What is the process and experience for obtaining a DTV visa after a history of multiple entries and a denied entry in Thailand?

Journey of APPROVED DTV & more.

Ho Chi Minh City, DTV Soft Power (Muay Thai), Italian passport.

Visa background:

- 2022: 60d TR + 30d extension from Italy.

- 2022: 1 year of ED visa, language.

- 2023: 60d TR + 30d extension from Laos, at DMK the officer took my passport and disappeared for 1 minute and came back without questioning.

- 2023: 1 year of ED visa, language.

- 2024: I went to HCMC for 5 days and came back Visa free (60d), at DMK the officer asked me few questions in Thai and let me go.

- 2025: I went 3 days in HCMC and came back Visa free (60d), at DMK again few questions in Thai and let me go. I extended another 30d.

- 13-03-2025: I went 3 days in HCMC and tried to enter again Visa free at DMK. The officer at the queue called other officers and they pulled me over to the back office behind the queues. They made me fill the form and I handed it to the lady sitting at the laptop. The lady never talked to me, but she wrote something on the back page of the form and my passport disappeared for more than 1 hour. I knew by then something bad was to happen. They brought me to another proper office where officers were ready with the deportation form. They were all nice to me and they listened to my explanations. All the conversations were in Thai, as I can really speak decent Thai. They phoned the big boss for let her talk to me. The big boss arrived and she was the lady who was sitting at the computer before. She wasn’t as nice as the others. Always in Thai she said that I had had enough time to travel already so she denied my entry. She said that if I wanted to come back, I had to do DTV. They made me buy the first ticket for the morning after back to HCMC and I spent the night in the detention center. Awful experience. They don’t have an ATM inside the airport, only exchange boots so I couldn’t withdraw cash from anywhere. I was aware that I couldn’t go on visa free anymore and I had already some plans to make something longer but they stopped me before. They kept my passport until I was landed in HCMC and in the queue for Vietnamese immigration. The Vietnamese officer didn’t asked me anything but stamped my passport. I was free again.

Thanks to a friend I contacted a Muay Thai gym and paid for 1 year course.

On Sunday 16/03 I applied for the visa. I submitted:

- Bio data page.

- Passport style picture.

- Proof or residence in Vietnam (screenshot of Airbnb booking).

- Letter from the school, payment receipt and school registration document combined in a single pdf.

- Statement of Italian bank account with >500k THB of 4Q24 in Italian. My bank doesn’t provide English version and they issue the document only after the quarter is ended.

- Selected “Unemployed” and filled other minor infos which I don’t remember.

The preview of the uploaded document in the system shows only the first page of the pdf.

At 5pm of Monday 17/03 I got an email asking:

- Passport pic of the Vietnamese entry stamp, which I provided. Probably I should have attached as single pdf to the bio data page.

- As the financial evidence, they accept only documents in Thai or English. If necessary, I had to make my Italian documentation translated. So I switched my Italian back account with my WISE bank account statement of last 6 months, which is in English and up to date (I didn’t think about this account before).

- Since i selected unemployed, they asked me how I think I could sustain myself. I wrote a cover letter saying that as full time student of Muay Thai I wasn’t planning to do any job in any country and I intended used my liquid funds for my living expenses. I attached again the balance of my wise account from the statement, the balance of my Thai bank account from the statement and a screenshot of my Italian bank account from the bank app (which is in English).

On Monday 24/03 at 12:30pm (5 working days after I uploaded the additional documents) they sent me the email with the approved visa.

Today 25/03 I arrived at SUV airport. At the immigration line, the officer pulled me over and brought me at the back office. A fast video recorded interview in Thai and I got stamped 180d. They only wanted to see my TM30 to verify my accommodation. No documentation needed for my visa was asked.

To be honest reading other people experience, only made me more anxious as I was afraid my history of visas and the denied entry could work against me.

I’m writing my experience to give some hope to others who might be in my similar condition.

All the best and good luck!