My guide to online E-visa applications via London Thai Embassy (60-day SETV by post)

[Senior Player]

I’ve written this guide to help those in the UK and Ireland who have struggled with their online visa application that’s recently been introduced to the London Thai Embassy on 15 June 2019. This guide is only to be used in conjunction with the rules and regulations laid out on the embassy’s own step-by-step guide, and acts as an extra level of assistance in the whole process.

First thing to do is create an E-visa account and log-in. This is relatively straightforward so I won’t be covering that here as there’s already another thread that does this.

Now, assuming that you’ve managed to create an E-visa account without any hassle and have successfully logged-in, I’ll begin to take you through the whole online process and all its requirements, plus any problems I encountered along the way in the form of NOTES. Being fully prepped beforehand will help get you through this frustrating process and hopefully complete it without tearing all your hair out.

Most importantly, you must ensure that you have a scan of your passport biodata page and have it saved as a JPG that doesn’t exceed 200KB. Next, you will need a photo of yourself taken within the last 6 months, plus a recent bank statement showing sufficient funds, along with something confirming proof of legal residence (I scanned my passport biodata page and wrote: “I confirm that I’m a British citizen” below it, then signed it afterwards). In addition, you will also need a flight number and its booking reference (more on that later), plus an accommodation confirmation (more on that later too). You will also need a printer due to the 2 documents that you’ll need to print-off and sign.

NOTE: For those that aren’t tech savvy and don’t know how to resize a JPG, you can do this by visiting a free online service and uploading your original files there. I used www.imgonline.com.ua, which compresses your JPG and allows you to download it for free as a 200KB file straight to your device and ready to use. A good tip is to rename the file so you can distinguish which one is which.

 

Now that you have all your JPGs resized and available, let’s look at Step 1 which is within the first yellow folder titled Apply For Visa just to the right of your blue profile folder on your home dashboard. First, you’ll need to check for eligibility. This is straightforward for any UK citizens. After you’ve pressed “Continue” you’ll be taken to Step 2, which is your Purpose of Visit and type of passport info.

NOTE: Your “Purpose of Visit” will vary depending on your own circumstances. Mine was for a SETV (60-day TR) so I’ll guide you through that process. As soon as you’ve completed this section, you’ll be taken to Step 3 where you’ll be required to upload your passport biodata page and recent separately-taken photo. Once this is done, it’ll either say PASS directly below or FAIL (it might take a few seconds for both these messages to be displayed). Fortunately, mine were passed without any hitches. This sequence differs from the video tutorial, and I was surprised to see it included here at this early stage ahead of Step 5. (I’m a little hazy on exactly when this came up but I know it was well before Step 5).

In Step 3, fill in the fields that are required. In the phone number space, you’ll need to select UK (+44) and whatever your own phone number is (home or mobile), but remember to omit the first 0 from your entire phone number, otherwise it won’t process properly. The Travel Documents section is your passport details. However, the Travel Information is where it can become a bit tricky if you haven’t booked a flight or are still unsure on what dates you want to travel on. My advice is to give them some approximated dates and a flight number that are close to what and when you’re intending on using. Mine was for 60-days, so my dates reflected this. Next section will be Place of Stay in Thailand with the accommodation options below it. You will need to input some information here. Myself, I booked a hotel for just 2-nights with an option to cancel it on Agoda and printed this off, regardless of whether I was going to stay in a rented condo after those first 2-nights. It was only this hotel information that I gave, and not the latter. After that section is Occupation and Salary. Pretty self-explanatory.

Once this is complete, you will need to print-off the declaration. You must sign this first, then scan it, ready to upload for Step 5. This is called Supporting Documents. As you’ve already uploaded your passport biodata page and recent photo at Step 2, you will NOT be required to do it again here. Instead, you will need to upload your declaration, bank statement, proof of accommodation, confirmation of legal residence, and flight details all in the form of a JPG that doesn’t exceed the 200KB file size. All these areas are required for the 60-day SETV and sadly cannot be bypassed. Having all these documents uploaded will allow you to continue, otherwise you’ll just get “This value is required” and you’ll need to make the necessary upload.

