Do I need to provide actual flight tickets for my Thailand DTV application?

@J**

yes, they will ask you if they need anything else.

Exactly what they need varies by the application, they don't ask everyone for all the things. For example, they ask some people for tax returns and others not. But I suspect they will want 3 months bank statements.

Utility bill and driving license aren't both required. They want this to show your address/residency in the UK and one or the other is enough.

For me, they wanted an introduction letter specifically stating that I would only be working remotely and not for Thai clients, I believe this is a common request.

They may want something from your employer explicitly saying you are authorised to work remotely from Thailand (rather than in general).

@J**

"I was considering renewing my passport now rather than upon my return to the UK," - I do think this would be a good idea, just because you'll have to carry and show both passports otherwise for the remaining 4 years of the visa.

Your immigration/passport history I don't think will matter. So I wouldn't either do it or not do it based on that, I don't think that matters at all for this visa. Extensive history in Thailand is more likely to be a negative than a positive, it can indicate you have other ties or business here, but I don't think it matters here.

Extending is not necessarily impossible but difficult enough that few people do it. Most leave and come back. It's probably easier on Workcation presuming you are still working, as you'll have all the documentation still. For Chiang Mai, the main one is you need the 500k to have been in the account for 30 days with a statement and you need documentation from the bank certifying you are the owner of the account, and possibly a balance letter on top of the statement.

It's easy to just go somewhere else in the region and come back. You don't need to go all the way back to the UK. Bear in mind you can also renew a UK passport in Thailand, you don't NEED to go back to the UK for that either.

That's what the Thai Immigration officers are NOW LOOKING for...they are wise to it. DONT USE IT

Agreed...avoid the false ticket.

@J**

@Chan*****

this is a relatively recent change. I do think people used these successfully in the past. But I don't think it will work for the DTV and if they catch you they will at minimum cancel your current application; there's a risk it could even affect future ones, they see it as deliberate fraud.

Here's one reference from a law firm. But I definitely read something quoting the Thai authorities directly where they were aware of these services and actively looking for them. There was a guy on Reddit who tried using it a few months back on arrival and they insisted on seeing the bank transaction of him booking it.

"Placeholder Bookings Now a Serious Risk

Authorities have also identified widespread use of unpaid, non-ticketed flight reservations (“placeholder bookings”). These were historically tolerated by some officers and airlines, but immigration has now warned that presenting an unpaid itinerary may result in immediate deportation. This is a meaningful operational change and should be taken seriously."



"When I landed in Thailand, I didn’t have a return ticket. Immigration pulled me aside right away. Even though I had already filled out the arrival form online, they made me fill it out again and told me I needed proof of onward travel.

So I quickly booked a reservation using the Onward Ticket website, thinking it would work. About 5 minutes later, an officer came back and asked me to show proof of the transaction from my bank account. I was honestly shocked — not sure if that’s even legal.

I explained that I’m a software developer and planned to extend my visa later. I also told them the ticket was just a reservation, not a fully paid flight. The officer said, “If you don’t buy a real ticket in 10 minutes, I will deport you.”"

@Ivan ***********

@Joe ******

yep there you go..maybe not the best option. Go with the Emirates Flexi and just refund it and get the flight you actually want maybe.