Can I return to Thailand on a tourist visa while waiting for my non-O retirement visa to be processed?

@Graham *****

my apologies. You did say “yes, if your passport allows you to enter visa exempt”. It just got lost in all the other. My bad.

@Graham *****

I’m not worried about whether I can enter. I just left. I’m worried about entering with a pending non-O visa.

As you know from my comment on the other post, for some reason, I had not seen the non-O retirement option on my embassy’s website back when I had looked a month ago. As such, I had not included my application in my planning for my travel back to the States. I’m heading there now, but I will only be there for less than two weeks. With the New Year in the middle, I’m worried the non-O will not be processed before my flight back to Thailand. My flight is already booked. I wanted to make sure that I could still enter.

I am not concerned about my number of entries. I just wanted to be sure the pending visa would not prevent my entry. I also assume that all I need to do to then make the visa effective is leave and re-enter the country.