@Stuart ********

, apologies for failing to consult my own passport before writing that note!

@Stuart ********

That is excellent news. Because from southern Thailand (where I used to live) sometimes the land route to Malaysia was easier and cheaper (I suspect the same is true of Laos and Cambodia as well).

Also, on the 20,000 baht, I always carried that in cash (in a well-hidden spot) in recent years, but was never asked for it in recent years. HOWEVER, in those same recent years, almost EVERY OTHER white person on my van (at least the ones who did not speak fluent Thai?) who did NOT have cash or PRINTED bank statements on them WERE asked to "show cash" and when they attempted to show their bank balances electronically, they were held up at the border and our van ended up leaving them behind. (One of them came to ask if I had THB 20,000 to lend him, and I honestly had to tell him that I did not want to risk getting into trouble with the authorities...)

Back before COVID, the Kota Bharu consulate used to be the most trouble-free of the Malaysia-based Thai consulates/ embassy. I hope that is still the case. And I hope they are still open.

On 7 October, at Suvarnabhumi Airport, I received a 45-day stamp in my passport good for 45 days and expiring November 20, 2022. I was coming from NY City via Hong Kong on Cathay Pacific (not that I think the flight matters much), and I used a USA passport. (Online information was suggesting that overland entry stamps will still be only 15 days, I think, which is a difference in treatment that I still do not understand....)

@Stuart ********

Thank you. She was definitely having a bad *something* day. Though since I am not keen on a repeat performance by somebody else, I will keep looking for more secure means of entry next time. ... :-)

@Stuart ********

Sounds about right. Thanks. And her final comment to me was that next time I have to come back with an actual visa instead of just my USA passport. Which in some ways is not fair (why should I be singled out for special mistreatment after having served her country and its people all those years (among other things, I had been a university professor in Thailand)), while in other ways her command made sense to me, and I am exploring ways to comply...

My problem was with a particular immigration officer at Suwannabhumi Airport who wanted to invent reasons to deny my entry, simply because I had had so many (completely legal) long-term stays in her country. Among the things that she brought up was the lack of an onward ticket, which may or may not have been a valid issue for an American (me) who was entering on a passport and no visa (online advice on this matter was conflicting, and my return travel plans were uncertain anyway). Fortunately I managed to talk my way past her, and she finally backed off on the ongoing ticket issue, and the next officer she handed off to (who was the person who gave me the expected 45-day entry stamp) was a lot easier to talk with. So, given that experience, I STILL do not know what the actual rule is on the outbound ticket issue (!).

Their English syntax is imperfect, so I can't tell what they mean. Plus that "agent" sometimes offers technically illegal services while claiming they are legit. I suggest going straight to Immigration and seeing what they suggest (many Imm. officers speak at least some English these days, and that also may help.)

It's easy. It is a form that your Thai friends can pick up for you. You fill it out and sign it, and you thereby transfer to your friend the power to do what you want them to do for you (and they can't do it without that paper).