To re-confirm, it is the consulate on Burichan Road, NOT the Embassy

@Jim ******

I may be wrong, but I highly doubt that. While reliable stats are hard to obtain, there are something in the order of 400,000 resident foreigners in Bangkok. If all of them have to present themselves to Chaengwattana within 24h of arriving in the country, it's going to be complete chaos.

The system works fine at the moment because most up-country immigration offices are quiet, with few foreigners living in the area and thus reporting is straightforward. Even where there are busy offices (Jomtien, Chiang Mai, for example), the foreigners who live there don't tend to travel that much. CW, however, is already incredibly strained. Any visit there is necessarily a long, tiresome day. I work for one of the largest employers of foreigners in Thailand, and there are people in my organisation (and literally hundreds, if not thousands, of organisations and companies) who travel outside the country every other week. If they have to present themselves to CW every time they land, it'll be disruptive, both to Chaengwatta and everyone who has to do it...

Off-topic, but I love the term 'transferred to inactive posts' - does that just mean they're going to get paid to do nothing now?

No, they won't ask. They have no mandate to do so

Thai immigration has no jurisdiction beyond Thailand's borders. What he does in Indonesia (or anywhere else) is, visa-wise, between him and Indonesia (or wherever)

You're not banned. Do as Robert Lagas advises. Oh, and remove "Lives in Koh Chang" from your Facebook - that kinda makes it obvious what you're up to, u know ;)

Yes you're supposed to keep it. If you extend your stay at immigration you will need it. If you just leave the country after 60 days it doesn't matter if you lose it as you can get a new one at the airport or land border.

Right, I once got a visa in Tokyo. This was several years ago, so take this with a large pinch of salt.

Basically, like most things in Japan, it's very orderly. You have to register first to make an appointment. You then have to turn up on time for that appointment, submit the usual range of documents (I don't remember submitting anything out of the ordinary) and pick up either 1 or 2 days later. Relatively straightforward, however, it's a very busy embassy because of the number of Japanese applying for visas. I was not living in Japan at the time, so it is possible if you don't live there.

Anyway, email them first (as you suggested elsewhere on the thread) - you would have to make an appointment anyway (if it's like it used to be). They didn't allow you in without an appointment when I did it.

This gets complicated pretty quickly. Your entry to Thailand is at the immigration officer's discretion, so you can be denied, in effect, because they don't want to let you in (in practice, however, they would have to suspect you're up to no good). I suspect the most common reasons to be denied are a combination of lots of stamps and not having the three proofs. If you are denied, (and you don't want to sit in a detention cell) you should be sent back to the country you boarded. However, in some cases, this isn't possible (i.e. if the country you boarded requires a visa and you don't have/cannot reasonably attain one). In this case, they have to send you home. However, I wouldn't be surprised if they just tell you to buy a ticket to go home - most people wouldn't want to sit in a detention cell and argue this; it's probably pretty intimidating.

Part of the reason that they do this, I suspect, is because if you are denied entry to Thailand (or anywhere else) is that it's the airline's responsibility to fly you back to where you boarded (or, failing that, and if different, where you're from). The airline will obviously try to bill you for this, but if they can't, and/or if the airlines have to fly loads denied entry people home, the airlines would start getting pretty rancourous. Also remember, in Thailand, airlines are either state-run (Thai, Nok) or are powerful, well connected conglomerates.

Robert Lagas That may well be the case - i'm not saying it hasn't happened. If she flew US-KL-Thailand, and KL was a transit stop, then they are just sending her back to her point of entry (the transit stop doesn't count in that equation). If, however, a US passport holder had boarded the plane in KL (i.e. that's the last place she had been stamped into) then the proper procedure, upon being denied, would be to send her back to KL. This is partly because it's the airline's responsibility to meet the cost in that instance (at least initially).

Anyway, i'm not trying to get bogged down in debate here. It's a pretty technical discussion. The OP was clearly on thin ice, visa-wise. I'm just saying that though whether you are allowed in is at the officer's discretion, your plans, outside Thailand, are not. Whether anyone wishes to sit in a detention cell at DMK and push that issue, and whether it is wise to, is another matter.