What are the implications of ongoing activity for the Soft Power DTV visa after the initial 6-month period in Thailand?

@Dany *******

Stop believing your DTV is better somehow and start worrying about what visa you're gonna get when it expires. 😂

@Sean ******

its not better. never said that. just have proof when its beeing asked for. very simple. same for everyone. 🤷‍♀️

after 5 years i will just get another DTV if its still around. if not then there is plenty of other options available in Thailand.

@Dany *******

Ok good luck.

Anonymous participant 672 and what would the reason they would deny you ???

@James *******

they are clamping down on those who are using visa exempt entry and extensions...the idea of the DTV visa is a good one.

Are you married to Thai?

Or have Thai children?

@Kool ******

but no one is talking about changes. you needed an activity to get the visa and that is part of it. if an IO wants to see proof he can just do that. its not a change. its just a check if you are legitly entering with your visa. at any point in time they can start random checks as they wish… same for the ED in the past. an activity was the reason for your visa. if you cannot show an activity the IO can most likely deny you. we will see how this turns out. but more likely than not there will be scrutiny in the future. even for allready approved visa. it wont matter.

@Dany *******

actually they can't because there are no penalties written into the DTV regulations.

@Kool ******

That there are no penalty's written in DTV regulations is perfectly normal. That is not necessary, since it is about entering or being in the country. It is up to IO if you can enter the country, the IO decides if and what to check. If the IO decides you try to enter the country against immigration and visa rules, he can refuse you entry, and when he thinks that is necessary take other legal proceedings. That has nothing to do with a specific visa. Same is applicable when you are stopped by police. They also have the right to check if you are in the country illegally and take actions. Chances that any of these situations will happen are not particulary high, but certainly not zero. Telling the officer that you were under the impression there are no rules because you never saw an extra warning about this after you applied for the visa will not help.

@Luit ****************

You can argue all you like, but no-one has been denied entry when bouncing. Best bet if anyone is worried, just make a dental appointment before bouncing, then cancel as soon as you're back in. NO-ONE, I repeat NO-ONE is going to be checking up! 😆

Anonymous participant Yeah yeah. We've heard this since day one of the DTV. So let's just sit back, relax and we'll wait for the YET moment when it arrives. All you're doing is speculating

@Peter ********

It's great watching these doom mongers praying for stricter rules. They're looking more stupid as every day passes.

@Sean ******

There's a lot of very salty people out there who do not like the ease of obtaining a five year visa. Bottom line is what

@Kool ******

says, the visa is five years. Sure, immigration offices can implement their own rules (they do with ANY visa, not just DTV), but the smart people just border bounce and come back in with a smile! People like

@Luit ****************

have been forecasting doom and gloom since day one. I've done three bounces through Suvarnabhumi and never even get a second glance, but heyho, that's going to change soon 😂. Well, let's just wait for it! In the meantime "Keep on Bouncing!" 👍👍👍

@Peter ********

I have no problem with the ease of obtaining a visa, I even think it should be much more easy, but I only say that a lot of people here think that once they obtained the visa, there are no requirements anymore, and they are completely wrong there, because visa requirements stay active during the whole period the visa is valid, unless stated different. That is not only for all Thai visa, but normally also for other visa around the world. For DTV this means 500K, ongoing soft power or workcation activity. Immigration does not need to implement own rules to check this, it is just their job to check the requirements as mentioned by the law. And as long as you comply to those requirements you can legally border bounce as much as you want, it is a multi entry 5 year visa. When you not longer comply with the visa requirements, like not having 500K or not having ontving activity, you still might be able to get into the country, because chances to get checked are low, but you have to realize that in that case you stay in the country illegal and that might cause problems. It is as simple as that, and everybody decides if it is worth the risk.

@Peter ********

Exactly. Maybe they will stop doom mongering next year but I doubt it. Some of them aren't the sharpest knives in the drawer.

