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3 minutes ago, BritTim said:

I do not know if this check has been removed or changed. I can only tell you that it still existed as of 2019. Knowing the way systems tend to work, unless those at the top requested a change, the feature would remain in force. If so, most officials probably now take the notification less seriously than they would have, perhaps, in 2018. It is noteworthy, though, that officials are still using wording that implies you are under scrutiny because you "enter Thailand too much".

Mnnnn - Interesting Info - I had no idea this was ever in place.

10 hours ago, BritTim said:

The limit if entering by air varies by airport and by immigration official. What they are told to do is verify if visa exemption is being used in a manner consistent with "normal tourism". That is clearly a very subjective test. At one time (and probably still) immigration's system was set up to prompt the official that you should be subjected to greater scrutiny if you had received more than six visa exempt entries (total by land or air) since a specific start date which I have forgotten (maybe mid 2016?)  Some officials are very thorough in their scrutiny, and restrictive in what they regard as "normal tourism". Avoid most airports if you are a long stay tourist in Thailand.

Really? -  "six visa exempt entries (total by land or air) since a specific start date which I have forgotten (maybe mid 2016?)"

Is this still a thing?

i.e A software flag is triggered - after 6 visa exempts obtained over the last five / six  years?

25 minutes ago, Sheryl said:

Correct. No "no centralised electronic record made when these warnings are made".

 

What would be relevant would be any note made on this last entry stamp - and I much doubt there is one.  Makes no difference what may be written ion stamps involving other countries. 

 

Some IOs take it upon themselves to issue warnings like this. They have no legal import. (But good idea to avoid that same officer in future..and at border crossings unlike airport there aren't many of them so this means best avoid that border crossing for a while. )

Yup - This is sound advice!

8 minutes ago, Sheryl said:

If nothing was stsmped or written into his passport (and no reason gor them to have been) , there is no record.

 

Poipet is the most difficult of all the Cambodian border crossing points.

Ahhh - OK, good.

Then I think what you are saying is there is no centralised electronic record made when these warnings are made

As for stamps or written notes made - He has over thirty nine  pages with various stamps and notes and its not clear from just the single and joining page if there is something hiding itself in content from the six different countries (from three non English speaking continents) which I can not actually read or determine if there is a special Cambodian stamp in the mix.  

6 minutes ago, Photoguy21 said:

Does your friend have any problems which would not allow him to get a proper visa?

Not sure, but that would be a different subject - I am just wanting to get an answer to the question posted. 

A friend just got back from a Poipet border run. He is from the UK and entered Thailand for the first time after three years with a Visa exempt 45 days, with no subsequent extension applied to the exempt and was informed that he would not be allowed another visa exempt run.

Theoretically this should not be the case since the new calendar year starts in a few weeks and the reset for two per year should then begin again. However it's possible this is a single officer making an arbitrary decision or a general Poipet immigration interpretation, either way getting the  calendar year border run refresh is more likely to be available at Vientiane.

Is there any kind of historical log made to reflect the warning by either ink stamps / written notes on the passport or centralised data entry for individual electronic records?

You are not going to get a straightforward answer to your question for the following reasons.

Consulates outside of Thailand issuing e-Visa will not do so if you are known to be outside of your home country (unless exceptional circumstances are shown). However as you are probably aware it is sometimes difficult for the consulate to know that you are not inside your home country. Hence if you are able to fulfil all the other requirements including evidence of travel from Thailand (air ticket paid in full) and passport pages copy Visa pages last 12m of travel stamps then there is a possibility of success. However if you are currently in Thailand and if the last stamp was of when you entered Thailand then this would be clear to the Consulate admin.

If you were to leave Thailand with a passport exit stamp in your passport this is where it becomes conjecture since the question would be more about the testing of the rules done by the immigration officer letting you back into Thailand. Whether this is part of their adopted role is not clear. I suspect that each will assume a different amount of checking and also will have different types of actions taken when they suspect a position where the e-Visa owner has transgressed a rule of the application only from the home country.

