Hi we were travelling around SE Asia for a year and went to Thailand three times (few months apart) within that year and on the third visit we got visa extension for one more month. We really liked Thailand and decided to come back for a year to learn Thai on ED visa so we applied for it while back in Canada. It's been over a month and no update on the application yet but the embassy said it could take couple more weeks. Unfortunately we already booked the tickets in advance to come back next week to avoid expensive flights and prepared our paperwork to bring our cats with us. I'm wondering if it would be ok to go to Thailand with the 30 day visa exemption again with our cats and wait for the embassy to issue our visa and then exit thailand and re enter while leaving the cats with our friend in thailand. Does anyone know if there would be any issues with this? Traveling with our cats is very stressful so we want to avoid any complications if possible. Thanks!

EDIT: In response to the feedback for the removal of the post, yes we submitted ALL of the required documents made by the school and signed by the MOE in thailand to our embassy. The delay is not due to that, they said they simply need minimum 25 business days to process due to high volume which we didnt realize before. Hope this answers the concerns in the feedback. My question is more on the implications of entering with 30 day visa exemption and exiting and reentering with the ED visa once issued. Also if there are any issues bringing cats on the 30 day visa exemption while we wait for the ED visa.

Hello all

Has anyone brought their dog over from the USA using one of those companies that fly with you animal.

Thanks

Thanks for this group -- it's really helpful! I have a couple questions and would love advice.

Background:

My husband and I have been to Thailand several times and would like to stay longer. We returned from our last trip on December 2018. We are both over 50, US citizens and we are considering the Retirement Visa (and meet all requirements), but want to see if we truly want to relocate long-term first.

Questions:

1. Can we enter Thailand on an exempt visa, get paperwork from our Muay Thai school (accredited school and they are doing our paperwork in advance so we will have it within 10 days of arrival in Thailand) -- and then head to Laos to convert it to an ED visa (within the 30 days)? Or do we need to first have a single or multiple entry tourist visa from the US in order to convert to the ED visa in Laos?

2. We're traveling with our cat (pure breed, we have all the details handled). We will also have proof of onward travel before our 30 days for the exempt visa. Does anyone think having a cat with us will be a problem on an exempt visa? (As in, raise red flags for an exempt visa.)