devaram

I just read a post by a traveler who was denied a Tourist Visa at the Thai Consulate Guangshou China for reasons beyond absurdity. This combined with the new rules in Penang about issuance of not more than three TVs has me thinking that it would be nice to see a list or database of Thai consulates and how they would rate in terms of friendliness to travelers and long time stayers.

This list should be published on the net to give warning to all concerned as this is possibly becoming an international human rights issue.

Personally right now I'm interested in knowing how other consulates in China rate especially Kunming if anyone has some info to share. Ive all but given up the hope of staying much longer in Thailand on tourist visas and border walks but was thinking it might be possible to stay six months in Kunming and then come to Thailand with a tourist visa for three months and then make three border walks.

Is one tourist visa per year too much to ask?

Just got back from Penang. Did have two tourist visas from Lao. They have now marked my passport THE PASSPORT HOLDER HAS ALREADY TRAVELED TO THAILAND ON TOURIST VISAS TWO TIMES. THE CONSULATE GENERAL MAY NOT ACCEPT THE APPLICATION NEXT TIME.

So I am sure there will be ways around but life does become more difficult. By the way I have started a thread with a few tips on the Penang visa run.

Suppose this answers the question about mixing up where people get their visas and whether they count or not in Penang. Sounds like they do and no doubt the visa exempt entries do as well. This is not a very diggable situation, scrap all your shovels.

This cannot be... so then noone can ever come to thailand as a tourst more than 3 times?... impossible!

Although its possible they are counting back to back regardless of where issued..

Bad news for many. Sorry to hear.

No time period for the 3 visas mentioned so without that information it is hard to evaluate the actual impact.

as 6x30-day visa-free-entries are allowed in a year one could speculate that if the 3 visas are in a 12 month period, that people can still combine the 2.

Meanwhile, as others mentioned; it makes little sense to leave that option open too.... But making it "3 visas for life" or "3 visas for life of passport" also does not make any sense (as would cut off a ton of real tourists).

Looking forward to more info on this one.

Cheers!

Agreeed its pointless and sounds like a misunderstanding of the same message we were hearing 6 months ago that penang is only going to issue three visas back to back.

Does anyone know for for sure if its still ok to go to mae sai three times in the six month period as before.

I just went through there for the first time in over six months and they did not write #1.

Does anyopne know if they are still counting?

Any news about Tachilek in light of the recent violence?

Is everything normal at the Mae sai border?

Any one boycotting Myanmar ?

Im running an e-commerce business for 4 years now out of my small apartment in chiangmai muang using local public internet shops to hardwire my old laptop to the internet.

I almost got True internet installed one time but then they said there were no ports available on my street.

Recently I made a contract with ttnt to install the phone wire so I could use their adsl but then they refused to run a wire to the third floor because the technician said he couldnt do it.

After that I got interested in gprs and still view it as an option but today I found my dream apartment on the outskirts of the city near a country club (I dont play golf but the view is incredible) and as a plus the apartment building has wi fi.

Now Im reading on the internet about wif fi security and software that can be used as protection for hacking and im already almost sold on jiwire and will probably use it but im wondering from those of you who have experience with apartment building wi fi systems how insecure are they in a place like chiangmai thailand.

Is it a rare thing for a wifi system to be hacked in thailand or is it very common?

Sounds like in the US lots of people are just driving around in cars with special equipment looking for systems to hack into..

Anybody use a wifi system in an apartment building or have ideas about wifi security as it applies especially to Thailand and Chiangmai in particular id like to hear anything you have to say. Anybody have an experience of being hacked?

Seems like an apartment building would be especially insecure as a hacker could be anyone living in the building...

People have reported going back to Laos so it seems that they allow it. But Thailand is not going to refuse entry because of the number of visas - only if you have stayed 90 days on non visa entry during the last six months would you have a problem. If all else fails believe they could detain you and send you to Bangkok for processing and deportation. You will not end up living on the bridge.

If I had a problem(at the border) I would go back to laos and then fly into bangkok. Even if you have run out of eligebility for stamps they will give you two weeks at the bangkok airport thats enough time to make your own arrangements.

What right do they have to prevent you from going back to laos?

Is it not possible to get stamped back into laos if refused entry into thailand?

Who says hes guilty?

Nothing has been proven yet.

Even if he was drunk the bar that sold him the alchohol has to share the blame.

Sounds like 4 people were riding on a motorbike half of whom could also have been drinking and/ or talking on cell phones I see this all the time in chiangmai.