Within this uncertain framework you would need to test and see what happens since there is no clear probability of a certain outcome.

Previous recent post and thread

If applying at the border - Is this a full page sticker?

1 hour ago, ubonjoe said:

I am sure the embassy will still do the big visa sticker.

The e visa is only a email with no sticker. As far as I know you just show it and they stamp into Cambodia with a annotation that it was e visa.

Great response ubonjoe - Thanks

1 hour ago, BritTim said:

A visa from the Cambodian embassy is exactly as in the past. You do not get a full page sticker if you get a Cambodian e-visa  Be careful using Poipet/Aranyaprathet for a border bounce for a visa exempt entry. Thai immigration at this crossing has a bad reputation.

Great response BritTim - Thanks

5 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

You can apply for a visa on arrival at a border crossing. No need to go to the embassy.

The e visa can only be used at certain border crossings. See: https://www.evisa.gov.kh/

Thanks Joe - Border is Poipet - However I specifically want to get the Visa prior to arriving and would prefer to have Visa in passport rather than have opportunity for tea money conversations between paperwork exchanges at border immigration. Visa in passport from in person Embassy application would be least paper exchange at immigration however I am not clear if this still gets a full page taken by a sticker.  I am also not clear if the lesser paperwork exchange using the e-Visa online gets a small stamp with less page used or this also gets a full page sticker.

Hence: Do you still get full page Visa stickers when applying directly at Embassy and do you get the same full page covered with the e-Visa online once you show the email approval at the border?

I will be doing a border run to Cambodian for a 45 day Visa exempt.

Getting the Cambodian Visa before arriving at the border has two methods, either e-Visa online or visit in (Bangkok) Cambodian Embassy and make in person application.

I have never used the e-Visa online before, but previously have applied direct with Embassy (8 years ago) and ended up with a full page visa sticker.

Do you still get full page Visa stickers when applying directly at Embassy and do you get the same full page covered with the e-Visa online once you show the email approval at the border?

10 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

Can't understand your post.

The onward flight out of Thailand is required by the airline if flying to Thailand visa exempt. 

 

For land border entries visa exempt no exit flight is required 

Ahhhh - OK, then my Bad - So Thanks.

My  understanding was that an airline did require the ticket proof to ensure that they did not have to pay for the ticket back on rejection, but even so; immigration could in theory ask for this ticket and was a requirement, but they rarely did so, knowing that the airlines would be mostly do this.

I had presumed that this was also a theoretical requirement at the border.

It is good to hear that this is not even in Thailand immigration policy as a requirement when crossing a land border and hence definitely will never be asked for if correct policy is followed. 

While flight tickets out of Thailand are supposed to be shown on a border run are they actually normally asked for?

I ask this since the rule for showing a flight ticket next time isn't very consistent - if you follow 'the Admitted until' without a flight this exit, why not on the next exit?

On 11/20/2022 at 5:06 PM, Pla Simon said:

No need to fly anywhere, unless really wants to..

 

Hellfire is still entitled to a border bounce before the end of the calendar Year - regardless of how many covid stamps he has had.

 

Indeed, I just enjoyed my second bounce yesterday - after similarily being on covid stamps since the start.

 

Got 45 days without any problems atall @ O'smach - which can be extended for a further 30 in Thailand.

Did you need to show a ticket out of Thailand?

5 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

Usually you get warnings, I can't recall the last person who was denied entry

Actually that is a very good point - The warnings would probably prevent the denial of entry and like you say there are not a lot of border denied entry stories on this forum.

6 hours ago, Liverpool Lou said:

Being/not being stamped into Thailand can only happen at (4).   Then you'd have to return to the country you came from.   An organised visa run would obviate the potential problem.

Blimey - So what happens then?

Do you then have to turn around and buy a new (if there is a charge) Visa from the border country you just exited? 