@Sean ******

I can't see the DTV being stopped anytime soon. It's bringing people into the country and they're spending money. That's the goal. It's the visa-exempt entries which are being abused, and they're the ones which immigration are cracking down on

@Peter **********

I also think there is no reason to stop DTV. As long as the DTV holder is complying to the visa rules, meaning having an ongoing activity, they indeed bring in money.

And you are right visa exempt is abused a lot, it should be only for tourists.

Also ED and non-o retirement are abused a lot, but DTV holders who keep using their visa when their activity ends or not even attend the activity they got the visa for, are just as much abusing as the others, no more, no less.

@Luit ****************

If visa holders are allowed to re-enter the country irrespective of their "activity" they are totally legitimate. They have a five year visa which is multi-entry with no published guidelines on how the "activity" should proceed. If the government was that concerned about it, they would publish the guidelines. It's obvious they're happy with the process the way it's working

@Peter ********

In your world you are legitimate when you are not checked and caught? Even when you are entering illegal? Stange idea! Publish guidelines how you extend your activity? They do not even tell you you need to do TM 47 reporting. We are not in US where people need instructions with their microwave it should not be use to dry pets.

@Luit ****************

Stop worrying about what MIGHT happen and just enjoy your 5 year multiple entry visa. Like I am, cheers.

@Sean ******

I am not worrying, I am aware of the visa requirements for the next years, and for the near future I do not have any problems to comply with them. And when I retire I can use the non-o retirement visa without any problem.

@Luit ****************

Same for me, cheers.

@Sean ******

the rules itself don't need any change for stricter checks requirements are for the full 5 years. It has nothing to do with doom mongering. Nobody knows if and when checks will be stricter, but everyone should know the possibility always exist that requirements will be checked, that does not need any rule change. Of course everybody has to decide if he or she wants to take the risk of using a visa and not complying to requirements.

@Luit ****************

I think the checks will get less strict. Like you say nobody knows what will happen.

@Sean ******

statistically the chances that checks will get less strict will be very small, because now there are almost no checks.

@Luit ****************

Yes, just like the MFA official said in the YouTube video last year. And long may it continue, cheers.

@Sean ******

As long as you realize that no checks is not meaning no requirements. You can always be the one that is checked for whatever reason.

@Luit ****************

Have you seen that written anywhere?

@Sean ******

I did not see officially written anywhere there are no checks, and also did not see written there are no requirements, so there are checks and there are requirements. Why you ask if that is written somewhere?

@Luit ****************

I just seen you fail to answer that question recently that's all. So no need to get into that again. Let's just both enjoy our 5 year multiple entry visas, cheers.

@Sean ******

Why should I answer that question? I believe there is no such thing as no requirements, and therefore there is no place to read a document telling there are ni requirements, but nevertheless a number of people here think there are no requirements, but they cannot point to such a document. Why should I try to find a document to prove that I am wrong and they are right? I think that somebody who waffles there are no requirements should point to the source of that info, not the other way around.

@Peter ********

When you can read, you can see I not say anybody is rejected at the border. I only read about a few checks. But that is not the point of discussion here. The discussion is about how long visa requirements stay valid, and what might happen when you are entering the country or stay in the country when you do not comply with the rules. There is no reason to believe DTV is different from other visa. When you don't work anymore, the non-b stops, when you not study anymore, the non ED stops, when you not married anymore, the non-o stops. Why should this be different for DTV? There is no official document that states it this way. For a long time there were also stories TM47 reporting was not necessary because nowhere in DTV rules this was mentioned. By now most DTV holders know better, allthough I still read stories 90 day reporting is not for DTV.

