phone or the bank of PCs near Customs. This raises the question of whether they can still stop you at Customs even though you successfully slipped through immigration.

CGK. Note that there are 3 terminals. It seems like the e-gate system was already in force in T3. My experience was in T2, which might be for low-cost carriers.

The visa girl has no say in whether you're allowed to enter the country and for how long. She just checks if you're holding a passport from a country eligible for a visa on entry, then takes your money. Before, she would hand you a paper visa that you would take to the immigration officer, who would stick it on your passport if you passed scrutiny. Now, she takes your money and scans your passport. I assume that just tells the computer system that you're paid up. There is no paper visa or visa stamp. You still have to go see a IO or e-gate. Note that you can pay for a visa online before flying to Indonesia. I assume that you can bypass the visa girl in that case.

Had an interesting experience on my last trip to Indonesia that raised intriguing questions about Thailand admission possibilities in the future. Indonesia has reinstated the 30-day visa for everyone. In the past, you got a piece of paper that the immigration officer would paste in your passport. But this time the girl took my money and scanned my passport, then gave me a slip of paper. Reached immigration and was surprised to see a series of sparking new electric gates. I was confused about what to do so I proceeded to the immigration booths beyond the gates, but the IO saw the small slip of paper in my hand and waved me to the gates. Turned out it was just the receipt. All I had to do was place the passport on the scanner and pose for the camera and I was through. Totally no human interaction. No fingerprints. No entry stamp in the passport. What if Thailand adopts this unmanned arrival operation? Anyone who visits frequently dreads the flipping through the pages in your passport, the rattling off of questions like what are you doing here, are you working, no visa, how long you stay, etc. Are those days going to become fading memories.? Will there be system that flags you when you scan the passport? Or will it truly become a breeze to pass through the airport and go on your way? 😁

I forgot to add that my new passport was marked as issued on January 25. And the name of the agency is the National Passport Office.

As I said, I paid $130, which is regular service. In my case, that was for less than a month. But I did send the package by regular priority mail. It also came back by regular priority mai.

Update: Bottom line: Jan 02: mailed passport renewal application. Jan 29: "received" new passport. Less than 4 weeks. Details: 1/2: mail padded envelope by regular priority mail at post office, taking advantage of USPS's Label Broker service. Create a label, take the QR code to the post office, they print the gummy label for free and stick it on your package. Include the $130 check for 52 pages. 1/5 Bureau of Consular Affairs' Philadelphia office receives my envelope. BCA is often accused of being slow, but they were very prompt in cashing my check. 1/8 receive email stating: Application Status: In Process The U.S. Department of State has received your application for your passport book on 01/08/2024. We're now reviewing your application and supporting documents. 1/26 8:09 am receive email stating: Application Status: Approved The U.S. Department of State approved your application for your passport book. We're now printing your passport book and preparing to give it to you. 1/26 2:05 pm receive email stating: Application Status: Shipped The U.S. Department of State has shipped your passport book on 01/26/2024. We sent your passport book to you using Priority Mail. Input tracking number into USPS' website and it shows that it has received the new passport. 1/26 4:06 pm receive email stating: Application Status: In Process The U.S. Department of State has received your application for your passport book on 01/08/2024. We're now reviewing your application and supporting documents. Note that the last three emails all received on the same day. 1/30 receive new passport in my mailbox. It was out for delivery on 1/29 but never made it. 1/31 old passport sent by first-class mail. 2/5 old passport received.

Update: Bottom line: Jan 02: mailed passport renewal application. Jan 29: "received new passport". Details: 1/2: mailed padded envelope by regular priority mail at post office, taking advantage of USPS's Label Broker service. Create a label, take the qr

Thanks everyone for your replies. To clarify some points: I already purchased a 30-day roundtrip air ticket using the old passport number. I don't have an extension of stay with a reentry permit. I will try to enter visa exempt. Apparently the passport agency in the US sends you only the new passport first. It returns the old passport and any supporting documents at a later date. Does anyone know how long for the old passport to follow the new one? The old passport might not make it on time for my departure. BTW, i asked my congressman to help me get a two-year extension on my old passport because I paid for 10 years but got only 8 years of use out of it due to the pandemic. But now the law doesn't allow any extensions. I couldn't get a discount on my new passport either. This isn't as far-fetched as it sounds since my hotels and airlines, with the exception of AirAsia and Scoot, automatically extended the expiration dates of my membership cards and air mileage. And the US passport agency was frustratingly slow in renewing passports, causing travelers much grief. It should have given everyone an extra year or two.

My renewal application for a US passport is currently in process. I will enter Thailand visa exempt at Swampy after I get it. It will be completely blank. When I get to the IO at Thai immigration, how will he link the new passport to the old one? Do I need to show the expired passport along with the new one? Before I left Thailand, I managed to get the overstay stamp printed my old passport for arriving one day earlier than planned. Will the IO adorn my brand new passport with that dreaded stamp? I already purchased my air ticket online. I had to input my passport number and expiration date in the personal details section. Since I don't know the new number and expiration date, I put in my old number and made the expiration date for 2025. When I get the new passport, should I call the airline or just update the information when I check in online?

