I have recently acquired a work permit for the first time and am currently applying for a 1 year visa associated with this permit. It will be lodged with immigration this Friday. However, I am told this process to issue the visa can take up to a month and I have to go abroad before then. What visa is it necessary to have to reenter the country? I am Australian and will be going abroad to Australia for a couple of months.

There is no one year visa associated with a work permit. What you likely will be applying for is a 1 year extension of stay for the reason of working. If you are doing this inside Thailand....it will only take as long as you need to wait in the queue...a few hours at most. A month ? Never heard of such a thing.

Do you already have a Non-B Visa ?

If the visa that you entered the country with has expired or expires before you return you can buy a re-entry permit. It costs 1,000 baht from your immigration office or the airport. However, the re-entry permit is only good until the 'admitted until' date of your current 90 day permission to stay. If you are leaving for two months before your 1 year extension of stay is granted you might have a problem.

Is the visa used to enter the country a single or multiple entry and what is the 'enter before' date printed on the visa?

When you apply for your extension of stay your will get an "under consideration" stamp. This will in all likelihood be for one month.

Once you have this, you can immediately apply for a re entry permit. The re entry will last until the last day of your under consideration stamp.

Once you get your extension granted you would need a new re entry permit (if applicable).

There is no one year visa associated with a work permit. What you likely will be applying for is a 1 year extension of stay for the reason of working. If you are doing this inside Thailand....it will only take as long as you need to wait in the queue...a few hours at most. A month ? Never heard of such a thing.

Do you already have a Non-B Visa ?

Extensions of stay based on business are not issued on the same day for most people. You do get a 1 month under consideration period.

Exceptions are made for BOI companies, large businesses, oil and gas and a few others.

When you apply for your extension of stay your will get an "under consideration" stamp. This will in all likelihood be for one month.

Once you have this, you can immediately apply for a re entry permit. The re entry will last until the last day of your under consideration stamp.

Once you get your extension granted you would need a new re entry permit (if applicable).

The problem I see is that the OP is leaving for two months and a re-entry permit will only be granted until the end of any under consideration period or current permission to stay.

There is no one year visa associated with a work permit. What you likely will be applying for is a 1 year extension of stay for the reason of working. If you are doing this inside Thailand....it will only take as long as you need to wait in the queue...a few hours at most. A month ? Never heard of such a thing.

Do you already have a Non-B Visa ?

Extensions of stay based on business are not issued on the same day for most people. You do get a 1 month under consideration period.

Exceptions are made for BOI companies, large businesses, oil and gas and a few others.

Only takes 2 hours for employees. That's how long I had to wait in the queue.

When you apply for your extension of stay your will get an "under consideration" stamp. This will in all likelihood be for one month.

Once you have this, you can immediately apply for a re entry permit. The re entry will last until the last day of your under consideration stamp.

Once you get your extension granted you would need a new re entry permit (if applicable).

The problem I see is that the OP is leaving for two months and a re-entry permit will only be granted until the end of any under consideration period or current permission to stay.

Agree. The OP might have to change his travel plans.

There is no one year visa associated with a work permit. What you likely will be applying for is a 1 year extension of stay for the reason of working. If you are doing this inside Thailand....it will only take as long as you need to wait in the queue...a few hours at most. A month ? Never heard of such a thing.

Do you already have a Non-B Visa ?

Came into the country on a Non_B Visa which now shows "USED". The 3 months finishes on 26 Feb which is when I was leaving.

There has been quite a delay - for various reasons - in getting the work permit which came through on 5 Feb.

Now need to be able to reenter the country next June. I come & go usually twice a year for periods of a few months each time.

I have been told various things but am unsure what I actually need to do at this time.

There is no one year visa associated with a work permit. What you likely will be applying for is a 1 year extension of stay for the reason of working. If you are doing this inside Thailand....it will only take as long as you need to wait in the queue...a few hours at most. A month ? Never heard of such a thing.

Do you already have a Non-B Visa ?

Came into the country on a Non_B Visa which now shows "USED". The 3 months finishes on 26 Feb which is when I was leaving.

There has been quite a delay - for various reasons - in getting the work permit which came through on 5 Feb.

Now need to be able to reenter the country next June. I come & go usually twice a year for periods of a few months each time.

I have been told various things but am unsure what I actually need to do at this time.

It appears that your best choice would be to make a trip to the consulate in Penang and apply for multiple entry non-b visa that would allow unlimited 90 day entrees for a year. Your work permit will need at least 8 months remaining on it.

With the work permit, I think you could apply for a Multiple Non-B while in Australia (assuming there is at least 8 months validity left).