What are the advantages of obtaining an METV visa for Thailand?

@Ja***

, the reason I keep harping on the "enter before" date on the visa and "admitted until" stamp IS,

there is a high chance that the 3rd border bounce for a 60 day stamp will give you an "admitted until" stamp which is good until AFTER the visa itself expires.

That is why it is critical you are aware of the "enter before" date on the VISA itself. That's the date you need to border bounce to get the 4th and final 60 day entry stamp.

Here's an example of of what that visa looks like.

This visa was issued on 26 May 2016 and the "enter before" is 25 Nov 2016.<-that's the very last day the holder of that visa could border bounce for a 60 day entry stamp.

@Ja***

, The cheapest and most effective way to get the most out of the validity of the visa and the time in country is to

A ) - get the METV from the thai consulate as close to the time you're comin' to thailand (so you don't burn down the 6 month validity of the visa waiting to fly here)

Then;

-enter get 60 days

-border bounce get 60 days

-border bounce get 60 days

-just before the expiration of the visa itself (the "enter before" date stamped on the visa) border bounce one more time to get 60 days

-extend that last 60 day entry by 30 more days at the immigration office for 1900baht.

It's not all that useful to extend any of the entries by 30 days because all you're doing is burning the validity of the visa. Just border bounce and then extend the last entry by 30 days

an metv gives you unlimited entries within the 6 month validity and is good for almost 270 days in country if used to maximize stay. Extensions can be obtained but are not strictly necessary if a border run is cheaper and or quicker, and no re-entry permits are needed if one decides to visit a neighboring country. METV can only be obtained in the country of your birth or a country you have a residency permit .

Yes, a border bounce, sorry i got confused for a sec. The border bounce is very easy like if u are in CM, take a bus to Mae Sai, pay $10 usd to cross to Tachilek and get back 30 min later, then get back to CM the same day. I did it twice this year. Not even sure that u need to pay the $10 (anyone?), I never cross with a METV before.

With the METV you HAVE to LEAVE the country as well after 60 (or if you extend your stay after 90) days. But you only have to do a border bounce. That means you can go to the closest border, get stamped out and back in again and you 'activate' the next stay. With the SETV you have to travel to an embassy/consulate and apply for the visa again. Nowadays many embassies / consulates want to see proof of onward travel, proof of finance and some even proof of hotel bookings. With the METV you have this 'documents hassle' only once.

With the METV it is possible to stay up to 270 days (with border bounces). The visa itself is valid for 6 months. If you enter Thailand even a day before the visa expires you get another 60 days stamp and you can extend that stay as well.

With a METV you don't have to go to Laos after 3 months, you don't even need to leave Thailand for 6 months, and if u do, you can go anywhere in the world and come back on the same visa. Depending on the cost of the METV vs the cost of a visa run, the cheapest option is better. If u like to travel the METV is much better.