Is there an arriving fast lane at DMK? Where?

Note that there are fast lanes for departing and arriving pax at Swampy. The exit fast lane is now at the far right end. Think it's bigger too.

I was wondering about this. The last time I arrived, the IO at the door of the fast lane blocked my way and tried to send me elsewhere upon seeing my business class boarding pass. But he let me in when he saw I was over 70.

In the old days you had to pay to depart through the priority lane, so the check-in girl would give you a voucher so you wouldn't have to pay. The IOs collected the vouchers so they could charge back the airlines. Now your boarding pass will say business class on it.

Suvarnabhumi this week for a flight leaving the same day.

Male IO took my passport, flipped through it, after awhile took my fingerprints and photo, then called over another IO who escorted me to a tiny desk, stamped the dreaded overstay notice in my passport and let me through with a big smile. Neither asked me anything. No fine. Question: Getting the overstay stamp is no big deal as I'm getting a new passport anyway. But do they make some entry in their computer system that marks me as an overstayer for life?

To put it simply, the departure date on my plane ticket is one day after the date stamped in my passport.

After reading the comments, I began to harbor second thoughts about trying to fake my way on the plane. The US Embassy was letting me go there on a walk-in basis since mine was an emergency case, but then I got a email that all appointments were canceled due to a possible mass protest. Then I hit upon a plan that I was surprised wasn’t mentioned here. That is to leave a day earlier. I was considering buying a new, one-way ticket to Bangkok and worrying about any refund later. But it turns out you can “change” your flight on the website. I’ve never had to make a voluntary flight change before so didn’t know this could be done online. The website walks you through the process step-by-step. The advantages of doing this is that you can keep the same booking number with all the history of payments etc and any refunds are automatically credited to the new payment. The extra cost of changing the return leg of my trip was almost the same as what I paid for the original roundtrip ticket! I hoped that since moving my passport expiration one day out on the AirAsia website allowed me to continue check-in, bringing my flight date one day up would also allow me to check in, but couldn’t be sure about that until I tried checking in. And it worked. I was able to get my boarding pass. At the airport, I bypassed the counter and proceeded directly to immigration. At the departure waiting room, no one checked my credentials like before. Upon boarding, a ground staff used a handheld device to scan your boarding pass. Seems like any red flag shows up on the scanner. He asked the older farang guy in front of me how long he was going to be in Bangkok. When the man said he was staying overnight and flying home the next day, the staff let him go through to the plane. So I passed the first hurdle – leaving Indonesia. The second was entering Thailand. I would have to be scrutinized by immigration at Don Mueang, which is notorious for giving those with multiple visits a hard time. And this was going to be my 4th VE this year. Surprisingly, absolutely no questions asked. I breezed through my second hurdle. What I didn’t know was that I had inadvertently created a new hurdle. By returning to Bangkok a day early, I had extended my planned 30-day VE stay to 31 days.

What happens if you enter visa exempt and leave by air on the 31st day of your stay (counting your day of arrival as Day 1). Will the IO at the airport just stamp you out, bombard you with questions or subject you to a stern lecture? I understand there is no fine or special stamp in your passport.

Interesting point. Asked the US embassy in Jakarta if I could get an emergency extension of even one day. Seems like there's no such thing. They said I could submit an emergency passport application along with $130. They didn't say how long it would take to get the new passport.

On the website of the Thai Embassy in the US, there is no mention of a passport requirement for a visa exemption. But under the "Qualifications and required documents" for a Visa on Arrival, it says "Genuine Passport with at least 1-month validity and 2 blank pages." (Emphasis added).

I am flying to Thailand (Bangkok) from Indonesia (Jakarta) on the return leg of my AirAsia ticket. As mentioned above, this 6-month flag might be network-wide, irrespective of the actual destination and the origin of the passport. A US passport is reportedly valid for travel on the expiry date. So on October 29, I still have six-months validity remaining. Since my destination is Thailand, I'm hoping that I'll be allowed to board.

My USA passport expires on April 29 of next year and I booked a flight to Bangkok for October 29 (end of this month), based on confirmation from the US passport agency that my passport would still be valid for travel on October 29 as I would still have 6-month validity as of that date. But when I made a test try to check in on AirAsia's website, I get the message Passport validity is less than 6 months, please check and update valid passport details and the Continue button is shaded out. If I change the Passport expiry date to May 29, the continue button becomes available. Should I falsify my expiry date so I can board my plane? Do they really check this at the departure airport? Also, I was led to understand from this forum that Thai immigration does not impose a 6 month minimum validity requirement for visa exemption. Has anyone had any experience with this?

For what it’s worth, Microsoft Edge now comes with, not only AI, but also its own VPN baked in. No need to set it up or find a server to connect to. All you need to do is turn the feature on. It has 2 modes. One is for only those select websites that you designate in advance. The other is for optimized coverage. I found that I couldn’t get through to a website blocked by the government while using the optimized mode but had no problem accessing the website using the select site mode. So I change from optimized mode to select mode when viewing that website, then change back to general protection when I’m finished. Note that the optimized mode routes video and streaming content outside of the secure network due to the data limit of 5GB/mo.