What should expats know about the DTV visa process and entry at Bangkok immigration?

I landed in Bangkok (BKK) last night after a 4-day trip to Taiwan. At immigration, the officer called another IO to escort me to a separate room, where I waited for around 30 minutes.

After that, an officer called me over and asked if I had ever used the VIP lane/Fast Track service before. (I had used it once on my first DTV entry last year through an agent.)

I told him that I hadn’t used it this time because I didn’t think I needed it since I have a DTV visa. This was my third entry, and I also didn’t use it on my second entry.

He simply said, “You did the right thing. You don’t need to use that anymore since you have a visa, and immigration officers will no longer provide that service.”

They didn’t ask me anything about my job, my income, or the type of DTV I have. I think the only issue was that I had used the VIP line service once before, and that was it.

After that, they stamped me for 180 days and let me go. That was the entire process.

So, based on my experience, there’s no need to worry too much about some of the scary posts in this group. Of course, everyone’s situation is different, but in my case everything went smoothly, and the only thing they seemed concerned about was my previous use of the Fast Track service.