Hey all,
Just something bizarre that I thought I should share.
I recently applied for my two-month Thai visa here in the US. I prefer to arrive in Thailand with the two-month sticker already in the passport because it bypasses some bureaucracy and beats making a visa run after only one month (what you get when you arrive in the airport).
I was in Kentucky, so had to apply by mail. The Thai embassy in Washington D.C. would not grant me a visa with a one-way ticket. They actually enforced the onward ticket requirement, even after I called and pleaded that I was flying from Bangkok on to India later. The woman on the phone was rude, and also demanded a bank statement to show that I had adequate funds for the trip. The processing time in D.C. was two weeks.
I decided to try the Thai embassy in Chicago. The nice man said that he could care less about the onward ticket and the bank statement. I received my visa in around five days -- no questions asked!
The two embassies have different views about what to enforce.
So, the point of the story: If you're going to spend the $40 to get your Thai visa before you leave the U.S. -- DO IT IN CHICAGO!
http://www.thaiconsulatechicago.org/
