@Jack *******

The 7-day extension is a REAL extension. It's not the same as the stamp "application for extension denied, you have 7 days to leave the Kingdom", even if to some people it looks like a “grace period”. I have already seen the stamp of a 7-days extension, it takes up half of a passport page. The original “you have 7 days to leave” stamp is smaller, takes like a quarter up to one-third of the page

@Edward *******

as long as you don't abuse the METV - meaning to go for a Thailand holiday on a METV only once per calendar year, you are good to go. The only downside could be that in the future you won't be able to get a last 60-days stay permit issued on top of already spent 6 months, taking you to an 8 or even 9-months stay. This could be considered abuse of the METV for a longstay

@Martyn **********

you are still wrong. . . I will quit discussing this topic with you now, because you are a blockhead and not willing to learn. You are free to believe in the Fake News that get posted every day, I don't care

@Stephen ****************

I am helping people in this group to understand how visa-exempt entries will get approached by Immigration. I am not here to tell you which visa is best for your purpose of stay. That's not the topic of this thread

@Martyn **********

there always was a "rule of thumb" that any stay over 180 days within a rolling 365-days period are proof that you are abusing the tourist visa system for a longstay in Thailand. And this has NOT changed !. . . . . . . This approach is still in effect, and actually I expect that if your intended visa-exempt entry brings the total count over 157 days per calendar year, you will face a problem at the border

@Stephen ****************

Your count is totally wrong. You can enter on a 60-days visa exempt, then extend in country for 30 days. You need to leave Thailand, stay abroad for a few days or weeks, after that you can re-enter and will get stamped in for another 60-days visa exempt stay. But this one you can only extend with 7 days, and some people will say that you only get these 7 extra days if you arrived by air (which still needs official conformation). So the total number of stays on visa-exempt entries per calendar year can be less or equal than 157 days

@Gary *******

not true. Fake News ! . . . you can only get two extensions on visa-exempt entries per calendar year. Visa-exempt entries are not limited. . . . . . . It's only border bounces that get scrutinized. If you spend considerable time outside of Thailand or in your home country in between visa-exempt short holiday stays, you can theoretically do 4, 5, or even 6 visa exempt entries per calendar year

You can only extend visa-free entry twice per calendar year.

The first visa-exempt entry can be extended by 30 days, but the second can only be extended by 7 days.

60 + 30 + 60 + 7 = 157 days maximum per year... regardless of whether you arrive by air or land.

Only these two extensions are possible per calendar year (!).

Visa-exempt entries themselves are not unlimited, even though some believe that unlimited visa-free entries are possible by air. This is simply incorrect.

Under certain circumstances, but only at the individual discretion of the border official, multiple visa-free entries are possible, for example, five or more.

In this case, however, your entry history in your passport and on the immigration central computer must prove that your stays were short-term (!!) like two or three weeks, and the total annual stay must not exceed 157 days (some say it is 179 days)

There must be several weeks between each entry. The aim of the new regulations was to prohibit "visa runs," where you only stay briefly in a neighboring country and then immediately re-entered.

You must be able to prove the planned short stay at the immigration counter—for example, with proof of onward travel, departure, or return journey, such as a flight ticket.

I suspect (but cannot guarantee!) that a border official would consider you a "genuine" tourist based on such short trips within a year. In that case, they should be able to see on their central computer that you never extended these short trips.

The 7-day extension is a REAL extension. It's not the same as the stamp "you have 7 days to leave the Kingdom."

At least, that's how I've interpreted the changed rules regarding visa runs after following official announcements and personal accounts for days. However, I'm still NOT guaranteeing its accuracy.

What has become clear is that "per year" is defined as "per calendar year."

Those who want to be on the safe side should obtain a single-entry tourist visa in advance for stays of up to 60+30 days.

Someone entering on two single-entry tourist visas plus two extensions, with a corresponding 2- to 4-month interval between them, would reach a maximum of 180 days "per a 1-year period" (not per calendar year – this is calculated differently!).

@David ********

you are apparently confusing the visa you got. If you needed an insurance and a police check, you applied for the Non-Imm-O/A Longstay Visa. You did NOT apply for the Non-Imm-O Retirement Visa, as this one NEVER required these things. And if you still need to prove an insurance for each yearly extension on Immigration, it indicates that you started on a Non-Imm-O/A Visa and not on the Non-Imm-O Visa (without the "A"). Some Immigrations allow "grandfathering" which means that the requirements that were in effect 10 years ago are still good for you in the present time, regardless of changes

you can't expect a health insurance cover a pre-existing condition. And by the way, a 90-days Non-Imm-O Retirement Visa application (where ever you apply!) and the subsequent "1-year Extension of Stay Permit" out of it, does NOT have a mandatory health insurance requirement