@Jim ********

good stuff. I tried that and they came up with all sorts of other requirements. Yellow book, plus chanote, plus translation of passport, parental names and then finally a thai witness of good standing...

@Graham *****

apologies, I meant to reply to Graeme Adam's enquiry. Rigjt answer wrong Graham

Oh and how/where did you get an id card on just a tourist visa?

It is easier, less hassle and more secure to apply from your home country. Do it at least 6 weeks before you intend to fly. Good luck

@Graham *****

the immigration are wrong, you can apply in-country and you can't apply to your home country from inside Thailand. That said the office is also right, because they can do whatever they like. Which office is it? I had a similar situation in Udon, I asked what I needed and they advised me to apply for the 'non-O in your country'. They advised me because that particular office was under some sort of 'internal measures' that meant they were under scutiny and every application has to be signed off in Khon Kaen and needed to thai witnesses etc. I posted that on here and was told I was lying or a criminal by some feckwit know-it-alls. If you have a vpn and the right documents you could apply to your home embassy, it is super simple. They will however want to see a flight, so perhaps you could book a flight with say air malaysia via KL and cancel the bit from London to KL and just fly in from KL. However the easiest (and most frustrating) thing to do is go back to your home country and apply from there.

They said the same to my friend two weeks ago. And sure enough when he tried to get back in after a week in Laos they point blank refused him entry and told him to fly. As he wanted to go to Chiang Mai for 6 weeks before returning to America he took the train to Luang Prabang and flew to Chiang Mai, where they let him in without let or hindrance. Odd but it definitely is what it is. In future I would apply for a proper visa from your home country before coming to Thailand again

Yes, but as stated by Steve Greir, much easier to get non O for retirement 90 day visa in the UK. Super simple online application as long as you can show £20,000 funds in the UK

Nick the application in the UK does seems almost suspiciously simple and straight forward. However it as they state. I applied in November and was given the visa 4 weeks later (never had to wait longer than 5 days for a tourist visa previously). Good luck with it all. Definitely the most straight forward route even the kind people at my local immigration office said this is the best route to then getting the year extension rather than converting a tourist visa in country

@Bonnie ******

there is no re-entry fee, and if you are in thailand for only a few weeks over say a two month time and have a return ticket it is highly highly unlikely that you will be refused entry. Why can you not be grateful and, more importantly happy, that you have opportunities that most of the world only dream about. Go holiday in Gaza and then tell us you having to pay a few dollars for a visa is messed up

@Bonnie ******

why is it messed up? Visa exempt is for occassional holidays for people. They assume those using it are taking a one to six week holiday from work, as the vast majority of tourists do. If you are lucky enough to have more time because you are traveling or retired then there are visas you can obtain to suit your circumstances. In your case a 6 month multiple entry tourist visa. For me as a UK citizen Thailand's visa system is far easier for me than the UK's is for a Thai.