Afternoon all

90 day online application. This is my 4th renewal, previously all done at immigration. My online application has been rejected, I’m assuming it’s due to incorrect dates? What should be the 2 dates I enter into the online application?

Thanks

I just realized that I overstayed my 60 days. In fact, today makes 7 days over and I just arrived to Koh Phangan. I am trying to weigh my option on the most economical solution for myself.

Has anyone been stopped at the gate on the island and told to pay the fine before exiting the country?

Or do you only pay the fine when you're also getting an extension? I'm so curious.

Thanks for the support.

Hi All

Looking for your recommendation, based on your posititive personal experience, on a Thai based Visa agent (ideally Jomptien, Pattaya or Bangkok) so I can obtain a Partner Visa for my Thai Partner for Australian residency.

She currently has a 1 year Australian Visitors Visa.

She is still based in Thailand and I am in Oz with the usual back and forth Thai - Oz travel.

I have done the predictable internet searches, reviews etc but would prefer direct recommendations based on your personal experiences.

Thank you in advance for your positive input.

Hello! I am getting conflicting information about reentering Thailand and was wondering if anyone could help.

I entered Thailand from Cambodia on 15th September 2024 by car to fly from Bangkok to Indonesia.

I entered again from Malaysia by car 29th October 2024 to travel the North of Thailand for 11 days.

I am in Laos now and would like to go to the south of Thailand for around three weeks. Will I need a visa for this if I’d like to stay for that long? Online it says different things; that I’d have to fly instead of enter by car, or apply for a tourist visa, or simply that when I arrive I have 60 days.

Any help appreciated.

Thank you!

Got approved for DTV Visa finally! After 2 weeks in Phnom Penh 😅. Wanted to share my experience and what documents I submitted because I never found any clear advice on this for my situation.

For reference, I make my money online through my social media so everything was kind of vague because I don’t work for a company and don’t really have any contracts or anything.

1. Business Portfolio

I created a document that gave a breakdown of my business (social media and digital marketing), I gave them my EIN Tax ID, and a copy of a letter that I got from IRS with my EIN on it. I don’t have an LLC. Described my products and services with screenshots of my social media and website. Showed screenshots of my sales reports from my payment processors. Lastly, a letter from US Embassy in Bangkok that shows they are not able to verify my income while I’m abroad.

2. Bank Statements

They don’t specifically give any timeline for bank statements or how far back you need to go. So I submitted 6 months of bank statements. I took a screenshot of my current balance. Then the first month (September) had the full statement, the other 4 months had just the cover page showing my balances.

3. Proof of location

Cambodia gives you a sticker in your passport when you arrive that has your name, and tourist visa information. I took a picture of that, and also included my hotel reservation and flight booking into the country.

Summary from my experience. The e-visa system makes things really unclear and you’re not able to get any validation before submitting documents. So my advice is to just overkill the paperwork. Especially if you’re like me and your work is not so cut and dry. I know I went way overboard but I hope that’s what got me approved. I know the turnaround times are different for every county but Phnom Penh took exactly 10 business days which is 2 weeks. Wayyyyy too long. They updated this waiting period after I booked my flight and hotel lol. Had I known, I definitely would have spent the extra money to go somewhere quicker.

Hi there,

we have a daughter who is in overstay due to hospitalisation, she is less than 2 yrs old.

She has to do a non o visa linked to her mum visa (she has work permit).

I am wondering if my daughter could do a visa run, via tachilek or lao border, possibly in the same day.

I have been told that in Lao that wont be possible as we might need at least one or more days to stay.

I am not sure if they will allow us to do in one day just presenting her situation.

Anybody knows how to deal with it the quicker?

Well, now that I'm in Bangkok, I have an update regarding my 90 visa.

First of all, the many commentors pointing out that it was actually only a 60 visa, and I would find out once immigration stamped my passport, well they were correct.

Why did I think I had. 90 day visa? Well because I spoke with the Thai embasssy in Austrlia and was advised to apply for an e-visa and selcted 90 days as duration of stay and upload inbound and outbound flight details. Which I did.

Worst part is that it cost me AUD$300 to apply for a visa that I did not need because Australian citizens get 60 days visa exempt on arrival.

Thanks to all that commented.

DTV *DENIED* in Vientiane

TLDR: make sure the 500K THB is on your *personal checking* account.

