On 4/16/2022 at 5:39 PM, pantsonfire said:

Does it have to be cash?  Can i not show my account balance in bangkok bank? 

Does the GF help?

Talking from experience at Bangkok airports, no-one cared about the money, nor the GF when asking about long holidays in Thailand.

 

What I found most intriguing, though, was that, after not having had any trouble in 20 odd years entering Thailand, I was suddenly quizzed after I had just turned 50.

Edited April 29, 20224 yr by StayinThailand2much

The problem is that (when you use visa exempt entry) officials are asked to judge whether you are using visa exemption for purposes other than those of "normal tourists". Some officials in some locations may even see fit to appoint themselves consular supervisors to review whether the embassy/consulate was correct in issuing you a tourist visa. I absolutely agree that "tourism" can be of many different kinds, but you can be at the mercy of an official with his own, restricted view of what constitutes a tourist.

 

Anyway, as far as the OP is concerned, there have been no cases of being denied entry with a tourist visa if clearing immigration at Chiang Mai airport. It is only a worry at some other airports, and especially at the Poipet/Aran land border.

just an update on this.  I took the sg airlines from lhr to singapore and changed to chiang mai. i have the tourist visa and only submitted one page of my passport and ignored the covid visas. 

On arrival in chiang mai airport they just validated my tr and didnt ask a single thing and stamped me in.  no checking for onward flight. 

 

now i am boarding straight away to bangkok. its a long journey but after many covid extensions and overstay it seemed the most reasaonable choice.  just now going to enjoy the times now on bangkok as last year with nothing opened it was  a pain.

 

thanks all who gave the encouragement