Thank you for your answers. So what if I fly back to Europe for just a week at Christmas, when the local embassy is closed for the holidays? I would have to apply for any new visa online well before the holiday period, when I am still in Thailand. Do I actually have to scan ALL the pages in my passport? In this case presenting the ticket would not be a problem.

@Graham *******

Yes. But an O-A is always valid for one year, giving you a maximum of 12 months stay from each entry. So actually there is no ‘initial 1 year’. It is one year validity. Yes it can be “extended” in Thailand, but with all the hurdles of a new visa. So yes I am here on my 1 year O-A, maxing out my stay to almost two years, but without actually “extending” the original visa.

@Graham *******

I did leave Thailand for some time in the summer. When I came back in October, I did not get an “extension”, I was admitted to stay for 11 months upon entry with my O-A then still valid 3 weeks. (Just to get the terms right 🙂) 11 months was the duration of my insurance I presented to the immigration officer at the airport, thus I got 11 months of stay and not the maximum 12. I have not left Thailand since and actually did not plan to leave because I had the information that a re-entry permit is not possible once your visa has expired. But as I said, I will now check again with my visa agent.

@Graham *******

Yes, this is basically it. It can be processed at your local immigration usually at least 45 days before your visa expires but this varies. I still do not think you can get a reentry permit with your visa expired and based on your entry stamp, but I might be mistaken on this one and will check with my visa agent tomorrow. I am in a similar situation myself. My O-A expired end of October and have an entry stamp until September next year. But I am not extending here, will get a new O-A in Europe when the time comes.

@Graham *******

I will try to explain. Your O-A visa is valid for one year with multiple entries and one year only. If you max your stays out, it can give you a 2 year stay. You just have to time your last entry just before your visa expires. So even if you arrive on the last day, you get a stamp for another year. But the next day your visa becomes useless, it expires. You can stay here for another year according to your stamp but once you leave, you can not come back.

There’s the possibility to extend your O-A BEFORE it expires in Thailand as it has been explained above but you need to have the 800K in a thai bank. The extension, if granted, is a single entry Non-Immigrant O valid for one year and for that there is the possibility of getting a re-entry permit so you can get in and out.

After your visa expires on February 28th you will not be able to reenter on that visa, regardless of the date on your admission stamp. The date on your stamp becomes irrelevant once you are stamped out. So even if you leave the Kingdom before February 28, 2023 and get a stamp with a new insurance upon returning until February 2024, once you leave for Australia in March, you will not be able to return because your visa has expired. Also, re-entry permits are only issued for single entry visas. They give you and additional entry or several BUT only until your original visa is valid.

OK, after many many mails and Line messages with the hotel, it seems that they do not really have much influence on how the transfer is carried out. It is serviced by an independent (state?) organisation and transfers are prebooked by the hotel but arranged by the people at the airport. The hotel assured me that they book private transfer, but if there’s a shortage of cars at the airport, the authorities tend to put several people in the same vehicle or van, if they are headed to the same area. It really depends on how busy it gets when you arrive. The only solution is to stand your ground, not get into a vehicle with other people and accept possibly longer waiting periods to get a private transfer become available.

@Bob *********

It is all about possibly ending up as a close contact. The driver is not getting tested right after the ride.

Gábor Szinetár

@Tod ********

So that means the immigration officer will check my insurance upon entering the Kingdom? Does he have the competence to do that? 🤔