@Aikins ******

end of the day no matter what visa you have your entry is decided on by the immigration officer you get and they can just say no for any little reason, so if your in a position where you think you will get denied I would say play the game and pay for VIP, it's corrupt and generally not good but you would get in, same as when you do a land boarder crossing you pay an agent and you know immigration will get a cut, so your playing their game, so play by their rules or you will come unstuck and have a bad time because you are only ever a guest....

@David ******

if you stick to the Thai rules then no fees needed, however the problem with many Thai rules is they are often very big grey areas where getting clear and accurate information is near to impossible because they change almost monthly, many of the rules they have are in press and online, but finding them is very hard, wow 60k for first retirement visa is a lot, last I heard from TikTok services in Pattaya it was 35k so I say shop around, also the high prices are probably because people don't have the 800k to leave in a bank and doing that part is now much much harder, but again the reality there is if you comply with all that's needed you can apply for the retirement visa yourself and I have known a few that have done that with help from a Thai lady or gf and it's cost them under £100 for a 12 month visa, so when people don't want to look at this option for several reasons can you really blame the agents for charging a lot.......no not really they have bills and need to eat too and as it's getting more quiet due to all the government changes too that will push prices up

Contact a visa agent in Thailand who offers VIP Airport entry or Fast track entry, they will need a pic of your passport to check it's 'status' with immigration and so how much you will need to pay 4-10k baht to get in, this will also get the 'flagged' status confirmed if it's there, something you may want to consider is flying in to a more local to Thailand country such as Vietnam and spending a couple of days there before flying in to Thailand, because if you get denied entry they will send you back to where you flew in from, you have to book and pay the flight and you don't get a choice in where you go, so if you had flown from UK or US then you would have to pay that flight back on the spot, oh and make sure you have some baht as cash with you so you can pay the 1070 baht a night detention centre fee, and make sure you have a power bank to charge you phone, if you pick VIP start getting it sorted at least a week before you fly because it takes time to confirm everything and also you would need to pay the fee before you fly

@Richie ***************

I agree with your reasoning, the situation at the time was not a good one, but it was my own actions that put me in it, I underestimated how hard it would be to find any kind of work in Thailand, either in country or online, lots of things had happened to get me to this point and I was not always thinking clearly, but I got the help I needed and go through it all (fyi my issues were not caused by drugs or alcohol, but by stress and worry causing mental health issues)

@Richie ***************

the full 90 days, so 90 boarder bounce and 90, it wasn't really a surprise it happened and it was not a nice experience but after 15 days in Vietnam I paid the VIP and went back and now I'm somewhere else.....

One option maybe a airport VIP service, and I say this because even with a applied and approved tourist visa and IO can still say no, price of the VIP service is between 2-8k baht depending on your passport history, basically and IO would come and get you from one of the big doors close to the immigration ramp and walk you through and stamp you in no questions asked and then they go and get a nice cup of tea....also I would advise that the cash you have on you is in baht and not pounds because if you do get pulled aside to the questions area, your only hope would be to pass the IO your passport with the cash in it so they can take a photo of it and also show their supervisor it, as I understand it, while they look at it they may have a cup of tea and let you in, if you play nice that is, if they do say no then you would get taken to the inner guts of the airport and told very little until an airline rep turns up to say you need to book a flight back to UK asap, cannot pop to Vietnam and come back in a few days, and then you will get taken to the detention centre in the basement where you will stay until your flight and you have to pay 1070 baht a night, you do get food and water, but there is no paper or bum gun in the toilet, and then when your flight is happening they will collect you and walk you through the airport and they keep your passport for the whole thing, you only get it back from and IO at your destination and your first on the plane and last off and taken by ground crew to the IO where you get more questions, if it's UK you should be ok, but for me when I was denied it was DaNang airport and I did wonder what would happen if they said no, all this happening to me is why I choose to use the VIP option because like I say an IO can say no to any visa if they want, playing their game is a little scary but it works, anyway good luck with whatever you decide to do, but you may want to use VIP for Aug and Oct as they as close together.....oh and the reason given to me for my denied entry was returning for a third time within a 6 month window, it's true I was but I had no overstays or anything else dodgy, I have heard from many people they really are asking more questions and a few friends over 50 have been questioned as to why they don't have a retirement visa.....

I think several months ago now I did see a post about the move to fully online and they said minimum time would become 14 days, I don't recall if it mentioned working days or not, I believe it's now the same for applications from Vietnam and Laos now too!

I was turned away for trying to enter for a third time on visa exempt within a 6 month period and personally know several over 50 who have been told if they don't get a proper visa they will be denied entry next time and this was only trip 1 this year, so while yes you are technically correct they are deciding to be more strict on things if your over 50 or your history looks like your not a tourist, as plenty of others have said any entry regardless of any visa you may have is always at the discretion of the IO.....

Arrange airport VIP service before he arrives, cost varies with passport history from about 3k-10k baht, needs to pay before he takes off usually

@David ********

as I am sure every agent will vary with price and process I advise you look for Airport VIP service, looking online I saw fees from 3k baht to 10k baht, mine was 7k, for me I sent a photo of my passport and latest stamps and then was given a price, so maybe it depends what computer says for the price depending on any risk for the IO, and for me I had to pay before I flew in, I assume that all would need that. I advise you start making arrangements 3-4 days before you fly