Yah DTV is definitely the best option for that. I spent about a year or so on back to back arrival stamps, extension and then TR visas. After multiple warning from IOs and the Thai embassy in Singapore I ended up moving to the Philippines for awhile. When the DTV came out I was one of the first applicants - was so happy I didn't have to wait unitl I was 50 to get out of the Philippines!

Ah, it must be teh visa number then. Its whatever number starting with G that you have crossed out on the left.

Easy - don’t put yourself in a position to get extorted. Follow the 72 hour rule. Don’t tell people you just sold your house and have a wad of cash sitting in your bank account. Actually don’t tell anyone here anything until you know you can trust them.

Always remember there are desperate expats here who will also scam or extort you if they think they can get away with it.

You can get a visa for your kid but be aware you don’t really need one. Children and their parents aren’t penalized for overstays as long as the parents have a proper visa. The child does get an overstay stamp in their passport, but it is not held against them on re-entry.

Eh, report them to Immigration and they will get sorted pretty quickly I imagine.

You might want to join this group btw:

All that being said there are ways for you to stay in country legally long-term (typically an ED visa) if you don't get the DTV and are willing to pay an agent. A bit risky though, especially if you want to travel internationally or change your visa status later to something more legitimate.

If you want to move here permanently I don't recommend it unless you are pulling in 3-4k USD a month, more would be better. You should have some substantial savings too to be safe. There are way too many punters here who are a motorbike crash away from being insolvent because they spend all their money out on the piss and on women.

The next 10-20 years is your prime income earning potential, don't piss it away here. If you are dead set on moving to Thailand retrain and work your way into a remote gig - you will make way more money doing that than pretty much anything you will find in Thailand.

I've been coming here on and off for 20+ years and it gets more expensive by the day. Yes you can live cheaply, potentially just on a retiree check but it will be a quiet/simple life, likely not something somebody in their 20s really wants (regardless of what you THINK you want).

If you are working on base in Japan think very hard before giving up the job - I guarantee you there are 10 people waiting in line for that position and it will be very difficult to find another one like it if you decide Thailand isn't for you long term. If it wasn't for visa issues with my baby mama I'd move back to Japan in a flash, especially if I could find a cushy GS job on base.

Don't flash the cash and you won't have problems. This is especially important if you are in a situation where you need to pay tea money to "resolve" an issue. Dress like a cheap charlie expat and you avoid the vast majority of those kind of issues.

Sure, you can apply for all the jobs you want, in and outside of Thailand. Once you get an offer from a company to work IN Thailand though you (or your employer) need to arrange for a non-B and a work permit which will cancel out the remainder of your DTV.