thinktoomuch

Don't stop!!! Keep doing strength and resistance training and cardio. Also look at adding exercises that keep you supple, flexible and mobile. Just don't be a gym rat. You don't have to beef up like a young Arnie. It seems that exercise provides an enormous range of benefits. The latest research that I heard about this week, which admittedly I haven't read up on yet, is that muscle mass is one of the best indicators of successful outcomes for cancer treatments. Apparently those with higher muscle mass had sufficiency better outcomes than those without for it to be statistically significant. But as I said, I haven[t read up on that yet.

You say that you don't want a retirement visa but perhaps you should have said that you don't want to get a retirement extension. If you are old enough to get a retirement visa and the wording of your original post implies that you are, then you could look at getting a Multiple Entry Non-Immigrant O visa based on retirement. You would get 90 days for each entry and the visa would be valid for 12 months. Stamp in just before expiry and you would get 15 months out of it. This visa is available again from the London embassy. It costs the same as the METV. If insurance is asked for, normal insurance from any company is usually enough because it only offers 90-day entries . You would have to do a border run to stay longer than 90 days because as far as I am aware the only two extensions available from an entry on that visa are the 1-year retirement extension and the 60-day extension to visit Thai family. There is also the Singe Entry Non-Immigrant O visa based on retirement, which is valid for 90 days and can only be used once. If the proposed 90-day tourist visa exemption goes ahead you could consider using the Singe Entry Non-Immigrant O visa plus a 90-day tourist visa exempt entry to get the time you need. That would probably be less risky than two 90-day tourist visa exempt entries back-to-back. However, I think that the safest option would be to get the Multiple Entry Non-Immigrant O visa that I mentioned earlier.

Post can be deleted. Double post because the text entry window didn't disappear after posting the first time.

If you don't want to chance using your METV again at another entry point with a male officer there may be a few options for you other than moving to a retirement extension. You could get a reentry permit when you leave, which would allow you to enter again but you could only stay until the date of your current entry stamp, which I believe is the 2nd of April 2024. You could get a single-entry non-Immigrant O visa based on retirement from the embassy in your home country, which will give one entry valid for 90 days. If you wanted to leave and return during that period you'd need a reentry permit to keep the entry stamp alive. That visa costs twice as much as an SETV. Or, depending on your nationality you may be able to get a multiple-entry Non-Immigrant O visa based on retirement from the embassy in your home country. It is valid for a year and you will get stamped in for 90 days each time you enter. Some people get around 15 months (or 17 months with Thai family) out of them by entering again just before they expire. They cost the same as the METV you have now. They were withdrawn from embassies some years ago as each embassy switched over to the e-visa system but they seem to be back now. I have heard that some embassies require insurance to get this visa now. However unlike the Non-Immigrant OA/OX visas, you can present insurance from any company in the world. I have heard about quite a few people using their standard travel insurance including insurance bundled with bank accounts, etc.

If you're stressing about it, get a visa in Laos and enter via land, which was one of the suggestions BrtiTim made. Also, contact the Elite team directly instead of talking to an agent. FYI, there is a thread on this forum about expected changes to the Elite memberships in the next few weeks, as well as expected price rises. So I'd talk to them directly, ASAP, if I were you.

I did answer your question. "I don't know," is an answer to your question. Perhaps you didn't realise that but it is. I notice though, that you didn't answer any of the questions I asked you in my last three posts.

In the past some people did this for many years before being told to get the proper visa at the airport (and in all cases I heard about still being admitted to the country by the IO who told them). Nowadays, I don't know. Unless someone else can help you with current information my suggestion would be to use land borders after the first few 90 day stamps, so you can just walk back to the other country if they deny you.

I don't know who you were addressing and it doesn't really matter. My point should have been clear to you by now: Your posts are contradictory. From my first post: The OP can clearly no longer trust his wife so why would you be advising him to forgive and stay with his wife while telling others that they shouldn't stay married to their wives if they don't trust them? Why the contradictory advice?

Why would you be telling the OP to forgive his wife and stay with her but be telling others who were questioning that advice that they shouldn't still be married to a wife they couldn't trust? Edit: I said, "Your posts are contradictory," at the start of my previous post and they are.

Your posts are contradictory. First you say, "forgive and support your wife," and "do your best to ignore the lip flapping posters who suggest that you dump your wife". Then you say, "If you don't or cannot trust your wife, then why are you still married to her?" and later on, "My simple question is this. If you cannot or will not trust your Thai wife, then why are you still married to her?" Well he did trust his wife and she stole almost $25,000 USD from him and jeopardized his ability to stay in the country. She didn't talk to him about the issues she (or maybe her daughter) were facing and she left her 75-year-old husband at risk of being forced to leave Thailand. That is a huge breach of trust and I doubt that anyone who hadn't taken leave of their senses would continue to trust her. So which of the two pieces of advice you have been giving, regarding his wife, are you suggesting he follows, (1) forgive and support his wife or (2) divorce her because he can no longer trust her?

An alternative could be to get a tourist visa before you fly => 60+30 days, with the extension, which also gives you some leeway in case there are issues when you try to leave. I believe that some airlines aren't particularly concerned about onward tickets, if you have a valid visa. Also, airlines like Emirates and Qatar are aware that the visa exempt and tourist visas can be extended for 30 days so they may allow it a return within the maximum time you can obtain without leaving Thailand. Perhaps the first step would be to call them and ask them.