Chiang Rai

They will give you an appropriate visa once you have all the full documentations from the school and government. No walk ins allowed, you will have to make an appointment online, submit all the documents they need online and they will give you an appointment date.

Stay 2 days in Malaysia, Penang would be the first choice if you can drive down for 2 hours after the border. If you cant, just stay in Chang Loon, nothing much there though. Get your car insurance done at Dan Nok. I drive from Chiang Rai to Kuala Lumpur frequently.

To simply answer the question, 1-2 months will be best or until the permitted time in the other country is about to end. That will make you look more like a 'tourist', because that is what most tourists do.

Sounds more like a freaking great trip!

@Paul ******

your eagerness to show that you know more than someone that actually has been in and out of these so called dangerous provinced for the last 30 years show that you have an agenda. Either that or you have fallen for media BS. The fact stands, you are more likely to fall off a balcony in thailand than to get bombed in those 3 provinces.

@Paul ******

an obvious case of false sense of security. You feel safe in the CR yet not in east of Hatyai. My full blown born in CR in laws will always say avoid going up to areas you claimed are as safe as anywhere else, so its your word against theirs. As many times as you have travelled to the Golden Triangle, Ive been in those so called 'dangerous' provinces a thousand folds. Blown out of proportion.

Singaporeans dont generally speak malay, but sensible ones will use when it is the best option. People in dan nok speak way better malay than english, so why the hell not?

Prachuap is still in the south, just not deep so its not a wonder large groups of people there still can speak in malay. Thai malays are still found there but get way less past that point.

It seems like you have an agenda trying to so desparately prove that those provinces are unsafe for travel. I would have been killed in my 30 over years of going there if it was true. But you can believe what you want. 🤣🤣🤣

@Paul ******

Dan Nok is a sub-district of Sadao, as it is a small town in Sadao itself. Locals call it and acknowledge it as Dan Nok. The pharmacy there? Its called Dan Nok Pharmacy. Locals living there call it Dan Nok as Ive mentioned, thais from outside the region wont call it dan nok, because they dont even know its called that, so they start generalizing by calling it Sadao or even worse, Songkhla.

Sensible Singaporeans will also use Bahasa Malaysia in dan nok, if they can speak it, as it is also their national language. The national anthem of singapore is in Bahasa Malaysia.

One thing you said true, as you go up north, less and less people speak in Bahasa Malaysia, for example Hat Yai, you hear less people speaking in malay however most of them still can speak the language when faced with it. I have known large groups of people that are able to speak in malay until Prachuap Khiri Khan. History tells why this is so.

@Paul ******

The rest of the country sees only occasioanal shootings - illegal guns have always been a problem for the whole of thailand, 'occasional' and your attempt to downplay this fact does not make other parts of thailand any safer than the south. I have mentioned above, depending on which part of thailand you are refering to, each place will have its own heightened risk. That doesnt make it any more dangerous or vice versa than other places.

Chiang Rai is no more like to be a location for a shoot out than CM or BKK - false, shootouts happen often here, just not in the city area as CR is a big province. Go and take a look at the records, youll find that CR has way more shootouts than CM or BKK, military point of view. Again, this is different type danger, a danger nonetheless. As much as I can say CR is peaceful place, which is where my wife is from and Ive stayed in CR for nearly 10 years, I know of the dangers here that exist in other forms.

You are generalizing things massively and blowing this safety issue out of proportion. Ill say it again, you are as safe anywhere in thailand, statistically.

@Paul ******

"The shootings between drug gangs arent a daily occurance and could occur anywhere." Same goes for bombings in the deep south, it not a daily occurance and it could happen anywhere. Bangkok got bombed before, Chiang Mai got bombed before. When you bring Mae Sai in as an example, I could very well bring Dan Nok, Padang Besa, Betong and all the border towns to support my view that they are VERY safe and that is what I exactly did in my OP.