Hello everyone,
So I will be getting a new passport this week (old one run out of pages), and I'm on a extension of stay valid until 31/Dec (which I can't extend further because it's linked to my employment and I will only get a new contract in Mar/23).
To sort my stay in Thailand for now, I'm planning on flying to Malaysia next week and return on the same day to receive a visa exempt entry stamp (I should get 90 days free).
My questions are: Do I really need to go to Chengwattana to transfer my extension stamp, even tho it is almost finish anyway? (or can I just go to the airport with both passports and leave the country). Also, on the trip to Malaysia, just to confirm if it would be straightforward to get a visa exempt entry once I'm back in the same day (as in, I'm expecting that my current extension will be terminated once I leave the country, and when I'm back the immigration will just stamp me as a normal tourist). I've never done this sorts of border runs, but my visa history is pretty clean (albeit long).
Thank you very much in advance!
TLDR : Answer Summary
The user is due to receive a new passport and has questions about managing their visa status in Thailand. They plan to travel to Malaysia for a visa exempt entry stamp but seek clarification on whether they need to transfer their existing extension stamp to the new passport at the Chengwattana Immigration Office before leaving. Community responses emphasize the importance of transferring the stamp to avoid issues with a voided passport and suggest that while it is theoretically possible to return on the same day with a new stamp, a safer approach would be to extend the trip to avoid potential complications.