NOTE: The flight confirmation was the only major drawback for me as I didn’t want to pay for both flights without first knowing whether my visa had been approved. What I did was use the Thai Airways website and go through the process of booking a flight, inputting my personal details, but NOT paying for the flights, instead placing them on a 24-hour hold. I then waited for an automated confirmation email to be sent to me from Thai Airways that had this information on it. It was this email that I did a screen capture of and printed that out. I then scanned it and uploaded it to the Supporting Documents stage. 

Once you click Done it will ask you whether you wish to start another application. As I was the only one applying, I clicked “No” and was taken to Submit application to embassy/consulate in person. As I was sending mine by post, I clicked on Submit application by post. The choice is entirely your own. Next, if you’re using the postal service, you will be required to provide an address for the return documents, eg: where you’re currently living. Above this there’ll be a list of documents that you’ll also need to send along with your passport. That’s everything that you originally scanned and uploaded in Step 5, including a recent photo. For the flight details, I printed the email “unpaid” confirmation sent from Thai Airways and below it I wrote: “To be paid in full once my visa has been approved”.

Now that your application is complete, you will need to submit it.

NOTE: This again is where the video tutorial differs from my own experience. I found that I wasn’t redirected to E-payment straight away. Instead, I had to go back to my profile page and access “Finish Pending Visa Application” which is the second yellow folder. Once inside, I went straight to the bottom line below “Inquiry” that read: Showing 2 to 2 of 2 entries. It was the last completed one that I had to click on before clicking Submit Visa Application. I’m unsure as to why this occurred—maybe this was due to me having 2 files already sitting in that folder, one incomplete and the other completed? Basically, if you’ve saved another application but then started a new one, you’ll need to bin the unused one first if you want to go straight to E-payment without this occurring. If you accidently did it my way, just make sure you send the correct one marked “complete” alongside status.

It was after this final submission that I was eventually redirected to the E-payment section. Submitting the card details was easy. It was waiting for the payment to go through which took the majority of the time. As soon as you submit payment, you will get a replacement screen that informs you: “Please stay on this page. It may take a few minutes.”

NOTE: In actual fact this was displayed on my computer screen for well over 1-hour with no change or confirmation of payment. Frustrated, I contacted my bank and was told that the money had immediately cleared my own account but the transaction was still pending due to the merchants (Kasikorn Bank PCL) still not claiming the payment in Thailand. Essentially, everything was OK my end, but was being held-up by the slow Thai banking system at their end. Another 30 minutes passed and I headed to this forum to discuss it with some other members that had experienced something similar. Fortunately, @taninthai advised me to just open up another window, login again on my profile page and go to the Checking Status (that’s the third yellow folder). He was indeed correct (thank you, pal)—the money had been paid in full after a couple of hours and the 2 files I needed to download were already waiting for me there, despite the original window still displaying “Please stay on this page.” I only point this glitch out in case others might have a similar problem when they submit their own card payments and wonder why it’s taking forever and not just a few minutes like the onscreen message says.

 

With all that completed, you can now breathe a huge sigh of relief and congratulate yourself on getting this far. However, there’s still one more thing to be done and that’s print-off the second page of the E-Appointment PDF that has your barcode, photo and personal details which you’ve just downloaded from your Checking Status folder. You’ll need to sign the print-off at the bottom too. You’ll also get 2 other useless printed pages alongside this E-Appointment page that gives you a receipt and your own passport info. It’s the page with the barcode that’s important here. You’ll need to put this in the post, signed, along with all your other required documents, or take it with you if you’re making an appointment in person.

I sent my package by Royal Mail’s special delivery (£6.60) with it arriving the following day at 11.45am. I stuck a pre-addressed envelope inside, but as my sub Post Office didn’t have the necessary facilities available to do pre-paid return, so I had to stick a £10 note in with it.

