Just to add that you will receive 45 days' permission to stay if you were to leave and re-enter Thailand Visa Exempt (it was increased starting October 1). You would then be able to extend that by an additional 30 days in Thailand for 1,900 baht at your local immigration office.

@Dave ********

I think the once excellent Bangkok Bank NY branch route is no longer allowed by the US government. Unless you send by International ACH format and no US bank does that for regular retail customer accounts.

Advice on Charles Schwab is spot on.

@Ken *******

The terminology surrounding visas and extensions is confusing, sometimes ambiguous, and inconsistently used.

What you reference in your first paragraph is indeed an extension of stay (marriage). An extension of stay does not allow you to re-enter the country unless you purchase a single or multi-entry re-entry permit. So it sounds like you purchased a multi-entry re-entry permit (3,800 baht) which would work exactly as you say. If you leave the country before you reach 90 consecutive days in Thailand you don't need to file a 90-Day Report (because you would not have been in Thailand for 90 consecutive days).

With your last two extensions, it sounds like you have decided not to purchase any re-entry permits and thereby save the costs of those re-entry permits. So every 90 days you do a 90 Day report to the immigration office.

What I think the author is talking about having is an actual Non-O visa (rather than an extension thereof). An actual visa can be single or multiple-entry and it sounds like the author has a multi-entry one. As long as his visa is valid he does not need to purchase a re-entry permit. He merely enters Thailand on his multi-entry visa and gets 90-day permission to stay. This happens every time he enters Thailand as long as his visa is valid. He is never required to file a 90-day report because he isn't supposed to ever be in Thailand for more than 90 days. That would only change if he were to apply for an extension of his Non-O visa and then we would be in the realm of your first paragraph.

Visa and extensions are sometimes used interchangeably (even by immigration) but it obscures their fundamentally different natures. Visas get you into a country and result in you being given certain permission to stay a number of days. Extensions do not get you into a country. You need a separately purchased re-entry permit to do that. People on visas that result in 90-day permission to stay never have to provide 90 Day Reports (because they're not supposed to be in Thailand for more than 90 consecutive days) while people on extensions of stay do need to do this. So it's important to determine if you are here on a visa (e.g., Non-O) or an extension of stay derived from entering on a visa (e.g., marriage or retirement extension). The rules for visas and extensions of stay are different. However, given human nature, it's easy to refer to anything as a visa because it's a nice short word, but it fails the capture the distinction between visas and extensions.

If the author is here in Thailand on an actual visa (Non-O), not an extension derived from a visa (say marriage or retirement extension) he will never need to file a 90-day report nor will he need to purchase a re-entry permit. If he applies for an extension of stay then those two things will come into play, 90-day reports, and needing a re-entry permit to re-enter Thailand.

@Ken *******

Original Poster, author of the question.

@Ken *******

That's a requirement for an extension of stay of a Non-O visa. The OP has a multi-entry Non-O visa, which is different. He will not need to do 90-day reporting with his visa, but will need to leave Thailand and re-enter in order to get another 90-day permission to stay.

Yes, you can. You should be stamped in for 45 days on your first arrival (as it is after October 1, the date the permission to stay changes from 30 to 45 days). You should be stamped in for 45 days on your second arrival. If necessary (I don't see the day you arrive in Thailand the second time, from Vietnam), you can obtain an additional 30-day extension of stay from immigration for 1,900 baht. Documentation needed is at:

As someone staying in Thailand long-term you need to use the Phuket Town Immigration Office (the Patong Office is for short-term extensions, plus 90-day reports and certificates of residence). What you need to do needs to be done at the Phuket Town office.

The Phuket Immigration Volunteers have information available online on their website:

for Non-O Visa obtained in Thailand:



for retirement extension of stay:



You can go talk to the Phuket Immigration Volunteers in Phuket Town whenever the office is open. You can email questions to them online.

"We are available to help immigration customers at the Immigration main office in Phuket town every working day.

You can find us at room 204 (upstairs office)

Please visit us at room 204 or send a email to if you have any inquiries or need any other information." --

In my experience, the PIV are available on the ground floor at the information desk. This means going through the main entrance on the ground floor on the side of the building opposite the drive-through. I believe this is Room 101.

@John ****

Agree. My guess is that the small piece of paper is in fact the receipt you get when you submit a TM-30. This is to be contrasted with a full A4 sheet of paper with a photo when one gets a Certificate of Residence from immigration.

The bank is being flexible in what they will accept for proof of residence. That is a good thing and they are to be commended for that.

The Land Transport Office is not known for being as flexible. You are required to prove your residence by one of the following: yellow house registration book, work permit showing residence, certificate of residence from immigration, affidavit of residence from your passport's embassy. It's rare that they will accept anything else. One can certainly argue that a TM-30 receipt shows your address and is dated and issued by immigration. All that is true, however often the LTO will not accept as proper evidence because that is not listed as acceptable documentation in their operating guidelines.

@David ***

If it's PA (Personal Accident) 1st Smart or VIP plan it covers accidents on motorcycles. I get this insurance every year (Smart plan). It was not required when I opened an account 10 years ago. It's a shame they won't open an account without that, but at least this way you get something of value, which you don't with an agent.

@Nolan *****

Just show the one correct passport, which varies by situation. The only time you may need to show both passports is at check-in, never at immigration. I agree with your point that it's better, less confusing, less issue raising, to show just one passport.