We are originally from the Midwest, so I get it. We’ve been here since 2011 and have lived in multiple places. We first were in this kind of long stay hotel type place before we got our first house. I’ve found it’s a bit hard to find places online. Being in the area and having a good agent helps. We have ended up building/modifying our kitchens. Some places have them. Others have a room where you make one, which is what we’ve done. And we’ve made space for a washer and a dryer.

It depends on the visa category but yes, you can get an extension of stay year by year. My non-b visa was granted in 2015 and I never “had” to leave to country and get a new visa. I did travel on breaks or for my job but each year I got a yearly extension.

I’ve heard by Sept

@Tay *****

several of my friends did this here in Chiang Mai

He could get a visa to study hand to hand combat

@Mike *******

That makes sense for marriage/family bc the process takes a lot longer from what I've seen. It's in the same room as "change visas into new passports" so I witnessed it a lot in March as I waited for my passport to get updated.

Here's my report. I am a professor so my visa is attached to work. I have two dependents on my visa (1 spouse, 1 child). We arrived at 4am and the entrances to the mall were closed. We saw other cars inside so we moved the barrier, drove through, and replaced it. The parking lots were completely dark and had barriers, unlike the last time I was here super early in March to have my visa updated in a new passport. My husband queued up so I could keep our son asleep in the car. He was the 7th person in line. A few people (paid stand ins) had camped out the night before. We will likely be here many hours. Not sure if it will extend into the afternoon. Also, the mall itself (inside) has more barriers around. Bathrooms locked. The last time I was here the bathroom was not locked. It's not as busy today as I often see it for things like 90 days but the extension line was really long after my husband. I think at some point they put almost all extensions in the same queue whereas in the past there were more separate categories.

If the kids are enrolled at CMU they should qualify for education visas of their own