Or, to be a little more precise: If I get a 60-day tourist visa in Laos, but set the "enter kingdom" date to, say, April 15th, but enter on the 1st of April instead, can I opt for a 15 day visa exemption (over land), and then fly out and back in later to activate the tourist visa on April 15th?

It's more or less turning the 60-day visa to a 15+60 re-entry visa (kinda). I doubt this would work, but if anyone knows or has tried it please let me know.

Thanks!

A visa has a specific usage period starting from the date of issue (not what you put on application) and any entry(s) must be made before that expiration date. Normally it is a 3 month period.

What you want to do is use a visa exempt entry prior to using your tourist visa. That would require the immigration officer agree and not stamp your visa "used". Some are willing to do this but others are not. But with a tourist visa you can easily extend your stay 30 days without leaving the country for up to a 90 day stay on the one entry.

You can't set the "enter kingdom" date. There's only an "enter before" date (which will be 3 months from the date the visa is issued - you can't set that either).

If you need 75 days, far easier to use up the 60 then get a 30 day extension (1,900 baht) from immigration.

You could, when you enter, ask them NOT to activate your visa entry but to just give you 15 days. Several posters have reported no problem asking them to do that. Then do a border run 15 days later to activate your 60 days visa. That's if you really only want 75 days and don't want to pay the 1,900 for the extension. But you'll still have to pay for a border run!

I'm not being stingy about the extension (although it is kind of pricey...) but rather I need to go to the Philippines for a short trip, which coincides with my next visa run, but I hear Manila is troublesome. So plan is to get new visa first, fly out of Bangkok, then activate the 60-dayer on return.

...But am I eligible for the 15-day exemption if I already have the seven months of stay in thailand stamped in my passport?

Yes you're pretty much guaranteed to be able to get a 15 (or 30 day by air) stamp, there's currently no official limit on those. The question is whether immi at the Lao border will allow you not to use your visa, which they might. If they don't and you end up using your visa, you can always buy a re-entry for 1,000 baht to let you out to Phillipines and back in without losing your 60 days altogether.

That said, now I'm not understanding your dilemma. If your Phillipines trip coincides with your next visa run anyway why not just go, and come back on a 30 day stamp if you don't want to try for a visa in Manilla. Then once you're back you have 30 days to organise a trip to vte, for your next visa...

...err I guess I thought I couldn't do that, given that I've already been here 7 months. But that's a hell of a lot easier. Thanks bobl!