General Reports

If you get a visa from the Thai consulate before your trip then you will get 60 days. If you wait for visa on arrival then you will only get 30 days. They will not ask for your ticket. You only have to state your planned exit date if asked.

[QUOTE=ElVagabundo;1632478]I am a USA citizen, with USA Passport, living in Colombia with Colombian Residency and headed to Thailand in December. I have been in and out of Thailand as a tourist several times over the last 35 years. Never needed any advanced visa however never stayed more than a week or two at a time.
I have a month planned in Koh Sumi and after that I am not sure what I want to do. I may want to stay another week or so in Thailand. When I arrive at BKK, will they stamp me in for more than 30 days if I ask?
Since my travel planes are a little loose, I only have a one way ticket. Will they ask for a copy of my onward ticket / itinerary.
Thanks for the help.[/QUOTE]You can get your stamp on arrival for a month. After your trip to the island, you have two choices to stay longer. Go to an immigration office to get an extension for 1900 baht or pay a fine for overstay (500 baht per day = 3500).

Or you can do what I did and get a visa at a Thai consulate before you come here. That gives you 60 days up front with the option to extend for another 30 days. Its cheaper to get the visa prior to coming (and no hassles of getting the extension to add another week).

[QUOTE=PipeLayer99;1633139]You can get your stamp on arrival for a month. After your trip to the island, you have two choices to stay longer. Go to an immigration office to get an extension for 1900 baht or pay a fine for overstay (500 baht per day = 3500).

Or you can do what I did and get a visa at a Thai consulate before you come here. That gives you 60 days up front with the option to extend for another 30 days. Its cheaper to get the visa prior to coming (and no hassles of getting the extension to add another week).[/QUOTE]Getting a 60 days is your best bet without being hassled? Not sure about you coming from Columbia and the Airline you are using but on Cathay and Eva Air the last few times I was questioned by the agent as to my Visa stay and my One way ticket? I was cleared after I provided proof that I had a 1 year extension retirement. Get the 60 day, you will not get a extension at the airport over 30 days.

The Chicago Thai Consulate offers a 90 day, multi entry visa for $200 USD. Can that visa be extended while in Thailand? Or is 90 days the maximum allowed stay per year? (The Thai Consulate website is unclear on this.) Is it better to arrive and get the 30 days allowed for a US passport then extend it for 60 days at 1900 baht /$58 USD. Can that visa be extended? I'm planning on bouncing around SE Asia for 5-6 months.
On the question of return or exit airfare tickets, will the airlines or immigration in Cambodia, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, or the Philippines want to see a return / exit ticket? Pardon the questions, but this will be my first trip to SE Asia. Thanks in advance.

Thank you everybody for the great information about my visa questions. Now I know how what to do. As to the question of why would I leave Colombia to vacation in Thailand. Why would I spend a month on Koi Sumi? I am taking a break from my regular routine to participate in a Detox / Fasting / Yoga and meditation spa. 4 weeks of supervised fasting and detoxing. I have reached an age where I need to think about my physical and mental health and need to loose at least 15 kilos. Besides, it has been a good year and I can finally afford to do something like this.

[QUOTE=JavaMan;1633178]The Chicago Thai Consulate offers a 90 day, multi entry visa for $200 USD. Can that visa be extended while in Thailand? Or is 90 days the maximum allowed stay per year? (The Thai Consulate website is unclear on this.) Is it better to arrive and get the 30 days allowed for a US passport then extend it for 60 days at 1900 baht /$58 USD. Can that visa be extended? I'm planning on bouncing around SE Asia for 5-6 months.

On the question of return or exit airfare tickets, will the airlines or immigration in Cambodia, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, or the Philippines want to see a return / exit ticket? Pardon the questions, but this will be my first trip to SE Asia. Thanks in advance.[/QUOTE]The extension is only good for up to 30 days, not 60 days.

How many times do you plan on entering Thailand & for how long each visit?

You might consider obtaining a double or triple entry tourist visa somewhere. This will get you 60 days per entry & each entry can be extended for 30 days.

In total a triple entry tourist visa, with extensions, could get you almost 270 days in Thailand.

As for exit tickets, see:

[URL]http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/754481-boarding-to-thailand-without-return-ticket/[/URL]

[QUOTE=PipeLayer99;1633139]You can get your stamp on arrival for a month. After your trip to the island, you have two choices to stay longer. Go to an immigration office to get an extension for 1900 baht or pay a fine for overstay (500 baht per day = 3500).
[/QUOTE]Personally, if I was already in Bangkok after the 30, days, and wanted to stay another week, I would probably just do nothing and pay the 3500 Baht fine at the airport. It takes so much extra time to do things the correct way. I have experienced wasting large amounts of time going to the Immigration office. I have experienced paying the fine at the airport for a few days over stay. I have applied for a 60 days VISA before coming to Thailand.

Paying the fine was the easiest course for me (perhaps not cheapest), obviously to be used for fairly limited overstay though. It was maybe about a 5+ week stay in my case, in total.