The motorbike could have ignored a stopsign.Have you ever seen thais stop at a stop sign? The never stop they just merge and hope everyone else does the same.

There are no clear traffic laws and even if there were nobody is enforcing them.

Tourists are lured here by the thailand tourist industry to consume alchohol and pick up women.

If he was drinking and driving he is to blame but the blame doesnt stop there its a bigger problem than one drunk farang.

Personally I wouldnt even drive in thailand.I only use a bicycle and rarely a motorbike and even then ive had difficult encounters with drivers. The liability here is clearly against the farang. Even if you are in the right you may have to shoulder the responsibility for anything that happens and come up with cash. If you kill someone, God help you....

My current WP and visa are on my UK passport #1 I have 2 UK passports as before i used to travel alot for work (This is perfectly legal in the UK)

My problem - The passport i have used for ALL my visa's / WP / Thai company papers etc is FULL no spare pages left.

My second passport has plenty of spare pages left but what will happen when at the end of this month i go and renew my visa in the new passport?

Also what's the lead time / cost with the UK embassy to issue new passports in BKK?? I would like to have 2 passports.

TIA

You have to go to the UK embassy to get more pages put into your passport

Most people who are on a shoestring go to penang instead because its cheaper and friendlier.

jchen, does this visa require a marriage certificate and if im single and not working is a single entry tourist visa still the most I can hope for in Penang?

Im travelling outside thailand and want to return to thailand a few months from now.

If I get my tourist visa today how long will it be valid for untill I use it?

Well they've obviously got their marching orders. Correct me if I'm wrong but it seems that, other than answering some legitimate questions, folks can still come and go freely as long as they're following the rules.

Yes I dont wish to ad to the paranoid rumors..

As long as you follow the rules and look ok there is little they can do except issue the stamp.

They can raise legitimate questions and you will have to answer in a way that sounds reasonable that is all.

I'll be going to Penang on tuesday to do the same. My question to you is , did they issue the tourist visa as single entry only or is it multiple entry ? Also is it valid for 2 months or 3 months ?Up till now I've been crossing over into Malaysia via the Betong checkpoint on a regular basis but now theve counted the days since October 06 and my 90 days is up so no choice but to get visa. Any further info would be appreciated.Really need multi entry...

Schackster - sorry to be getting back to you so late. Lopburi3 is correct - visa is single entry, for 60 days (according to the stamp I received at Immigration after flying back into Bangkok).

Note to Maestro - actually, its a Whole Lot more expensive than the monthly border runs:

- cost of getting the visa in Penang (including visa cost, air fare, two nights at a fair hotel, taxi fare, bus fare to and from Bangkok ), plus the one month visa extension: 15,000 baht

- cost of three border runs to Maesai (cost of entering Burma + cost of gas for my motorcycle): 2,400 baht

I think I can do it for a bit less but still comes out to about $100usd per month add to my rent in chiangmai of $65 per month is still just a fraction of living expense in usa.

Penang is GREAT I love it! It is worth the trip !

What is your nationality?

Did she make a written notation in your passport next to the 30 day stamp?

My nationality is USA I believe she wrote the normal notation of #1 of three allowed 30 day stamps and I believe that I could continue for two more exits but I would not go back to mae sot I would go to mae sai because they are more in the flow with alot of tourists.At mae sot I was probably the only farang all day so she had alot of time on her hands with not much to do.

Ive been making border runs for 4 years while living in Chiangmai.

I stopped going to mae sai last year after getting alot of rude treatment and threats from stressed out mae sai officers.

Mae sot turned out to be a great alternative and also a good two day vacation if combined with a visit to the old city of sukothai.

The officers at mae sot never gave a glance at my visa stamps they just waved me through with a friendly Krap Pom ! What a relief ! What a nice interesting, primative and friendly part of thailand as well !

In september I went out to indonesia and malaysia and came back with a three month visa on october 1st from penang. I was slightly nervous about making a border run at the end of this visa concerning how the new rules would be interpreted at the border but I was clear that I was entitled to three crossings after the 1st. I thought maybe I should go to mae sai since they would have so much traffic that any doubts would have been cleared already. Instead I went back to mae sot remembering my easy going experience there before and also made the decision to go a week early in case there was a problem.

I felt very nervous approaching the mae sot border. I was not greeted by the friendly good ol boys from before.

Instead the there was a very grim faced female officer staring at me. She spent a long time checking all my previous stamps and then somewhat reluctantly stamped me out of thailand. I wondered if I would be allowed back in but I have faith in the basic goodness of thailand and doubt this could really happen.

