After the demonstrations, and the confusion by the press as to what the requirement was for a press card, and the time consuming difficulty in getting one.  The whole process has been changed, and is now handled by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs instead of the Immigrations Department.  The big change is there is now longer a bt400,000 banking requirement.  Now you only need a letter from who you work for (as was required before), a ligitimate news agency, or paper, proof that you've been published at least 3 times in the last year (this part is new), and to fill out the application. 

There is no longer a monitary requirement.  This gets you 3 letters from the Foreign Ministry to get a 3 month non-resident type "M" visa, a work permit, and a press card,  then after the 3 months it is all renewed for one year.  To keep it you just need to show you are being published at least 3 times a year, and complete the new application for your 3 letters, everything else is kept in the database.  If you have to leave the country after the first 3 months, you just apply for a single, or multiple exit permit, and you can come back into the country on the same visa, as long as you are not gone more than 30 days.  From my understanding with the new media type "M" visa, you no longer have to report your address every 90 days either, just apply for a new visa after your year is up.   This all started in August of this year, and here's a clip from the Foreign Ministry's website:

From 16 August 2010, all foreign members of media applying for media accreditation to work/reside in Thailand or to renew their visa, work permit and press card, have to submit their applications through the MFA Media Online Service (MMOS) website.

This is a great change in this visa for those that quality, I no longer have to keep bt400,000 in a Thai bank....lolol.  A friend turned me on to this type of visa quite a few years ago, now it is even better, but only for those that quality, and can get published.

Just thought I'd share this change with those that might find it useful, and don't know about it yet.

I hope you can do a better job of convincing the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that you're a journalist than convincing another journalist you're a journalist.

There's never been a banking requirement to get a press card or non-immigrant M visa, press cards have never been issued by the Immigration Department, and none of the rules you've mentioned are new (at least the ones you got right), except for the fact that since the middle of last year you apply online with the MFA instead of in person at the Ministry.

I hope whatever you're passing off as your journalism has more facts in it than your journal writing.

When I went through this process in 2003, I received a non-immigrant type "B" visa, not type "M", from the Thai Consulate in LA as a journalist, with a letter from my employeer, and there was a monitary requirement that I made at least bt25000 a month as a journalist, with a banking requirement. That is what I am basing this on as being new as of August of this year. Back then I got a letter from the Consulate to give to Public Relations, and they issued me a press card, I never did deal with the MFA.

As you so aptly point out, things have changed since then, and sooner than the Thai Consulate currently states that the changes took place in August of 2010. Thanks for getting the correct dates that the process changed. I should have known the Thai Consulate had it wrong.