@Tatiana ***********

Thai Embassy in Vientiane wants to see 500,000 THB in your personal bank account for at least 3 months. I've heard that they have accepted just 3 months statement, but I didn't wanted to risk it since they are stopping walk-in appointments and there are no further appointment slots available. Hence I submitted 6 months of statement just for them to have no reason to refuse me.

Though, Thai Embassy in HCMC, Vietnam seems to be okay as long as you have 500,000 THB in your personal bank account. They don't care how long you had 500,000 THB in your account, but they also want 6 months of statement as well.

As a freelancer, you need to have 1.) couple of invoices from the clients (preferably some companies) you billed recently. 2.) Letter from 1 or 2 client saying that you are allowed to work for them remotely on their company/business letterhead (you can use ChatGPT to draft up the letter and send it to your clients to just sign on it and send back a scanned copy). 3.) Employment or Freelancer contract from 1 or 2 clients stating that you're allowed to work remotely (you can use ChatGPT for the same). 4.) Your portfolio of previous works (it helps is you also have a professional website, include screenshot of your website or LinkedIn profile page).

The letters from your clients don't need to have stamps or be verified, they just need to have the client/company owners signature.

Hope this helps. Best of Luck!

@Peter *************

Best of Luck!

If you're putting all the components in a carry-on, just check the weight limit of carry-on baggage for your airline, or purchase excess carry-on from the airline before hand. Most airlines generally have 7kgs hard limit on the carry-on baggage weight.

I don't quite remember the exact amount because it was couple years ago. I purchased a cheap case for about 2K Baht. I think I only paid about 800 baht extra for them to assemble it for me and do a 10 minute stress test to check every component is working fine. They might have increased the rates now, but I'm not sure. However, any PC shop here will offer you PC assembling service as that's one of their core services. Just shop around for rates. Every mall in Thailand has at least a couple PC shops. JIB, Powerbuy and Banana IT are widespread. There are also many small individual players in malls such as MBK in Bangkok where you might find better rates for more personalized service.

Don't believe the customs of Thailand. Even if the item is clearly old, they'll charge you as if you're importing a brand new item. The price you declare in the shipping form is useless and you'll have no recourse to counter the amount they charged you as VAT, which can be as high as 33% of the "value" of the item you're importing. Here the "value" is what they find online for a same new item and will charge you VAT accordingly. Different PC components can cost different amount of VAT depending upon what category that item falls under. So essentially at the end, Shipping + VAT will cost you almost the same as a new PC build.

I was in a same situation. Here's what I would suggest. First purchase extra luggage from the airline. Disassemble your PC, pack the individual parts (motherboard, cpu, gpu being the bulky ones) carefully in a bubble wrap. Put all of them in a good quality check-in bag with sufficient cushioning with more bubble wrap or cloths. If you have extra space in your carry-on bag, then you can pack your GPU, SSDs and CPU (since these are usually the most expensive parts of a build) in your carry-on bag for better safety and peace of mind. Travel to Thailand, visit any PC shop such as JIB and buy a PC case with them and ask them to assemble the PC for you with the components you brought with you.

I assure you that all this would cost you much less than what you would end up paying in Shipping + Custom charges.

DO NOT, and I say DO NOT travel with your whole PC without disassembling it. If you do, you're sure in for a bad day once you land in Thailand. PC components and pins/connectors on your motherboard are fragile and are not build to stand the shock and stress they might experience while transporting them long distances. Hence you need to disassemble them before you travel with them. I learned it the hard way with my older PC.

@Mark *****

That's incorrect. As soon your work permit is cancelled, you are essentially overstaying. You need to get out of the country within 24 hours. If you don't want to, you can visit the immigration office on 31st and get yourself 7 days extension for 1.9K baht.

But why would you do all that. Just do a border run.

Depends on the embassy. Thai embassy in India for example require that whatever account statement you show needs to be active and there needs to have been at least 1 financial transaction in the last 7 days from the date you submit your visa application. Embassy in Malasiya and Jakarta suggest that you mark/highlight the salary/invoice payments in the bank statement for smoother processing.

Thank you for your reply.

Last couple questions if you don't mind. Did you arrive in Laos on VoA or eVisa? If VoA, did you had to wait long in queue at the airport?

Secondly, in the DTV Visa application form, there is a section which ask for "Name and Contact of Guarantor in Lao PDR" and "Name and Contact of Guarantor in Thailand". What did you fill in these two sections of the visa application form. I guess I can fill contact details of my landlord/owner in the "Name and Contact of Guarantor in Thailand" section, but I don't know anyone in Laos.

Following. Same questions. Will appreciate if somebody can shed more light

1. 180 days

2. Can put the name, address and phone number of the hotel you have booked in Thailand for your stay. Or if you've rented an apartment, then name, address and contact details of the owner/landlord.

3. Can put the name, address and phone number of the hotel you have booked in Laos.

4. Mention "By Land" and your port of entry.

Congrats! Did they ask you to sign each piece of paper? Or did you do it yourself? Did they wait while you were signing each piece of paper, or had you sent back and called you later once you were done signing?

Secondly, did they ask you to provide the hotel booking or rent agreement for your stay in Thailand? Also, did they ask you to provide the company registration documents of the client you work for? I heard that in addition to the letter and employment contract from the company, you also need to submit company registration documents.

Not all Thai Consulates in India require demand draft. Kolkata and Mumbai Consulate does accepts fees in cash. It's still unknown if any foreign tourists in India have applied DTV visa from any of the Thai Consulates in India. It would be best for you to email the Consulate you're applying to and ask if you as a foreigner can apply and if they have any alternative for Demand Draft requirement. In case everything fails, you as a foreigner can open an NRE bank account in India (but it'll only be valid for 6 months, post which the account will get closed automatically), via which you can get issued your demand draft. As per Indian rule, foreigners can open a bank account, but it's a different matter if any bank if willing to do so for you.