You have passed probation and and it is now time to get a non-im B visa and apply for a WP.

Where to go?  Lao?  Cambodia?  Myanmar?  Malaysia?  Singapore?

And how to go there?  An overnight torture trip on the train or in a minivan?  Splurge and fly?

Plan A: Miss only one day of work.

The Thai Consulate in Kota Bharu is open on Sunday.  

Fly Air Asia to Hat Yai on Saturday morning.  Take an airport shuttle van to the bus station. Take a minivan to Sungai Golok.  You might want to buy two seats on the van.  It can be cramped.

Walk across the border and take a taxi to KB.

Sunday morning you apply.  Normal pick up is Monday afternoon.  I sang a true tale of woe and picked up in the morning.

Return to the airport.  I've never been asked to show money while on a non-im, B or O.

(If your employer will play along, and if you can get an O visa, do it.  You can still get a WP.  When you leave the school, you don't have to get out of Dodge.)

You'll return to Bangkok late Monday night.

You'll be back at work on Tuesday.  One day missed and you ass will smell like roses.

Air Asia RT costs about the same as RT train fare to Nong Khai and a Lao visa. Taxis in KB will kill you, though.

Plan B Step out & step back in

Fly to Singapore and never leave the airport

Plan C: Make a holiday out of it

Singapore and Malaysia don't require visas.  Burma, Camboda, and Lao do.  Do the math.

If there was a Thai consulate in Bali, I'd suggest it.

There's one in Kathmandu if you really want to be different.  I had to make an appointment the day before just to apply for a visa.

Singapore is a cheap flight and the subway goes to the airport.

KL has a somewhat expensive train.  Embassies are conveniently located.

Both cities have public transportation.  KL will be cheaper to stay in, Singapore is cheaper getting to and from the airport.

Penang is nice if you've never been, but like KB, taxis will kill you.

If you fly to Singapore from Penang or KL, be advised that a less than helpful woman at Changi informed me that flight to Malaysia were considered to be domestic flights and I was denied the business lounge.

Kathmandu was just the opposite. A modest bribe was no problem.

"If there was a Thai consulate in Bali, I'd suggest it."

You mean like this one?

Royal Thai Honorary Consulate in Denpasar
Jl. Pemuda 2 No.9 Renon, Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia 80235
Tel: +62 361 229685

Exactly like that one!

Last I heard, Indonesia does not require a visa from US and some other nationalities.  A RT/ongoing  ticket, yes.

A few days in Bali will probably mean Kuta Beach, but that's close enough.  Denpasar and Kuta are a little like Phuket town and Patong Beach in distance from each other and their function on the island.

Bangkok to Denpasar is a longer flight than some others, but last I went it was still cheap.  My most recent trip was on the heels of the Bali bombing and prices were quite cheap.

Thanks for mentioning this.  Unless airfare has skyrocketed, Bali really should be a popular place to go for non-im visas.  

I just checked airfare and a quick look suggests that one must book farther in advance than one would for KL, Penang, or Singapore, but that one get a ticket for under 6,000 baht OW.

Prices have gone up.  Still, cheap San Mig and a cheap massage on the beach are not without their merits.