@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?

@Robert ***********

It only became intentional once the immigration lady said to do it. It wasn’t my original intention. If the Kingdom disallowed or jailed every foreigner that overstayed a visa there’d be no tourism industry and the country would be in a recession. They’re not going to ruin their economy over a couple day overstay. Their own rules even state it’s only a fine until you get to 90 days so clearly they’ve determined that small amount of overstay is ‘acceptable ‘.

@David ******

lol, I never plan or books flights coming here. I fly Space-A from CONUS to eventually Singapore and then buy a one way ticket SIN-BKK/DMK because I never know when I’ll want to leave. And last time I ended up staying longer than expected because the wife said I should look for land to buy and like a good husband I said yes dear.

That’s what makes Thailand so... interesting isn’t it? There are rules but they’re not rules only sometimes it all depends on who you know. And since I’m a rule follower by nature I was willing to pay the 1900 baht for 2 days rather than an overstay charge. But I’m not going to argue with immigration either so I followed her advice.

I guess my point is knowing and following the rules is probably the best course of action and if something goes your way and the rules weren’t necessary then consider it a bonus, not the norm. Because when you start planning for the short cut you get bit on the buttocks. Not the left cheek and not the right cheek but right in the middle.

Yes it’s ok. When I went to immigration for the same reason on my last trip, I wanted to stay 2 days longer, the immigration lady told me just pay the overstay because it’s cheaper. Of course I asked if there would be problems next time. She said no.

Next trip they noticed the overstay and stamped me in. And here I am!

Mae Taeng will be my home so I assume Chiang Mai Immigration but I haven’t dug into that yet. Needed to determine which visa to get first and now I know. 👍