I used a loan from my bank in the US to buy mine. I just had to put down a deposit to hold the vehicle until the funds were available to complete the purchase.

I bought a new car back in October with a loan from Navy Federal Credit Union. A Certificate of Residence (COR) is needed for registering the car in your name. The dealership offered to act as my agent to obtain the COR on my behalf but wanted something like 5k baht extra. I declined the service and got the COR myself at Chonburi Immigration.

Obtaining the COR requires a current TM.30 and copies of your passport and lease. We have a long term lease on a house here and I’d flown in and out since my last TM.30 report in August. In the past that seemed to be ok since I didn’t change addresses, but Chonburi now wants a fresh TM.30 after every re-entry regardless of address. I had already been in Thailand for a few weeks but didn’t have any issues getting the TM.30 done.

On a related note, a few months later in January they tried to fine my gf several thousand baht for a late TM.30 registration when she went to extend her tourist visa. She ended up using a border run service instead.

D-cup?

Been in and out about 5 times now on my DTV and never had a significant problem. I always make sure to dress decently and greet the IO politely. The first time I went through with my DTV there was some confusion because the IO had never processed one before, but only took a few minutes to sort out with her supervisor's help.

Best to just stay away for at least six months - that was the warning I got from the Thai Embassy in Singapore when applying for back to back TR visas after getting warned by an IO for entering too many without one. Got past all that eventually by getting a DTV.

You can try entering via land from Malaysia - supposedly they are more lenient and it’s a lot cheaper to leave if they refuse you entry. I wouldn’t risk it personally.

@Stuart ********

I had tried using the old TM.30, but the agent checked my passport stamps and saw an exit/re-entry after it and sent me off to do the TM.30 .

@Stuart ********

Chonburi immigration requires a current TM.30 for the 90’day report. That’s based on my personal experience in late January.

Seun Handyman you need to have a current TM.30 to do your 90 day report, yes. If you haven’t left the country you can still use the TM.30 you did when you (re)entered Thailand.

So my gf went down to do her visa extension after paying the landlord to update her TM.30 the night before. Apparently it takes a day or two to process because when she went to immigration they said her TM.30 wasn’t valid and tried to fine her 3000 baht. She ended up doing a border run to restart the clock instead.

Moral of the story is don’t put it off to the last minute like we did. Be aware that immigration has to process and formally accept the TM.30 report online before it’s “official”.