Long version:

I was applying for the DTV as a digital nomad aka for the "workcation" reason, as I have a SMLLC in the US which I use for occasional consulting back home. My paperwork was all completely legit, and I was extremely careful to have everything printed out in advance, several copies, plenty of everything, nice presentation. Ran through a whole toner cartridge on it. I was keeping the funds in my business account precisely in order to underline how legit the whole thing was: it's a real company, I am the 100% sole owner, I have complete control of the money, etc.

Got to Vientiane -- if at all possible you should do the e-Visa in advance, on-arrival was 1700 THB and about 45 minutes of waiting in line. Prepared to go to the embassy in the morning. NOTE: the Consular Section is not the same buiding as the regular Embassy! Check the address on the visa website and make sure your cabbie goes to the right one.

Per advice on this forum I got there an hour early and they let me queue up. I was dressed respectfully, super polite. I had a photocopy of the Lao Visa on Arrival -- which takes up a full page in your passport -- but they also required a copy of the arrival stamp, which to my surprise was taking up another 1/4 page. (Random complaint but that means it's 1.5 pages in your passport to enter/exit Lao, in case you are running low.)

Wait in line, chat with a friendly fellow Falang next to me, and after about 20 minutes it was my turn. The lady behind the window was a bit curt but whatever, officials. She started going through the papers, handed back a few she didn't need, asked me if I'm the company owner, and after going through the company and bank docs she tells me:

"You need the money in your personal checking account, company account not OK."

I explained that I own the company 100% and for that and other reasons, I have full access to the money, it is in fact *my* money, as the company is *my* company. You could almost hear the gears grinding slowly in her head. She asked if I could transfer the money to my personal account? Sure, could do, but it's USA, that would take about four days, and I'm pretty sure if I come back again they will say "need six months." And anyway, the next appointment is in a month.

Her supervisor walked by and shook her head and that was that.

From that moment she went from curt to dismissive. In a moment fit for TikTok she pointed to the requirements (I'd brought a printout) and jabbed her finger at the spot that says "Financial evidence: amount of no less than 500,000 THB, e.g. bank statements, payslips, sponsorship letter" and said "personal checking account only!"

Then she waved me out with the rudest little table-dusting gesture I've ever seen. Off you go, little animal, better luck next time.

OK, fine, I'll season the money in a personal account and do it again in six months or so, but online and for a Thai basket-weaving class. Message received.

My takeaways, in case anybody might find them useful:

- Personal checking account only!

- Getting there early is worth it. Note the two embassy locations!

- Photocopying is easy across the street, 10 THB per.

- They're not trying to facilitate anything, just going down a checklist.

- Which is different at each Embassy of course, and not published anywhere.

- Your Serious Business is not "better" than online basket-weaving for this purpose.

- Don't overprepare, but do simplify: explaining is useless.

- Dressing up was unnecessary, shorts are fine.

On Vientiane:

- Visa On Arrival is a shit-show.

- Taxis are infrequent and overpriced; Tuktuks more common and you can bargain.

- THB is preferred in many establishments.

- BeerLao is pretty cheap, wine and hard alcohol expensive like Bangkok.

- Food prices and quality vary wildly (compared to BKK) but not bad.

- Overall it's a pleasant, sleepy little city. GF is reminded of a smaller Ubon.

- ATMs are reasonable ($2 fee) but have a low limit (~ $90 or 2,000,000 kip).

- Coffee places mostly close early but a few are open later and they have Amazon and Starbucks.

- Lots of Vietnamese working here, I didn't expect that.

- AIS roaming data package works great; hotel and restaurant WiFi not so much.

PS, the Fellow Falang had been working illegally selling condos in-country on Visa Exempt for almost a year and had a fixer set up the appointment and had strict instructions on which window to use, so I guess that's a thing already. I'm sure he'll be flying home with his DTV on Monday. Nice guy, I wish him well.

I would like to know other expats experience.

Mine is that my wife secured her fiancé visa to the other country almost entirely without my help. Yes, she is very intelligent. She also bought a Thai restaurant in the other country almost entirely without my help again. I had to quit my job to help. Yes, she paid me a lot more than my previous job. Now she is an other country citizen and we both collect other country senior citizen benefits.

My point is…all the expat men that I know and got married in Thailand were unable to bring their Thai wife to the other country.

My conclusion is that it may be easier to get a fiancé visa as opposed to another type of visa.

That’s my experience. What is your experience?

How long can I stay in Thailand with just my US passport?

If I want to stay longer can I just cross the border into Cambodia then back to Thailand again? Will that reset my number of days?