I got a double entry tourist visa issued in Laos on the 7th of december. I know that I can go to Thai immigration and get the extension for an extra 30 days which would give me until 5th March before I had to exit and re-enter to activate the second entry.

The problem is I have a 1 week holiday booked to Australia from 4th-13th Feb and I'm confused as to how this effects my visa. Will I need to apply for the extension as well as purchasing a re-entry permit? If I don't do this, will the second part of my visa be activated upon my return from aus? I'm just trying to figure out whether it's worth paying almost 3,000 for the sake of a couple of weeks.

I am based in Bangkok, where do I need to apply for the visa extension/re-entry and how long does the process take?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

If you purchase a re-entry permit, 1000 baht, it will keep your current permission to stay active,until March 5, and you can the extend for another 30 days , 1900 baht. You don't have to activate your second enntry until that extension ends. If you leave and re-enter on 13 Feb you will get 60 days extendable by 30 for 1900 baht. If you do it this way you will effectively loose 50 days, 20 on your current permission to stay and the 30 day extension. You will have to determine if the 50 days is worth 2900 baht and what best fits your future travel plans.

your current permission to stay active,until March 5, and you can the extend for another 30 days , 1900 baht.

You can't extend after March 5 for an other 30 days.

First entry is 60 days so ends 6th of feb. If you extend an re-entry permit will give you until an extra 30 days from until beginning of march. You then have to leave the country to activate your second entry.

Second option is forget the first extention and start your second entry when you come back from Oz and loose 3 weeks.

Sorry, read OP . If you do the 30 day extension, 1900 baht, and purchase the re-entry permit before you leave, 1000 baht, it will only keep your permission to stay active until 5 March and then you will have to leave and re-enter to activate your second entry. If you don't extend and get a re-entry permit and activate your second entry on 13 Feb you will have effectively lost 20 days. Is the 20 days worth the 2900 baht? It depends on what your futrue travel plans are and how long you intend to stay in Thailand. Remember the second entry must be made on/before the "must use by" date on your VISA.

As you leave almost at end of current 60 day entry I would just leave and use second entry for your return and extend that entry for 30 days. If you want to stay longer get a new visa/entry then.

Thanks for clearing things up!