AgentSmith

Hong Kong doesn't stamp passports so I might be going there. Of course Thai immigration can see I'm coming from HK upon entry but there would be a gap in the trips in my passport so nothing that shows I didn't visit my home country (which by the way has never stamped me in or out) somewhere along the way. So no way for them to check afterwards I wasn't in my home country during the application. To summarize: I'll leave Thailand, travel to HK, apply for a METV via a non-commercial non-public VPN and IP address in my home country, and return to Thailand upon receiving the visa.

I've decided to apply after leaving the country. I just won't go to my home country as that is simply too far away and too expensive for a simple visa run.

If that is all they check it is actually rather easy. I have access to some sort of VPN that is not commercially available and only for private use. So it's not on the lists with public VPN providers and there's 0 chance they can see I'm not in my home country during the application. Then what I have to do is not be in Thailand and use my private connection during the application to make them think I'm in my home country. In the end all they can really check is whether I'm in Thailand or not by checking my entries and exits in their own systems. Still waiting/hoping for actual experience though.

You need to be in your home country to apply for a visa? I certainly hope not. This seems very unlikely. In theory they can see I am in Thailand during the application but how would they know where I am after leaving the country? The evisa website also doesn't mention anything about your current whereabouts in the requirements so I doubt it even matters. That said, I'd really like to hear about actual experience.

It's been over a year now. Does anyone have more recent experience with this? I'm in Thailand now on visa exempt and if I can get a METV before leaving the country that would be very convenient.

It can't be stressed enough that no artifical border keeps out a virus. When there's a new more potent variant it will reach us all eventually. At this point there's no reason to stay protectionist. The cat's out of the bag. The genie's out of the bottle. No point in hiding anymore. We just gotta accept it's everywhere now. There are worse problems to deal with in this world.

It's only 2 times now. Official fines went up to 20k. And second time it's up to 100k and possibly jail time. I posted this link before. What they say here is true for the whole country not just Phuket. https://phuket-motorbike-rental.com/the-penalties-for-traffic-offenses-in-thailand/

Of course.. Reality is quite different. No one's a saint here. All the times I crashed my bike in the many years I've been here I was sober. It was always someone or something else. A stupid tourist driving on the wrong side of the road or a dog chasing and attacking me. It's been years now since I last crashed though and I plan to keep it that way. The very few times I drive home after a couple drinks it's always late at night, there's no traffic where I stay, it's only small backroads I need to take and I drive really super slow. 25 kph max. You won't ever see me crash into someone or something at high speed. Hell I drive 40 when I'm sober. 50 only on bigger roads. And never without a proper helmet. I've learned my lessons. That doesn't mean I support drunk driving in any way and every time I plan to go out for a drink I take a taxi. Sometimes these things happen unplanned though.. We're all human and I'm not ashamed to admit my faults. We all do things that we shouldn't.

Sure but I get the impression from this thread that such stories all happened a long time ago. Things have changed considerably especially since late last year. Drunk driving everywhere in Thailand can be fined up to 20k! When you go to the station you WILL end up in the system and if you get caught a second time you're in serious trouble with the justice department. So I say again, pay off all you can. That friendly police officer that used to slash your fine in half because you smiled and made a joke now received different instructions. Again, in the past few months people I know have been paying up to 10k on the street. And even though that can be considered a ripoff it is still a lot smarter than going to the office with too much alcohol in your blood. Drunk driving has been made a serious offense, as serious as possessing drugs. The government is trying very hard to slash drunk driving accidents in this country. Source: https://phuket-motorbike-rental.com/the-penalties-for-traffic-offenses-in-thailand/ "Up to one year in prison and/or a fine ranging from 5,000 to 20,000 baht for the first offense of drunk driving. Repeat drunk driving violations within two years of the first incident will result in up to two years in prison and/or a 50,000-100,000 baht fine."

They often don't do it out in the open but when I took a right turn 20 meters before a check point they followed me and I was able to pay it off in a dark soi just fine. Same with immigration offices. You can't just pay extra over the counter. Everything must be done via a 3rd party or after hours. Still I know plenty of people who paid traffic police here in Hua Hin on the street. This seems to be the rule rather than the exception. Fines are very steep though. 2k is cheap nowadays. A friend of mine paid 5k and they dare to ask 10k and up. So frankly I'm not even impressed by the fines people report from Phuket and other places. Back on the topic of visas. I know several agents (Thai and foreign) who can get anyone over 50 a retirement visa just like that. Pay up 16k and you're done for a whole year. No extra paperwork necessary. Most of these channels end up at Pattaya immigration. It's really no mystery as you can find several of these agents with a simple search online. I'm single and under 50 and it costs me more but I've been here for the past several years without any issues. I show up at immigration once a year for a whole 2 minutes and that's that. Covid forced me to look for alternatives to frequent visa runs and there turned out to be plenty alternatives. Just shop around a bit.

