I'm confused by the wording "visa exemption for the purpose of tourism business enagagements or urgent work or ad hoc work..." is there a missing comma after 'tourism'?

Pointless questions to ask here, it's a pandemic, things change daily, sometimes more often, no one knows.. sit tight and wait with the rest of us..

ok thanks, i'm a previous frequent visitor over the past 15 years, having done a couple of retirement extensions, tourist visas for up to 5 months of a year, etc. but haven't visited for 2 years now.. so I guess it could be a crap shoot.. dependant mostly on the mood of the IO.. :P

I'm curious to know what an acceptable letter of invitation consists of, in lieu of a hotel booking.. and is it a common accepted alternative at other places?

I don't know if any different now, but 3 years ago, there wasn't a bus going directly to Vientiane from UT, you could take a minivan from the airport in UT that would drop you off at Friendship bridge in Nong Khai, then you would get on another bus to cross the border, clear immigration, then you could take taxi or public bus for the short ride into Vientiane.. not sure about the location of embassy/consulate once you get into Vientiane..

I see the one I had tried to respond to has just opened up again for whatever reason.. I'll give one more try to reply to it..

You can extend for 30 days at immigration office, 1900 thb, I believe

If your luggage has not been checked through to your final destination, you will very likely have to clear immigration to get your luggage.

Thanks, I'll keep that in mind

@Ivan ***********

I'm glad to be aware of that now as I was planning on a visit to Thailand again for a month early next year but this will make me seriously rethink doing so, possibly opting to spend more time in neighbouring countries where this kind of hassle is not an issue