great, thanks for the tips

I need to pre-book 90 days of accommodation in order to acquire the special tourist visa. The 2p2 guide recommends Lower Sukhumvit, Silom and Siam. Can someone point out where "Lower Sukhumvit" is, because entering it into google search or google maps just pulls up the Sukhumvit road.

I'm looking for a 1 bedroom apartment in a location that's safe, quiet at night, and is either a short walk or short bus to good bars and restaurants. Are the aforementioned neighborhoods my best option and what price range do you think is reasonable?

Is AirBnB my best bet for a 90 day booking? Where can I find listings for serviced apartments mentioned in the guide?

Help much appreciated, thanks.

don't book a place for 90 days that you haven't seen, that's a terrible idea. maybe someone on the ground is willing to do the research for you and check out a place etc, but otherwise: don't do it!

pick a different visa or see if you can do it with a fake booking via agoda that you can cancel for free afterwards.

lower sukhumvit means sukhumvit road with low-numbered side sois. probably somewhere between soi 1 and soi ekkamai (soi 63)

I'm not aware of another visa option for an extended stay. The ED and volunteer visas require assistance from a visa agent, which is difficult to vet for legitimacy without any local connections. Tons of agents scam foreigners, apparently.

Unfortunately, I think 90 day booking is a requirement. Per https://thaiembdc.org/2020/12/28/spe...rist-visa-stv/

One option is to do two separate AirBnB booking. One for the first 30 days and another for the last 60 days. AirBnB has free cancellation up to 14 days before check-in. But everywhere in the world, AirBnB prices list at a huge premium over short-term residential leases.

It refers to the area between Phloen Chit and Asok, but I would suggest looking between Phrom Phong and Ekkamai.

fwiw: swiss embassy only asks for 30 day proof of stay for STV, which is more reasonable. it's possible the DC embassy has different criteria or maybe their website is simply out of date. might be worth trying to call them and having it confirmed. if it's 30 days: just book a (cheap) hotel and use that as your base until you find a good appartment.

2nd option: just book a super cheap appartment for 4k / month in the middle of nowhere, i assume that possible to do. then just never go there and see it as a sunk cost to get an STV.

or:
depending on when you travel: just come here on a tourist visa (60+30 days). then you can either prolong it via covid extensions (if they're still available at that point in time) or you use a visa agent to give you volunteer or ED visa. it's really not a problem to get (but will you cost you ~50k for 12-15 months visa) and you have more than enough time to find local info and get a "reputable" agent in those first 90 days.

I'm sure there's a way around this with some research.
Or as Tron says, just come in on a tourist visa. If you're vaxxed then you can pop over to Cambodia for a visa run.

You should book something on booking.com for 90 days, use virtual card without money on it so they can't actually charge you. Cancel your booking once your visa is approved.

That's not possible at the moment without doing a quarantine when you are back in Thailand. Either in the sandbox or in ASQ hotel.

Cambodia is on the approved list. No quarantine in Thailand if double vaxxed and coming from Cambodia. But I don't know about arriving in Cambodia what they make you do.

You need to spend 21 days in the country to be able to enter without quarantine.

not if you come from thailand and go back to thailand.

"For returning Thais and foreign residents, it is not necessary to be in an approved country for 21 days or more, as long as they are travelling from Thailand to the approved country/s and return within the last 21 days."

Cambodia is afaik planing to remove quarantine for arrivals (via air) from Thailand as well, but that's currently (again afaik) not the case yet.

Yea, I'll call the embassy again to confirm its 90 days.

Is the ED visa still an easy workaround? There's reports all over the internet about ED and volunteer visas coming under increased scrutiny. Apparently, the Thai government is conducting checks to ensure that foreigners are attending and passing classes (if the classes even exist). I'm somewhat nervous to go that route. I definitely don't want to commit to 10 hours a week of learning Thai or whatever unless I want to live there long-term (in which case might as well buy the Elite?).

AFAIK there are still plenty of schools offering Ed visa that expect nothing to you but to pay the yearly fee. Same as volunteer visa, you'll have to go to a couple and ask them directly. Maybe the best option is to get an Ed or volunteer visa with an agency and not directly with the school/foundation, it'll be more expensive since the agency will take a fee for arranging it but they'll help you find one that requires you to do nothing.

Once you are in Thailand you can just use an agent to get a volunteer visa for 35k per year. No need to go to immigration or do any actual volunteering.

It's fine if the place is extensively reviewed and those reviews are high. Something like 4.6+ on AirBNB, or 4.8+ if you really want to be sure. I've stayed at over 100 AirBNBs and never had an issue with the highly rated ones.

This is not necessarily true. It will depend on which cancellation policy the host picks, AirBNB doesn't have a blanket policy.

For example, I have 2 places booked in December and for one of them I could get a full refund by cancelling 6+ days in advance, and for the other I would only get the cleaning fee (if there is one) back even if I cancel now.

Hi. I want to play poker at WPN and withdraw money first at Bitcoin and then to my Thai bank account. I tried to open account to Bitkub but they kept bouncing my account verification and eventually rejected me as customers. What are my other options? My understanding of cryptos is quite limited.

Try Satangcorp or coins.co.th

I have a contract at my current house for 1 year. I want to move out after 6 months since i have some issues with the landlord. Rent is due at 7th November. I am aware that i will lose the deposit. Do i have to pay November's rent aswell since i didnt give any notice to the landlord yet? Does anyone have thai lawyer info so i contact them? Thanks

Just leave IMO

He will probably be happy with just keeping your deposit.

Ok, so I finally got my Thailand Pass application approved. In addition to having all the documents that the Thailand Pass asks for, I am assuming the airlines will also require an exit flight (refundable) out of Thailand dated 30 days after arrival?

Can I then just renew for for two more months at Immigration in Thailand (cancel my refundable flight) and then, fly to Cambodia for a month and then come back to Thailand for another 3 months?

My plan is to go back to North America next summer and then come back to Thailand before Christmas 2022. The alternative is to start applying for the retirement visa right away when I get there next month.

Youll be ineligible for the covid extension, new arrivals cant apply for that. So retirement probably your best option.

How long did it take for them to process your application for Thailand Pass? I'm getting kinda nervous mine won't be approved before my travel dates.

Understood, but can I not still get an additional two months extension from Immigration like I used to do before Covid? Unless they have just re-instated the Visa on Arrival but not the extensions?

It took 3 days for the first rejection (asking for more clarity on the Insurance). I re-submitted with page 2 of my insurance policy (an open letter from the Insurance company addressed to Whom it may concern) and they approved one day later.

you can get 30 day extension at immigration office, that's no problem. but they don't give out 60 day extensions (and afaik never did).

what purretrog said is not correct though (afaik). there's no rule that you cannot apply for covid extension on visa exemption. it's possible that some locations will act difficult. but it's not a general rule and should be possible in theory. and if you do it via visa agent, it's imho highly likely that all will be fine.

having said that: covid extension runs out on 27th of november (iirc) and it's not clear if they will extend it again or not.

why not apply for a normal 60 day tourist visa in advance and extend that for another 30 days? or get special tourist visa which gives you 90+90+90 days (but is a lot more annoying to get).

about flying to cambodia: who knows what will be possible in a few months... rules are in flux and might change quickly. if covid numbers rise in one country, it's possible that borders will become less open again. etc

theoretically, they will probably let you into the country again after a few days in cambodia, even just on visa exemption. but it's no guarantee if the immigration officer suspects you're working illegally in Thailand. but at least in the past, the first re-entry was normally no problem.