Or just get a efffing license and be done with it.. I have one. Not my problem when other people get into problems because they don't.

Worst advice ever. Going to a police station is the last thing you want as a foreigner when you're the one who's at fault. Best thing you can do is not give them a valid reason for a ticket anyway. And/or play the dumb foreigner who doesn't understand until they're fed up and just let you go. But definitely never ever go to the police station because you'll end up in the system. And if it happens again you might get caught in a much worse situation in the Thai legal system. Pay off all you can in LOS. It's what it is here. We're not gonna solve the corruption problems of this country.

Thanks for the heads up. I always go to that office for anything driving license related. Already got some friends of mine their Thai license there because it's such a breeze. Good to know you need to make an appointment now. Top bad really. I'm not much for appointments. With these sorts of offices, whether it's transport, immigration or an embassy or consulate, I usually just go later in the afternoon. An hour or so before closing time because then things usually go much quicker than during the day. They wanna go home soon after all. I especially avoid the crowds in the morning. But now these online appointment systems are popping up everywhere. I don't call that progress. Still good to know though.

Did that in Hua Hin once and surely they followed me. 2 minutes later a cop on a big bike cornered me. I just paid up and off I went again. Will never do that again. I have a Thai license now. Always wear a helmet. Papers are in order (it's my own bike). And when I go out I take a taxi so no drunk driving. Never had any issues since that one encounter. Just drive how you would drive in your country of origin. Say what you want about LOS but we all known that driving without a license is not a smart thing to do. If only because of insurance.

Covid is already circulating here. There's nothing new that the Chinese can bring with them. Except money..

These situations are usually only temporary. Sooner or later the countries that were quick to implement measures will relax again. Give it a month and we won't be talking about it anymore.

Such as?

Vaccinations don't stop the spread. And if we learned something the past 2 years it's that a virus can't be stopped by man-made borders. The virus is already in circulation around the globe and this so-called Chinese influx won't change that. Extra measures for Chinese travelers won't matter. Just let people travel. Covid is here and it's here to stay. Let it go. Id be much more worried about the bird flu pandemic that just keeps going. It has already started to infect mammals and it's only a matter of time before people start getting it too. But for some reason no one seems to care. If bird flu jumps over to people this covid pandemic will seem like child's play.

Totally agree. They better start with actual driving lessons and do it today. You can't enforce rules when the people never actually learn to apply the rules. People learn by example, not by deterring them with a video full of accidents and hefty fines. Where's the instructor teaching drivers how to behave in numerous traffic circumstances? Where's the examiner failing people during their practical test when they make a mistake? People simply shouldn't get a driver's license in the first place when they have no idea how to drive. Which is exactly what happened with the vast majority of drivers on Thai roads. You gotta filter those people out before they go on the road not after. Thailand has got it backward once again.

Lots of people are getting hefty fines in Hua Hin now. 2k is nothing. Some pay more than 10k. Thais and farang.. It's gotten very tricky here to drive home after a couple drinks in the bar. And so it should be of course.

This is all about accepting never ending demand of certain substances. No matter how hard you try drug use will always remain. Drugs aren't the problem. Drug mafia is and there's only one way to end their business and that's legalization and regulation. There's only 1 reason the latter often doesn't happen: ignorant conservative politicians. Add a little fear mongering around certain substances and you've got a system creating a great market for certain not so pleasant human beings. You simply can't suppress the will of the people. Given time enough not even the most autocratic system can keep its people in check. Just let people use whatever they use, bought from legal sources they can trust. 99.9% of people are clever enough to know when it's too much. The small minority that isn't gets into trouble regardless of the legal status of what it is they use. People use, period. Total waste of time to keep debating about it.

Nothing happens at school either so no damage done.. Sadly.

Sure if you send part of your economy to rock bottom it is bound to produce nice growth figures after you set it loose again. Those figures mean absolutely nothing. Western countries show higher figures with much less impact from the pandemic. Now that's growth.

Do you?

Not according to the numbers in Europe. Covid is in decline there and the threat is over according to the specialists. Vaccination is still recommended but obviously no masks required.