@Nigel *********************

I have never heard of someone on a visa-exempt entry or a Tourist Visa not getting a 30-day extension of stay for tourism purposes. The cost is 1,900 baht and it's done while you wait.

I think somewhere this request got off the rails and it's turning something incredibly simply into something complicated. I completely agree that medical, covid, etc. has no part to play in this conversation.

I want a 30-day extension of stay for purpose of tourism. Period. End of story. It costs 1,900 baht.

@Larry **********

That's true. If you've been given an under consideration stamp you will get the balance of your 60 days even if new covid extensions aren't allowed to be sold past January 25. Report as required on the 25th of January and you will be given permission to stay until /2022 (plus or minus a day).

@Tim ******

Go to your local Thai Revenue Department. Ask for a Thai Tax ID Card (about the size of a credit card but printed on paper). They may/will ask why you need one. Filing a Thai Personal Income Tax Return (PIT-90) in order to claim a refund of your tax withheld from interest earned from a Thai bank account is a legitimate and sufficient reason to be given a Thai Tax ID Card.

(If you have had tax withheld on interest earned go to your Thai bank and get the Tax Withholding Certificate that documents how much interest you earned and how much tax was withheld (usually 15%). Many people are getting these now from the bank as the tax year just ended in December. If they don't understand what you want ask for an aek-ga-san paa-see (tax document) and show them the entry in your passbook where tax has been withheld. Take this tax withholding certificate with you to visit the Revenue Dept and it will be the perfect answer to the question about why you want a Thai Tax ID Card (to reclaim the tax that was withheld).

They can even help you fill out a Thai Personal Income Tax Return while you wait to reclaim your withheld interest. If so keep a copy as you can use again next year when you update the amounts withheld.

With this Thai Tax ID Card visit your Thai banks and get the number added to the registration of your accounts. Tax will no longer be withheld from your interest earned until you have accrued 20,000 baht interest. Because none is withheld you won't have to file a tax return to reclaim the interest. This only works for regular savings accounts, if you have fixed deposit accounts interest is always withheld on interest earned (at 15%).

From PR Thailand Government group on facebook, a video of the CCSA Breifing from today and more importantly in the caption highlights of the meeting. The Test(s) and Go program is addressed toward the bottom of the caption:

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From PR Thailand Government group on facebook, a graphic explaining the new Test(s) and Go program:

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@Nick *********

while that's a very good feature of your fixed deposit account and bank it's still the case that you will have 15% tax withheld on the interest earned which to reclaim you will need to go through the hassle of filing a Thai Personal Income Tax Return.

On the other hand, a regular savings account like Krungsri Bank's Mee Tae Dai account (currently earning 1.0% APR) will not withhold tax on interest earned until you have accrued 20,000 baht interest earned if you register your Thai Tax ID with the account. Therefore, no need to file a Thai Personal Income Tax Return in order to get your tax withheld back.

@Will ***********

Agree. That's one of the reasons I don't like fixed-deposit accounts they mature and what happens at maturity is an issue. A regular savings account doesn't mature. Set it up and leave it alone... forever.

However, if I were an Immigration Officer I would love them as it means the least amount of checking to know that the person complied with the financial requirements.

If you think about it, the least amount of work an Immigration Officer would have to do to check that you maintained minimum balances as required would be a fixed deposit account with zero activity beyond interest earned. In my experience the IOs love fixed deposit accounts (as long as it's possible to withdraw money from the account with no penalty/delay beyond losing accrued interest on the money withdrawn).

Use Krungsri Bank's Mee Tae Dai Savings Account (currently paying 1.0% APR interest) instead. Advantages: it's a savings account so never matures, renewing is not an issue. It's a regular savings account so if you register your Thai Tax ID with the account you don't get tax withheld on your interest earned (at 15% from the first baht earned). That means you don't have to file a Thai Personal Income Tax return every year to get back your tax withheld because tax is always withheld (15%) on fixed deposit accounts.

Simple answer to the question is that typically for the Thailand Pass one needs coverage equal to the duration of time you will be initially stamped into Thailand. For a tourist visa that would be 60 days.