[QUOTE=JavaMan;1633178] I'm planning on bouncing around SE Asia for 5-6 months.
[/QUOTE]If you spend less than 30 days in Thailand at a time, and you are a suitable nationality, you don't need VISAs. There is a crackdown on those that leave Thailand, cross the border and immediately return though after justa day or less to beat the 30 days limit. Real tourism behaviour in various countries is okay I can't speak to VISA requirements of other countries.

[QUOTE=Allover;1628532]I just hope these two guys are really the ones that did it. I wouldn't put it past local law enforcement to frame these guys.[/QUOTE]Yeh, they didn't do it and were indeed framed. Its coming out now that people in high places got the evidence rigged. The whole Police Force looks bad as they don't investigate crimes probably and happy to fit someone up for it, where people with money and influence can hush things up.

The Thai Police force needs to start investigating tourist and foreigner murders properly but admit it if they can't solve crimes. Their reputation is rock bottom right now.

[QUOTE=Syzygies;1633266]Personally, if I was already in Bangkok after the 30, days, and wanted to stay another week, I would probably just do nothing and pay the 3500 Baht fine at the airport. It takes so much extra time to do things the correct way. I have experienced wasting large amounts of time going to the Immigration office. I have experienced paying the fine at the airport for a few days over stay. I have applied for a 60 days VISA before coming to Thailand.

Paying the fine was the easiest course for me (perhaps not cheapest), obviously to be used for fairly limited overstay though. It was maybe about a 5+ week stay in my case, in total.[/QUOTE]This might have been the case in the past and can't speak for Bangkok, but here in Pattaya they seem to be coming up with all kinds of be. S. Inspection stuff. Certainly you do not want to be surprise?

[URL]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pornthip_Rojanasunand[/URL]

There is a strong rumour that Dr. Phornthip, who was as recently as 1 month re-instated back to head of Thai Forensic medicine (after being moved by Yingluck administration), has very recently indeed resigned her position as untenable, not being able to work with the Thai Police. Of course this resignation information is not available in the news that I can see, which is under heavy control. One wonders if this has a strong relevance to a recent major case.

There are other disturbing rumours around, regarding more than one case of Farangs killed in Thailand.

Prayuth should be admitting the Police Force and related authorities are totally corrupt and doing something about it. If he aligns himself with the Thai Police, he would be making a big mistake.

[URL]http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/terrified-pal-murdered-brit-pair-4303495[/URL]

Don't dismiss this guy as an idiot. Hear HE filmed stuff too. British Police know the whole story. It is known that certain locals saw the bodies before police arrived. They know a lot too, about events before the killing as well.

Info spreads on chats and video sharing etc. Its not possible to shut everything down in the modern day.

[QUOTE=PinkPearl;1633218]The extension is only good for up to 30 days, not 60 days.
How many times do you plan on entering Thailand & for how long each visit?
You might consider obtaining a double or triple entry tourist visa somewhere. This will get you 60 days per entry & each entry can be extended for 30 days.
In total a triple entry tourist visa, with extensions, could get you almost 270 days in Thailand.
As for exit tickets, see:
[URL]http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/754481-boarding-to-thailand-without-return-ticket/[/URL][/QUOTE]Pink Pearl has it correct.

If you did have a 'double' entry visa, you might not need an extension because you get 60 days on the 1st entry. After that, if you want to stay over 60 days, go get the 30 day ext (costs 1900 baht/$60 extra). It all depends on how long you want to stay in Thailand on that entry.
After your 1st entry, you can go to your next locations. When you come back to Thailand, you get another 60 days (also extendable for 30 days).

I got my visa in Chicago. The single entry is $40 (no questions asked) and the double entry is $80.
Be prepared to explain why you need a double entry visa or multiple entry visa as a tourist. There is a place at the bottom of the form for this.
I would tell them I plan to visit Bangkok first. Then go to other cities (list a few cities). I also want to spend some time playing golf and I want to go to the islands.

Since you only plan on staying 5-6 months in Asia, your Thai visa needs depends on how long you want to spend in Thailand.
If you have a single entry, you can get up to 90 days. ($40 visa + $60 extension).
Then you can go someplace else. Lets say you go for 1-2 months. Now you are up to 4-5 months in Asia. When you come back to Thailand, you can get 30 days on arrival (free). That's 5-6 months total.

If you think you want more than 30 days on your return to Thailand, then get the double entry. ($80 visa + $60 for one ext). That will carry you for 6 months (includes your other destination / s).

[QUOTE=LittleBigMan;1633367]This might have been the case in the past and can't speak for Bangkok, but here in Pattaya they seem to be coming up with all kinds of be. S. Inspection stuff. Certainly you do not want to be surprise?[/QUOTE]They have been changing the rules. Also, I checked with a few travel places about the quick turn around visa run to Cambodia. I was told you can only do that run 2 x.

Watch out with these multiple entry visa! Every entry allows you 60 days in country and can be extended for 30 days.

But if you leave the country before the expiration of that period, the remaning days are lost. You cannot come back in the country on those remaining days and you will have to use another "entry". Therefore: plan wisely how you travel so you make the most of your limited number of entries.