Using the website’s own E-visa online tracking service for the very first day of my passport’s delivery it simply read: Pending for approve. The following day at 9:27 it read: Print sticker (I’m assuming that this was the actual visa itself). At 15:17 the same day it then read: No data available in table. Don’t be alarmed if you see this message as it means that the embassy has most likely completed your visa and posted it back to you already. For the record, I didn’t get an onscreen message informing that it had been processed, nor did I receive any email confirmation, either. The following day, at 12.20, I received my visa/passport by Royal Mail. Everything was done satisfactorily and within 3 working days. Job done!!

 

I hope this helps some of you who have struggled with this whole online E-visa business. I must stress again that my own application was just for the 60-day SETV by post, though there’s very little difference between the alternative apply in-person option, apart from the embassy appointment times. If you’re applying for a different type of visa, then you might find that certain details might vary from my own experience, but you’re more than welcome to add your own observations below mine, if you so wish.

[SunsetT]

Thanks Senior Player. Im just about to start an application (Ive been waiting for my last visa to expire) so Im sure your info. will be invaluable.

 

Can I ask if, with all your successive attempts to log in and continue, did u have to re-enter your application ref. every time? And did u initially write it down as I advised in my thread on this? If u recall I lost my almost completed application as I failed to write this down as soon as it appeared and when out of the blue the 'error return to home' message' appeared and when I returned to the home page I was unable to continue where I left off without the application ref. It would be a good idea to also warn people about this in your excellent step by step guide.

Edited August 16, 2019 by SunsetT

[Senior Player]

27 minutes ago, SunsetT said:

Thanks Senior Player. Im just about to start an application (Ive been waiting for my last visa to expire) so Im sure your info. will be invaluable.

 

Can I ask if, with all your successive attempts to log in and continue, did u have to re-enter your application ref. every time? And did u initially write it down as I advised in my thread on this? If u recall I lost my almost completed application as I failed to write this down as soon as it appeared and when out of the blue the 'error return to home' message' appeared and I returned to home I was unable to continue where I left off without the application ref.

That's ok @SunsetT I hope it's helpful to you. With regards to the actual login, once you've registered your account by clicking on the verification link that's been sent to your email address, it's pretty much plain sailing from there on out. The only thing you need to login each time is the email address that you supplied and your password. You'll have to type in one of those authentication codes that determines whether you're a bot or not, but other than that, you go straight through to your profile page that has everything on it. There's no need to write down anything else.

 

If you haven't been sent an email verification link after registering your account after completing it, then I assume your account was never properly registered nor activated and you'll need to do it again until you receive one. As you pointed out in another thread, you need to omit the first 0 from your phone number (home or mobile) and set it at UK (+44). That was the only thing I thought you had trouble with? If your home number is a Thai one, then the same thing applies and you'll have to omit the 0 at the start of your phone number.

Edited August 16, 2019 by Senior Player

[Senior Player]

1 hour ago, SunsetT said:

And did u initially write it down as I advised in my thread on this? If u recall I lost my almost completed application as I failed to write this down as soon as it appeared and when out of the blue the 'error return to home' message' appeared and when I returned to the home page I was unable to continue where I left off without the application ref. It would be a good idea to also warn people about this in your excellent step by step guide.

I've just seen your re-edited post above with additional information. I honestly don't recall ever being given an application ref when I was creating my account. Once I'd completed my User Profile, I just clicked on CREATE and a verification email was sent directly to my email address, which I then had to click on to activate my account. Once it was activated, I could then login with my password and email address. 

 

Perhaps you need to clear your web browser's cache first then start all over again? Alternatively, you can always use a different email address to the one you first supplied. It seems you never created the profile, nor activated it, so I would suggest doing it again.

