You can still get a five year multiple entry visa. I visited a cooking school yesterday, paid for classes, got the paperwork needed for the DTV and will be applying in Laos on September 10th. The cooking school I used here in Bangkok said they already had four other students get the DTV with their classes.

Yes. It's an easy process. Time consuming, but easy.

Once here you can get a new passport at your embassy (if you have one in Thailand) then transfer the visa and respective stamps to the new passport. It's a standard process here. The visa is five years in length.

You are right. There is no requirement regarding the duration. It could be one day or 20 days. However, the course itself needs to be accredited by the Ministry of Education, not just the school. Many of the small cooking classes tourists see online are not actually schools but glorified tourist attractions.

This is the only school that I have found that offers what is needed for the DTV. There's probably more out there, I just have not found them yet.

@Sé ****

It's a category of the DTV. So five years.

@Terje *********

, I haven't yet found one where the shorter, cheaper courses are accredited by the MOE. The one you posted above says they are but at 70,000 Baht. I just got a reply from The Food School Bangkok: Their course is 3-9 months and costs 224,500 all in. If you look at the monthly cost of the 70K option for the next 5 years, it's only 1167 a month. It's a lot upfront, but it's a pretty reasonable and cheap option in the long run, and you learn a new skill.

The embassy in Vientiane, Laos, has confirmed that the course duration does not matter; the only thing that the Vientiane consulate is focused on is that the school is registered with the Ministry of Education (MOE). I have messaged many cooking schools that are registered with the MOE. However, the shorter, cheaper courses offered are not accredited.

Welcome to Thailand.... Not a whole lot makes sense here sometimes.

With other Thai VIsas (I'm not sure about this one because it's so new), the balance can not drop below 500K (or whatever the particular required amount is) during the duration of the funds being held. I think it depends on where you apply.