Bit confused with your situtation as you give conflicting ino. You say you are in the US but have a tourist visa expiring in about 20 days. Does this mean you haven't used it yet or are you actually already here? If you are still in your home country and still have time you probably should apply for that METV. However you can probably get away with visa exempts as well for that pattern of travel if you are travelling by air for short stays and then off again to do business elsewhere. In Thai immigration's eyes you not someone trying to live and work there milking the system illegally and must have money and business interests if you are regularly on the go with international flights.

@Darren ********

better to book early to get the cheapest flight fares. Just make sure you tick all the requirement of the visa application. If you are unsure about something in particular you can always email your embassy and check these forums. So long as you have your flight, a booking for your first hotel stay, bank account statement that shows you have more than the required fund then you shouldn’t be rejected. Make sure your passport is up to date and not damaged. If there is a potential reason you think you could get denied for then you should mention it here so others can help advise on it.

@Ayman **********

in that case you should have been able to provide proof of the financial requirements for the longer multi entry tourist visa rather than getting single entry ones?

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.