What should I do if my Thai Visa application was rejected and issued a Tourist Visa instead?

Thank you! Just for the record, the statement showed the required amount in cash.

Anonymous participant 237 I have upon the embassy's request. They asked for proof of "prior cooking experience". I attended a 1 day class some time ago in Bangkok, so I described that, named the school, and attached some pictures of me taking that class. I also mentioned my interest in Buddhism, attached some pictures from a spiritual retreat in Thailand I attended, and noted I am interested in Vipassana retreats after the class.

Not sure how strong (or not) of a letter it was, but must have been okay enough to not get a full denial.

I was not asked. There were two requests for documents, asking me to upload a bank statement instead of the brokerage statement.

The first time they asked for the bank statement and to highlight relevant parts of the document. I resubmitted the same brokerage statements, but with amounts and dates highlighted to prove I have the necessary funds in cash.

The second time they strictly stated it must be a bank statement. I uploaded a polite letter explaining why I keep the money in the brokerage account instead of a bank account and that while I could move it, it would incur costs on my side and I would not be able to provide 3 months worth of statements since the transfer would be right now. After that the process moved to "Pending Approval".

You also made me realize the TR visa is for 6 months, not 60 days. I will correct the OP. That suggests the problem wasn't really the funds or the statement, but the duration of the cooking course (6 months).

@Andi **********

that's true. My initial disappointment was mostly due to misreading the visa I've got. I was convinced it was 60 days, so that felt like paying a full DTV fee to get the same terms as visa on arrival. I now realize it's 6 months, which is okay to attend the class I paid for and try again. Thanks for embassy suggestions.