If we’re talking about becoming really good at either Muay Thai or cooking, yes that takes years and years of practice, gaining experience and honing skills. Just because the initial course is 6 months, doesn’t mean you stop doing this activity after that. I can imagine in the future that for example a stage at a Thai restaurant would be acceptable as proof of continuing activity. The soft power version of this visa was implemented to promote Thai culture and that’s exactly what it does.

Is it easy to abuse this by ‘just’ booking a few months and then doing border runs? For now yes, going forward, time will tell 🤷🏻‍♀️

Proof of location: make sure you include your entry stamp to Vietnam. I uploaded a (merged) pdf with entry stamp, visa, boarding pass and hotel confirmation

Financials: yes 6 months, up to the day you apply (e.g. I applied and included /24 - /2025)

No need for proof of residence, it just asks you for an address in Thailand and whether it’s a hotel or private residence, etc. Just fill in the address, that’s it.

Some embassies (London, Kuala Lumpur) ask for rental agreements etc. But not in Vietnam.

@Greg *******

yeah but still, you already paid for the visa (benefits) when you applied… anyways, I’ve never used an agency to do a border bounce, can’t imagine I ever will… especially now that I know this 😏

@Greg *******

absolutely ridiculous, it’s the same amount of work?? 🤦🏻‍♀️

Anonymous participant yes because I had all the paperwork in order and requested the import license beforehand so it was ready when I arrived. Last time (July 2024, Phuket airport) the processing was done in 10 minutes tops

@Greg *******

it sounds like Immigration really detests this visa and will make it as difficult as possible to do an extension. Hopefully it won’t get this difficult at border crossings/airports

@Greg *******

for me not an issue (I own a house), but yeah can imagine this can get tricky, especially if they all start wanting house photos and house books of landlords like that guy experienced in Krabi 🫣

And what if you’re a nomad changing location every 6 weeks or so… is 6 weeks enough of a booking? More questions than answers…

You can bring in a pet regardless of what visa you have, can even do it on visa exempt. I have traveled with my cat a few times back and forth between Thailand and EU. You don’t need an expensive agency it’s a pretty straightforward process. Ask me anything ☺️

@Greg *******

I would expect at the very least a letter stating that this person will continue training/has booked/paid for the next 6 months plus all the documentation that was in the initial package.

(Which shouldn’t be an issue if you are legitimately training 😉)

@Greg *******

don’t they mean a gym (probably the same you used for the initial application) that has to be registered with the Sports Authority? The wording is a bit over the top but I guess that’s Thailand for ya 😏