Here's a few tips... If you know the right terms and the difference between these, you are more likely to get the right answers to your questions:

- Visa Exemption

Nationals from 93 countries can travel to Thailand without having a visa. They enter visa free, get a stamp in their passport and can stay for up to 60 days. (Can be extended with 30 days at an immigration office.)

- Visa on Arrival (VOA)

Nationals from 31 countries can travel to Thailand and get a visa at immigration checkpoints upon arrival. There are some requierments and they pay a fee to get a visa that allow them to stay for up to 15 days. (VOA can not be extended.)

- Tourist visa

A tourist visa is applied for at a Thai embassy/consulate prior to travelling to Thailand. It is valid for 90 days from the date of issue (you must enter within 90 days). With a tourist visa you get a permit to stay in Thailand for up to 60 days*. (Can be extended with 30 days at an immigration office.) This is a single entry visa, sometimes referred to as SETV.

*when the visa exemption changed from 30 to 60 days, there is little to no value of obtaining a single entry tourist visa for nationals from the countries eligible for visa exemption.

- Multi entry tourist visa (METV)

The same as the SETV above, with these differences - It is valid for 6 month, you can enter multiple times within that period and the fee is higher.

- E-visa

An e-visa means that it is an electronic visa. You apply online and get your visa in a pdf-file (prior to e-visa, the visa were usually a sticker in the passport).

The e-visa platform has been in use for years at a lot of Thai embassies and consulates. As of this new year though, the remaining embassies and consulates changed their visa application system from "in-person" to e-visa.

- Visa run

A visa run is when someone exit Thailand to apply for a visa through a Thai embassy/consulate in another country. As of now this is done online, but you have to be present IN the country where you apply. You need to add info such as current location (i.e. entry stamp in passport) and you can get called in for an interview at the embassy/consulate (rare, but it happens). The processing time varies in different embassies (each embassy/consulate have info about their processing time on their webpage). A visa run is likely to take at least a week, longer in several countries.

- Border run (border bounce)

A border run is when someone exit Thailand, just to enter again. The purpose of a border run is to get a new permit to stay (i.e. another visa exemption for 60 days or a new permit to stay for as long as their multientry visa allowes).

- ETA

ETA is short for Electronic Travel Authorization. Please note that this is NOT a visa!

In fact ETA does not exist in Thailand yet. However there is a plan to start using electronic travel authorization for everyone that wish to come to Thailand without obtaining a visa first (for people entering under visa exemption and VOA). They will need to register their travel details in an electronic system and get an authorization prior to their departure.

ETA was initially planned to be implemented gradually from Dec 2024 to June 2025 (hence the rumours), but it has been postponed indefinitely. There is no new date for Thailands ETA-launch. If and when Thailand start to use ETA it will be information about it from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Immigration Bureau... AND it will be published in the Royal Gazette. Before that happens it is all rumours! Loads of them due to old information on the internet (social media, old news articles etc).

- Processing time for visas:

It varies from a few working days to several month, depending on what embassy/consulate you apply through and your nationality (there are restrictions and longer processing time for some nationalities).

Check the webpage for the embassy where you plan to apply.

- Nationality

...or: What country issued your passport?

To add that information is crucial when asking questions related to visa, since the rules are different depending on what passport you hold.

Finally...

- Will e-visa affect visa runs by land? No, the processing time is the same no matter how you travel.

- Will e-visa affect border runs?

No, border runs are done by those who already have a visa, but need a new permit to stay OR people that plan to enter without a visa.

- Will ETA affect visa runs?

No, the plan is for ETA to be used for those who travel without a visa (hence they don't do visa runs).

- Will ETA affect border runs?

Well, since ETA is not launched yet, no one can give a definite answer to that... most likely yes (unless you will be allowed to register details about your future travel plans, while being in Thailand).

@Kamal ********

well, your visa is valid for 5 years, but it gives you a permit to stay for 180 days... Your permit to stay expires on day 180, so yes, you need to leave before that OR go to an immigration office to extend your permit to stay for up to another 180 days. This can only be done once per entry. Technically you can stay up to 360 days IF you get an extension. Up until now, no one really knows what will be required in order to get the extension (180 days has not passed since DTV was launched), but it will be possible to extend if you meet the requirments.

@Kamal ********

the visa is a multientry visa, valid for 5 years allowing you to stay 180 days on each entry. It does not allow you to stay for 5 years! If you do, you will be fined and banned from entering Thailand for 10 years... Or you will get caught sometime during those 5 years = detained at IDC, procecuted, fined, deported at your own expense and banned.

I'm sorry to say this, but you are short on time and even if you find an agent they too need adequate documentation from you.

I doubt that any agency can help you to get a tourist visa in only 6 working days.

The processing time in Pretoria (where Angolans apply) is approximately 7 business days* once a complete application is submitted...

*Certain nationalities take longer as the Royal Thai Embassy in Pretoria have to get approval from their headquarters in Thailand first to issue their visas. (I don't know if this applies to Angolan nationals or not.)

The Royal Thai Embassy in Pretoria do not offer expedited service = meaning an agent can't speed up the process.

@Julie *****

no! The DTV-holder get to stay up to 180 days each time they enter Thailand.

@Fabianski *********

it is a multientry visa = no need for re entry permit.

@Lynnette ******

any guess is fine. 😁

However, besides having a year lease in Thailand, he apparently have a condo in Malaysia where he spend a lot of time too... hence my guess is that he is worried about his number of visa exempt entries, rather than border bounces.

@Lynnette ******

I think he "kind of" answered you by "...you are not limited to any number of entries till the day you get stopped entering. For £30 or so I'll keep them sweet and buy a visa."

I assume that he has entered visa exempt x amount of times and that he is worried that "the day he's stopped from entering" is approaching. I get the feeling that the OP wrongfully believe that a tourist visa would exempt him from being denied to enter.

@Billy ********

well, technically you are right - you can merge several docs into 1 pdf. However, if there are no place in the e-visa system to upload accomodation details, then where are you planning on adding this pdf?

I suggest that you create an account on the Thai E-visa platform and start to add your details. That way you can decide if and where you should upload a pdf about your accomodation.

I understand that you want to plan ahead, but since you have a problem obtaining this document and the e-visa platform doesn't require it, my suggestion was, and still is, to apply with the documentation that are in fact asked for in the system and wait. They may or may not ask you to submit additional information. And they may or may not use the exact wording "proof of payment...", but there is a chance they might ask for it in a different way too, like in the NZ example "proof of accomodation, e.g. hotel booking..."

If it were me, I'd apply and wait to see what they ask for (if anything), but of course you do as you please. If you can come up with a solution on how to prove that you paid for accomodation that's great!