What should I do to avoid confusion with Thai immigration when entering on a DTV visa?

Following the *"socially in-ept"* post, I thought I’d share my experience from today as well. Before I go into details, I just want to point out that the officer was very likely just confused—I don’t mean to stress anyone out.

Anyway, here’s the story:

I entered Thailand today for my second entry on a DTV. My first time last October went smoothly, and I stayed for about a month.

For context, last year I was mainly on an education visa for 11 months and extended it multiple times. Before applying for a DTV, I canceled the ED visa as usually advised, and I had never overstayed.

In my case, the officer was neither rude nor particularly friendly. (For privacy, I’ll use *they* as a pronoun.) They first asked if I had a return ticket—I said not yet. Then they asked, *"How long are you going to stay?"* I said a few months, adding that I know I can stay for 180 days. (Probably not the best answer—better to have a plan! 😅)

Next, they asked, *"What are you doing here? Why did you stay so long last year? And where are you going?"* I told them I had been on an education visa and was studying Thai (for real). Then I said, *"I'm just traveling,"* and gave them a rough idea of my plans for the next few weeks.

They mumbled in Thai, *"But you already stayed too long,"* then added, *"And you don’t have a visa."* I replied in Thai, *"I do, I have a DTV."* They then checked my passport, found the DTV page, and quickly stamped the opposite page with a 180-day stamp.

So, I wouldn’t say it went smoothly—they asked a lot of questions, and I felt they were a bit suspicious. But maybe they were just confused because of all the extensions I had with my education visa last year. Plus, not handing in a printed copy of the DTV probably didn’t help. I guess an e-visa is more convenient in that sense.

Overall, no big deal, but make sure the officer knows you’re entering on a DTV. A printed copy would definitely help—it would have saved me a few drops of sweat! 😊

I hope this gives some useful feedback to some of you!