[BuckBee]

what a messy system, I use to do setv quite a bit for trips to thailand but simply won't bother any more as not worth the hassle or offers good value for the ever growing charges .
Why they could not use a proper simple evisa like cambodia been doing for about a decade where you get a visa simply at designated entry points is beyond logic .
It basically a huge step backwards in efficiency and made setv more hassle than it worth in many cases.

I rarely pre book accommodation and generally never book onward flight as like keep it fully flexible and make my mind up closer to the time ....

 

On a side note do airline checkin want see onward flight for setv or they still happy allow boarding if you got a setv .

 

Edited August 16, 2019 by BuckBee

[Senior Player]

40 minutes ago, BuckBee said:

On a side note do airline checkin want see onward flight for setv or they still happy allow boarding if you got a setv .

I entirely agree with you about it being a messy system. The Cambodian visa you could always get relatively easy on arrival if you're prepared to queue up and wait for it. I don't know if that's changed recently?

 

I'm not entirely sure what you're asking me @BuckBee? Do you mean is it necessary to have a ticket pre-booked for your return flight before you check-in at your outbound flight? I think the answer is yes, but that's down to the discretion of whatever airline you're flying out on. Personally, I'll be booking a return flight when I book my outbound one, so it won't be a problem for me as I only intend to stay within the 60-days and not extend my visa.

Edited August 16, 2019 by Senior Player

[BuckBee]

you could do cambodia visa online and they email you visa acceptance document you print out then you simply got a evisa stamp at any evisa entry point, was simple and smart and been in use around 10 years, why thailand didn't do similar is beyond logic ????

 

As for flights I wondering if airlines requesting onward booking these days for those with setv as it was never required before by airlines if you had a valid visa as thailand only requested onward flights for visa exempt entry ...

[Senior Player]

32 minutes ago, BuckBee said:

you could do cambodia visa online and they email you visa acceptance document you print out then you simply got a evisa stamp at any evisa entry point, was simple and smart and been in use around 10 years, why thailand didn't do similar is beyond logic ????

 

As for flights I wondering if airlines requesting onward booking these days for those with setv as it was never required before by airlines if you had a valid visa as thailand only requested onward flights for visa exempt entry ...

I've never applied online for the Cambodian visa, I've always done mine upon arrival at Phnom Penh or Siem Reap airport, but I trust it's much simpler than the Thai one and doesn't require so much work on the applicant's part. 

 

I'm afraid I don't know the answer about onward flights with a SETV. Personally, I always plan on a return date so always have my return flight booked and already paid for.  

[ThaiBunny]

25 minutes ago, Senior Player said:

I've never applied online for the Cambodian visa, I've always done mine upon arrival at Phnom Penh or Siem Reap airport, but I trust it's much simpler than the Thai one and doesn't require so much work on the applicant's part.

Cambodia (SETV for 30 days), Turkey and India (METV for, in India's case, one year) are a piece of cake and wholly online. Thailand is way behind on this one. And for visa exempt entries, Malaysia has had a 60-day standard since at least the 1990s

Edited August 16, 2019 by ThaiBunny

[lamyai3]

10 hours ago, Senior Player said:

I’ve written this guide to help those in the UK and Ireland who have struggled with their online visa application that’s recently been introduced to the London Thai Embassy on 15 June 2019.

I think you have the dubious honour of being the first person to report back on successfully completing a tourist visa application through the new UK e-visa system. It seems several orders of magnitude more difficult than any visa I obtained for here previously. 

[tonbridgebrit]

Hello Senior Player. Great to read this. I feel better now. Applying for a SETV should be easier than I thought, after reading this. Thanks.

[Denim]

Thanks to the OP for taking the trouble to post this thread.

 

I have learnt something from his experience. That I will never ever apply for any kind of visa from the UK Thai embassy in future. This whole procedure will inevitably result in fewer applications from people who are not necessarily commited to visiting Thailand for more than a few weeks. They will simply pass through Thailand and spend their money elsewhere. 

