im on a METV from NZ. Regarding the accommodation part with Airbnb you should email your embassy to ask if that is fine with them. Thats what I did. The response I had was that Airbnb booking was fine but I needed booking for the full time for my first entry ie until my first flight out at around 60 days. If not, then you could do some Agoda bookings that are able to be cancelled. Remember you can change your plans after getting the visa

@Henrik ****

I found it worked out cheaper to get extension in Thailand than to get a tourist visa in home country when considering all the hidden costs ie paying for photo for visa application, courier bag costs to send passport and application to embassy both ways, transport costs to bank to get bank statements signed, photocopy expenses and travel to do that. Works out cheaper to do in Thailand than in an expensive home country like New Zealand. But it does mean a day freed up while on vacation

Bangkok bank Silom head office Branch is typically the easiest to open one at as a tourist however you will need a letter from your country's embassy that states your address in home country and where you live in Thailand as well as referencing your passport number. The bank can give you an example of the document if you are unsure. In your case it will be your father's details ;). He will need to go in of course. Without the embassy letter its very difficult to open bank account in Thailand on tourist visa. With the letter its very easy. If you go to their head office you can ask them for their list of requirements. They should be able to show you a sample letter. Sure your embassy will probably charge a fee for the consular letter and I know there are a lot of cheap charlies out there who try to avoid this step and have got one without it but I would recommend it to save the stress and hassles of trying everywhere day.

It would more depend on how long someone stays each time ie if they stay the fulll 30 days + extension then flying out and back in is where the red flags start. For business travelers who fly in, stay a week and then fly out and are back again a couple weeks later repeatability there would be less scrutiny because they are not trying to live here on free entries.

@Jose*****

from NZ here. Wage summary for me wasn’t required. I just gave them 6 months of my bank statements with deposits and expenses with constant balance above their required amount of 6 months. I too gave them 6 months of my savings account and then my every day spending account where I received irregular income and expenses. A decent balance is very favourable - I’m a landlord collecting rents from rooms in my house so no official job.

A copy or screen shot of that TM30 that your hotel or landlord files for you is required at many offices. Other than that and your passport and cash, the forms to fill in will be available at your immigration office. Take them and your passport to a nearby photo copy shop who will know all the paper work copies and can do the required photo for you. They know what you need and will help

@Tarina ********

hi, I’m also from NZ and just come over for little over half a year. The embassy is in Wellington. If you don’t live there you can courier the application and all your passports to them. Get a fully tracked courier bag at nz post and tell them it’s for your passports- will need a return courier bag also. You would need to email the embassy to ask if they can process and send all back in same courier bag if doing it that way but it would save a trip to Wellington. Doing this would save you half a day visit to immigration in Thailand as you would get 60 days of entry rather than 30 with visa exempt. From memory one of the visa requirements is an outward ticket. You can book a flight to Malaysia for about $70 on AirAsia which can be changed for a small fee if you are undecided on the exact day you plan to move on - you may enjoy Thailand and end up staying for the full 90 days! If apply for the visa you will need to get your bank to stamp a bank statement and meet a small financial requirement. You will need to weigh up the time and effort of doing this paperwork in NZ with spending a big part of a day at immigration while on holiday. You have plenty of time so the visa application route as others have mentioned is cheaper and more convenient once you are on your holiday.

@Curtis ******

It has a 6 month entry from the date its stamped. so if you get it approved very close to your flight date you will have almost 6 months to do the border bounces (visit nearby countries if you desire). The key is to make your last re-entry just before the expiry of the visa - then you can have your last 60+30 day stay in country.

This has become a bit of a train wreck post. As some people have mentioned here though, the best place to go is Bangkok Bank head office in Silom. Good English speaking staff there. You go in the main door and turn left and walk past all those tellers in the room and reach another corridor where you turn right and head on up to another big room where you can apply for bank account. As others have stated they will give you a list of requirements that you can choose from. For me the only option was to get the embassy letter that certified my address in home country and that of where I’m living in Thailand temporarily. Once you got that letter then you are good to go. Good luck

Air Asia is one of the common low cost airlines in the region which i usually find have the better prices and most flight times available.