I got my DTV (Soft Power - Muay Thai) approved today via embassy in Jakarta after beeing deported from Thailand 2 weeks ago😁😛😎

My story is for all the supporters, believers, phat kaphrao heads and everyone else that is in between!

Let me tell my story how it really was…

21th of March:

I entered Suvarnabhumi aiport after beeing away from Thailand for 1 month. I was on the ED Visa prior for 9 months and that’s why I had to leave.

I wanted to enter the kingdom on a regular tourist visa this time but they denied my entry and deported me back to Cambodia where I came from. (I spend 1 month there)

The reason they deported me was "wrong visa". Unfortunately the immigration officers weren’t very "talkative" so they let me wait 4 hours until they told me I’m getting deported. They put me and the other boys into detention room, made us pay for the room & forced us to buy a flight ticket back to the same airport via the same airline we came with.

My flight was the next day 8am so I only spend a few hours there.

22th of March:

Arriving in Phnom Penh, Cambodia in the morning. After back and forward with the immigration officers there and answering the question "Why Thailand deported me?" several times they gave me back my passport and gave me the regular tourist visa for 30 days.

23th - 25th of March:

Staying in Phnom Penh and figuring out a plan how to enter the kingdom again.

26th of March:

Flying to Bali from Phnom Penh, layover was in Kuala Lumpur. The flight was fairly cheap.

27th of March:

Applying for the DTV E-Visa. I had all my documents and muay thai gym papers already ready.

My original plan was to do it in Cambodia when I was there for a month but because I heard they ask for a personal letter from

the administrator of sport or something like that I got scared to apply there😂

I didn’t want to throw the visa fees out of the window due to that.

Documents I applied with for Jakarta:

- Muay Thai Docs, Invitation letter, etc.

(I used Muay Thai Fever in Chiang Mai)

- Bank Statement 6 months

(Last 2 months were over 500’000 Thai Bath.. first few months the balance was sometimes minus😅)

- Passport Picture made in Cambodia

- First Page of Passport (Bio data)

- Hotel Booking in Bali (1 night)

- Plain Ticket to Bali

- Electronic Visa on Arrival (Sent to E-mail)

29th - 30th of March:

Staying inside the hotel for 24 hours because nobody on the island is allowed to leave the house. The whole island shuts down for 24 hours. It felt a bit like covid again😂

I used this time to think about my life, think about thailand and all my (potential) girlfriends waiting there for me.

1th of April:

So here comes the part where I messed up but I didn’t realize until that day.

This could be really interesting for the group‼️

I have an US Passport but when I filled out the form I put "Switzerland" in the field "Place of Issue" instead of "United States Department of State". The reason is simple because I’m a dual citizen and got my passport in Switzerland. I realized it when I was scrolling through the group that this is a mistake and that many people got rejected cause of it after all those days of not hearing anything.

I wrote them an e-mail right away when I realized it (it was before they reached out to me) and told them I messed up and that I’m aware of it. I apologized and translated the message also into thai. Don’t know if it made a difference but in my case maybe I just was lucky that they still approved me.

3th of April:

Finally they reached out to me and asked me for further documents. They asked for a bank statement where my name was clearly visible. So I provided the already sent bank statement and highlighted my name with color.. made it all neat and stuff. This time I only send them 2 months.

4th of April:

Status changed to Pending Approval

5th of April:

Got approved at 10:30am Bali Time.

Joined the DTV CLUB and super happy now!

Story to be continued…

Thanks for reading this far & big thanks to this group! I will still keep on reading comments in here because it’s so entertaining😂

DTV approved in Ho Chi Minh!

I meant to post this earlier, but I’ve been traveling by bus and things got hectic—sorry for the delay!

Application submitted: Late night on March 11

I submitted documents including a Vietnamese investment account (not a stock trading account but a foreign investment account) with approx. 700,000 THB.

I included a bank balance certificate and 6 months of transaction history, showing an average of 350,000 –400,000 BHT and topped up to 700,000 THB a week before applying.

I also submitted Airbnb booking documents in Vietnam and my passport stamp showing entry into Vietnam.

March 13 (morning): I was asked to submit additional documents

They wanted to know about my income or how I plan to sustain myself in Thailand, and requested a full copy of my passport.

I responded within 3 hours with another bank account holding over 500,000 THB (balance certificate only),

and mentioned my YouTube channel with around 2,000 subscribers to show how I could sustain myself.

I also had a lot of travel stamps in my passport from a bus trip across Southeast Asia last year, so I explained each one just in case they got suspicious.

March 18: Visa approved!

April 1: I entered Thailand via Mukdahan from Savannakhet and received a 180-day stamp without any questions.

I applied with Muay Thai Fever in Chiang Mai under the "soft power" category.

I actually visited them in person back in February, checked out their facilities, and talked with the manager. They were super helpful and quick with paperwork. I highly recommend them!

Bonus tip:

If you fail in hcmc, don’t go to Hanoi.

Instead, take a 3,4-hour bus to Can Tho—weirdly, it's still under Hanoi’s jurisdiction, but many people have better luck there.

Good luck everyone!

So here's the situation, I live in Samut Prakan and have used the TM.30 aligned with my condo for doing extensions and using it to report to immigration every time I re-enter Thailand. Recenlty I hit a snag where I mistook a 1 for a 7 and overstayed by three days. I immediately realised my error and went to the nearest immigration office to avoid paying higher fines. But we were on holiday at the time and had to create a new TM.30 from the hotel booking we had in the other province in order for me to get the extension.

Next month, I’ll be traveling to my home country. When I return to Thailand, will I be able to use the original TM.30 receipt of notification from my Samut Prakan address at the Samut Prakan Immigration Office? Or did the TM.30 from the other province automatically void the old one, meaning I’ll need to submit a new one?

Hello,

Does anyone know offhand if a 13 yr old can enter Thailand unaccompanied? He is a US citizen flying from NYC. I can get the flight from AA, and I presume they will help with immigration, but if anyone knows anything or has some recent experience with this.

Many thanks,

Ali

Hi to everyone

Is there a limit on how many times a year I can enter Thailand by plane?

I had problems entering the country the last two times (December 2024 and February 2025). They said that I already had too many Thai stamps from different years in my passport. Am I violating the law here?

I fly to Taiwan on Friday and come back to Thailand 10 days later. Now I'm worried that there could be problems with immigration again. what is the legal situation?

I am traveling with a German passport. never had an overstay either. And always travel to Thailand with a return ticket.

Going to Thailand next week....tried ringing Thai embassy London but no answer....any update on the visa excempt ETA ..?

If you are wondering about the rules for bringing medication into Thailand, they are in this link below: [members only]

Hello , are there any Americans in Thailand and do people from Thai like black women ?

Is there any Americans traveling to Thai (Bangkok )during the week of the 14th ?

Hello I work at a traveling agency, we have a Mexican couple traveling from late November to early December, I've been reading that Thailand will be asking for an ETA in December but can't find anywhere to apply... Any suggestions?