@Ryan ***********

Yep, it would be silly not to keep it in your account for an extra 2 days and risk the whole visa application process, making it more difficult for other applicants too. It should be common sense and glad you did it the right way, but sometimes people don't think and do things like transfer the funds out the minute they submitted their passport, not thinking about the possibility that it might be requested again upon pick-up

@Wannikea ********

Haha. Well, I prefer predictable rules. I'm far from old, but when I do get to that age, I'd hate having to deal with tons of bureaucratic nonsense.

Now with that stated, taking out a Thai car is generally straightforward enough - it's usually the neighboring country that puts in place roadblocks (except at the Chanthaburi crossings, where a military permit is required to take your vehicle out and Thai customs is known to block Cambodian owners of Thai vehicles because they're afraid they won't be brought back in...absolutely silly and discriminatory). On the other hand, Cambodia until relatively recently, generally banned Thai vehicles from entering via Ban Laem just in general, regardless of who owns the vehicle.

Thai truckers get the short end of the stick when going to any neighboring country. Fuel trucks aside, Laos no longer permits Thai trucks to travel further than a short distance from the border crossing entered. Meanwhile, Vietnamese and Chinese trucks ply Lao roads in their thousands.

Cambodia also has restrictions on how far Thai trucks can travel from the border - but Vietnamese trucks have pretty much free reign.

Malaysia bans entry to Thai buses, vans and Thai trucks - except in rare cases of perishable items, but generally, Malaysian trucks enter Thailand to pick up these goods and then transport them to destinations within Malaysia or Singapore. Sometimes you see Thai registered trailers within Malaysia, but the trucks pulling them are always Malaysian registered without exception, despite Malaysia and Thailand driving on the same side of the road.

For Thai cars going to Laos via Vientiane - they're back to restricting them to 15 days (although this is extendable later), meanwhile, in the reverse direction, you can easily get 30 days if driving a Lao car into Thailand right at the border.

@Wannikea ********

I mean, I deal with Thai officials all the time and while many of them are lovely, they're not the brightest.

I am fluent in Thai BTW but the Thai lady in charge of customs at a land border with Cambodia just didn't understand why I wanted a stamp in my purple car passport.

She's not used to anyone taking a car out to explore Cambodia...she's used to locals driving across for 10km then coming back the same way. Go figure, because I only saw 2 Thai cars further than the border area on that day and zero Thai trucks (they're not allowed to leave the border area). Whereas Vietnamese trucks are allowed to drive around Cambodia.

I told her for crossings between Cambodia and Laos directly, it's mandatory. No stamps from the Thai side = no entry to Laos by car.

Her Cambodian helper improvised and found a stamp with the name of the border crossing, then a separate one with the official's name (possibly her one) and a date stamp.

That's all I wanted.

Similarly, one official who sees this visa might assume no work is permitted at all, while another official understands what the "employment prohibited" remarks refers to.

Over the years, you begin to understand that things operate on a different level here.

And speaking of border crossings, especially those by land...each time I cross such a border, even when I'm crossing the same border, the procedures are different, however slight.

@Wannikea ********

It seems to be now, but again, I think the authorities didn't think things through when they wrote "Employment prohibited" on most visas, rather than "Employment in Thailand prohibited" or "workcation, remote work".

@Sefton *******

Clearly you haven't.

@Liza *****

I've seen the guarantor field on Thai visa application forms going back like more than 2 decades. However, do they really care what you write on there? Generally not. I also recall the guarantor section on Lao immigration forms as well, I'd always fill in the field with my friend's contact details, but if I didn't know anyone there, I'd write N/A or even put down a guarantor in my home country as an alternative.

@Martha *********

I see. I'm seeing this remark on visas issued for any category...except some of the more recently issued workcation e-visas and then only from specific consulates, mainly in western countries.

@Sefton *******

You don't know Thailand well at all. Each officer/official interprets things their own way.

There's no one standard set of operating rules in Thailand.

@Sefton *******

While that may be true, in the context of overseas authorities, they would interpret this to mean no work permitted at all. You might say...why would they care what you're doing in Thailand as that's the responsibility of Thai immigration? Equally, even authorities within Thailand might interpret this wording as meaning no work at all, including no online work.

I'd rather have a visa which says "workcation - remote work" on it. However, I don't think immigration offices within Thailand will change it.

This one needs monitoring, because it appears as though only some consulates and specifically the ones issuing e-visas, are putting things other than "employment prohibited" in the remarks section.

@Ryan ***********

I wouldn't take the money out until you've received your visa and have walked out the gate.