jspill

Just now, paulsingle said:

I thought about METV last year but it was about 4 times the price of TV and seemed to require more paperwork. I thought one still is restricted to the same length of stay on the METV so still need to leave the country?

I liked PP but would probably want to see other parts of the region on future trips.

You'd still have to leave the country after 90 days yeah, but could go anywhere, if you got bored of Cambodia. But there are other easy places to get a visa, like Laos and Malaysia. 

7 minutes ago, paulsingle said:

Thanks BritTim. On that basis, as things currently stand, I should be able to come out from UK, spend 3 months and then visit Phnom Penh for another visa then back to UK for 6 months and repeat indefinitely. May to September in UK every year and the rest of each year in Thailand  (with one regional trip for a new visa).

Only 6 months a year is definitely fine. They say you can do 6 months a year on visa exempts, if you wanted you don't have to bother applying for visas on your trips out.

If it was me I'd fly in on exempt, extend to 60 days, fly out to somewhere interesting now that I don't need to rely on applying for a visa (Philippines, Japan, places with no consulate like Macau, whatever), spend a week there enjoy the trip, fly back in on exempt, extend to 60 days, repeat the process. Three 60 periods, a week in between, 20k baht cash just in case but technically under 6 months in a year is said to be acceptable without a visa. And the 'proof of funds' is 10k for exempt visits.

With visas, up to around 8-9 months a year is fine. 

It's only really when you try to stay in Thailand year-round, only spend 1-2 days outside the country each visa run, that problems might crop up.

2 minutes ago, paulsingle said:

I said I'm relatively new to getting visas to come to Thailand because I've been coming for holidays at least once a year for the past 15 years but in September last year I got my first visa and I've been here since then. I've made 2 trips to Phnom Penh so I'm on my 3rd visa. Going back to UK next month but planning more visa visits. 3 visas makes me a complete newbie compared to most on this forum and I don't understand what rights are conferred on the bearer of a visa.

It's a bit better than a visa exempt but still no 100% right conferred to enter Thailand. People can still get pulled aside and questioned with a visa, and possibly denied entry if they're unlucky. 

For you it should be fine, only 3 visas then a trip to home country. People tend to have problems on their 5th visa in a row with no trips to home country, only 1-2 days outside Thailand each time they do a visa run, stuff like that. As well as not carrying 20k baht cash as 'proof of funds'. 

3 minutes ago, Lovethailandelite said:

So they are not legal now? Amazing. We've gone from Flyonward being perfectly legal and a real ticket to not being legal in under an hour. Fantastic amazing Thailand.
I'm off to bed. Goodnight.

I never said they are legal. I just said they're a proper ticket booking (that auto cancels). If they check the flight manifest it will show up. I also use them to get into the Philippines (at BKK airport the check in girls require an onward ticket, and they check the number). 

Of course they are against the rules. But it's no different to buying a throwaway ticket you have no intention to use. 

19 minutes ago, AgentSmith said:

I'm still baffled why people shouldn't be allowed to ask officials if something is according to the rules. That's not flagging but simply trying to prevent breaking any rules. There is nothing to lose anyway because if it's not allowed just buy a real ticket. I just checked and the cheapest one is from Krabi to KL for under 900 baht. If that's too much money then how can people afford a life here anyway? Thailand is cheap but not that cheap anymore.

 

Or get a 100% refundable ticket with any major airline. Book it, get the visa, enter the country and ask for a full refund. They cost a lot more but in the end you don't lose anything. Serieously, people, what's the problem here??

900 baht is a good deal, normally you're looking at 2000 baht though. 

The 100% refundable ones are very rare, I looked into it because obviously if I can save $10 and spend $0 that'd be nice :) 

There's Orbitz but it's not foolproof sometimes they decline your refund request, and it needs to be an expensive business class rate too. Stings to then get declined. And I think you still lose money to web booking fees that can't be refunded so it's never quite 100%. 

I'm pretty sure lovethailandelite's post was a bit of a troll (that's ok I troll too) if you read his other posts. He doesn't want to check with immigration if it's legal, he wants to alert them that people are using it. 

Of course it's not 'legal' (not really the right word to use). But who cares, if you buy a throwaway ticket to KL and weren't intending to use it anyway, what's the difference. You have been deceptive either way. 

It's basically a silly rule to require onward tickets, they prove nothing. They force deception. 

12 minutes ago, seancbk said:

Yes good to know where they are stricter with the rules. 

Helps everyone.  Thanks.

Is an onward ticket really a deterrent to someone who's going to commit crimes, work illegally, or overstay? They're only like $50.

It seems a lazy non-fix that inconveniences others and affects tourism (the Philippines sees less tourists because of this) which takes money away from small businesses. Must be better ways for countries to go about things. 

4 minutes ago, AgentSmith said:

The rule is that you need an onward ticket. Just take that rule literally. It doesn't say you need to use it or anything. But 48 hours validity is never enough. You need it to get a visa and you need it also to get into the country.. There is no way you can do all that within 48 hours. So by the time you have to pass through immigration the ticket is cancelled and if they check with the airline you're still in trouble. So I would still opt for a cheap real ticket and cancel it myself after I entered the country.

