Originally Posted by
kokonutz
Many of the DNs we met were on teacher or education visas. Those folks are nervous that the poorpats and sExpats are ruining it for them.
As for us, we took a side-trip to KL to extend our time in CM by a couple week:
https://readyjetroam.com/2019/02/23/...a-couple-days/
Was that a visa run? Hm.
Anyway, it's tough to blame Thai authorities if/when they do crack down on poorpats and sExpats. Those folks contribute little and do harm.
The Ed Visa loophole is all but gone away, "
whaddya mean I have to go to class". Teachers need a Non-Imm B + Work Permit. Anyone on a teacher's salary, save at an int'l school in Bangkok, is a TeaPat aka PoorPat, or BegPacker.
A TVE can be extended for 30 days (not 60 days) in country for 1,900.
Leaving and returning on sequential TVEs is by definition a Visa Run. Immigration is clamping down on this approach, regardless of one's pretentiousness.
A much better approach would be to get a METV, extend that by 30 days and use re-entry permits. That would give you 90 days in Thailand.
IME, Vietnam, specifically comparing Bangkok and HCMC, is less expensive. Challenges include bandwidth, transpo and health care.
I respect anyone who can live out of a suitcase, no matter how silly they sound
branding themselves, but I don't envy them.
Immigration has been cracking down for a few years with
Big Joke making a name for himself of late, although he is seen to be a bit
jumped-up by the PTB.
Most people know to avoid the north of Thailand from early Feb until after Songkran, assuming they can. Most Thai people just have to suffer through the burning season.