@Graham *****

a good friend has done this recently, he got a new retirement visa in Feb 2024, his passport was due to expire in October 2024, he got new passport from BKK and the immigration transferred the remaining months to new passport and he renewed as normal in Feb 2025, so maybe SOME visa can be transfed, or maybe they change the rules, I don't know I can only tell you what I know happened

A friend of mines passport ran out during his retirement visa and he had to go to immigration to get it transferred to his new passport, so maybe some visas can be transferred and some cannot, may be advisable to speak to a few agents to see what they say about it

From my own experience of traffic stops in Pattaya it is advisable to have a hard copy, because some officers need to move it around a bit to read it properly and also they sometimes wander off with it, but that being said if you plan to spend lots of time in Thailand I would advise get your Thai license, because for motorbike it's cheap and easy, on a tourist visa I did mine in March, total cost as I did myself was under 1k baht for just motorbike, car adds about 600 baht and I didn't end up needing to do the theory test, not sure why I didn't but not complaining, but if you want to go this option then first step is to go to the DLT and book an appointment, back in March they were booking for 3 weeks ahead so it maybe less now but still go do and they also give you a form with what you will need listed, I feel having a full Thai license would show officers that your not just a tourist so they may not try and ask for tea money as you probably understand the laws a bit,either way have a fun safe trip!

@Marco ******

technically you are correct, but since January they have been much more strict, I suspect this maybe because of the ETA process that's incoming which will mean that they have much lass ways to take tea money..

Thai immigration look at your last 6 months and say you cannot visit more than twice under visa exemption so after Malaysia you have high risk of denial, few people on here have this experience in last few months

A couple of friends of mine were asked why they not have a visa for visit because they see that the make the trip from UK to Thailand maybe 3 times a year and they are retirement age, so yes immigration are getting a bit tighter in regards to multi entry in a year, also have a friend who did the 6 month visa before he came, even with that you have to leave and come back every 60 days, but he's been out twice and come back no issues or questions, so that maybe your safe option and I agree that you should probably book a flight out of Thailand before you come, like you have said it's part of your travel plans

Agree that you need to speak to a legal advisor, but depending on how long you know your lady and future plans it maybe a good idea to really look at business visa for a couple of reasons, it's the only visa that can lead to permanent residency I believe and also moving forward if things go south for you and your lady you would still own part of the business and have some protection if it's in joint ownership, where if just marriage visa and things go bad you could lose all much easier, please understand that this is my understanding of things and may not be 100% right, so as others have said seek legal advice please

@Rob ********

So the reason the DTV is 180 and leave is because of tax liability, and it's not really a stretch for them to think 'true digital nomads' would move between 3-4 countries a year is it, part of the reason to become one is to travel is it not??

Last year I spoke to an agent in regards to becoming part owner in a currently running Thai owner bar and the registration and visa was quoted at 65k baht and 35k baht for work permit and yes of course there would be staff cost to get work permit but as bar has staff that's not an issue, this quick quote was given to by Magna Carta on South Pattaya road just by the junction with the big yellow Tony's fitness place

@John ******

there was a YT video recently after changing to fully digital application that advised it will now typically take 14 days