Approved in Hanoi (soft power)

Posting this on behalf of a friend who doesn't have Facebook but who used this group to help with the DTV application.

Privileged western passport, applied for more than the normal 6 months of Muay Thai training, and was approved after 1 calendar week.

6 months of bank statements provided despite 3 months being requested, with the opening and closing balances always being far in excess of the required ฿500,000 minimum.

Photo of me outside the hotel in Hanoi showing boarding pass, hotel room keycard and the passport biodata page. Also submitted the hotel invoice billed in VND with the hotel parent company's official stamp and address on it.

Cover letter stated how the applicant can support themselves using the substantial bank balance and mentioned a genuine desire to train Muay Thai long-term over 5 years.

The Muay Thai gym provided all necessary paperwork which was then aggregated and compressed using iLovePDF.com. This included the payment receipt for the full course. I had no back and forth with the gym at all - the paperwork they provided included everything that was needed.

No additional documents were requested nor questions asked. Stamped straight in at DMK no issues whatsoever.

Overall a clean and smooth experience. A huge thank you to this group from where I acquired a lot of the information to put together a comprehensive and complete application.

Update from Phuket airport. Just arrived tonight from Vietnam and they cracking down hard on both non visa and visa holders. I been on my DTV for over a year and i needed to show 20k cash, pictures from my softpower training (muaythai) and they even asked me to call the gym owner to confirm i was still training there. Lucky the owner picked up the call. Was about 20 more people in same room as me and atleast 10 got denied entry and deported. From start to finish was around 2 hours to get my stamp. Be ready with your documents and proof.

Hello 🙏. I am looking to apply for a DTV visa in Laos as I heard it was a fast process (around a week)

I am currently talking to a gym in North Phuket about getting a letter of acceptance for a 6 month course that I can present to the embassy along with my bank account funds.

The gym is fully certified as a professional Muay Thai Camp. There is a plaque outside stating their certification by the Office of Boxing Sport Board , Sports Authority of Thailand Ministry of Tourism and Sports.

My question is do I just need to get the letter of acceptance written by the gym (1 day) or do I have to wait for the Boxing office in Thailand to approve me first before applying in Loas. I think the gym owner doesn’t fully understand the process about this letter and keeps trying to refer me to his agent.

From my research I understood he can write the letter and I can immediately go to Loas and be approved quickly. Am I correct ? Thanks 🙏

📌 My DTV Approval Experience Softpower Muay Thai (Applied in Hanoi – Full Breakdown)

Posting this because I struggled to find proper info on using a WISE account for DTV, so here’s my full process to help others.

I’m a 26-year-old Belgian who’s been in Thailand over 2 years (mostly on ED visa, two tourist stamps, one border bounce), with a brand-new Belgian passport issued in Bangkok.

-I live in Huahin and applied under King of Muay Thai 17,500 baht for 6 months (10 group courses)

-Flight to Hanoi around 6,000 baht roundtrip

- I was reluctant to apply myself and use an agent and i'm glad I did not -- all they do is apply as you online anyway, you'll still need to fly, pay the fees, submit the documents.

📅 TIMELINE (4 BUSINESS DAYS)

15th November (Saturday), 11:30 PM – Submitted my DTV application in Hanoi, Vietnam.

16th November (Sunday), around 12:00 AM – Payment completed right after midnight.

17th November(Monday) – Status changed from Document Checking → Pending Approval.

20th November (Thursday) – Approved, no additional documents requested.

💰 ABOUT WISE (IMPORTANT)

I had 500,000 THB for less than 3 months in my WISE account, but the account was actively used, and I had a little over 300,000 THB at the start of the 3-month period.

There’s almost no information online about using WISE, but mine passed without issues.

📄 DOCUMENTS SUBMITTED (ALL DOCUMENTS FOR EACH CATEGORY MERGED INTO ONE PDF VIA ILOVEPDF)

1. VIETNAM PROOF – 1 PDF

(Everything below merged into this single PDF)

• Hotel booking

• Hotel receipt

• Picture of me holding my passport + room key in front of the hotel sign so the address is clearly visible in big letters

• Close-up picture of me + passport + room key

• Photo of me at a Vietnamese café

• Entry stamp into Vietnam

2. BANK DOCUMENTS – 1 PDF

(Everything below merged into this single PDF)

• WISE certificate proving ownership of the account

• 3-month bank statement with my name and ending balance highlighted

3. MUAY THAI GYM DOCUMENTS – 1 PDF

(Everything below merged into this single PDF)

• 3–4 pages from King of Muay Thai (merged + compressed); Acknoledgement letter + Payment received letter + Certificate from Sports Authority of thailand stating they recognize the Muay Thai gym + Muay Thai Gym Business details + Owners passport + Owners work permit

4. PASSPORT DOCUMENTS – 1 PDF (FIRST DOCUMENTS YOU SUBMIT AT THE FIRST PAGES)

• Recent photo with white background

• Scanned passport

⚠️ PASSPORT PLACE OF ISSUE — VERY IMPORTANT

If your passport was issued abroad, do NOT select your home country.

Mine was issued in Bangkok, so I selected Bangkok or Exactly as writted in passport.

