What should I do if the Thai Embassy in Madrid requires hotel bookings for my tourist visa?

Hi Tom, do you mind if I ask what passport you hold. I was looking at going to Madrid to the Thai embassy, as a Canadian that can't get the police record check or the medical letter. So following your post to see how you make out.

Book places with free cancellation and just cancel before the deadline, of course after you get the visa

Depending when you leave, you may be able to benefit from the new rules of 60 days entering as a visa exempt national, not 30 anymore. It will happen but when is the question.

I had the same exact situation applying for the tourist visa from the US. I used Agoda and just booked hotels for the dates required. You can book without payment so once you get your visa you can cancel all the reservations you won’t use.

Don't be surprised when the embassy wants a 'Paid for receipt' and not simply a booking without payment

Make bookings on Agoda that can be cancelled

Use refundable bookings.

Find a booking on Agoda that you don’t need to pay upfront. Print it out and get the visa, then cancel it.

So do hong kong thai consulate

Quite strict to be an embassy in Europe. Normally the first nights or a week is sufficient. But they have the right on their side, and it’s no other way around a tourist visa than already mentioned.

Another “short cut” could be to just skip the tourist visa. Do a 30 days visa exemption and a 30 days local extension at your immigration in Thailand. You’ll need a cheap onward ticket out of Thailand within 30 days in case your airline will ask for it, but you won’t get any questions regarding accommodation unless you should get pulled aside by the immigration in Thailand for some other reason regarding your travel patterns.

Use copy of bookings you can cancel.

You meet the embassy's requirements or you don't get a visa. Each embassy gets to make their own rules.

Go onto a website like Agoda and find a hotel that has free cancellation. Then make a couple of bookings to cover the entire time from arrival until the ticket to Laos. Once you receive the visa, cancel your bookings.