 

Edited August 17, 2019 by Denim

[liddelljohn]

I found the E Visa  application in UK hopeless,, I cant pre book flights due to my work status ,, even though i have a wife , kids and home in Thailand and house in UK

more than enough money    4 applications  failed cant get ME O visa  cant get SE O visa either ,,   im totally frustrated ,  As an offshore worker im going to have to do a visa in Vietnam or somewhere

23 years married ,,   does not count jack shit

Suvarnabhumi immigration told me  back in March when i left thailand  if i dont arrive with a METV O visa I wont be allowed in ???? 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 17, 2019 by liddelljohn

[jacko45k]

3 hours ago, liddelljohn said:

Suvarnabhumi immigration told me  back in March when i left thailand  if i dont arrive with a METV O visa I wont be allowed in ???? 

It seems odd that you would be told this on the way out. 

If money no prob... how about an Elite?

[Senior Player]

8 hours ago, lamyai3 said:

I think you have the dubious honour of being the first person to report back on successfully completing a tourist visa application through the new UK e-visa system. It seems several orders of magnitude more difficult than any visa I obtained for here previously. 

It certainly feels that way @lamyai3 I'm surprised there hasn't been more people reporting on this new UK e-visa system. There's certainly more hoops one has to jump through in order to get one, unlike before. But persevere, it's not as bad as it first might appear.

 

7 hours ago, Denim said:

Thanks to the OP for taking the trouble to post this thread.

 

I have learnt something from his experience. That I will never ever apply for any kind of visa from the UK Thai embassy in future. This whole procedure will inevitably result in fewer applications from people who are not necessarily commited to visiting Thailand for more than a few weeks. They will simply pass through Thailand and spend their money elsewhere. 

 

You're entirely welcome @Denim I think, perhaps, you might well be right about fewer applications from UK tourists. The speed in which I got my visa turned around is probably down to the low volume of applicants due to this laborious process.

[Muppet2019]

Thank you for going to the trouble of posting this much needed information. Last week I looked at the London embassy website and winced, the year before I just took my documents and money one day and picked up the next. I spent 6 months in Thailand sept to march using 2 month TV's going to Hanoi twice to get a new one, this time i'm going for 3 months and was thinking of getting a visa on arrival for 30 days then going to Hanoi for the 2 month TV, this will be a lot more expensive but not being tech savvy I thought it would be my only option. I expect all Thai embassies will go down this route eventually. 

[Denim]

20 minutes ago, Senior Player said:

It certainly feels that way @lamyai3 I'm surprised there hasn't been more people reporting on this new UK e-visa system. There's certainly more hoops one has to jump through in order to get one, unlike before. But persevere, it's not as bad as it first might appear.

 

You're entirely welcome @Denim I think, perhaps, you might well be right about fewer applications from UK tourists. The speed in which I got my visa turned around is probably down to the low volume of applicants due to this laborious process.

 Quite possibly. With something like this there will be a lot of people without the patience, tech knowhow or equipment to bother with it. Desktop sales are down in favor of laptops,tablets and smartphones. Without easy access to a printer or a scanner applications will be a lot more difficult. Too easy to get a 30 day stamp on arrival and spend the rest of a winter break in Vietnam.

 

Perhaps this is actually what they want. To accept reduced revenue from tourism to boost their precious ' national security ' Although why they should feel so threatened and by whom it is hard to fathom. 

[Senior Player]

6 minutes ago, Denim said:

 Quite possibly. With something like this there will be a lot of people without the patience, tech knowhow or equipment to bother with it. Desktop sales are down in favor of laptops,tablets and smartphones. Without easy access to a printer or a scanner applications will be a lot more difficult. Too easy to get a 30 day stamp on arrival and spend the rest of a winter break in Vietnam.

 

Perhaps this is actually what they want. To accept reduced revenue from tourism to boost their precious ' national security ' Although why they should feel so threatened and by whom it is hard to fathom. 

