tai4de2

I really just can't see the Thais allowing foreigners to assume the role of actual policemen, e.g. carrying guns, having any kind of real authority -- imagine what happens when one of those foreign "police" tries even in error to assert authority over a Thai citizen?, etc. So I'm gonna guess the realization of this proposal would involve having some Chinese auxiliary members of the Tourist Police, similar to what was done a few years back with some farangs in Tourist Police uniforms in Pattaya. Of course, I thought that was ridiculous then, and I still think it's a terrible idea now.

Anyone aware of a course in Bangkok that teaches Northern Khmer? I'm specifically interested in Northern Khmer, not Cambodian Khmer. I realize it's kind of a long shot but thought I'd ask.

Exactly. So I'm confused about the "new tariff" being 3.99 baht/unit. Is that for the highest consumption tier? Cuz that price would be substantial price *increase* for people who don't use more than 150 units/month.

Isn’t electricity price based on how much you consume? I thought the first few dozen units are cheaper… my bills this year seem to be more like 3.5 baht/unit.

Yes it can be done completely online. https://tm30.immigration.go.th/tm30/#/login

I wonder if I could get these folks to issue a yellow tabien baan LOL. Seems it would be much easier than dealing with... whoever I'm going to need to deal with to actually get one.

Not only can you apply for it while you are in the US, it's arguably more convenient to do it that way. When the BOI endorses your application, you apply via eVisa (I believe LA is the designated consulate for Hawaii, not that this matters that much, except that you MUST use the correct one), and the visa is issued as a document you print out and carry with you to enter Thailand. You do not mail your passport anywhere, you do not collect a pile of documents and trudge off to an office in Bangkok, etc. Assuming you have all your documents in order, the whole thing from start to finish can be done in under 6 weeks from the comfort of your home in Hawaii.

AFAIK an LTR visa doesn't exempt us from TM30.

Thank you! That's what I was missing.

Here's what this looks like for me. There's nothing in the Address box at all; I can't type anything in it. I've now tried Safari, Firefox, Edge, and Chrome... what am I misunderstanding?

Has anyone been able to actually enter an address on the first screen that comes up when logging in (after having registered and verified email)? For me the "address" field is just a blank box with nothing in it. There's no fields and nothing to interact with. Tried with Safari and Firefox.

LA Consulate told me differently. Non-O not canceled and it’s possible to simultaneously hold two visas of different categories. Both eVisas in my case… but I’ll never test this theory LOL because I’m going to just use my LTR from now on.

I had a valid non-O when my LTR was issued as an eVisa. There was nothing about canceling the non-O and the consulate told me on the phone that said visa would not be automatically canceled and doesn’t need to be. So I believe my non-O may still be valid. As a practical matter this probably doesn’t matter because I won’t be using the non-O any more, and it will expire in 6 months. So I do agree with your overall conclusion. Just being pedantic.

August 18th is two weeks from now, so I think you are the first applicant to be approved in negative time! As I recall, the email notifying you of endorsement has some fairly detailed instructions. I did mine as an eVisa so I didn’t have the same experience that you will have, but I don’t see how your airline ticket would figure into it at all. If I were you I’d try to get an appointment at the LTR immigration center in Bangkok and then plan your travel around that. (As a data point, even for the eVisa route I was not asked for any airline or hotel reservation info, unlike when applying for the non-O I had most recently.) Also keep the 60 day limit in mind, as that timer has now started ticking. From what you described of your plans it’s unlikely to be an issue for you but still something to pay attention to. I can’t help at all with the cancellation of the existing non-O. My experience was that it may not even need to be cancelled, but presumably if you are inside Thailand, you will have entered on it and thus part of the “cancellation” is about switching you over to the LTR while you’re already in-country.

My WGC visa was issued today by Los Angeles consulate. Processing time was 14 calendar days. I’m not sure how many business days that represents because of all the holiday days late July/early August this year and not knowing which ones they observe at the consulate. I think it was about 9-10 business days. No mention has been made about my existing non-O, which appears to also still be active and valid. Not that I’ll be using it again though!