@THAI *****************************

you're the admin so I get you need to put the warnings at the forefront.

Anyway I flew back to the country 2 days ago and was stamped for 6 months.

@Сергей *********

How did you handle this? you could simply leave the country to get the stamp, but it does not mean you need to go back to your home country?

@Lee **********

I was not asked for pages of my passport when I applied online.

@John ******

let's see, schools issuing fake edu visas, consultants somehow getting o visas, providing 'fake' money in the bank statements, people doing back to back land border runs and here years renewing tourist visas? do you think the MoFA cares?

You may ascribe terrible moral failings on this action, but look around you. I'm good.

@John ******

lol it was never a debate. As I said I was mostly going over my head how did I get 'here'. I dislike pointless paper bureaucracy and I will push the limits on it if i can.

I don't care about your argument beyond internet chatter even if you had one. No offense.

Bottom line yes, I don't feel it changes _anything_ about my qualification for the visa (not that there's really much to qualify for), so in my book is a "white lie" that harms nothing and nobody, except save me time and effort.

In the grand scheme of bad things you can do, I sleep very well at night about this.

@John ******

I double checked - the docs say 'current location - your current location is a country in which you remain at the time that you lodge an application' - which, it's a bit wonky English but I interpret that to be "where you are at that exact minute when you click 'submit'" ( and it would be ridiculous to expect someone forcibly stay somewhere until such time as you get the visa result back so my scenario would apply.)

i said 'fake' hotel bookings in the sense that you can "buy" them (and pick 'pay at the property/full refund) with the very real awareness that visa officers _know_ you will cancel them if you are denied. What does it show at all to the powers deciding, when they know people will do this? it's pointless paperwork that (in my head) helps evaluate nothing about an application.

Part of it also stems from experience traveling (I've applied 4 times so far for Schengen). I travel very last minute on a whim and mostly without plans beyond the first week or two. For Schengen specifically I have no idea where I would be 1 month (usually out of 3) into a trip. So I pick 'whatever hotels' for the paperwork, and later if approved, spend the actual time making more concrete plans. History has shown me they don't care/makes no difference what my "true intentions" were behind the hotel printouts provided to the visa office staff. For all they care (and they don't), plans changed. But I saved time having to forcibly plan for a 3 month trip day by day.

As far as onward tickets (return tickets), it's common for long term stayers who have no actual day to leave, or the digital nomad crowd, who aren't specific about when to leave any country, to use these. If you ever travel long term I'm sure you would use them. Lots of people do it, and even the airline themselves accept it, as I've literally bought an onward ticket at the counter and showed it to the staff. Again, pointless paperwork check in my mind. It is not an issue of liability as if you were denied entry into the country it's not like you can use your return ticket for a specific date, to return/go elsewhere.

But to your question, as I said, I did not want to have to (maybe) schedule an appointment, find out where it is, go wait in line, return 2 days later, deal with potentially onerous document requirements (such as someone shared about the China Thai consulate). And, I had done this before for a tourist visa so, in my head it's not a huge risk as some others make it to be. It was 15 minutes to apply online (being it's 90% the same as a regular tourist visa), vs the alternative of hours.

I do not mean to come across as a wordage dump, merely perhaps explaining (even to myself, about my apparent flexible ethical compass lol) in a bit detail that I think there's just so many rules put in place and nobody (and I mean that from the visa office's side) really follow them as assiduously as we think. Perhaps it comes from many years of experience going through the visas in Thailand and elsewhere, It's all pointless paper pushing.

@John ******

you're right, I could've gone to the embassy and do that personally. I just wanted the convenience of online.

I honestly think people put too much stock on anybody in the Thai govt caring so much to enforce these details. I mean what if, I had a tourist visa ready, was in the US, decided to apply for the DTV and flew to Thailand the very next day, and wait for the DTV approval, in country?

maybe call me ethically flexible but this whole 'out of the country' is a standard requirement for visas, and it's all just push paper no different than buying a (fake!!) onward/return ticket to show the the airline at checkin so they let you board. No different than if you apply for Schengen Europe visa you have to provide (fake!!) hotel bookings that you will cancel the very next day (nobody in their mind will book non refundable hotels without assurance their visa is approved).

But we'll see soon enough in 3 weeks when I get back.

if you applied while in Thailand it means you applied online. They do not check your status and how would they know you weren't in your country of application when you filed it, and the very next day you traveled here.

You'll be fine, ignore all the virtue signaling critics saying what a bad horrible guy you are.

I applied via 'soft power' reason - I am currently in Thailand and have a minor monthly recurring cosmetic procedure, so I asked the clinic where I bought the package to issue me a medical certificate letter - usually issued so you can take to your employer, but I asked them to write it for visa purposes. Essentially they wrote that I had monthly medical appointments for the next 6 months. While I have an LLC it seemed much easier to go the soft power option.

you can apply from 'anywhere' where you can show proof you're at that location. In theory even a hotel booking would work, say, from Vietnam or Laos.