I am currently in Thailand on an ED Visa. It expires Sept 26th. I am looking to go back home to Australia for a couple of weeks and wanted to apply for the DTV while I was out of the country.

Do I need to let the current ED Visa expire, or can I apply for the DTV and if approved it will cancel the current Visa? It will only be a month's difference if I let the current Visa expire but I thought I'd check to see if I need to wait.

Is it a slam dunk to get a 30 day extension on the 30 day entry stamp?

I just left the Samut Sakhon Immigration Office. My goal was to obtain a 30 day extension for my 30 day tourist stamp. I was unsuccessful today. Figured I'd share my experience for others.

I entered the country on March 15th at BKK. I received a 30 day tourist stamp.

At Samut Sakhon Immigration, the first step I was given at the information desk was to register where I was staying. My Thai family was with me so that was easy enough. We had to go across the street to get some documents copied. My sister in law needed her house book and Thai ID, which she had. No problem, 10 minutes.

Once that was completed, we went back to the information desk to begin the process of getting the 30 day extension. The guy at the desk told us that the extension could not be issued the same day as registration of where I am staying. He also said that the 30 day extension could not be issued until a few days before the current stamp expires. So, we'll be making a trip back.

Everything I've seen here seemed to indicate that the 30 day extension could be issued anytime. Apparently, that's not the case at Samut Sakhon. I also get that every office does their own thing, so maybe that's what's going on here.

Hi! I was approved for a 60 day tourist visa. I’m moving there, but having my son take the entrance exam at the international school when we get there and get all of the paperwork necessary to move him to an education visa. My questions are:

1. If i have a 60 day visa- is it likely the airline will ask for my forward ticket?

2. Is it likely immigration will question us?

3. How easy is it to switch to the education visa while in the country?

How many days before the exempt visa expires should I apply for the 30 days extension and where as I am traveling around Thailand from location to location.

Hi, hoping the answer will be straight forward. My wife and I both have o-a visas based on retirement. We arrived in Samui in Oct and our passports give us until 30th Sept (based on our insurance). The visa itself states insurance ends on that date. The validity of the visa though i.e must be used by date is Aug this year. My question is if we take out another year's insurance and leave and re-enter Thailand with proof of that additional insurance will we get a full year from the date of re-entry? Many thanks

Next week I'm going from Sakon Nakhon to Bangkok to collect my new UK passport. How and where do I get my retirement visa and multiple re-entry visa transferred? Will they do it at my local office? On previous occasions I got a new passport in UK and immigration at Suvarnabhumi did it on entry. So easy. Also, do I need an entry stamp in my new passport? Without one will it cause problems on exit?

Thank you all for your information about marriage extension documents. I have another thing I would like to get your thoughts on. I have had over the required 400,000 baht in my bank account for over two months but, one week ago when it was small was late at night and I was tired. I was moving my from one account to the other. I accidentally moved too much money out of 400,000 baht, bringing a little bit lower than the required 400,000 baht. 

I was stunned when I realised what I had done and I immediately put the money back in bringing it back over 400,000 baht. So it can be seen on my statement that the account went below the required amount for less than one minute. I assume/hope that will not be a big issue.

Hi all, we are going tomorrow to the Visa extension office in Lak Si to extend our 45 day visa exemption. We have three small children and we are planning on leaving them with our babysitter, but I wondered whether the office needs to see them in person, or whether it is enough that my husband and I go? Anyone with any similar experience please let me know. Thanks!

EXPERIENCE: Changing passports and getting STAMPS TRANSFERRED (for expiring passport AND change of name) for anyone wondering about the process at Bangkok (IT Laksi Square).

Thanks to the group admins for their previous advice - I wasn’t even aware I needed to do this if leaving my land/ferry rather than air. I’d have been either stuck at the border or stuck trying to re-enter later if not for your help.

Process:

If you’re on a visa exemption and have been issued an extension stamp, you must go to the same office that did your extension. In my case, Bangkok. If you haven’t yet done an extension, I assume you can go to any office (Samui/Phuket/Chiang Mai/Trat). In Bangkok at least, the process is free of charge. (If not entirely free of stress.)

There’s a simple, one-page form to fill out. Outlines old passport number, new passport number, and reason for the change.

In my case, not only was I renewing my passport, but my name had changed. This seemed to confuse them a lot. Don’t recommend doing this from overseas but, needs must.

First up at the ticket desk, they told me to go away and that I didn’t need my stamps transferred. Some confusion and discussion and it seems they meant that if you’re flying out, it’s no biggie. They’ll stamp you out at the airport (as per advice from group admins).

I explained I was leaving by land via Laos. They still didn’t want to do the stamp transfer. I then showed them my name change and they conceded.

When I got through to the immigration desk, a very angry woman yelled at me a few times and told me I didn’t need to transfer my stamps.

Explained (all over again) the leaving by land situation. She still said no. Explained the name change situation. She said OK.

It’s very, very important that you have the letter from your embassy showing that you’ve changed/renewed your passport. They will absolutely not assist you without that.

They transferred not only my entry stamp and dates, but the extension stamp. They show the original date of entry and date of extension, but with slightly different stamps (showing today’s date).

I’m not sure why the confusion about needing stamps transferred if leaving by land. Best advice seems to be that yes, you need to do that. Just be prepared to argue your case if neither the ticket desk or immigration officers seem inclined to assist.

Hope that helps a little, if anyone finds themselves in a confusing and frustrating experience, as I did!