@Luit ****************

Yeah but the smart ones border bounce instead of extending. The border control officers are more interested in punishing the perpetual visa-exempt border bounces, they're not worried about the five year DTV holders

@Kool ******

you dont understand how all of this works. this isnt the US where you need to write everything on the microwave that you shouldnt put in. lol… general immigration rules and regulations are obviously not written into any single visa… you even mistake the authorities here. the MFA will grant you a visa. the Immigration (a whole different ministry) will handle your entry and exit of the country. and you allways need to comply with 1. immigration rules 2. your visa regulations… of course they can demand whatever they want in this regard! an ED also doesnt state any penalties, yet many got denied entry in the past… penalties are not part of a visa regulation and its law text.

@Dany *******

exactly this, but it seems a lot of people confuse what is checked with what is required.

@Kool ******

Here you give a good example, requirements of old retirement visa issued when limit was still 20K do still have the requirement of 20 K, so the requirement did no disappear after approval. Why should DTV be different and have requirements void after approval.

@Luit ****************

that is exactly what I said. Those that have DTVs are under the rules when they originally got it. The rules don't change for them, as they paid for a five year visa, and Thailand isn't known for refunding money. Another example is the original Elite Visa. It was originally bt1,000,000 and it was for life. Because of that they never eliminated it, even though it lost money until covid hit. Now it has a 20 year max, but there are still original Elite Visa holders, about 1200 of them, as Thaksin, who started the program, gave away 1000 of them to his friends, mostly Chinese.

@Kool ******

Indeed, rules do not change once thi visa is applied, so for DTV participation on softpower activity or remote working and 500K requirements stay valid the whole period of 5 years. This means that when they change rules by excluding activities or changing fonancial requirements for your existing DTV nothing woll change. You srill need the 500K for the whole period, nothing more and nothing less, and even when the activity for which you applied might be included in the future, for you it still be valid, but that does not mean you don't need to have any activity or no financial requirements at all. Just as in your example of the 20k with different age, the original requirements that were valid at moment of approval stay valid during the whole period the visa or stays are valid.

@Kool ******

Where do you find that requirements stop at the moment the visa is approved, or is that just your guess? Where do you find you don't need to go to classes or is the fact that it is not checked for you the reason to say the requirement does not exist anymore. Read the rules, ontving soft power activity, medical treatment, remote work or digital nomad and 500k are VISA requirements, not APPROVAL requirements. At approval the visa requirements are checked by bank statements, contracts for muay thai, treatment plans and so on. Therevis no rule that tells visa requirements stop as soon as you got approved, and that works in the same way for other Thai visa.

@Luit ****************

there are no rules saying you must attend classes. The only rules that have been added are for the one in country extension, which requires all the original documents you used, and updated. Those are the only rules that apply after you have the DTV. There are no rules, or requirements, when you exit and come back. You don't even have to prove the money is still in your bank account.

@Kool ******

where do you see requirements are void as soon as you are approved? A lot of people say so, but nobody can show any proof of that. I completely agree there are no checks at the moment other than on moment of approval and moment of in country extension, and incidentally when you enter the country. But having no checks does not mean the requirements do not exist any longer.

Anonymous participant 254 Excellent point and explanation! Is it the category or the actual reason for your original application that counts? For example, if DTV was granted for dental treatment must you supply updated evidence of further dental treatment or could you switch within the medical category to, say, physiotherapy?

@Christopher **********

I would imagine there will be some flexibility... Like you could even replace it with some Muay Thai course for example. Again, don't take it as a fact but that's how other visa work (ED = no classes, no visa. NON-O = Divorce, no visa. NON-B = no work/fired, no visa) whatever the validity (1 year in general).

Anonymous participant Yes, that could be the risk. I’ve heard that attendance at some Muay Thai classes is already being checked. Not a majority yet, but that’s how they used to handle it with the ED visa holders. I don't think they’ll check every single person crossing the border; they don’t have the staff for that. But random checks could happen. They might also upgrade it to an online portal where documents can be updated, like with the application process (the E-Visa system is only some months old!). Who knows. Nobody could have predicted the DTV would happen... I think long-term residents here just got too used to no changes or only very small improvements.