6 months to be safe

@John ******

did he say how much the extension would cost?

@Todd ********

"Extensions for DTV, nobody knows the requirements yet but only permitted one per 5 year visa. So at some point, a bounce or travel will be required. And will need several over the 5 year term."

I don't think this is correct. It's 1 extension per entry, not 1 per visa. So in effect you only need to bounce once a year.

And yes champ, I do know the cost. You're looking at a minimum of 12,000 baht to fly return to Singapore or KL out of Samui. Can go up to 20,000 at busier times. Not to mention 6+ hours turnaround. Or 18 hours if you want to go by bus. That's significantly more time and money than extending no matter which route you choose.

Anyone typing "just do a border run" obviously has not considered that a lot of people in this group live in Samui/Phangan where border run is always the worst option.

@Todd ********

if you want to go by bus and waste 18 hours of your life, sure.

Extension takes 30 minutes and costs 1900 baht. It's entirely reasonable for people to prefer that option.

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

this is only really an issue for soft power DTVs because you'd have to purchase another 6 months of whatever soft power option you went for.

For people on remote work/online work DTV, assuming they still have their job then showing updated paperwork isn't an issue at all, and is certainly much easier and cheaper than sitting on a bus for 16-20 hours which is what you'd need to do if you were border bouncing from Samui or Phangan.

@Peter ******

what if I'd rather show my paperwork again than sit on a bus for 22 hours?

@Kevin *******

It's 20,000 if you want it to not take 18 hours.

As someone who's done said border run over 40 times, you're basically looking at 2-3 days lost work due to fatigue from the bus trip, along with the cost.

So for someone who is actually working online in Samui, extending at immigration is both easier and much cheaper.

@Maurice *********

going out and coming back is a fine solution if you live in Phuket or near BKK. If you live in Samui/KPG going out and coming back either takes a whole day or costs you 20,000 baht.

So if someone does actually have all their paperwork and can present it at immigration, that's simply going to be a better option than traveling. Don't assume everyone is in BKK and/or has access to cheap flights.

@Wannikea ********

obviously not everyone lives in Samui or Phangan where doing a border run costs 20,000 baht

@Christopher *******

depends where you live.