Many people get rejected for choosing their nationality instead of the actual place of issue.

✈️ CONFUSING QUESTIONS & HOW I ANSWERED THEM

“Place of last embarkment / last place of embarkment”

→ This means the airport you will fly from before entering Thailand. I put Vietnam airport.

Flight number

→ I used the flight I booked via Trip.com (it was a flexible ticket set for the 25th — not sure if that helped speed things up).

Commercial or charter flight?

→ I chose Commercial.

Arrival date:

→ I put 25th, the date of my booked flight.

Departure date:

→ I counted roughly 6 months from my arrival and put a date 1–2 days short of exactly 6 months.

First address they ask for:

→ This MUST be your current address (hotel address or the address where you are physically staying while applying).

Then it asks: “Is this also your permanent address?”

→ I selected NO.

→ After that, I entered my permanent home-country address.

(There’s almost zero guidance online about this step, so take note.)

Address in Thailand + how long you’ll stay there

→ I used my home address and the number of days matching my 6-month renewable lease.

⚠️ IMPORTANT SUBMISSION TIPS

• Double and triple check everything — I checked my submission 10 times.

• Copy-pasting my hotel address did not work because the website does NOT support Vietnamese accented characters. I had to search the hotel on another website to copy a non-accented version.

• All PDFs were merged cleanly using iLovePDF before uploading.

💡 NOTE:

I did NOT submit a cover letter or table of contents.

Many people say it’s needed, but I didn’t include anything extra and still got approved smoothly.

Everything I learned from this group is exactly what helped me apply and get approved. Thank you to everyone who shared their experiences — it genuinely helped me get through this.

Good luck to anyone applying, and feel free to ask me questions. I was in the same boat as you.

Sharing our experience 😊

Hubby applied for soft power DTV in HCMC on 2/11/25 @ 8:15pm.

4/11/25 -They requested all passport pages and 6 months bank statements (he initially uploaded 3 months). He uploaded docs same day.

5/11/25 - They requested proof of letter stating ongoing pension and what his plans were in Thailand after the 6 month course. He uploaded docs same day. Stating he intended to keep training Muay Thai.

6/11/25 - Pending approval

10/11/25 - Approved

Arriving back in Bangkok 10/11 IO didnt request to see any print out of DTV. Initially stamped in with 60 days until she realised there was a DTV attached in which she scribbled the date out, corrected to 180 days and that was it.

My advice, check your dates before leaving the IO counter 😊

Hi everyone! I first entered Thailand on August 31st on my DTV visa, and I’ll be leaving on December 1st after using it for 3 months. I plan to re-enter in January on the same type of visa (for my Soft Power Muay Thai training).

Can anyone please tell me what the requirements are when I re-enter?

• Do I need to show proof of accommodation and other documents again,

or can I just enter without any problem since it’s the same visa type?

Would really appreciate any advice or recent experiences — thank you! 🙏🇹🇭

Just wanted to share my experience applying for the DTV — hopefully this helps anyone going through it!

🗓 Timeline:

• Friday 24th Oct – Submitted my application

• Wednesday 29th Oct – Approved ✅

(No additional information requested)

🥋 Muay Thai Training / Activity Requirement:

I applied under the Muay Thai training category with Lamai Muay Thai Camp, Koh Samui.

They were really helpful and super quick providing all the paperwork needed.

The program is a 6-month membership, offering up to 6 days per week / 2 hours per day training for around 34k THB.

Attendance isn’t mandatory every day, but they did say to attend regularly (at least weekly) as immigration may check attendance.

📧 For anyone needing info or documents from them, contact Nikki at muaythaitour@hotmail.com — she was amazing and very efficient.

⚖️ Visa Assistance:

I used Siam Legal (Bangkok) for consultation and processing. They do charge a fee, but it made everything stress-free.

Highly recommend Kanda — she was fantastic and very responsive 🙏

✈️ Where I Applied:

I was advised to apply in Hanoi for faster processing — and that was definitely true. From submission to approval, it took only 3.5 working days!

🌴 Overall, it’s been a smooth experience and I’m really happy with how easy it was.

Hope this helps anyone applying soon — good luck everyone! 🤞💙

Hey!!

Is anyone able to help me with these please?

I have applied from London embassy. I live and work in Spain in the summers. I sent my Spanish bank statements in English with enough money in?

Shout I write a cover letter for them and explain I live and work in Spain in the summers?

And upload that along with my Spanish statement again and also prove my English bank statement with my home address on?

I have also sent everything that the Muay Thai gym has sent me.

Any help or advice would be much appreciated thank you 🙏

Hi, so a friend got his DTV and through no fault of his own, will not be able to come to Thailand for a while. Maybe 1 year. He went through the Muay Thai training camp approach. This will be cancelled now.

He basically wants to know if he can use the visa still? Will questions be asked if used it for the occasional long break and maybe some Training? TIA

when applying at LA embassy for dtv visa

do you just need 500k baht in your bank account or do you need it for 3 months +?

anyone with experience with this?

and how much smoother does using a visa agent, or a muay thai gym agent make this whole thing?