I thought I’d share this banking experience, just in case it could help someone. Background: I have a newer US Passport, the one with the weird patterned photos that make you look like a criminal. Anyway, I’m at the K-Bank at Central, on Beach Road in Pattaya. I have all my docs in order and we’re flying along in the process when it comes time to A) take my picture, and B)take a picture of my passport photo. The K-Bank system rejected multiple attempts by their rep, each time saying the photos do not look like the same person. By the way, at K-Bank they use their iPads to take the photos - I wonder if they should upgrade that process. The rep tried and tried with no success, finally telling to go home and make my beard shorter. That night, I followed this advice and the next day went to the K-Bank located in the Big C Super Center on Central Road. Same sh!t. Just when the rep and I were wondering what to do next, another rep who had been following along at a distance ran over, saw that I have a new US passport and started shouting, “no, no, no! US Passport! US Passport!”. He grabbed it and with a big smile told me he was going to make this work. He went to a remote corner of the small branch and took photos of the passport at a weird angle. He came back laughing and gave everything to my rep saying, “go ahead, it will work now”. And just like that, when the rep took my like 20th photo….voila! it matched with the passport photo, and we sailed through the rest of the process. So if anyone has this problem at a bank, I recommend you ask the rep to call their home office and check on the best practices for taking a photo of the new USPassport.

Will I need a visa traveling to Bangkok for 4 days from Vietnam? USA Passport

Hello, everyone. I may have joined the wrong group cause I’m a short-timer/1st timer for pleasure in Thailand for 12 days. Got an easy question for you - do I need to get a visa in advance or can I get it once I arrive in the airport of the plane?

Is there a cost and what information will I need to successfully get through entry into the country? Again, my apologies if I’m wasting your time. Thanks.

TOURIST VISA

I'm currently on a 3mth only visa from the US & recently received my Thai national passport in BKK.

What's the best way to stay longer if I should decide after my 3mths is up?

Leave the country & enter as a Thai national? Where's the quickest boarder run & back? Costs?

If I choose to stay longer, does that effect my entry back to the US with my US passport?

I was approved for the TrueMoney app this morning but it is not accepting my US passport number which seems to be required to create a PIN.

Does anyone know what I need to do to create a PIN?

I received an email from the social Security Administration's Federal Benefits Unit at the U.S. Embassy in Manila for a phone appointment for my Social Security Benefits. Can any one provide their experience with their appointment?

Thanks in advance!!

I've heard that if any information does not match exactly how your passport appears, you could run into trouble.

I have a US passport and I'm filling out the initial information for the DTV, and I'm already running into problems.

The application on the official website is requesting 'Place of Birth' and 'City of Birth'

Place of Birth is giving me a dropdown menu with a list of countries (so in my case United States)

Unfortunately, on my US passport, it lists a state for my place of birth (in this case, Indiana), and does not list the city in which I was born. So on the website it's asking for the city where I was born, but that's not listed on my passport at all. Should I write 'Indiana' for the 'City of Birth' or should I write the name of the actual city?

Similarly, my US passport does not list a place of issuance, just 'issued by the US Department of State'; I believe it was issued in LA, California where I currently reside.

Has any US DTV applicants ran into any trouble in this regard? I've also heard the Chicago and Washington DC Thai consulates are a good place to apply from, but as I am in California at the moment I think I am stuck with the LA consulate; hopefully that won't be a problem?

Hello! I'm an American coming to Thailand for the first time. Would also like to visit Vietnam and the Philippines than return to Bangkok to fly home. Can I make multi entrys within sixty days? Thanks in advance.

I applied for dtv in Hanoi on the 22nd Dec, still no answers, shall I send an email to follow-up? Thanks

As an additional data point on the new limitations on visa exempt entries, here’s my Thailand entry / exit history for 2025 (USA passport). I entered again yesterday afternoon on a visa exempt basis and had no issues or questions.

Sept. 29 enter Thailand at BKK visa exempt. Leave Thailand on Oct. 17 and fly to Vietnam. (19 days)

Nov. 17 enter Thailand at BKK visa exempt. Leave December 13 and fly to Bangladesh. (27 days)

Dec. 24 enter Thailand at BKK visa exempt.

Obviously, this is a pattern for a genuine tourist rather than someone trying to live here on a visa exempt basis. No problem at all on the third entry.