My Experience Traveling to Thailand with the New DTV (Destination Thailand Visa) from India

Hi everyone, I wanted to share my recent travel experience using the new Digital Travel Visa (DTV), which might help others planning their trip.

I received my DTV in early March (I’ve already shared a thread on how I got it—check the group for details). I traveled to Bangkok on March 24th via IndiGo Airlines, but I faced an issue at check-in. The airline staff was unaware of the DTV and initially denied my check-in for not having a return ticket. They insisted that Indian passport holders are only allowed a 60-day stay. Unfortunately, I had weak internet and couldn’t open the official portal to show the updated guidelines.

After a few minutes, another staff member searched online and found the new visa rules, after which I was allowed to board.

✅ No issues at Indian immigration (Bengaluru Airport).

✅ At Bangkok immigration, I was in the regular line (while most Indians were sent to the visa exemption queue). I informed the officer about my DTV and mentioned I was looking for a house for long-term living. He asked about my work and whether I planned to buy property in Thailand. I replied yes, and he smiled and welcomed me warmly!

Key Takeaways for DTV Holders:

➡️ Many airlines are still unaware of the new DTV. Carry proof of your visa and be prepared to explain it.

➡️ Immigration officers in Thailand seem well-informed and welcoming.

➡️ Internet access at check-in is important—have screenshots or saved documents just in case.

Happy to share that I’ve now secured a beautiful villa in Phuket and will be relocating with my family next month! We are looking for like minded families to get along and friends for my 6 years young, energetic and English speaking daughter in Thalang. I'm a Entrepreneur and a Youtuber working from home.

Hope this helps others planning their journey. Feel free to ask if you have any questions!

Safe travels, everyone! ✈️

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!

Hypothetical question: If a foreigner has a TIN does this automatically make him/her a tax resident even if he/she has not been in Thailand more than 180 days in any tax year? If anyone has a definite answer this would be appreciated.

What does this group think about the Thailand Privilege Card? Is it worth the cost? Or overpriced and not worth it?

I’m 50, retired, and pensioned. I want to apply for a Visa in Thailand but I’m not sure of the best route to take. The plan is to retire in Thailand and live long-term. Any informed advice is appreciated. Thank you! 🙏🏼

I'm looking for a bit of visa advice. My wife is Thai (dual Thai/US citizenship and dual passports). We own a condo in Hua Hin and a few pieces of land, all of which are in her name since she's Thai. We visit occasionally (just returned from a 6 week visit) and plan to return to our condo for about 6 months starting next January. After that, we plan to visit more frequently and eventually we will probably want to live there permanently. Oh yes, I'm retired and neither of us is concerned about employment in Thailand; we just want to live there. Any suggestions regarding my visa?

I have 3 inquiries, can anyone advise :

1) if one stays in Thailand for only 6 months each year , would that mean he only need to do ONE-TIME visa run this way ? :

> Flight to Thailand

> 60 days + 30 days (extension)

> Border RUN ( by flight/road)

> 60 days + 21 days (extension)

> Flight out of Thailand

(Total stay <180 days in Thailand per year )

2) "Visa run" and "border run" means the same thing right ?

3) Is the above method feasible - would this be safe from being questioned by the officers ?

Maybe I've been reading things incorrectly, but it seems like on the evisa retirement non O, it was said you get 2 months on arrival, then can extend for 30 days, and then can extend for 1 year by getting the bank account etcetera.

We just arrived today with our non o retirement visa and both I and my mom were given 90 days right away

Hello everyone, has anyone extended the 180-day DTV Muay Thai visa? What documents do immigration ask for to get an extension?

So just to be clear. You get one 180 day extension in a five year period. So once you use that single extension you cannot get another for the visit if the visa and have to leave within 180 days. Then secondly for the 90 day reporting you only need to do that if you are staying past 90 days . So if you leave the country at 89 days you would be exempt from the reporting ? And then every time you enter it’s automatically 180 consecutive days again you can stay?

Going to be in Thailand about 7 months at the end of this visa run. Is it likely to get denied if I stay in a neighboring country shortly and apply for another multi entry tourist visa when that runs out?