Your comment above, which I've highlighted, is one of the new system's major flaws. It's all very well that the Royal Thai Embassy wants to go paperless, but they still insist on us having access to a printer in order to print-off various forms and sign them, especially now that most of us live in a paperless society. For a new system, it does seem rather antiquated and not very forward-thinking of them. With the accelerated demise of Pattaya (to name just one location), the high Baht, and various other regulations, I can see many long-stay tourists crossing Thailand off their holiday list and visiting a neighbouring country instead. 

 

PS. The scanning of a document can still be gotten around by taking a photo on your phone and resizing that to 200KB, so long as its relatively sharp and clear. However, the 2 print-outs cannot be gotten around and are a necessary part of the process.

[Senior Player]

38 minutes ago, Muppet2019 said:

Thank you for going to the trouble of posting this much needed information. Last week I looked at the London embassy website and winced, the year before I just took my documents and money one day and picked up the next. I spent 6 months in Thailand sept to march using 2 month TV's going to Hanoi twice to get a new one, this time i'm going for 3 months and was thinking of getting a visa on arrival for 30 days then going to Hanoi for the 2 month TV, this will be a lot more expensive but not being tech savvy I thought it would be my only option. I expect all Thai embassies will go down this route eventually. 

Thanks very much. I had the same cold shiver when I first approached it, too. I expect it's only a matter of time before it's rolled out nationwide.

 

Now that I have my SETV finalised and in my sweaty paws, I've just official booked my flights. There's a Summer Sale on with Eva Airways (ends August 31) and I've just managed to bag a return flight for £500!! 

[thasoss]

Well I've read through this very precise well laid out "how to do " application and I can honestly say they can shove it up their you know where. Visa on arrival with various extension ploys  should do the trick. Plus the fact that Thai online technology is up there with high school diplomas why bother. 

[jrmaanda]

Please can anyone tell me how long it takes to get a visa in London if, following the online application, one is delivering one's passport and collecting it oneself?  Will one be notified that the passport is ready for collection in time for it to be the next day, as it used to be when it was not online?

 

Also, for the airticket, can it consist of two separate tickets, the second being a flight to a neighbouring country that one visit two months later to get a new visa, or must it be a return flight from Britain?

[Caine]

Been going to Thailand for over 20 years for 6 months at a time on METV. Made up my mind this is the last time can’t be doing with all this nonsense. Their loss of £2000 month greener grass for me.

[cnx355]

On 8/17/2019 at 12:41 AM, BuckBee said:

what a messy system, I use to do setv quite a bit for trips to thailand but simply won't bother any more as not worth the hassle or offers good value for the ever growing charges .
Why they could not use a proper simple evisa like cambodia been doing for about a decade where you get a visa simply at designated entry points is beyond logic .
It basically a huge step backwards in efficiency and made setv more hassle than it worth in many cases.

I rarely pre book accommodation and generally never book onward flight as like keep it fully flexible and make my mind up closer to the time ....

 

On a side note do airline checkin want see onward flight for setv or they still happy allow boarding if you got a setv .

 

I quite agree. it is improperly called <eVisa>  and you still need to send your passport and get a real visa sticker. It should be properly called <Online Visa Application>. Myanmar, Vietnam and Cambodia and Laos now have  a real  eVisa option . You get an letter with barcode that you print and present to the immigration Officer on arrival . NO big visa sticker , just an entry stamp. I know I used  this method in the last 2 years except Laos that is quite new.

[taninthai]

13 hours ago, jrmaanda said:

Please can anyone tell me how long it takes to get a visa in London if, following the online application, one is delivering one's passport and collecting it oneself?  Will one be notified that the passport is ready for collection in time for it to be the next day, as it used to be when it was not online?

 

Also, for the airticket, can it consist of two separate tickets, the second being a flight to a neighbouring country that one visit two months later to get a new visa, or must it be a return flight from Britain?

You can book the appointment for more a less the next day ,,,that’s to give your passport in and then you collect it the next day ...

once you know the online system and understand it’s little bugs it is quite an easy system.

the main problems are some people don’t have printers or do not know how to scan documents etc etc.

