You should not have any problem at all with immigration based on the travel pattern you’ve described. You completed a full 60-day visa exemption, took a 30-day extension, and then left Thailand for more than four months while staying in Vietnam and the Philippines. That is a genuine and substantial absence, and it places you completely outside the scope of the new guidelines, which only target consecutive border bounces used to prolong a continuous stay. You have not overstayed, you have not tried to maximise back-to-back entries, and you have been out of Thailand far longer than the duration of your previous stay. In other words, you clearly fall into the category of a normal tourist. As always, the final decision rests with the immigration officer, but there is nothing in the current regulations or practice that suggests your entry would be problematic. Just make sure you carry an onward ticket within 60 days.

The formal requirement followed by most embassies is three months, and only a few occasionally insist on six.

A total of 90 days, even with three entries and stays in your home country in between, should still be fine.

It's essentially the same visa, just different qualification paths. As a remote worker, you'll need to prove your employment, and for soft power, you'll need to prove participation in an approved soft power program.

@Bart *************

Is it really that difficult for you to understand that, for a period of time, they were not letting anyone in on either side of the border, regardless of entry history — even people with valid visas were being turned away? And in that context, I mentioned that a friend of mine, with a completely clean entry record, was refused at the Thai border while visiting Laos simply because the border was closed, and was told to go to Vientiane Airport and fly in instead. Not because of any extensive entry history, but because the border was closed. But by all means, keep spinning your own narrative if that’s easier for you.

@Bart *************

Check Tod’s update below 👇

@Bart *************

The point was that the border was closed on both sides for a period of time, and they didn’t even allow people to do border bounces with an METV. This had nothing to do with general entry regulations for Thailand, which you for some reason decided to comment on.

@Damo **********

And what exactly was your point supposed to be? The requirements stand regardless of your personal impatience with accuracy. Adding one sentence to ensure correct terminology is simply called being precise — something you might try sometime. But sure, there’s always someone who thinks their guesswork outweighs clarity.”

@Paul ******

There have in fact been changes. Border bounces are now limited to two, and you will only receive 30 days on your first extension and 7 days on your second, and Immigration is apparently counting from January this year when it comes to extensions. For general visa-exempt entry there is no change.

You cannot convert a Non O visa into a retirement visa, which you already hold, but you can apply for a one-year extension of stay based on retirement by showing 800,000 baht in a Thai bank for two months, or by providing an income affidavit from your embassy if it still issues one.