@Hans ****

I disagree. Hotels cost about the same as in Bangkok. 2000 NTD ish for a family room in a new, clean hotel without breakfast is perfectly affordable and that's what I paid. In Bangkok, a similar hotel will cost at least that amount too.

However, I'm not someone who slums along in a hostel, so I'm not even going to be looking for such places anywhere I travel.

I spoke in Mandarin with the staff there as well. My Chinese isn't so great, but good enough for a general conversation. I also had to come back to show additional banking documentation the next day, which I figured they might ask for (I should have brought it on day 1). Anyway, things went over smoothly the next day.

@Jean-Baptiste **********

for any visa that isn't a tourist visa and especially when applying from Vientiane, they don't ask for flight tickets into Thailand. Considering Vientiane is 20km from Thailand via the Friendship Bridge, presuming one would fly to Thailand is a bit ridiculous. Different story if you're in America, Australia or Europe of course.

@Siggi ******

You can do a very limited number of things, that I'm aware of but it needs to be behind the scenes.

@Charles *********

Well, I went to another consulate and got it. Basically, Vientiane is OK if you've got the funds sitting in your account for a long time as that's all they seem to care about.

@Siggi ******

You can't hire Europeans to do menial labor in Thailand either. You're risking their future in Thailand by doing so. It's ILLEGAL.

I know you don't need a work permit to work online for a foreign entity and can do so on any visa.

Not what I was talking about, but people like you can't read and thus invent their own words and get angry by something others didn't even say.

@Siggi ******

You're confused.

I was talking about a BUSINESS. You need a work permit to do anything inside a BUSINESS.

You can do whatever you want at home, including a rented home.

@Andi **********

I'm not sure they were ever "easy" as such. I don't think they ever approved a DTV for someone with a single dental cleaning. They are more by the book, but relatively reasonable in general.

@Justin *******

I don't think that's the case at all. All Thai consulates operate in a similar fashion, but the interpretation of the rules may sometimes be a little different AND sometimes the rules change over time.

In Laos, due to a large volume of applicants, particularly from countries such as Myanmar who used agents, they clamped down on the financials, requiring applicants to keep the required funds in their account for 3 consecutive months, to prevent agents from lending the money for a few hours, then asking for it back.

This did not occur at consulates further afield, meaning that at those consulates, they care less about how long the money has been in your account (which is relatively meaningless) but more about how you acquired the funds (say through your salary or invoices being paid to you).

@Sylvia *******

I think the bank staff are not familiar with the DTV. A little silly that it would be less regarded than a one year visa, given the DTV lasts 5 times longer (although each stay is only for 180 days or around half that of a typical extension of stay, but still).