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I am wishing to apply for an ED visa, for legitimate interest in studying the language. However, I have the need to exit Thailand briefly, maybe two or three times within the study year.
The school is satisfied that I will not only making up for missing class hours, but also keeping up online.
I am already of retirement age (65) but still active with some outside work activities. Does anyone know if there is any in/out flexibility in the ED Visa?

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If you have an ED visa already, and you simply need to exit / re-enter Thailand, then the simplest thing to do is to apply for a re-entry permit.

This does NOT affect the 'must leave by' date currently stamped in your passport - it just gives you the flexibility to exit Thailand and re-enter using your current visa.

I believe a single re-entry permit (good for one re-entry) costs 1,900 THB, and a 'multiple' re-entry permit costs 3,800 THB and allows as many entries as you like.

For example, if you entered Thailand on an ED visa and got a 90-day stamp saying you must leave by the 1st of October, and then you got a re-entry permit - you could then leave Thailand and come back again before the 1st October. When you re-entered, you would then be stamped in as allowed to stay until the 1st October.

Also note that when entering Thailand for the re-entry, you do NOT write the visa number on the white entry card that you hand in to immigration - you write the number of the re-entry permit.

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  • The re-entry permit applies to all visa types - it is very common that when people working in Thailand get their yearly extension of stay, they will also get a multiple re-entry permit at the same time.
    – Scott Earle ♦
    Jul 16, 2014 at 6:19
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(Sorry to create a second answer - but this one answers the actual question, instead of suggesting an alternative)

There IS a multiple-entry one-year ED visa, but multiple-entry visas are very difficult to get in the region. The best place to apply for a multiple-entry visa is usually your home country.

Note that a multiple-entry visa still requires you to exit Thailand within 90 days of each entry.

Also, it is possible in some cases to get a one-year extension of stay, and this does not require you to leave Thailand for the whole year. I am not sure how to go about this, but the school would need to provide documentation for this - and so they probably know the procedure. Alternatively, contact a reputable company that specialises in Thailand immigration.

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  • It has gotten even harder to obtain multiple entry non-immigrant visas. Honorary consulates can no longer issue multiple entry visas. And Thai embassies are already strict on multiple entry non-immigrant visas, particularly ED visas. Best you can hope for is a single entry non-ED visa. You will be lucky to obtain a 1 year extension on reason of education. The extension may only be limited to 3-6 months at a time or denied altogether.
    – Jon Grah
    Oct 28, 2016 at 11:27

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