What's the correct date my visa needs to be extended from?

[HHTel]

Lomu, come back on this one. If you can get a 1 year extension automatically by doing a 'border run', then what have I been doing for the last 13 years, getting all the paperwork together and applying at immigration every year.... i.e. 800,000 in the bank or equivalent income.

Something is not right here or very misunderstood.

[Dannie Boy]

Lomu, come back on this one. If you can get a 1 year extension automatically by doing a 'border run', then what have I been doing for the last 13 years, getting all the paperwork together and applying at immigration every year.... i.e. 800,000 in the bank or equivalent income.

Something is not right here or very misunderstood.

It's not a one year extension, but during the first year of the visa, if you leave the country then when you return and your original visa is still valid they give you a 12 months permission to stay stamp, so if you can time it right you can get almost two years on the original visa. This only applies during the first year, thereafter it's the normal rules i.e. funds of 800k or 65k a month. This is what happened to me, so I'm sure Lomu will confirm.

[HHTel]

It certainly didn't work for me. My first visa lasted 15 months (timing the 'border runs') but then I had to make the extension as you have stated. It was a long time ago but 1 year definately didn't culminate into 2 years.

[caller]

Yes, thanks HH and DB, my other half liaised with a friend of hers who until recently worked for immigration (now I find out!). She double checked in turn with someone she knew who confirmed I would get a new entry on my multi AO for another 12 months, I then need to attend the local immigration office to get the multi re-entry permit - needed as I'm off to Oz for Christmas.

In Bkk (again) at the moment, but next weekend we'll head to the Cambodian border and then on the Monday after I'll visit immigration. Then I'll sort out a flight.

I've really made a right pigs ear of this and I've surprised myself by doing so. But I have.

[caller]

One last question if that's okay?

Went to Chong Chom on Saturday, an easy three hour drive from Korat and completed my first 'visa run' so to speak, which was an interesting one-off experience, in view of reading so much about them on here over the years. The end result being that I am now stamped into Thailand until August 2016.

Now I need a multi re-entry permit. But looking at the form I need to complete, it asks for the dates of my planned trip, specifically, the date, month and year of departure and return. Now this might sound daft, but is that actually necessary? I was expecting to get the multi re-entry and then book a flight. Can anyone confirm that this information is specifically required before the permit is issued?

[Nereus]

Now I need a multi re-entry permit. But looking at the form I need to complete, it asks for the dates of my planned trip, specifically, the date, month and year of departure and return. Now this might sound daft, but is that actually necessary?

I always get a single re-entry with my yearly extension. They do not ask for any flight details, so I just put down a date and a reason out of thin air, usually something to do with Christmas and family. I don`t think that a multi entry will be much different, and it is never checked by anyone, just the extra cost asked for.

[caller]

Thanks Neerus, but are you saying you use a single entry for multiple trips?

[Nereus]

Thanks Neerus, but are you saying you use a single entry for multiple trips?

No, no, if you need multi entry, then you that is what you need to apply for. Single entry: 1,000 Baht, multi entry: 3,900 Baht.

And either of them only good for up to your "permitted to stay" date.

[caller]

Thanks Neerus. Anyways, the other half has been on to her ex immigration friend and is waiting for a reply.

I think I'll just go ahead and book my flights in any case - one to the UK, the other to Oz.

[lomuamart]

I missed this thread before - probably due to the fact the my birthday fell right in the middle of it!!

I think the confusion above is due to different visa types. Caller has a multi entry OA which gives him a years permitted to stay each time he re-enters as long as the visa is valid - valid for a year. If he came in the day before the visa expired, he'd get a further year permitted to stay, hence making it work for almost two years. However, if he exits after the visa has expired, he needs a re-entry permit to keep his permitted to stay date alive and when he comes back he's only stamped in until that permitted to stay date - he dosn't get a further year as the visa has expired. Dannie Boy summed it up correctly.
HHTel - you appear to be talking about a multi-entry O visa. Works the same way but in units of 90 days not a year. So, you can make that last 15 months with one exit and entry just before the visa expires.
Coming back to you caller, you obviously need re-entry permits now. As Nereus said, they come in either single or multi re-entry formats. Which one you go for is up to you. As you're going out twice, you might as well get the multi variety. OK, you lose a bit of money - 2 singles will cost you 2,000 THB whereas the multi is 3,800 THB - but you don't need to mess around with Imm twice and you're good to go should you want more trips out of the country.
As everyone has said, when you re-enter now, you'll only be stamped in until your current permitted to stay date as the visa has expired.
hope that's all clear.

[caller]

It is and thanks for everyone's help.

As I say, I'm now stamped into Thailand until August next year and understand that's when I have to seek a formal extension. I want the multi re-entry permit as apart from the two trips already planned, will take the truck into Cambodia for a trip via Chong Chom and will also have short city type breaks elsewhere. I'm beginning to realise that being a Londoner by birth and having spent most of my life there, that I need a dose of City from time to time. Korat isn't one thing or the other, apart from dead in anyone's language.