I have a OA visa that was issued outside of Thailand in May 18, 2010, entered Thailand for the first time in June 2010, and have left & reentered Thailand a few times since. Latest reentry into Thailand was April 19, 2011 and the stamp in my passport says that I can stay until April 2012.

Since my original OA visa was issued in May 2010 I thought that I'd need to renew/extend it by May 2011 and that I'd need to show that I had 800K baht in a Thai bank account. So I went to immigration in Chiang Mai today with the intention of renewing the visa and brought along documentation on my bank account as I thought to be required.

However, the immigration officer in Chiang Mai told me that I shouldn't be renewing my OA visa, that instead of should buy a multiple entry reentry permit for 3800 baht and that once I had that I can continue to reenter Thailand until April 2012. He wasn't the least bit interesting in seeing my banking details. So I bought the permit, and from the stamp it sure looks like I'm legal until April 2012.

But what I'm wondering now is what will happened in April 2012. By then my OA visa will be almost a year beyond it's original expiration date. Would the reentry permit keep that visa "alive", so that I'd still be able to renew it from inside Thailand in April 2012? Or in April 2012, would I would need to apply for a new OA visa (from outside Thailand) all over again?

Edited April 21, 201115 yr by OriginalPoster

Around 30 days before your stay expires in April 2012 you can apply for a 12 month extension of stay at Immigration in Thailand.

You only need the Re Entry Permit if you wish to leave the country.

Around 30 days before your stay expires in April 2012 you can apply for a 12 month extension of stay at Immigration in Thailand.

You only need the Re Entry Permit if you wish to leave the country.

So then the OA is effectively a 2 year visa (one year original term plus another year by virtue of doing a "border run" and then getting a reentry permit just before the original 1 year expires)? Not complaining, as that's convenient for me, but I never heard that before.

A Multi Entry is.

A Single Entry is not.

With a Multi Entry you get 12 months every time you enter for the first year.Second year you need Re Entry Permits if you wish to leave.