@J *************

Not always true - I am on DTV and working for an Australian company as digital nomad, and paying Australian Tax. As I am out of Australia for more than 180 days per year I can claim what we call foreign tax residency, it does not mean I pay tax in a foreign country, it just means I pay Australian Tax differently. One of the big advantages is it reduces the tax rate dramatically on the interest of approximately 1.5 million of bank savings. To do this I must give the bank my Thai TIN and they deduct tax and pay to the Australian Tax office. I also avoid the medicare levy and MLS which are the taxes we pay for universal health care (about another 3.5% of earnings). I declare all my income in Thailand and pay no additional tax as the tax I pay in Australia is still already way more than the liability in Thailand. My TIN saves me thousands it does not mean I pay additional tax in Thailand.

There is a lot of people applying through Hanoi. These are not people living in Hanoi that have suddenly decided they want to move to Thailand or do a course in Thailand. Most of them are those that were living long term in Thailand on Visa runs and their time is up and they can no longer do a visa run to stay. This means two things, one that consular office is very busy and two they are looking very carefully at these applicants for anything fraudulent. The reality is you are probably better off going back to your home country and applying from there. There is likely to be less scrutiny and a faster process.

@Simon ******

The Flight from Sydney generally gets in around that time and it seems to be the best time of the day to arrive. I reckon in 20 odd entries it's never taken me more than 20 minutes.

There is no such step as pre-approval in the DTV process. The first step is document check. An admin clerk checks you have attached the required documents , that they are readable and contain the necessary information. This person has no authority to approve or pre-approve your visa they are just checking there is nothing obvious missing. Once this is done your application is assigned to a consular officer, they look at the facts and decide to reject or approve your visa. I'd find a different agent if they told you you had pre-approval as they obviously do not know the process.

Best option is still a Thai bank account for QR payments - Yes not eligible on DTV, but it can still be done. Personally I also like the wifepays platform, it's seamless and free!

The man is a philatelist

So the website will only allow you to submit 3 days before your arrival date - all based on Thai Time /calendar. If it's taking you 3 days to get there and assuming your not walking you must be stopping over somewhere. If you cannot do it just before you leave do it during your stopover. Note there is no approval or non-approval it is just collecting information. It takes 5 minutes to do online. If you plane has wifi you can even do it en-route. Still today many people forget or don't know and you will see them doing it just before immigration counters on arrival.

Yes you can go to the Thai queue with your wife, yes you still need to complete the TDAC even though she does not. It's generally best to print it out, however if you have done it right it is linked to your passport number and they can see it anyway.

I just wanted the account to pay by QR code in the local market , etc. Being on DTV most banks said no. Bangkok Bank said sure you can open an account as long as you sign up for this yearly insurance premium. No way was I paying 50K Baht per year in worthless insurance just to have a bank account. I just gave up, so my wife went into SCB and opened an account in her name, installed the SCB app on my phone. Now I can pay like a local without the hassle. Big purchases still go on my Mastercard or Wise Card. I can get cash at SCB or pay by QR without a fee. The account is in her name but that really does not matter it serves it's purpose.

You don't even need to leave the airport, can just get the next flight back. The requirement is to leave and re-enter that is all.