Hi everyone, I am a seafarer on a merchant fleet and my wife and I are currently living in Thailand. I initially considered applying for the new Destination Thailand Visa (DTV) as a seafarer, but I understand that DTV is for remote workers and digital nomads, and I may not qualify under this category as I am not a remote worker.

So now we are exploring a different option, and I have some specific questions:

1. At first I wanted to apply as the main applicant (Muay Thai training program as the activity) and my wife as dependent. But I realized that in this case her visa fully depends on mine. If I get delayed at sea (for example, more than 6 months), she cannot stay in Thailand without me and cannot exit/re-enter by border run to reset her stay. So now I am thinking of switching roles and letting my wife be the main applicant.

2. Could my wife apply as the main applicant (for example, cooking school program), and I apply as dependent? Would Thai Immigration accept me as a male dependent spouse?

3. We are currently living in Thailand, but plan to fly to Romania and apply for DTV visas at the Thai Embassy in Bucharest based on this plan. Does anyone have experience applying for DTV in Romania?

4. If we don’t get the DTV visas abroad, we will return to Thailand. I will enter as a tourist (which is fine), but my wife has already spent almost 3 years continuously in Thailand on a student ED visa. We will take a re-entry permit for her before leaving, but will this long history of ED visa cause any problems at the airport or with Immigration? Also, if she returns with a valid re-entry permit, will she be able to extend her current ED visa again as normal?

Any personal experience or advice would be highly appreciated. We want to be 100% legal and safe, even with my frequent travels as a seafarer.

Thank you so much for your help!