Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing Visa Extensions and we are specifically discussing what I call the 30-day rule. What are we talking about here? Well I thought of making this video after reading a recent kind of Q&A sort of thing on a website called travel.stackexchange.com and the entry is titled: Thailand Visa Extension denied because I applied too early. Quoting directly: "I have landed in Bangkok two days ago and got a 45-day Visa. Today I went to the IT, (I think they mean the Immigration Office) Lak Si Center for short-term visa extension in Bangkok to extend my Visa for an extra 30 days. I was denied and the 1,900 Baht I paid were returned to me with an Officer telling me that "it's too early" to extend the Visa and that I would have to come back in 1 month. (I paid around 300 Baht just to get there)." Quoting further: "Is this phenomenon unique to Bangkok or is it common in all provinces? Is there a clear definition in Thai Law regarding this practice? For example, does Thai Law declare that "only after 50% of the time of entering Thailand can a foreigner extend a Visa" or anything like that?" Yeah that's sort of the wrong question. No, this comes from an administrative decision by Thai Immigration and let me explain.

So this really was never an issue for exempted folks that come into Thailand because prior to this most recent high season in Thailand, anybody that entered Thailand came in on a 30-day stamp. If you came in on a Visa Exemption, you came in on a 30-day stamp. So literally from the time one arrived one could apply for an extension on that for another 30 days at any point within the 30 days, which brings up the 30 day rule. Thai Immigration does not want to deal with extensions if the person that is seeking the extension has more than 30 days status left on their visa. Why is this? Because Thai Immigration has enough to do quite honestly. On a day-to-day basis they are dealing with tons of cases; it is pretty hectic. Honestly I am not trying to be an apologist for Thai Immigration, believe me, I have criticized policies by them in the past and will in the future but I have met, seen, dealt with, worked, with had a lot of correspondence and interaction with Thai Immigration Officers both in a personal and a professional capacity over the 15 years I have been in Thailand. The thing I can tell you is they work pretty darn hard and there's a lot going on. For this reason, there is an administrative rule in Thai Immigration that says "look we are just not going to deal with you in whatever capacity unless you have less than 30 days of status left on your visa". The reason for that is it is kind of similar to the notion of 'ripeness' in American Law, in American jurisprudence that says 'hey a court is not going to hear a case that has yet to create a controversy'. If there's yet to be a problem with the law, we are not going to make decisions based on hypothetical future issues with the law. Similarly, someone in Thai Immigration, if they have more than 30 days status left, that's just not considered a priority by Thai Immigration. They have to spend their resources and time dealing with folks who are in a much more urgent situation for lack of a better term and for that reason there is this rule. 

So yeah it's not Thai Law; it's not in the Immigration Act; it's an administrative rule, it occurs regulatorily and it is within Immigration's discretion to make that rule because they have to deal with these cases on a day-to-day basis.