@Lance ******

What’s BIB? Educate me please.

@Lance ******

Unlikely. You’re in a cab on the way to the airport with airline ticket in hand. I really can’t see that becoming a major problem, in accordance with their own guidelines.

Biff, thanks for all the info. I’m fully aware of everything you mentioned. The one thing I haven’t found yet is the source document for this. Sure, I’ve read about it on the internet from sites that are not Thai government sites. As a former government worker I can’t tell you how many times people quote regulations without showing source documents. Usually because they’re only repeating what they’ve been told by the ‘supervisors’ in the back office. When I actually crack open a regulation I often find exceptions to policy that allows a different outcome.

Correct, getting stopped and questioned on your way to the airport could, supposedly, be a problem. But I don’t buy that argument, how else could they publish that it’s just a fine? Even though TiT, that makes no sense. That really applies to the people that are intentionally overstaying for months and years, not the tourist that overstays for a few days which happens every single day. The Thai jails are not full of 1 and 2 day visa overstay bandits.

I know, some of this is my opinion. Feel free to beat me up now.

An overstay of 1 day is not a problem, it says so in their documentation, it’s just a fine of 500 baht. Some will disagree but that’s the official word. As I mentioned in a previous post, the immigration officer did not let me obtain a 30-day extension because it was cheaper to pay the 2-day overstay rather than the extension. And while onwards travel is something they can check, I haven’t arrived in Thailand with onward travel in about 5 years. And yes, I realize they can check next time and I might get turned away.

So, based on some facts (the overstay not being a problem) and some personal experience (yours may differ) I wouldn’t worry about changing your ticket, I’d just play the 500 baht at the airport on the way out of Thailand.

@Stan ******

Yes, sadly there are.

@Daniel ***********

I realize volunteering is work but I don’t know that other countries lump it into ‘work’ which to me is paid work. I have no organization to volunteer for, it would be the local school where I build a house. I’ve glanced through the volunteer/work visa stuff and in my mind it doesn’t apply due to my circumstances (O-A) and the circumstances of so many that are living in Thailand on the O-A visa. I’m wondering what the work around is, if any. It seems like such a wasted opportunity if so many retired expats are barred from volunteering with no expectation or desire for compensation in any way because they classify it as work.

I realize I can’t work, no problem there as I’ve been practicing that for the last 5 years lol. Since I’ll be building a house and living in Thailand the O-A is the correct visa to get and getting an O visa (and/or a work permit) instead just so I can volunteer, and the paperwork involved with all of that, seems, well nonsensical. So I’m hoping there’s a way to be able to volunteer while on an O-A visa.

Visa exempt, for free, until you plan on spending more than a month here at a time. At that point the $200, for an O-A anyway, would start to make sense. Makes no sense to pay for a visa you won’t really be using when a free visa exempt meets your needs. Starting a record is not a block that needs to be checked on any visa application.

With my lack of knowledge this sounds awful similar to the O-A visa. I am catching the different nomenclature and locations where it’s obtained but what’s the practical difference? My plan is to get my O-A visa when I go back to the states later this month but why wouldn’t I just get the extension of stay since I’m here now?