Well not every consulate requires a ticket to get a visa. 

Or you could get two of them, for $14 total on the latter website, one for the consulate one for the airport. For cheap real tickets you're looking at $50 ish. 

4 minutes ago, Lovethailandelite said:

I think I will actually ask Immigration if this Flyonward is legal next time I pop in there. I am a bit confused you see as it states it's not actually a ticket to fly and shouldn't actually be used. I will print one out for them, take it in with me and get them to check Flyonward.com out and see what they say. Should be interesting to get an opinion.

It's been around a while. You only just joined Thaivisa but there are many people like you here who I'm sure will have reported it to immigration in the past. I don't think it's going anywhere as it's indistinguishable from a real ticket but good luck. 

Awesome to hear you got back in no hiccups. 

My first overstay was 520 days and my second one 640 days, haters gonna hate. This was back in the glory days before blacklisting was a thing. 

2 hours ago, AgentSmith said:

I never have an onward ticket when flying to Thailand. I know you're supposed to but they never bothered to ask and until that changes I will just keep doing what I do. Thailand is sort of my base. Indonesian immigration is different. They've been hugely stepping up their game, especially the last year, and I always make sure I have an onward ticket on me. I just buy a crazy cheap 20 dollar ticket that I never intend to use anyway.

 

That last part made me think a bit more. Who knows there might be entirely empty planes flying on very short routes in and out of the country just so the people buying the tickets follow immigration rules. And if this really happens it's also not a very environmentally friendly effect of this rule that you must have an onward ticket. I never bothered to cancel the ticket but next time I definitely will after entering Indonesia just so they can put an actual passenger in my seat.

There are websites like flyonward.com and onwardflights.com where you rent a real ticket that auto cancels after 24 - 48 hours, that works at immigration too even if they check the flight number. It's basically a print out of a confirmed, real reservation. Costs like $10

1 hour ago, Itsnottheplaceitwas said:

I don't see how that's correct 

recently arrived got the stamp to leave in 30 days 

I needed to stay an 7 which was a complete pain 

had to go sit in the cue at im office pay 1990b to get 30 days more but only needed 7 

 

not it sure where the 60 comes from ? 

Everyone knew what you meant but thaivisa posters are very anal about the correct nomenclature. I can understand the need for accuracy in certain situations but this wasn't one of them. 

Next time call it a visa on arrival that gets them riled up as well :)

29 minutes ago, Lovethailandelite said:

There are other options. If the other options don't suit, then there is one more and final option and that's to stay in a country where it does suit...such as the UK with there open border policy.....Hold on a minute though, there has just been a referendum there and won on an immigration issue to stop exactly what your looking to happen here. It's all getting a little fickle isn't it?

Too melodramatic. Tourist visas are still a long term stay option if you're outside Thailand 2 or 3 months a year, i.e. do 2-3 week trips in between visas. 

Only those who try to spend as close to 365 days a year in thailand on tourist visas are affected.

And comparisons to the UK are ridiculous. We aren't trying to immigrate into Thailand, we're trying to be perpetual tourists and pump money into the economy. We are not here to work, claim benefits, or become citizens.

29 minutes ago, JackThompson said:

I will never "fly in" to Thailand - even with a Tourist Visa. 

 

If denied at a land-border, I can turn around, and try again at another land-border crossing.  If denied consistently at every nearby land-border crossing, I will arrange to meet a Thai-friend at the border, who has just brought my stuff from Thailand, and spend my money somewhere else for awhile.

Interesting idea, I see the logic in it.

My concern would be though that they're more likely to deny me at a land border, and stamp my passport denied, which would then cause problems at all other borders and airports from that point on. 

If they deny you but don't stamp the passport, I like the strategy. 

17 hours ago, elviajero said:

That's no longer just the issue. They don't want people living in Thailand using tourist visas.

Source? Where is that stated anywhere? Every announcement, if any, like the ones about in/outs with visa exempts, has stated the reason is illegal workers.

No one really knows but keyboard warriors will act like they do. 

Sure the new passport is linked to the previous one, but it's possible that seeing a relatively empty passport stops the IO from looking into things any deeper on the computer. I'd say it's worth a try. 

1 minute ago, al007 said:

I understand Thailand immigration computer system based on the USA model, and will compare date of birth, facial recognition, and probably more than we know

 

So gone are the days when a quick name change, or a new passport will eradicate ability to link to previous one

 

All it now does; is when found out make the consequences far more severe

 

Keep life simple and play by the rules, but then no doubt the Bangkok Hilton may be appealing to some; but not me

Err it's not illegal to change your passport if you're worried about the number of visa stickers and stamps in it. He isn't asking about getting round a blacklist.

Not that he'd end up in the Bangkok Hilton even if he was.

4 minutes ago, Lovethailandelite said:

Obviously the denials are not really happening. Lets just ignore it, it will all go away. Let me tell you that you have a real big shock to the system coming and it's not very far away 

They've been happening for years, I posted that denials are nothing new. But they're very rare when you consider how many thousands of people pass through the airports each day. If one just takes certain precautions it's quite possible to live here for many years on tourist visas.

