We were at the Night Market last night and enjoying a few beers, when we got talking to an ex-pat (Brit) who has been in Thailand/Bangkok for a few years now. We all waffled on and he then said he'd recently left the country to renew his sixty-day tourist visa and that the travel agaent he had used, asked him if he wanted a 6 month visa instead.

Apparently it cost him nothing and he now claims he can stay here for that length of time. While he didn't give his age, he appeared to be younger than fifty so I'm guessing it's not a retirement visa of some sort.

I didn't press too hard for further details and left it at that, but is this legit or is it really the beer enhancing his story?

Suspect beer talk, or something illegal.

That would likely be a two entry tourist visa from Vientiane - the visa is free but both 30 day extensions of stay will cost 1,900 baht and an exit of country will be required to start the second entry. Although he may not be aware of that.

I think we'll just stick to our 60 day tourist visa option then. Cheers.

As Lopburi noted, you almost certainly already have the same visa your new friend got. A double-entry Tourist Visa issued in Laos does allow for 6 months in Thailand. However, it comes in the form of a 60-day permission to stay, a 30-day extension, a visa run to activate the second entry (60 more days) and another 30-day extension.

Your new pal may not know that however.

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