Is this just ChatGPT with a wrapper?

No. A generic chatbot answers from training data and happily invents a visa rule. Thaissistant checks a knowledge base we maintain before it speaks, shows you which entries grounded the answer, and hands anything live to the Tour Tiger team. Anyone can rent the model we use. Nobody can rent the corpus — or a licensed operator in Maenam who picks up the booking.

How is the information verified?

Every law-and-life entry is researched from a strict source ladder: the Royal Gazette and the statutes first, then the government bodies that enforce them, then official translations — reputable secondary sources only ever as labelled support, and forums never. Each entry names its legal basis, links its sources, and carries the date we last verified the facts. Anything that moves faster than we can verify — office-level fees, officer discretion — is marked 'verify live' instead of stated as fact. The methodology page spells out the whole discipline.

Is this legal advice?

No — and we're careful about the difference. Thaissistant explains what the law says and how processes work in general, with citations you can check. It doesn't advise on your specific case, predict outcomes, or replace a lawyer. For a decision that matters, the entry's sources tell you exactly which authority to confirm with.

Can it actually book things?

Today it takes your request and hands it to a real person at Tour Tiger — often Alexander himself, on WhatsApp or the phone — who checks availability and confirms with you directly. Payments, PromptPay, and calendar booking are planned for Phase 3. The principle holds throughout: automate the conversation, not the transaction, until we can do the transaction properly.

Can it read a Thai document for me?

Yes — paste the text of a letter, a form, a lease, or a fine, and it translates and explains what it means in plain words. Two honest caveats: the translation is unofficial (only the Thai text has legal force), and if the document is high-stakes, it will tell you to confirm with the authority or a professional rather than pretending a chat is enough.

Alexander Wich — founder, and the person who answers the WhatsApp. He built Thaissistant himself, with Claude Code, on top of the business he already runs: Tour Tiger (Thailand) Co., Ltd., TAT Licence 44/00524, a registered Thai tour operator in Maenam, Koh Samui. When the assistant hands you to a human, that human is usually Alexander or someone on his team. Feel free to test that.

What does it cost to use?

For you, asking Thaissistant is free — and so is the knowledge library. For us, a conversation runs about $0.01, the whole 6-month validation budget is under $2,000, and monthly running cost sits at $50-225. Breakeven is one or two extra bookings a month.

Why did this start on Koh Samui?

Because we wanted to be genuinely excellent somewhere before being vaguely useful everywhere. Samui gave us a licensed operator, real products, and real customers asking real questions — the loop that proved the engine. The life-and-law library is that same engine pointed at the questions every foreigner in Thailand has, not just the ones on holiday.

What happens to my data and my question?

If it's a genuine booking or service request, it becomes a lead the Tour Tiger team follows up on — that's the point. We're not in the business of reselling your inbox. Anything specific, write to hello@thaissistant.com.

Lost or stolen passport: police report, embassy document, Immigration re-stamp

Facts verified · 2026-07-11

The sequence is fixed and each step feeds the next. First, file a report at the local police station where the loss happened and keep the report — your embassy will require a copy before issuing anything. Second, apply to your embassy or consulate with the police report and a copy of the old passport's photo page if you have one; depending on your nationality and timeline you will get either a full replacement passport or an emergency travel document. Third — the step people forget — the new document contains no Thai entry stamp, so you must have Immigration transfer your arrival record into it. Bring the police report, the new passport and a letter from your embassy to the lost-passport counter at Sub-Division 2, Immigration Division 1 (tel. +66 2141 9889) in Bangkok, or your provincial office; officers verify your original entry in their records and re-stamp your permission to stay.

The folklore correction: your visa and permitted stay do not vanish with the passport — they live in Immigration's arrival records and are transferred on request. But skipping the transfer and heading to the airport is how people end up argued into overstay findings. Note the simpler parallel case: if your passport was renewed rather than lost, the transfer needs only the old and new passports at the Immigration office that stamped you in — or, for arrivals through the six main international airports, the office covering where you live.

Legal basis

Immigration Act B.E. 2522 (1979) (entry and permission-to-stay records)

⚠ Verify live

Exact document sets and which counter handles the re-stamp vary by office and change without notice — call Immigration Division 1 or your provincial office before travelling there.

lost passportstolen passporttransfer stampimmigrationembassypolice report

General information, not legal advice. Laws and practice change; for a decision that matters, confirm with the authority named in the sources or a licensed professional.