Is it possible to email the form to the immigration service as provided for on the immigration office website, then send a courier with photo and fee to pick it up the following day? Or do I have to pick it up in person?

Form TM8 indicates application has to be made in person.

The Immigration web-site tells you that you can e-mail a request for a re-entry permit.

You have to e-mail your request at least 24 hours before your intended collection date. You still have to go in person, with the required photograph and the appropriate fee. It is there to speed up the process. The web-site has a link to the form which has to be completed - which is an absolute nightmare! - once completed, you e-mail it to Immigration and ......... guaranteed, within two minutes you will get a message back in your e-mail in-box, saying that your e-mail to the Immigration e-mail address has failed and is permanently undeliverable!!

This is what happened to me. I tried several times over various days. No luck!!

I hope you are not surprised!!??

If you are in Bangkok, you can go to Suan Phlu (only on) any Saturday morning between 08:30 and midday. They will issue re-entry permits to anybody. I did this two weeks ago. I hold a European passport. No problems and quite quick! but I stress again....... only Saturday mornings!

Frm-Bkk

That link came in last summer, and was working in a fashion for a short time, but seemed only to be for getting an appointment date/queue number. Immigration have been working on electronic forms for some time, but it would appear to be somewhat longer before they will materialise.

At Suan Phlu they had a special outside window to service these requests (although normally people had to go inside anyhow) and the email system was in operation for making the application for a few months. There was a separate system being set up for making appointments which you could register in ans if stars were exactly right get an appointment (I actually recall one report of success). But I do not believe either system is currently being used at Chiang Watanna (the web site is still for Suan Phlu with no mention of the new location). Now that they have the queue system running again expect it may happen at some point (but not holding breath).