I was prepared to even send my recently approved AU tourist visa (I know, completely unrelated) but I reckon it'll help the Thais understand that if the people down under are happy, they can take it easy on me, too 🤣 So ready for every possible scenario.

@Andi **********

Also why I avoided Malaysia, too. Cos I've seen many horror stories of them taking ages to complete the process.

@Andi **********

Very helpful, indeed! I just wanted to avoid the immigration drama there and have to queue for more than 2 hours just go get out of the country. Partly the reason why I got DTV too so I can go to Thailand whenever I fancy without being grilled by my own people. I guess the same way Pakistanis wanna avoid having to go through Pakistan.

@Adam *********

I'm not sure about that. For me, they just wanted to see the most recent amount (so I provided Nov - Feb) + business registration to help substantiate the good standing of the company.

@Andi **********

I applied pretty early on Friday (8am). I reckon if I applied on a Monday, would have been approved a bit faster, too. I was very thorough, Read every single approved/denied cases in Hanoi (figured it's one of the fastest), double checked everything during submission, and included literally everything I could think of. My list doesn't seem like a lot, but I added 2-3 examples on each.

Proof of employment - certificate from work that I've been working with them for 10 years + salary each month

Financial capacity - 3 months statement with balance more than required + certificate of deposit from another bank (I don't imagine the latter being very strong, but together they help further strengthen my case of financial capacity)

Proof of being in Vietnam - I left Thailand before my 60-day visa exemption, my stamp shows I can stay for 21 days + added Airbnb booking (not receipt even) which shows my VN address.

They didn't ask for proof where I'll be staying in Thailand (I added my previous Airbnb booking in Thailand)

@Andi **********

I have a feeling mentioning that I will not take local employment really helped strengthen my case as many Filipinos actually come to Thailand to get local jobs. It doesn't make sense to me to do that, so I just highlighted that many times in my cover letter.

@Andi **********

I included a screenshot of my Airbnb that shows the address, but since I've only been in Thailand once, they probably didn't think I just bounced 🤣 I don't know, seen others being asked to show proof of receipts in the country, pic being in local hotel/ recognisable spot, etc

*wait for long

Anonymous participant That's great! If you could get the statement notarised by a local lawyer, that might help your cause, too. Anything to further substantiate your claims. Add details about your company, especially if it's MNC. Mine just so happen to have Wikipedia, and Linkedin where it shows it's got thousands of employees, etc. It doesn't matter if you go overboard, more is more. So hopefully they don't have to ask for more docs, and you won't have to stay long.

I also added a certificate of deposit from another bank (more than 500k on its own). Not sure it helped, but I also included my cover letter showing how long I've been with the company (10 years), why it doesn't make any sense for me to take local employment, etc