Hello, dear friends.

Does it make sense to apply both muay thai and cooking class for DTV? Does it increase the chance of approval?

Thank you

Any legit cooking courses in Phuket for DTV? Much appreciated! Or any other soft power compliant 🙏🙏

considering getting a visa agency for my upcoming application in Laos anyone have recommendations?

Hello

I already have my DTV for soft power cooking approved few months ago.

Is it a problem if I change my mind and want to live in another city ? I will take another course in another school?

I think for reentry in airport i will not be a problem. But when you do your TM30 and you are not in the city where you supposed to be for your school?

And in the future after 6 months of school, I don't want to learn cooking for 5 years 😅 so can I switch to muay thai or workcation?

My soft power DTV was approved this week. I applied from Hanoi about 9 days ago.

I did not use an agent and did everything myself. Although the 3 months of banking statements was not a requirement, I still attached 3 months because it seems like they may be weighing the strength of each application against one another and going with the ones that hold more weight, also factoring in nationality and one's ability to support themselves.

Included within the application was a page at the beginning of each section, notifying the consular officer exactly what they would see.

I also split the PDF into several of the relevant sections and uploaded it to the applicable attachment area in the website. It might not mean anything, but if you want to leave no stone unturned, this is a way to show you put in extra effort.

I included a cover letter, explaining a little about myself as well as why I was interested in the soft power course I was applying to. I directly wrote that I did not intend to work for any Thai companies or compete with Thai nationals during the duration of the DTV. Also, I included how I make money to support myself, as well as what my plans were after the 12 month course ended. To put in more detail, I stated that I would continue to sign up for more soft power courses to honor the intention of the DTV. One of their main issues seems to be what people are doing after their 6-12 month course is over. This is just a way to assure the officer that you will continue to contribute to the Thai tourist economy.

Lastly, I included all airline tickets into Vietnam and Hanoi, confirming my location was in Hanoi. I included date-timestamped selfies of myself at designated areas in Hanoi. Additionally, I included receipt of accommodations in Hanoi as well as the accommodation and arrival flight I booked in Thailand.

Sidenote here, I was a bit worried due to news of what the US has done in adding Thailand on a restrictive list of 75 countries where their citizens' long-term visas would no longer be processed. The situation is volatile and unpredictable. I don't trust the US to act rationally and the ones most affected in the end may be American expats, unfortunately.

If you have any questions, please let me know. I debated posting this but I figured it would help some who were on the fence. There are way too many 'soft power rejection' posts regarding Hanoi but my experience was totally different than what's been posted online.

1.27.2026 update - I left Vietnam for Bangkok BKK Airport. Following the advice of some on this forum, I made sure to print out my Visa on an A4 size paper. Showed it to the IO and was promptly stamped in. The line was long and high season is definitely causing some backups. Now I need to figure out how to do a Certificate of Residence. I'll be going to Lak Si tomorrow to try and do that. Likely my last update on this forum. Big thank you to those who posted valuable information on the DTV Visa.

For the people who got rejected using Muay Thai as a soft power, did you already practice and/or compete regularly? Or have gone to Thailand to train previously?

I was approved today for the soft power Muay Thai DTV5 visa. Do i need supporting documents like bank statements, income and residence information when going through immigration? Chatgpt said I did so I figured I would ask the group.

i want to apply for DTV visa in Vietnam, somebody can recommend the best soft power courses with higher rare of approval thanks

Hello

Unfortunately my application has been rejected in Hanoi

DTV Soft power thai cooking 6month course with House of Taste Bangkok

French passport

Applied 13/08

Pending approval 14/08

Rejected 20/08

No other documents requested simply rejected.

Provided :

4month current account bank statement with more than 500k baht and saving account with more than 4 millions baht

Proof of location in Hanoi (booking, stamp, google maps shot, payment receipt)

School document (DBD, Proof of payment, class example and stuff)

Since they don't provide any explanation on why they reject your application I wonder what's my next best move.

Either I try to apply from HCMC/Jarkata embassy or I maybe change course to Muay Thai, go with an agent ?

Hello ! Anyone who got DTV with soft power courses experienced any issues at airport immigrations during visa runs ? Like the officers question about new courses and how the course is doing because normally the courses are 6 months long. Is it required to enroll new courses after each one expires just to extend my period of stay? i’m going to skip soft power option if it is so. It’s going to be costly.