Good day, I got several questions about DTV (soft power). Do assist me if possible.

1) I understand that DTV last 5 years. I’m interested to enrol in Muay Thai lessons. It’s a 9 months course. After 9 months, am I supposed to enrol for another lessons or by registering for 9 months course, I can stay Thailand for 5 years provided I leave the country every 180 days?

2) For the 500,000 baht requirement, is it 3 months or 6 months in bank account? Will my spouse need another 500,000 baht or she can tap on my 500,000 baht account?

3) Are all embassies the same in terms of requirements and approval rates? If not, any particular country you can recommend me to apply?

4) Do wI have to maintain 500,000 baht throughout the 5 years DTV?

Sincere apologies if my post is too long. Any answers will be greatly appreciated.

Hello, I am from Samui,

I want to issue DTV on courses basis.

Did someone do it and has reference to places that provide approval for cooking or Muay Thai lessons?

Thanks in advance

Today I received my DTV from the Thai Embassy in London, in about 5 working days from account creation to visa.

At first I had applied for a private cooking course with a professional chef, however I changed my strategy to Muay Thai lessons after being requested by the London embassy specifically for a headed confirmation letter from a school.

I confirmed with the London embassy that yes, when applying from the UK I must be applying to a school, not with an individual. This is slightly stricter than the official "Thai department of consular affairs (Bangkok)" line, who stated that it does not have to be a school and private lessons would be okay.

My wonderful girlfriend helped me find [members only] Muay Thai school.

They answered promptly to my initial email and booked me onto a course with just email correspondence which was great.

Bashir from Tiger Eye was very very helpful dealing with my request and seemed to have all the documents templates ready to go, which shows that there are schools actively participating in the DTV scheme.

Note on contacting the London Embassy:

Google reviews have stated that staff at the London Embassy of Thailand are near impossible to reach. This was not my experience. I called at around 4:30pm last Wednesday. I just waited past the dial tone, and the message that "[they were] only open until 12", reaching a member of staff in about half an hour.