Sunday, October 1, 2023
Preparing for an Eleventh Winter in Chiang Mai

For new readers, this blog records my eleventh successive winter in Bangkok & Chiang Mai, Thailand planned for November 20, 2023 until February 2, 2024. The intent is to share my journey, a little of what I did each day with a few pictures of what I saw, the places visited, and the food I ate. This blog is a continual travel blog of my 10 previous yoga-focused visits to Thailand and my three pilgrimage walks in Spain on two of the Camino de Santiago routes (2016, 2017, 2023). If you like my content and do not want to miss future posts, consider subscribing by clicking on “Subscribe” at the top or bottom of a page and entering your e-mail address when prompted. When I make a post, you will get a copy in your e-mail.

Time before my eleventh winter in Chiang Mai is eroding away quickly with just six weeks until I leave. I’m in the final preparations phase, making sure everything is in order, reviewing my packing list, etc.

A packing challenge is planning for the very hot and very humid climate in Thailand. Late summer and autumn have been a little cooler than normal in southern California, so I’m finding it difficult to really remember just how hot and humid it will be in Thailand. I do remember getting out of the airport a year ago and thinking, “Oh my, it is unbelievably hot and humid here.” But soon I became busy and just accepted the heat and humidity – it was much less important than the energy of Bangkok and everything to see.

This post will be a little different because I am not yet in Thailand, and have no pictures of places to share. I have reached a very important milestone in my preparation for what will be my longest visit to Thailand.

Thursday, October 6, 2023
Royal Thai Consulate General, Los Angeles

Before the recent pandemic, I would go to the Royal Thai Consulate General in the Larchmont area of Los Angeles to apply for a 60-day tourist visa. I would leave copies of the documents they require, a money order for $40, and my passport. There was a person at a table verifying all the documents, then you went to the agent at a window and the process really began. After a few minutes, I was given a receipt and instructed to return the following day after 3 PM to retrieve my passport. They placed the visa in my passport, a full-page sticker that looked like the following:

On arrival in Thailand, the “USED 28 DEC 2016” was stamped, and the rectangular arrival entry stamp on the adjacent page indicated the date I arrived and the date I must leave. This shows that I arrived on December 28 2016 and must leave the Kingdom by February 25, 2017:

The “KE617” was the Korean Air flight on which I arrived at Suvarnabhumi Airport, Bangkok’s main international airport. And the “TR” by “VISA Class” is indicating a Tourist visa.

The triangular stamp to the right is the departure stamp, showing that I actually left on January 26 from Chiang Mai Airport. I was only in the Kingdom for 30 days (both the entry and departure days are counted). I could have made do with the standard 30-day visa waiver granted to citizens of 64 countries and skipped the process to apply for and get a 60-day tourist visa. If I had wanted to extend my visit, even only a day, without the 60-day tourist visa or a visit to immigration while in the Kingdom to extend the 30-day to 60 days, I would have been on what is known as “overstay,” and fined for each day over the 30 days, and possibly black-listed from returning to Thailand for 3, 4, or 5 years.

With the easing of restrictions after the pandemic, a new process was introduced when Thailand started opening its borders. There is no longer a need to go to the Thai Consulate, obtaining a tourist visa is now done online through a website. All documents are uploaded to the website, payment is made, and when approved, a document is e-mailed and can be printed to show at immigration. No longer is there a full-page sticker in my passport. I like the sticker, but this process is more efficient. Last year, I was in the Kingdom for 57 days, and got a red “TR-60” entry stamp in my passport, shown in the next photo:

The mandatory departure date was Feb 4, 2023, and I left on Feb 1. I was instructed to print the 60-day tourist visa approval document and have it ready to give to the immigration officer. When I arrived and the immigration officer scanned my passport, he already knew I had a 60-day visa, so I did not need to show the printed approval. The approval was already in their system.

I submitted my request for a 60-day tourist visit to the Royal Thai Consulate General, Los Angeles on Sunday, October 1 so they would have it first thing Monday morning. My expectation was that it would likely take a week for the approval. However, on Thursday, October 6, I received the approval by e-mail late in the day. And here it is:

This was an important milestone in my preparation for my upcoming long winter in Thailand. I’ll be in the Kingdom for 74 days. Since my visa allows a stay of 60 days, I’ll need to go to immigration in Chiang Mai and request a 30-day extension. This costs 1900 baht (about $57) and can be done once. I leave in six weeks on November 18:

1. Home to Los Angeles International Airport by rental car
2. Los Angeles to Incheon (Seoul) on Korean Air KE012
3. Incheon to Bangkok on Korean Air KE657.
4. Airport Rail Link from Suvarnabhumi airport to the Novotel Ploen Chit hotel.

November 18-20 will be a very long day. From the time I leave my home to my actual arrival at the hotel in Bangkok will be about 32-34 hours (November 19 will be lost as I cross the International Date Line).

Completing this milestone of getting the 60-day tourist visa makes the trip seem all the more real.

Next: Final preparations for 2023-2024 winter in Chiang Mai