Originally Posted by
Oldtiger
As you have already realised, if you qualify for a visa exemption that will allow you to stay in the Kingdom for 30 days. You just present your passport to the immigration officer at the port of entry and he/she should stamp you in without any fuss. Occasionally the IO may ask a couple of basic questions like where are you staying and how are you funding your stay.
Indeed. The OP may be thinking that entering Thailand is like entering the USA or UK, where you
can be subjected to what seems like an interrogation - why are you here, how long are will be here, where are you going, etc etc. Thailand is not like that, unless you have alarm bells in your passport. Fill in the arrival card (you can ignore the stuff on the back about your salary etc if you want ... that's just tourism demographics), making sure you have an address and phone number entered (eg your first hotel). In my many entries at BKK the number of questions I have been asked is exactly zero. I have often been on 30-day vacations, but they never asked. I always have an onward ticket, but again I've never been asked for it.
Never been asked for the 20,000 baht thing either. AFAIK that is a recent thing which has been asked for
rarely, for people who fit a perceived 'demographic' who look like they might not be able to support themselves and/or have multiple previous tourist visa entries over short periods. I have never carried it. If you're worried, carry say US$750 cash.
Thailand tourist visa: Country cracks down on begpackers as visitors asked to show 20,000 baht before entering country The Independent