For a 28 s/qm quite a nice condo which is really 25 s/qm as it is 3 s/qm of balcony in Soi 94. I use about Bt1000 electricity a month, water Bt20 a month. I usually have 2 short showers a day and keep my room at about 26 C with A/C. When I'm there.

I have been coming to Thailand 15 times in 15 years on Tourist visas and on 2 Retirement O visas obtained at the Thai Embassy in Canberra Australia. I have never had a bank account in Thailand, it's not required. I have a fee-free debit card a/c bank account in Australia and it's good to be free anywhere in the world. It pays me 5.5% on the balance presently. I get 5 free ATM transactions in Thailand or any place in the World each month. There are some modest conditions which I always meet.

DTV confusion

I'm not sure that anyone knows exactly how DTV will work and there seems to be no definitive answer yet The first 6 months are not up. Many Thai visa experts are confused. If you follow the objectives I have indicated above, it seems if you want to be in Thailand for 5 years you can get the visa, in 6 monthly renewals over 5 years subject to the approval of doing border runs and being absent from Thailand for over a set time i.e. 24 hours. Many Thai visa experts in Thailand are confused. It is not available inside Thailand so most Thais know nothing about it.

@John ******

The DTV is supposed to be good for 5 years provided you leave and re-enter the country every 180 days and have an acceptable reason to apply for it outside Thailand at a Thai Consul or Embassy and proof of your intentions. That's how I read the instructions...So where did I go wrong? 5 years is the major reason why people want to obtain the DTV. It gives you some level of continuity for 5 years and you can be under 50y/o to apply. It is not a retirement visa. i.e. If you have evidence that you are a computer nerd working for a company outside Thailand you are likely to obtain that DTV. And likely pay Thai Tax.

@Peter *****

When I stayed at a hotel near Blupoint Shopping Centre Hua Hin recently and applied for my 30-day extension, my hotel provided me with a letter on their letterhead stating that I was currently residing at their hotel, the hotel receptionist said she does that many times each day. I took this letter and filled out a form at Immigration I believe was a TM30. I waited about 20 mins and was asked to come forward and have an interview with an Immigration Police Officer. I had already submitted my form, my letter from my hotel, and my passport. At the interview, the immigration policeman confirmed who I was as he photocopied my passport. The immigration policeman accepted my Bt1900 payment and gave me a receipt. I returned to my seat the same way the other 20 or so people waiting did and then a young Thai lady came out and handed me my passport with an extended visa stamp included in that passport...All done and finished she wished me well. End of story. Total time required just a few mins short of 1 hour. I did attend the Immigration office a few days before to get the full information from a young lady at the door to Immigration advising people how to go about it. I did a dry run before I submitted my visa extension application 2 days before.

@Nick ***********

All Immigration offices in Thailand have police on their staff. The manager at Hua Hin Immigration office at the time I did business some years ago was a woman. Even though I recently had my visa exemption renewed at Blupoint Shopping Centre the 1st part of the process was to be interviewed by a policeman attached to that office, like the other 20 or so people waiting to renew. In all the 12 previous tourist visa renewals I had over the years the 1st part of that process has been with a policeman ... allways.

Yes, give it a break, you clearly do not know what you are talking about.

Give it a break. This is on the Thai Embassy website today /2024...read it.

You get your 90-day tourist visa from your home country's Consul or Embassy. It is good for 60 days before you need to extend it at Thai immigration in Thailand. I've had 12 of them. That is a fact. There is or was a 6-month tourist visa as well which you have to do a border run after 2 months when you return it is stamped for another 2 months. After that further 2 months, you do a border run again and return for a further 2 months, You can do the same again making the number of times you can extend it to a 6-month tourist visa to 8 months there are financial conditions. Maybe they have cancelled that arrangement but I have not seen that so far. It was very common until they introduced the present visa exemption. I really don't care what Thailand calls it but in plain English, a visa exemption is a visa.



A 90-day Thai tourist visa allows a visitor to enter Thailand and stay for up to 90 days:

The visa is valid for 90 days from the date of issue

Visitors must enter Thailand within the 90-day period

The initial stay is 60 days

Visitors can request a 30-day extension from an immigration officer, for a total stay of up to 90 days

The extension fee is 1,900 baht

Visitors should check their passport's immigration stamps to ensure they don't overstay their visa

The penalty for overstaying is a fine of 500 baht per day and a ban on entry for at least five years

To apply for a Thai tourist visa, you can visit or contact the nearest Thai Embassy or Consulate in your country.