A friend will be arriving soon and receiving the standard 30 days visa free entry. If he wishes to extend his stay without leaving Thailand, what are the options? Thanks for any info!

7 days at immigration 1900 baht.

Agreed, within Thailand, 7 day exension for 1900 Baht, and probably would need to show an outbound ticket.

Agreed, within Thailand, 7 day exension for 1900 Baht, and probably would need to show an outbound ticket.

Thanks much for this! Is the outbound ticket rule subject to the mood of the immigration officer or is it set in stone?

There is no extension of stay without valid reasons for such an entry so it is a 7 day period of request being under consideration and which will not be approved. So you do need the officials blessing. But in recent times have not seen reports of failure to obtain.

Now if friend has valid reasons for extension of stay such as retirement/marriage to Thai/Thai child or such other avenues might be open.

Or he can leave thailand, go to, say, Phnom Penh or Saigon, get a 60 day visa for free, and extend it for an extra 30 days while in thailand.

...30 day extension cost around $35.

All extensions of stay cost 1,900 baht.

Reporting live from Aranyaphratet now (hahaha. In the queue of 3km long). Doing the visa run now. Left Thailand, went into Cambodia, crossed the road, left Cambodia and now waiting for my turn at the Thai Immigration.

They tried to scam me twice at Cambodia just now. One fella in uniform asked for 400baht for "VIP service to speed up my immediate return to Thailand" and the other at the arrival counter asked for 300baht for "coming and leaving on the same day". I politely declined both, with a smile, of course (thanks for the heads up from you good fellas at Thaivisa forum).

Now got my extra 15-day social visit pass already and waiting for my 230 baht rot-tu ride across the road from Golden Gate Plaza to Krungthep's Anusawaree.

Cost so far: Rot-tu fare - 460baht. Quick lunch at 7-11: 40baht. Amazon Coffee at PTT: 40baht.

Yeah, I'm cheap hehehhehe

Why doesn't your friend just get a free tourist visa from a Thai Consulate in his home country? That's what my friend did before he got here for a 6 week stay... No hassles.