[ThaiBunny]

19 hours ago, Senior Player said:

Your comment above, which I've highlighted, is one of the new system's major flaws. It's all very well that the Royal Thai Embassy wants to go paperless, but they still insist on us having access to a printer in order to print-off various forms and sign them, especially now that most of us live in a paperless society. For a new system, it does seem rather antiquated and not very forward-thinking of them. With the accelerated demise of Pattaya (to name just one location), the high Baht, and various other regulations, I can see many long-stay tourists crossing Thailand off their holiday list and visiting a neighbouring country instead. 

Unfortunately even the countries I mentioned that offer a paperless experience (Cambodia, Turkey, India) do require you to print out the visa that they email you to present to the Immigration authorities, so somewhere along the way you're going to need access to a printer. The only countries I know that make it entirely electronic are Australia and the UK, but then they demand the applicant turns up at a VfS data collection centre to have their biometric data (fingerprints etc) collected. Swings and roundabouts

[patinchis]

I submitted an o-a online application last week successfully after weeks of attempts here in london as i use an iPad and it would let me input certain things...or kept giving no choices to select...nightmare but eventually between an iPad and a mates computer it went through ...a tip for compressing photos is download the compress app from Apple apps and then edit normally on your photo .....I have an apt as I live in london when in uk but a mate in LOS has just told me as from 22 August O-A will need a health insurance!


Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect

[Muppet2019]

19 hours ago, jrmaanda said:

Please can anyone tell me how long it takes to get a visa in London if, following the online application, one is delivering one's passport and collecting it oneself?  Will one be notified that the passport is ready for collection in time for it to be the next day, as it used to be when it was not online?

 

Also, for the airticket, can it consist of two separate tickets, the second being a flight to a neighbouring country that one visit two months later to get a new visa, or must it be a return flight from Britain?

As long as its another country it does not matter. I made the mistake at the Thai embassy in Hanoi (applying for another TV) of giving my return ticket to the UK which wasn't for another 4 months, thankfully they allowed me to buy a ticket on my phone (Chaing Mai to Hanoi) and send them a email copy which they printed out. Also when you do a visa run make sure its not a public holiday as the embassy's observe the local and Thai ones, booked to Hanoi when it was their new year had to extend visit and buy another return flight.

Edited August 18, 2019 by Muppet2019

[ian carman]

I plan on going to Thailand with my Thai wife for about 55 days next year .

i might as well get a visa on arrival and extend by 30 days 

will the airline or immigration have a problem with this?

[Senior Player]

49 minutes ago, ian carman said:

I plan on going to Thailand with my Thai wife for about 55 days next year .

i might as well get a visa on arrival and extend by 30 days 

will the airline or immigration have a problem with this?

Don't you mean get a "visa exempt" upon arrival and extend by an additional 30 days? I might be wrong, but I don't believe it's possible to get a Thai visa upon arrival from the UK at a Thai airport. If it were, there'd be no need to extend, especially as a visa gives you the 60-days you require. 

 

Just out of curiosity, is there any reason why you can't apply for a SETV by post using the online system or simply go to another UK consulate (eg, Hull or one of the others) that issues a 60-day SETV on the very same day without the need to use the online e-visa application? The problem with a "visa exempt" is you need to show the IO your departure flight upon arrival; that means your flight departure date has to be within 30 days. Personally, I think it's very risky. If I was you and wanted to guarantee my 55-days in Thailand, I'd get a SETV before I depart. Of course you could show them an exit flight to a neighbouring country just prior to the 30th day, then flyout and return a couple of days later and get an additional 30 days exempt, therefore there'd be no need to extend. Maybe someone else has a better suggestion, but if I wanted a hassle-free 60 days, I'd bite the bullet and sort out a SETV 3 months before I depart on holiday.

Edited August 18, 2019 by Senior Player

[Muppet2019]

https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/thailand/entry-requirements 

UK citizens can get a 30 day visa at a Thai airport.