Why do the officers ask money when leaving Laos. It isn't much but I was surprised seeing that I was only in Laos for 5 days.

DTV Soft Power Question:

If I get my DTV approved to attend Muay Thai training, and I enter Thailand and begin the training, and then I leave Thailand before the 180-day mark, and then re-enter Thailand, will the immigration officer at the airport in Bangkok know that I obtained the DTV to take Muay Thai classes and ask for an updated letter showing that I will continue my training? Or will the immigration officer only see that I have a DTV in my passport and not know the reason I was given the visa, and let me enter without checking anything?

Will the immigration officers at the airports/land crossings be able to tell who got the DTV for remote work and who go it for soft power reasons?

No opinions please, just facts. Thank you!

Hi all! Has anyone been through immigration via Koh Samui airport? How are the immigration officers there compared to BKK / DMK / HKT with regard to questioning time spent in Thailand on tourist visas and/or denying entry? Have heard Chiang Mai tends to be quite chill, so wondering if Koh Samui is similar?

Thanks 🙂

I wrote a thread last week sharing my experience with CM immigration.. went in to apply for my 12-month non-o married visa before my 90-day initial visa expires on 4-Sep-23.. just to clarify, this is my first married visa so it was not a renewal.. they approved it in principle with an 'under consideration' period of 1-month.. meaning they extended the existing stamp by 1-month to 4-Oct-23, and i need to return then to get the actual 1-year visa stamped in my passport.. prior to leaving immigration last week the IO mentioned that i could get a phone call from somebody to ask me a few questions over the intervening period.. but strangely did not mention that we could get a home visit.. which i had anticipated from reading other threads in this group.. then today my wife got a phone call from an IO to tell her they needed to make a home visit and wanted to come tomorrow afternoon.. which is not a problem but somewhat short notice.. i guess it's their way of putting you on the spot though.. but the IO told her they needed to take some photos of us at home (which we have already provided) and that we would need to pay a fee for this.. although it wasn't quantified it left my wife believing they expected money to change hands to ensure a smooth process.. this necessity seems absurd to me given 'photos' are already part of the application i have filed.. and i just wondered if anyone in this group has any recent experience of this part of the process when interacting with Immigration in CM.. i have no worries whatsoever regarding the credibility of my application.. but do object to someone moonlighting to earn illegitimate income (ie. off the books) by insinuating their might be a problem if they don't get a sweetener!

UPDATE The IO visited this afternoon (Thursday) armed with a colour inkjet printer.. solitary person (unaccompanied) and a very jovial soul indeed.. the primary purpose was to get an attestation from our next door neighbour (who I've known for at least 8 years now) that we live here as a married couple.. she needed to produce her IC for him to copy and sign a couple of documents.. and have her photo taken with me and my wife sat on the sofa.. took all of 25 minutes and he was on his way.. no mention of fees (or sweeteners) whatsoever and he left with a bottle of iced water for his trouble.. all's well that ends well as they say.. but he did clarify that i can't leave Thailand until the full year visa gets stamped in my passport.. otherwise I'll disrupt the process and will have to start over again!.

UPDATED HOME VISIT TODAY:

Oh well we’ve been living in Thailand over 5 years now and we’ve just had our first ever immigration home visit. For our renewal of EofS marriage. It’s seems some people especially in the capital BKK get a visit every year but this was our first in 5 years. So this was a new experience for us. It was all very pleasant. Three IO’s two male one female. We signed a few documents and spoke and they took a few photo of us all in the garden. We didn’t move from the outside garden area at any point. and a photo of us at the gate entrance. All in all they were here about 35 mins and very relaxed pleasant experience. Pattani Immigration Division 6 Deep South ☺️

Tip #1 for dealing with grumpy female immigration officers 😉 😅

Has anybody ever been rejected at BKK when using the priority immigration? (Business Class)

I have 7 visa excempt entries in total (2 in 2017, 5 in 2018, spent 155 days in Thailand in 2018, always entered via business priority)

Currently on my METV (2 entries in 2019, spent 60 days so far in Thailand). My last time I entered in DMK (in economy), saw farangs being taken aside left and right but the IO let me through and didn't say anything.

Now I'm wondering whether I should really spend $13k on an Elite Visa or continue coming in without a problem via business class priority immigration.. ?