On the burma side alot of nice friendly guys wearing sorongs and a new computer system in place.

On arrival back at the thai border the same lady again spent a long time scrutinizing my passport.She examined every page at least 3 times. I was so nervous I could hardly sign my name on the arrival card.

Then she began to ask questions "why you stay in thailand so long?" "what work are you doing here?" why you come to mae sot instead of mae sai? She let me know that she was from mae sai and that some of the stamps in my passport had been made by her last year. Why you dont go back to your country? I gave various reasons why I need two more months in thailand without actually begging and then she made the decision not to red flag me out of the country but to allow me another 30 days.

That was the last time I will ever go to the mae sot border and probably the last time I will go to any border.

The only way now is to fly out.

Anyone with alot of stamps who wants to keep doing border runs should get a new passport but truly those days are over. They just dont want us staying in thailand for free. I think they are happy if we go out and get a tourist visa because they make money off that and they can clear whether we are running from the law.

Ultimately they want us to go back home once in a while to clear the the law in our own country.

I think this is reasonable as well as for me as I would like to do more travelling and get out of this Thailand rut!

Anyone who thinks this is going to change with the new government is dreaming. The hallmark of the new government is to srutinize everything. It wont be any different at immigration !

Ive heard anybody even a tourist without any paperwork can get a one year visa in perth.

I would like more info about this option and the supposedly dirt cheap airline tickets now being offered.

Excellent well written story you should save that for your book about thailand !

Can really relate to such a nighmare of being stuck between countries.

One thing I cannot relate to however is why would anyone use an agent for any of these simple border visa procedures.

Its so easy to just do it yourself also.... telling the truth is usually the best policy under all circumstances especially when dealing with police. Sounds like you really learned a lesson here good thing you were dealing with compassionate female lao police.

If I arrived in thailand at the end of september with a tourist visa (2-3 months) when that visa expires at end of december can I then make three border runs?

Since I will have been in the country for three months I wonder how they will interpret that.

Ive read that if one makes three border runs after the october 1st one could probably go out and get a three month visa (if one goes to a nice consulate) but the reverse situation has not been properly addressed is anyone clear on this?

What are the chances of my 82 year old mom who has been making border runs to mae sai for three years, getting a retirement visa. She gets about $800 usd per month into her us bank and could come up with about $2000 savings. She is not an invalid her health is good.

Any advise would be appreciated. ...

Someone told me that his friend lost 8000bh after 6 months dormant.I spoke with Siam bank about their policy this is what I gathered :If your account is dormant for 6 months you cannot access it anymore from inside the bank but only with your atm card.Dont have an atm card? Guess youre out of luck.If you have an atm card you can continue to access for 6 more months but if the account stays dormant for one year then you loose everything.I asked her"you mean you steal the money?"Yes, was her reply the bank will steal your money. Reason given"because we have many many accounts and its too much trouble to keep track of many many accounts!"

Perhaps it shouldnt be taken too seriously it is after all a part of the game.

If we must show cash then let us find interesting ways to show cash.

Perhaps stapling the bills together at one end to form a packet which can be counted but not easily separated. Perhaps carrying a backpack full of 20 bhat notes which will take forever to count. Oh.. there are so many ways to be creative and yet comply!

I came back from mae sai about three days ago and they are definately going to be looking for 10k bhat, whats not clear to me is whether or not they would accept travellers checks and if not why not. The notice said cash certificates which can be converted to thaibhat are acceptable which sounds like travellers checks. Bankofamerica told me that travellers checks are same as cash. Ive met several foreigners in the past 3 days that are upset about it mainly because of the risk of robbery and personally it makes me nervous about continuing to stay in Thailand as I exist on a combination of visa runs and toursit visas.Perhaps their goal is to make things as difficult as possible for everyone who is existing on the fringe and I dont know why since we are mostly honest polite people who teach english and do import export buisness and we support the thai economy at the lower level. If we all left thailand tommorro many thais would loose their buisness and would suffer. Someone definitely needs to confirm whether travellers checks are acceptable.Personally, im out of here soon.All this visa stuff is just making it too hard to relax. I have ten year visa for India......

By the way someone mentioned mickey mouse currency of thai bhat which was then defended as being a strong currency to invest in I dont remember if it was on this thread but the problem is not the currency its the bank.If you put your money in a thai bank and then forget to check up on it for 6 months they can and will confiscate all your money.