VBF

@freedomnow I fear that at least part of my point has been missed, partly because i didn't mention that the London Embassy IS the "local Thai consulate nearest my city." Even visiting it will take nearly a day of my time. For people living in (say) Devon it will be a real hassle both in terms of time and expense. They will need to travel either to London for this new method or Cardiff to get a visa as before. My point is that until now one has had the opportunity to apply by post for a Tourist Visa and therefore no need to visit anything except the local post office to send the paperwork off. Apparently the postal method will not be available soon. @ubonjoe Do you see any likelihood of this new approach turning into a proper eVisa OR the postal application being reinstated?

Indeed! In the same way that Retirees are being messed about by all the changes in financial and administrative requirements, now it seem that anyone even visiting Thailand for more than a simple 30 day holiday is being made to feel unwelcome. I've never subscribed to the "they just don't want foreigners in Thailand" but more and more it's feeling that way! I do hope that the Embassies reintroduce the postal application or make it a proper e-Visa just like Cambodia does. As I say, I hope, BUT.........

And, it should be mentioned, that once this system is fully live, it appears that postal applications won't be possible. That means that I and people like me, who live in UK and want an SETV, will have to travel to the Embassy in London to get their visa whereas hitherto, one could apply by post - my latest one was posted to the embassy on the Monday and my PP with visa arrived back on the Thursday which was excellent service. I'm definitely NOT impressed with this new"improvement"!

Here in Pattaya it gives one an opportunity to see exactly which bars are owned by people in tight brown shirts

Ahhhhhhhh....... where's your sense of adventure? Tread boldly.......well, and carefully

In fact all of LK Metro was "banging" at 2AM this morning!

@Sheryl Not to disagree with you, but for people living in UK and setting up TW for the first time, this doesn't always apply. I did mine as a new TW user in December 2018 and during the setup, TW did warn me about the possible need for additional documents. However as I'm on the Electoral (Voters) Register and supplied TW my home address, my ID was confirmed without any additional documents. This is how many UK financial institutions work these days but I don't know about other countries.