7 minutes ago, Lovethailandelite said:

That's talking about the 2 exemptions a year at land crossings and referring to those with a Non o or what ever you want to call call it that needs to do a 90 day in and out and won't be effected.

No it says they'll scrutinize in/outs at airports more, then says they already do that at land crossings, then says foreigners with visas are not affected by the entire 'crackdown'. What you're referring to comes in the section after. 

If you Google 'thailand crackdown visa runs' now, all the results are about the August 2014 news.

https://www.google.co.th/search?q=thailand+crackdown+visa+runs

That is what this (bad) journalist has done, get his facts mixed up with 2014 stuff while padding out an article about the 10 year retirement visa, and the ASEAN electronic visa. 

4 minutes ago, Lovethailandelite said:

Until your denied entry.

You're then often able to successfully enter the next time you fly in, with no issues at all. As in post #166. 

"And I was sent back to home country for not having enough cash but had indeed near 200.000 baht cash on me. As I came back again about a month later, not been asked one single question at another airport.. "

And that was from mid 2016. This is nothing new, sometimes you get very unlucky. Then you just fly in again and it's fine. 

16 minutes ago, Lovethailandelite said:

It actually states 'Living' here and scrutinising for prior and approved visas. The article then go's on to say they want to attract wealthier foreigners whilst restricting repeated entry for those who do not have an 'authorised' visa. 'Authorised' visa most would assume wouldn't be a Tourist visa for continual repeat entry which is obviously being used to live here. Whether it is or isn't any different to what was or wasn't said in 2014, makes no difference as it certainly appears that the way it is now, isn't looking likely to continue unabated a whole lot longer.

I think you're stretching it and reading what you want to read. To me it's exactly the same language as August 2014 articles about living here on visa exempts. It states 'foreigners with visas appear to be unaffected and the crackdown is focused on 15 or 30 day exemptions'. This really seems like poor journalism from someone who has googled visa runs and read some articles from Aug 2014. Anyway time will tell. 

I think this week's spate of rejections isn't an organised thing, it's a few specific IOs who are out to deport people. We'll see. 

2 minutes ago, Odin Norway said:

I also tried to find out what the limit or the written rules are but nobody can point it out to me.

There are no official limits.

37 minutes ago, Lovethailandelite said:

I did put this up nearly 3 weeks ago from the front page of the Pattaya Today newspaper but the idea was rejected because it couldn't be proven who had made this announcement. I did say at the time that why would you expect a public announcement when it states passports will be scrutinised for Tourist visas for people suspected of living here? Although it states it will start in August, maybe its started early. I have no idea. What is being reported certainly don't just appear to be visa exempt issues being denied entry. The detail is in the second paragraph of the second attachment. Make of it what you will.

There's absolutely nothing new there whatsoever, all that's written about is extra scrutiny on 'out/ins' with visa exempts, that started in August 2014 

2 minutes ago, Thaidream said:

It is really the luck of the draw- if they are very busy  your chances of slippin by are greater as they simply cannot check every person in detail. If it was me- I might choose to come in at the busiest time and pay extra to go through the priority lane.

Yeah I was thinking of starting to use the fast lane too. Lot cheaper than spewing off 500k for the Elite card, and I still get to feel special and privileged.

5 minutes ago, Odin Norway said:

Looks like they are tightening the rooles.Never have I been asked for any money on arrival.I have only been using 30 days tourist-visa now for 98 trips in 9 years.Once have I been taken aside to talk to another person at the office in suwarnabumi,and then she called my girlfriend for the last 9 years to know what I was here for.Being under 50 and not married I cant get any 1 year visas anymore.Someone here said 180 days in the country a year is what you can do? More then that and youre not a tourist.I think the officer at the desk just choose who-ever he can make a problem for. Ubonjoe have before said that what I am doing is totally okey and not against any regulations.Would be greate if someone knows what rules there is for back to back tv`s.Being out 3 weeks dont realy count as a back 2 back aparantly.

180 days on visa exemptions, apparently. With tv's you can get away with being here 9 months a year no problems. 

This only really affects people who try to stay here as close to 365 days a year on exempts / tv's as they can, and when they leave the country they're only gone for a couple days then fly right back in. AND don't have the 20k cash on hand. AND get unlucky.

18 minutes ago, bamukloy said:

It is so simple really to get a multiple entry visa from your own country.

At most consulates ,In the application process you must give them recent copy of bank account total. This i why you never have this this trouble with a proper visa.

 

I cant understand people risking refused entry by being a cheapskate and expecting to get visa exempt.

 

This guy just days ago got rejected with a multiple entry visa - 

What is happening is something new, there's one or two guys at Suvarnabhumi who really actively want to reject people and deport them back to home country or the country they flew in from (it varies). 

However to avoid this you can immediately show 20k baht cash, onward ticket, hotel bookings, and it is much harder for them to get away with doing what they want to do. 

Ed visas are back in fashion lately, some mates of mine have been getting one year visas for 20k and actually being told no need to attend lessons. 

One door closes another opens (again) ...