I made a BIG BIG MISTAKE . Been here one month on DTV. Was in Dansai Loei Isaan. Slipped on wet path, fell. Excruciating agony Right hip. Cannot move leg. In hospital, waiting for MRI to open up tomorrow, to rule out hip fracture.

Didn’t think anything could happen to me. Briefly checked insurance rates but got confused frustrated, and bored.

If I can dodge a bullet and walk out of here, first thing I’ll do is get insurance. I have insurance in the US. Covers only emergencies. Takes hours to submit claim, months later, they might pay.

The day before I was just thinking, everything in Isaan wants to kill you. Ran into Giant spider, snake while hiking. Food wants to kill you, roads want to kill you. Didn’t think a little rain woiuld get me.

Small suggestion, get insurance.

Ok with all the lovely info shared by members of this group, got my starter pack ready lol … am I missing anything??

*Charles Schwab debit cards - for zero ATM FEES

*REVOLUT debit card- used mainly in Thailand?

*Wise debit card- main way to make payments without a Thai bank

*International Drivers License-

*DTV printed in A6 format.

*Passport

Am I missing anything ? -

*Health Insurance to be purchased when I arrive

* SIM card- will be purchased at arrival.

Im posting as anonymous cause i tried to apply to the DTV with an agent and they were a disaster (compass) they ghosted me asked me the same docs over and over again, their app didnt work and made me waste a lot of time and somehow ended more stressed about it. I did it my own as took me literally 5 mins is pretty easy as long as you have compiled the docs in low resolution to be uploaded. My visa was approved and will be back in Thailand tomorrow :) thanks everyone for the tips

Has anybody here done border run in Lao on DTV? Any experiences or tips? Thank you🙏

The DTV application process is a SCAM.

US Passport

Soft Power Muay Thai

Rejected then approved.

I applied in Hanoi 22 June and was rejected 25 June for Soft Power. No additional documents were requested. I went to the Thai embassy and asked why my application was rejected. The nice, but clueless, lady at the counter looked up my application and said that my "documents did not qualify". She could not specify which documents did not qualify but she encouraged me to apply again. Such BS.

So i applied again on 26 June with the EXACT same documents but this time I highlighted my name, ending balance, and account numbers in my Bank statements and pay slips. Visa was approved 4 business days later on 1 July.

Documents submitted:

Proof of location:

-Boarding pass

-Passport entry stamp

-Hotel booking

Proof of funds:

-Bank balance screenshot day of submission with 1M+ baht

-Bank statements showing over 1M baht (6 months)

-Pay slips (6 months)

Soft Power documents supplied by Muay Thai school

Cross your fingers if you decide to apply at Hanoi. They WILL randomly reject your application and encourage you to pay again. SCAMMERS

Has anyone applied for the DTV in Ho Chi Minh through soft power activities? I am currently preparing my documents now and would really appreciate any tips on making the entire application process smoother (Eg. Converting the bank account statements to Thai Baht, cover letter to explain how i can sustain expenses in Thailand.) Thank you in advance!

It helps to answer interview in Thai 💕 officer will be nicer 💕 first applied last year in my home country, confident with bank account n yearly income but was met with (we don't have bilateral agreements with Thai govt so we don't know what to charge)

So to rush to get in I did ED visa which helped me to learn Thai เรียนภาษาไทย but 😩 unable to travel out. So I took the plunge & one way ticket out. Lesson learnt to check on bank holidays it was a grueling 18 days wait with just an appointment date. But I think 2 points to learn from this

1) Glad I got an agent, pay 100USD to save on headache, help me check on docs & even advise me retaking photo showing my ears and no teeth to prevent rejection. They help to push along documents.

2) Sometimes you just have to push through, follow instructions, be there early not on time, before office opens (everyone had appointment at 9.30am) what a cute arrangement 😂 just persevere. Be prepared for the weather (correction : thks for helping below, so I be sure not to miss deadline reporting save fine money 😊)

DTV approved in Penang, Malaysia 🇲🇾

This has been a battle folks but we did it!!!

First I will say do not plan coming this place it has been classified as the hardest and longest to get approved and the process is so tiring. I arrived here April 29 and the approval went through today May 29 so total of 30 days wild. I went with an agency which be honest was good idea cause they literally helped call the embassy and push my interview due to Penang can’t go the embassy anymore they have to request for interview. I have 3 weeks of them requesting my 3 months documents in a row ridiculous honestly but in the end it was approved. Please do research and go somewhere else they have a 50% chance here if you get approved or not.

Relieved to report I got my soft power DTV through from HCMC yesterday finally. Application submitted 24th April, pending approval 25th April, approved 10th May.

3 points of note from my experience:

Hanoi seems to be much quicker at processing the applications within Vietnam at the moment if you are considering an application in the country.

HCMC approved my application on a Saturday evening - this is the first report I have seen of "out of hours" approvals from this embassy.

I had an active METV in place at the point of approval of my DTV. A caveat to this is that I got a new passport in between the METV and DTV being granted.

This group has been invaluable to me so hopefully this information helps someone else.

My Experience with DTV (Workstation)

It took me almost two months to get approved in the U.S. The main reason for the delay seemed to be that resubmitted documents are not checked regularly.

However, as soon as I emailed them, they responded and approved my DTV the same day.

So, if you haven't heard back from them in a while—send a follow-up email!

It was in LA