@James ******

Before (otherwise it's an overstay!) 60 days are over you can eighter extend or border-bounce on the 60iest day. If you can do a border bounce for less than 1900 Baht you might want to do that. Otherwise you might prefer the extension. Both ways work. But there is no way to stay more than 90 days in the country with SETV or METV.

With the METV you HAVE to LEAVE the country as well after 60 (or if you extend your stay after 90) days. But you only have to do a border bounce. That means you can go to the closest border, get stamped out and back in again and you 'activate' the next stay. With the SETV you have to travel to an embassy/consulate and apply for the visa again. Nowadays many embassies / consulates want to see proof of onward travel, proof of finance and some even proof of hotel bookings. With the METV you have this 'documents hassle' only once.

With the METV it is possible to stay up to 270 days (with border bounces). The visa itself is valid for 6 months. If you enter Thailand even a day before the visa expires you get another 60 days stamp and you can extend that stay as well.

Used this one in December. Didn't need any documents back then.

No, it's not limited. You can either get a single re-entry permit for 1000 Baht or a multiple-re-entry-permit for 3800 Baht.

Just make sure that your come back before your visa/extension of stay expires.

Haven't been to Penang yet. Laos is very nice in my opinion. If you plan to stay a bit longer there are very nice places to see in Laos. Vientiane is good for the 2 days you have to be there anyway. Then you can head up north to Vang Vieng (nice caves, lagoons, viewpoints) and further to Luang Prabang (nice colonial style town, nature, waterfall, temples). Luang Namtha is good for trekkig. Nong Khiaw is a very small laodback town also with viewpoints, river and good restaurants.

He could even use the same passport to enter again and extend his stay. Only the visa exempt entries by land are limited to two per calendar year. There is no official limit when flying (up to the immigration officer).

You're right.

Just yesterday someone posted a report about KL:

3/permalink/1/

Some embassies / consulates want to see a flight ticket out of Thailand.

Hello

I'd recommend Vientiane in Laos. You don't need to show proof of onward travel or hotel bookings. Drop off you passport on day 1 in the morning and pick it up the next afternoon.

+1 for Vientiane

Don't worry about paperwork. The form is just one page. You can get the form, the copies of your passport and the pictures taken in the building on the left side. Go to the consular section (here: 26,102.45,16z/data=!4m8!1m2!2m1!1sthai+embassy+consular+service+vientia+ne!3m4!1s0x0:0x229bd78d156a373f!8m2!3d17.57!4d102.24). Passport drop off starts at 8.30am and pick up starts at 1.30pm the next day.