You don't jave to have a job or work for the DTV ... that is only one of its two tracks. You can also book a recreation / soft power activity to qualify (at some consulates minimum length of bookings apply). BUT, you would still need to proof at least 500k THB in savings. Not sure if the monst fesable way if without a job.

@Jon *********

Might work, but likely not. Some consulates reported that at minimum 3 months of booked activity needed. Also, would need to present a confirmation with stamp / seal and signature.

@Nigel ********

The Thai trains coming and going to / from Thailand are on the one side of the station on separate tracks, the trains coming and going from Malaysia are on the other side of the station also on separate tracks. In between are both immigrations. Be aware that those immigrations only open when a corresponding train on the other side has arrived and waits there ready to leave. Thus, there can be some waiting time involved crossing forth and back.

You book the train to Padang Besar - not Padang Besar (Thai). The Padang Besar (Thai) is a separate stop before the border still on the Thai side. The Padang Besar regular stop brings you right to the train station where the immigration is and where you can change to the Malaysian trains. I have not done a border run there, but I have entered from Malaysia to Thailand there. No particular issues with immigration. Not sure if for a pure border run they might ask you to stay at least a night before returning (at some land borders that can happen at will). Maybe someone else has done a pure border run there and can chime in.

Note, you could also exit at the Pedang Besar (Thai) station and make your way to the alternative road land border crossing nearby as an alternative.

You cannot "renew" a Non-B visa. The visa itself is issued only once for single entry of 90 days. Then the stay in Thailand can be extended year by year for another year based off of being employed with a work permit. That yearly extension of stay requires quite some documents from both the applicant and the organization he / she is working for. The actual extension itself costs merely ~2,000 THB of fees at immigration.

This group would benefit from some stricter rules on and enforcement of etiquette. Some comments are just embarrassing borderline plain sexist.

This group would benefit from some stricter rules on and enforcement of etiquette. Some comments are just embarrassing borderline racist.

@Tim *******

Glad to hear it. Just please don’t tell people that the DTV is a 180 day visa and that the visa needs to be renewed after that. I worked hard for fils to move past such potential misconceptions over the past week. The visa is good for a whole 5 years at 10k THB. Each time you use it to enter, you only get 180 days permitted stay stamped in your passport, yes. Then you need to either leave and re-enter or buy and extension at local immigration. All good. 😊

@Todd ********

Yeah, let’s have a LTR / DTV meetup on beers one day. Would be fun. 🍻

@Tim *******

I remain with “my” version. It is a 5 year visa (as shown sharing an original DTV). Within those 5 years you can come and go and come again as many times as you want. If you come, you can stay 180 days before your have to leave. If you don’t yet want to leave after 180 days, you can pay immigration for an extension of another 180 days. But at the latest after those 360 days you will have to leave before you can return and get a fresh 180 days stamp and can start over again. The key difference you have to understand is the validity of a visa never equals the permitted stay in Thailand. The permitted stay in Thailand is determined on the entry stamp. So, while the visa has 5 years validity. Each entry based on it will only give you a (new) stamp of 180 days. Hope that this is clear. And I have dealt talking to immigration extensively before. Easy to get misunderstandings there. Sometimes they don’t even know themselves exactly (yet). Sometimes things are just lost in translation. My tip: trust what is written in law and published in Thailand - not much else. Cheers.