@Li ***

for reference; Duke does 3 hours a day, 5 days a week. There is also chapter testing (roughly every 2 days), homework (nearly daily), and overall course testing. It’s pretty intensive.

It's probably the same. It basically just identified me (had my fingerprints and arrest record), and said I was requesting the clearance to attend school.

I believe it is just a check that shows if you have ever been arrested for anything. I've never been arrested nor had a ticket in Bangkok so I'm not certain.

It's not too bad as long as you know what to do. The problem is that they keep changing the rules 😂🙈 Also, on a random aside... please hit me up if you know of any stunt work available (legal of course 🤣). I'd be interested in getting involved. I'm former military with combat deployments, done some PSD work, and was a former professional fighter here in Bangkok for a bit.

No problem at all. I get super nervous/anxious about visa stuff even though I am like 99% sure I'm good lol. I also somehow always find myself in unusual situations that I can never find any info on so I wanna help out in case anyone happens to be in the same scenario later on. 😀

Tod is the embodiment of “old guy get off my lawn” lol but he has good info usually. I’d imagine he is tired of answering the same questions repeatedly. My issue with that group was the admin that shut down comments immediately. Sometimes people have stuff to add that is actually relevant but they just shut it down as soon as they can.

You already have your visa right? You should be good to go though bank statements couldn’t hurt and just be prepared to get asked why you want to learn Thai, where you are going to school, etc. My school gives me a few documents to hand over to immigration if I get stopped. Just has a mini invitation letter from the school, my school schedule, shows my enrollment, etc.

@Ryan ************

what could go wrong?! 😂🤷🏻‍♂️

Thanks

@Steven **************

that is good to know. I am interested in how the interview/test will go and what will be expected. It seems like a subjective way to decide whether someone gets a second visa or not depending how high the standards are. Every school is teaching different curriculum and at different paces. I would assume it would be easy to spot those who aren't even attempting to learn though. However, even if the person is going to school regularly and doing all their assigned homework it is very possible they could have difficulty retaining the lessons. Especially if you don't have someone to practice with outside of class. I am a little surprised that they expect people to be "finished" studying or proficient after the 2nd visa/15 months as it seems no one is able to get additional visas after that. That just seems like a short time frame for what is a rather difficult language to learn (not only to speak but also to read/write).

@Alan ******

it’s totally an option and what I am planning on doing 😀 Mostly wondering if there is a specific format I should use and how much detail I should go into. I’ve got all my supporting documents and am planning on explaining them to the people at the desk in the consulate but I’m not sure how much of that information they will actually pass on to whomever makes the decisions pertaining to visas.