Just a little update... I recently flew Bangkok Airways from HKG to USM (Samui). And Air Asia folks did ask to see an onward ticket out of Thailand (although as discussed, Thai immigration did not). Guess I'm no longer an outlier. I was pretty shocked as this is a rarity for me. Luckily I had an onward flight to Myanmar since I am going over Xmas/NYE and due to the high season bought a ticket in advance.

Might have to rethink these onward tickets if airlines are going to start asking me.

Day 2-24 - Explore Thailand AND 1 or 2 other SE Asia countries (overland).

I admit to not having stayed up to date on this subject, but the last I read, overland entries into Thailand give 15 days rather than 30 days.

And not sure I understand your timeline, but if you re-enter Thailand overland after exploring nearby countries you may only get stamped in for 15 days. If that's on day 24 no problem. But if it's day 8, then maybe a problem.

There was also a discussion of limiting it further. If, for example, you have a 30 day entry, stay 25 days, do a land crossing and come back, there were stories you would only get the remaining 5 days of your 30.

Going out and back by air gets you the full 30 days. It's only crossing by land that they restrict to 15 or possibly less.

Ok to resurrect this thread?

Just wondered if there was anyone with recent experience of extending visas at Chaengwattana? Advisable to get there early? Or is it just a lottery?

Cheers

You're asking about extending a tourist visa? A visa exemption? Some other sort of visa?

Service times vary quite a bit by day of week, but very generally speaking, avoid Mondays and Fridays, keep an eye out for scheduled and pop-up holidays.

If extending a exemption or 60 day tourist visa (to add another 30 days for 1,900 THB) we've had some visitors who've had luck arriving right at 1:00 PM after the lunch closure, with wait-times on an extension of just a few minutes.

Arriving ~ 7:30 means an hour wait, but still should be out by 9:30.

Thanks Transpac. Yes extension of single entry tourist visa after 60 days.

I did this once. No appt, just showed up. Took like an hour all in if memory serves. Note you need to go to the back building so if you take a taxi make sure they take you all the way there. It is a loooooong walk (miles). You do not want the front building where all the Thai's go.

Thanks for the useful information ^

Personally I'd recommend a taxi from Mor Chit BTS station, and recommend taking the tollway. All taxi drivers will know where Immigration (Door More is a close phonetic approximation) is within the Chaeng Watthana complex. I think you'll need a TM.7 form, photo, passport, departure card, 1,900 baht. Maybe make some copies of your passport (picture page, entry stamp) and departure card. There are photo/copy shops in this complex, down one floor. There are no appointments possible, everyone has to queue.

http://www.immigration.go.th/nov2004...?page=download

An update in case it may help others. I went a few weeks ago on a Wednesday.

I was a bit lazy got up late and got an Uber that picked me up at about 9:30am from end of Ratchada 17 on Ratchada road. Took 25mins to get there so I rocked up just before 10am and found the room on the right hand side. Note there is a basic security/xray check (didn't take laptop out of bag) and had to sign in with name and passport number when you go through the main entrance.

Tell the person at the kiosk what you are there for (tourist visa extension in my case) and she gave me the form. I filled it in without looking at the examples pinned up and didn't end up being an issue (see below). There is glue to stick your photo to the form. Also make sure your Departure Card is filled in.

There is a couple of copy shops and photograph places. Go down a level and keep walking past the shops (7-11 I think?) and they are round the back there. Passport handed over and they made the relevant copies.

Go back up stairs then go through to the main area to the first desks in front. I went through about 10:30am. Give your passport and forms to the person and they will give you the correct ticket for the queue. Tourist Visa Exstensions are just round to the right.

Wait for your number then go to the first booth which is on the right. An Admin person will tell you to sit in front of them. Give them everything passport, copies, forms, queue number and money. They basically go through everything checking all is in order. If there are any errors on the form they correct them. They checked the hotel I'm staying at existed and asked for my room number. I'd written the address down wrong and they corrected it.

Once they are happy they ask you to sit on the chairs behind you (still within the booth). You then have to move along to the next chair as each person in the last chair gets called forward to an Officer.

When you get to the last chair the officer with your information calls you over. I'm not entirely sure what she did with me, I'm not sure if she even used the webcam thing to take my pic. I sat there for about 1 minute then she told me to wait outside. Others people had to answer some questions, I think.

So you go back out the booth, I did this at about 11:30am, and the only thing you have is your queue number the officer gives back to you. Then wait for your number to be called again for the left hand booth where you collect your passport. I would have waited about 10 mins but got it back just after 12:00pm.

Basically, someone dropped their wallet in the waiting area and the officer who deals with giving the passports back spent 20 minutes trying to find the person who dropped it within the pile of forms she'd been through that morning. Then the announcement at 12:00pm to clear the area came on as it was lunch break. Myself and two others basically went into the booth and sort of gesticulated we wanted our passports back! She did them quickly thankfully. It was good of her to do that and it was good of her to try and find this person who lost a wallet. But I can't help thinking it would have been good if there was someone with less responsibility she could have handed that task to whilst she got on with her main job.

The whole thing was very inefficient but I suppose TiT. Whilst I was waiting in the first booth a group of the workers/officers just idly chatted for 10 mins whilst we just sat watching on! Nothing was happing just waiting for them to stop talking! Then one guy sort of "jumps the q" and walks in with 5 passports in hand! What was all that about!

Got it sorted at least, all in all should have been a couple of hours. I'll make the effort next time to get there earlier. I don't think I appreciated the place literally shutdown dead on 12. Anyway, hope this helps anyone else looking for info.

Then one guy sort of "jumps the q" and walks in with 5 passports in hand! What was all that about!


Impossible to accurately ascertain, but some immigration activities can be accomplished by a third party.

Many of us have to report to Immigration every 90 days (for example, if on an Extension of Stay based on Retirement), and while this can now be done on-line, I still have to go occasionally (on-line system not working, missed brief window). It's not unusual to see someone with 30+ passports trot in to the 90-day report room. Throws the queue off horribly.

Many people report that arriving ~ 13:00-13:30 often yields the quickest results?

You can download the forms - in this case the TM.7, and fill them out in PDF format ahead of time:

http://www.immigration.go.th/nov2004...?page=download

http://www.immigration.go.th/nov2004...d/form_tm7.pdf

Then you just walk through that entry lobby, and queue for a ticket.


The Re-Entry permit is TM.8: http://www.immigration.go.th/nov2004...d/form_tm8.pdf

You can process a TM.8 at the airport prior to an int'l departure to preserve the remaining days on an existing entry, but do allot some extra time.