What are my options after my retirement visa was denied in Thailand, and can I drive my car to Laos on a tourist visa?

Use an agent!

​Since your primary goal is to head to Savannakhet to secure your 90-day Non-O retirement visa and reset your status by October, you should adjust your transit plans:

​Leave the Car in Thailand: Drive your car to Mukdahan (the Thai side of the Friendship Bridge II crossing to Savannakhet). There are several secure, covered, long-term parking lots near the border checkpoint where you can safely leave your vehicle for a few days for a small daily fee.

​Cross by Foot/Bus: Pass through Thai immigration on foot, take the international shuttle bus across the bridge, and obtain your Lao visa/entry stamp.

​Apply in Savannakhet: Complete your paperwork and apply for your 90-day Non-O visa at the Royal Thai Consulate-General in Savannakhet.

​Return and Drive Freely: Once you cross back into Thailand with your newly minted Non-O visa stamped in your passport, your legal status to temporarily export your vehicle will be fully restored for any future trips.

There is near to border. You can drive up to Mukdohan and left the car there for two days.

Someone I knew drove to Laos and came back on the same day. That was more 2 years ago. I believe it’s possible

You can drive your car to Laos on tourist visa I have done so

Contact a lady called namtan at hasta la visa in kohn kean, the agency is very established and has very good connections with kohn kean immigration. They will sort it for sure.

Just get an agent and save yourself all the trouble. It's well worth it.

I get a multiple entry stamp with every extension yearly as a fail safe so nothing can go wrong. Worth it for me.

Make a visa for your car to drive to Lao .

Folks, please don't answer his question unless you really know. Otherwise, it's a huge time waster

damn dude i thought i was scrolling ubon expats when i saw ur post. yeah u should be good with what u said u have to cross with your ride. only thing i ever had them scrutinize once in a dozen times crossing was if i was covered in Laos, which i was with Bangkok Insurance. just curious why all the back and forth with KK immi? you move away from Ubon?

Why would FBI deal with a bum like you ? The Thais don't like your SS payments.Go to Cambodia they will take you.

You can't get a letter from the US embassy either.

We drove up to the bridge parked the car took a grab to the hotel, got my non o in 2 days came home

Showing them a statement of Income from a Govt Dept in another Country is not the same as seeing the 65k Bt deposited into your Thai Account religiously every month from Overseas....

If you did that... and brought in the Authorised Thai Bank Starement with your Application then you wouldn't have a problem.

I'm on a Marriage Visa and it's what I do... without any problems...

They only want to see the Hard Cash entering the Country through your Thai Bank Acc. They couldn't care less how you got it.. as long as it's a foreign deposit each and every month covering the min they require...

I have real simpathy for people getting caught up in this admin mess. Do they want foreigners in T/land

spending money or not?

That is the only issue.

The rest of the proceedures only adds to the endemic corruption in the whole country.

I have visited there multiple times and worked there for apx 5 years, but would l go back? APART FOR A SHORT HOLIDAY ON THE WAY TO SOMEWHERE ELSE IN SE ASIA, NO. I AM SORRY TO SAY THIS.

Omg you make your life complicated..how dumb not checking your passport..why not use a good agent..then you would not have any of these problems..it would be a nightmare being in a relationship with you

Bummer, all this red tape! I hope you can solve this.

You can drive your own car as long as you have the international permit booklet

It’s easy to get you can get it in khon Kaen at the DLT office I think it cost a couple hundred baht

As long as the car is yours, registration is paid, valid passport. It should be good.

I’m not sure if you really need a Thai drivers license oddly enough

I have one, but when I went to go to get the permit to be allowed to drive into Laos, they never asked for it even once

Another sidenote when you first go over there for the first time with your car, you’re gonna need to make sure you have your blue book and make copies of the important pages of your blue book

If you have a currently valid car passport and Blue book and insurance and the car is in your name Yes you can cross. There's a lot of fees and a lot of paperwork to get through customs

Time to pay for an agency. Trying to do everything yourself all the time is like fighting or having a war with their system.

Contact an agent, they take care of situation like yours.

I gave them a copy of my SS 1099

😳

It’s an absolute blessing in disguise, you are saving yourself years of being ( Faranged) = ripped off - Vietnam will welcome you for of the cost of living but will rip you off equally

Another reason to be smart and use an agent instead of being a smart ass like most on here and doing it yourself

Ive driven my car dozens of times to Lao on Tourist visas, visa exempt , marriage visas no problem at all.

A few months age tried to cross to Suvannakhet and was told by immigration at the bridge as I didnt have a long visa Non O i couldnt drive across.

Taking vehicles across to Lao isn't anything to do with Immigration its Thai Customs . The immigration guy was being an A hole.

Drove to Nakhon Phanom and could have driven across no problem but decided just to do a quick turn around.

Apply for a DTV remote working, if you have a small business receiving some fees every so often. Who wants to retire, just makes people age fast. A lot less hassle that what you are applying for

I drove from tak to mukdahan and there is long term secure parking there at the bridge. Then stayed in suvannakhet a few days, but was 2 years ago and only to come back in with visa exempt.

As for your transportation problem: just drive your own car from Ubon to Mukdahan and from there take a shuttle taxi to/from the Thai embassy in Savannakhet. Good luck ~

Ask an agent what they would charge you. Might be easier. They can work around not having all the paperwork.

“If this doesn't work, I have to drive to Savanakhet, apply for a 90 day retirement visa and then renew it in Ubon in October.”

*** it makes absolutely no sense to apply for a 90-days Non-Imm-O Retirement Visa and enter Thailand on it, if you do not have the required 800,000 THB in your Thai bank account for the required 2 months when applying for the 1-year extension of the 90-days stay permit.

*** put the 800,000 THB into your Thai bank account NOW, exit Thailand and stay abroad for a while, then re-enter visa-exempt and immediately apply on Immigration for the “change of visa type” from the visa-exemption to the initial 90-days Non-Imm-O Retirement Visa, using as proof of finances the 800,000 THB already sitting in your Thai bank account, and you must be able to prove that the money came from abroad. Plus, you will need a rental contract. After 60 days, with the bank letter that confirms the 2-months seasoning, you can apply for the 1-year extension of (the) temporary stay permit (you do not “extend the visa”, this is technically not possible, you can only get a stay permit extended)

I’m curious what you were doing before on your non o to prove ? Was it monthly deposits? …

If you’re American and have Social Security their website will give you the letter

I took my VA and social security letters and had them translated by a registered attorney who stamped them. Those worked as letters of guaranteed income

Usually, it is sufficient to show that the 800,000 baht is in your Thai bank account when applying for an in-country Non O visa. However, Jomtien and Krabi are known to require the funds to have been seasoned for two months even for the initial Non O application. For a one-year extension, the seasoning requirement is standard.

You can get all the paperwork you want, but it won't matter. Using income is not an option for you to convert from tourist to non-O visa. Immigration only accepts proof of 800,000 baht in your Thai bank account for 2 full months, or embassy certified income. That's it. There's no workaround, no special document, nothing. It's one or the other. If you don't have the 800,000 in the bank, you're not likely to get the extension even if you get the visa from the embassy either.

In the future I would recommend purchasing a re-entry permit the same day you go for your extension, even if you have no plans to go anywhere. Better safe than sorry.