@Kami *****

Are you kids going to go to school here? I think they could get a ed visa. I have a friend that will be coming to Thailand to live, he will be bringing is 8 year old son. From what I understand there is a bit of loop-hole when it comes to youngsters, in that they can not be penalized for overstay... But that creates a problem if you want to leave/return with them.

@Kami *****

Pretty much.

You don't really extend visa, you extend the stamp (permission to stay).

Near the last day of the visa you will do a border bounce. This will get you stamped in for another 60 days and you can extend that 30 more days given you 9 months.

Border Bounce - go to Lao, Cambodia or Malaysia for lunch come right back. My last border bounce taken 8 hours all in.

In the past when I was doing the multiple METV's I would travel to another place for only 2 weeks. You don't have to stay a full month... Bali is definitely a place that is easy to stay for a month so good planning on your part.

@Kami *****

I filed for eVisas from everywhere except maybe inside the US. So in theory you can just do back-to-back METV and skip the ed visa.

The two problems with ED visa, it used to be you had to actually go to class and learn stuff, then get tested by immigration, which means if you failed you would get kicked out. The second issue is... it's rumored ed can look bad in other immigration matters so I have always avoided them.

If you are a US citizen you can get an METV from the US Thai Embassy. That will save you a little hassle.

Pattaya's immigration office is quite crooked. If you hire an agent there is a great deal of flexibility. Without an agent there is no concrete rules. I have gotten the extension 2 weeks previous and I have been denied up to the last day.

You've been misinformed. There are no rules about how many times you can come to Thailand. There is a rule about how many times you can come to Thailand by land crossing.

Pre-covid I've done back-to-back METV's without leaving Thailand for more than a week or two. Currently I am on a METV with the plan of staying the full 9 months then switch to a different visa.

I got my current METV from the US Thai Embassy in DC, while I was in Indonesia. The embassies are pretty flexible about what they'll accept as resident papers. In my case, I used my TX Driver's license.

I have heard nothinbg but horror stories of Thai ladies trying to get US Visa. From what I understand, she will have to meet all the requirements, go through an interview or two, then it's a lottery. If you dont get it, try again, several times, and eventually it will happen.

I have a friend married to a Thai lady. They lived in the US for a few years and she had a green card. She decided she didn't want citizenship (because of the requirements), so she left for Thailand forfeiting her green card. Its a lot of hassle for her to get tourist visa, regardless of being married to a US citizen, spending years in US, and have strong community ties.

If you truly love her, stuff in a suite case and bring in as checked-baggage. You will likely go to jail but she might get to stay for awhile.

Bali is also a nice place to take someone you love (no suite case required). What does the US have anyway? More fat people? More guns? The grand canyon ?

I have a very questionable visa history and have never had problems at Don Mueang..

With METV (and probably all visas) you don't actually extend the visa, you extend the stamp (permission to stay). So if you stamp-in for 60 days, you can extend that stamp by 30 days, given you 60+30 days per stamp/entry. After 90 days you must leave the country and stamp back in for another 60 days, then repeat. You can get close to 9 months on an METV. In theory you can have a full 9 months but depending when you activated the visa (first stamp) and when you finally leave you may loose a few days.

To avoid the Pattaya Immigration office I am choosing to not extend my visa stamp, but rather I will do a border run. In my case I will stamp in for 60 days, at/about day 60 I will travel to Cambodia, have lunch, come back. I may extend my last stamp or just use my METV for 8 months.

@Leonard *****

I doubt it was Botswana