sorry . . of course I mean the 60-days Single Entry Tourist Visa . . 😆

you can get a Single Entry (stand corrected: NOT the Non-Imm-O!) Tourist Visa at the consulate in Savannakhet, giving you 60 days, extendable for 30 more days on a Thailand Immigration for 1900 THB

sure you need to stamp in into Laos, the visa-on-arrival is 30-35 crisp U.S. dollars or the equivalent in Thai Baht. Savanakhet is a bit closer to Khon Kaen than Vientiane, isn't it ? And NO appointment needed

why make Vientiane Embassy the only choice, when you live in Khon Kaen ? You could apply for a Single Entry Tourist visa at the consulate of Thailand, in Savanakhet, Laos. No appointment needed. Read their rules to apply for, on their website

sorry, I have no idea about the Mae Sai border hop. I also do not know if you are allowed to stay on the Burmese side of the border for a few days. For that, there will obviously be a visa requirement, no "border hop fee". Maybe somebody else can advise

please note, the validity date of the visa is not the same as the admitted-to-stay date in the stamp. One says "valid until", the other says "admitted until". However in regards to your travel plans, you are safe. Even if your visa should become invalid after March 22, you could still re-enter Thailand on a visa exempt in order to reach your flight home

with a METV you can theoretically get 8 months out of it, doing a border run just before it becomes invalid, which will be 6 + 2 months. After this you could still do another border run and enter with 30 day visa exempt, which you can extend on Immigration inside Thailand for 30 more days for 1900 THB. Giving you almost 10 months of stay

check the date on your visa sticker on how long it is valid for re-entries

as long as you are within the validity period of your Multi Entry Tourist visa, each entry will give you 60 more days admitted stay

@Bobby *******

but if he gets a new O/A in his home country, the home based insurance - given the company signs the foreign ins. certificate - is only valid for a first year of the O/A. Once the valid until date is reached, for the "free second year" he will need a new insurance, a Thai insurance from the tgia list. Are you sure you want to recommend this process? He can get a Single Entry Non-O based on being over 50 in his home country once the old O/A is invalid, and start out NOT needing any insurance (which to have is good, but not one out of those bogus Thai insurances)