Hi, I am a 26 yr old who will be working at an int'l organization starting at the beginning of June... I wanted to arrive before I begin my work to just settle in, learn the language a bit better and be relaxed by the time I start.

I also want to buy my ticket as a return for 6 months after I leave, but if I arrive early, can I arrive on a tourist visa with a return date 6 months in advance? The last time I did this type of work, I was in a smaller country where I explained to customs who I would be working for and they told me to take care of it in a few days, but it seems that Thailand is more strict and that I will need to have all the visa issues taken care of before I arrive?

Nobody should have a problem with you having a return ticket six months later as long as you have a visa. If you have the paperwork to obtain a non immigrant B visa (company letter/paperwork) that would be better than a tourist visa but if not you can obtain later but may require a trip. You will also require a work permit as no visa by itself allows you to work here.

Nobody should have a problem with you having a return ticket six months later as long as you have a visa. If you have the paperwork to obtain a non immigrant B visa (company letter/paperwork) that would be better than a tourist visa but if not you can obtain later but may require a trip. You will also require a work permit as no visa by itself allows you to work here.

I'm not worried so much about the work permit b/c it will come through, but are you saying that I can have a ticket with a return date of 6 months even if I enter on a 1 month tourist visa? I will have the non immigrant visa from my organization, but they may not get all of the paperwork ready if I want to arrive ahead of the time when I start working.

Are you talking about a tourist visa issued by a Consulate? If so yes.

But if you are talking about entry without visa (30 day stamp) that most countries receive there could be problems with both airline and immigration without a return ticket within 30 days (although to date immigration has not been a problem).