5 minutes ago, Robin said:

I gave up on this E visa last August, and entered Thailand on a 56 day visa exempt, flying Thai from LHR. Not questioned about onward or return ticket, I flew on one-way ticket.

In Country, I went to my local I/O and showed them the 56 day entry visa, aske to convert to Non O visa so as to get Retirement extension, which I had previously used.

No problems, I/O took all my details and gave me appointment to return to apply for Non 0.  I had to get all bank details as if applying for Retirement Extension. 

When all details submitted, I was told to come back within 30dys of 5 day entry expiring.  Did so; another appointment with I/O aand with no more hassle, i was given 365 day Retirement extension.  Charged 18,000 Baht "for services"  this was 8000 for extension and 10,000 to fill in all the forms for me.

I was happy to pay this to get the RTE.  Fr less effort than required fro Non O on line application.  

I choose to disagree Robin. All my effort has been made from the comfort of home and I've now got my visa for the duration of my trip without the irritation of going to Immigration.  Having said that, this thread concerns TOURIST Visa applications and your ultimate purpose differs.  I'll add that a friend used the eVisa system last year and from his description / experience, it does seem to have changed slightly....still MUCH room for improvement, IMO. 

Ultimately, as long  as you got what you needed........

1 hour ago, Robin said:

I gave up on this E visa last August, and entered Thailand on a 56 day visa exempt, flying Thai from LHR. Not questioned about onward or return ticket, I flew on one-way ticket.

In Country, I went to my local I/O and showed them the 56 day entry visa, aske to convert to Non O visa so as to get Retirement extension, which I had previously used.

No problems, I/O took all my details and gave me appointment to return to apply for Non 0.  I had to get all bank details as if applying for Retirement Extension. 

When all details submitted, I was told to come back within 30dys of 5 day entry expiring.  Did so; another appointment with I/O aand with no more hassle, i was given 365 day Retirement extension.  Charged 18,000 Baht "for services"  this was 8000 for extension and 10,000 to fill in all the forms for me.

I was happy to pay this to get the RTE.  Fr less effort than required fro Non O on line application.  

Personally I would not take the risk of making all the arrangements for a trip and then being denied flight or entry into the Kingdom for not following the posted rules. Namely not having a return ticket. I like the comfort of having the proper and required documentation. Having a 60 day visa is great. I'll also be applying for a Non O but will have a nice cusion of time to do it in case there are any unforseen issues (which are common at Jomtien desk 7) Thailand can be unpredictable in that regard. One person enters without any trouble with out a return ticket. Others need all the documentation and one piece nobodies ever heard about. For instance, ,even though now a vaccination document is not required, I'll bring one with me anyway.

 

Interesting, where did you get your Non O? I've never heard of an IO assisting with an application for a fee. There are of course the services outside of most Immigration offices that assist in putting together the documents but this is a new twist. Where was it?