14 hours ago, Chetzee said:

best avoided at opening time ..... I took 3 hours in a snaking queue back in August .... but otherwise no issues  .....except ... hot , broken fan .... and a number of Khmers who did't get the principle of queueing . One in particular,  a man in his 40's well dressed and seemingly wealthy ... who should have know better ...... and now does  ! .... 55

Did the immigration ask you for proof of onward ticket out of Thailand?

If when you enter Thailand Visa exempt and if this information was then available to the Embassy and also considered at the time of application for the eVisa - Then theoretically this would show that you are already in Thailand. Whether this occurs is unclear, but this is unlikely to be automatically available as a computer check and if done at all will be a manual process and probably isn't something that will happen  due to the extra work for catching the few instances where it is occurring.

Obviously applying for the eVisa while still in your home country and then entering Visa exempt would be possible - Yes immigration will have the eVisa information accessible, but when I entered Visa exempt the officer asked me for my eVisa paperwork assuming I was entering this way. I think they must use the printout bar code of the eVisa to access its details showing that it belongs to the passport holder, rather than using the passport information to access details of the eVisa to provide the match.

4 hours ago, MajorTom said:

Do you have any source for this? I'm not saying you are wrong, but I did research this a while ago and could not find a clear answer.

 

I did not try to fake anything when i applied for the e-visa. I used my Thai address as place of permanent residence. Did not pretend to be in the application country by changing IP etc.

 

I know at some point in the process you have to prove a local address. But I thought that's only if you are not a national of the country you apply in? Or to direct you to the correct consulate if you happen to apply in a country that has more than one Thai consulate/embassy?

For what its worth, here is my interaction with London Thai Embassy:

Me: 

After working out a plan that should work because of personal circumstances I will be doing a border run for the first time in eight years.  While I have done my first entry back to Thailand in 2 years (previous mix of O, O-A, Tourist and a few Visa exemptions over 12 years), arriving by plane this is the second border crossing for this calendar year.  Normally the advice would be that the second border run would be accepted. However immigration does have the power to reject through personal discretion - This is where best laid plans could fall apart and theory of what should work boils down to one person's judgement which is without accountability of why the second border runs is not acceptable.

I am only trying to understand my options if this situation occurs, not advice which is the best border to make the run.

I really am trying to understand where rejection (or warning of rejection) actually occurs in the process, between the four stages 1). Thailand Imm OUT 2). Border Country IN 3). Border Country OUT 4). Thailand Imm IN.

I am assuming that there is no situation where you can exit one country's border and be prevented from entering the next border since you would be stuck in no man's land. 

Is it normally the case that a warning is given before exiting Thailand (that a re-entry will fail)?

Or are you able to exit Thailand, enter the new country only to find you are then prevented from now exiting the new  country since you would not be allowed into Thailand? 

Finally in the event of failure is something added in your passport when exiting Thailand that can be seen at other points of entry?

I will be very near to Aranyaprathet around the time of my second 45 days visa exempt after arriving from UK on my first visa exempt and it would be very convenient to do a border hop at this same time.

This would not be normally my first choice but given the situation of my location it would be useful to gather some data in understanding If the Poipet border run is as bad as they say?

If it is a bad border hop - what is the most probable downside?

a) Refusal of the second Visa exempt (Also then what are the options when stuck in no mans land)

b) Payment of Tea money (Cambodian side) OR stay one night in Cambodia.

c) Payment of Tea money (Cambodian side) AND stay one night in Cambodia.

d) Only simple manageable scams that just needed watching out for.

I am assuming that if the Poipet border is really as bad as they say then because of a reasonable volume of people doing a run at this border there will be plenty of instances that demonstrate the norm.

3 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

Some people have applied for a e visa at a embassy or consulate in their home country and used it after leaving Thailand.

But I would not recommend doing it.

Thanks Joe,

Not recommended because it would be something that border / Airport  immigration are not used to managing and hence easier to reject or is that there is a specific issue that might make the visa void?

On 11/17/2022 at 2:31 PM, ubonjoe said:

Immigration cannot do it. It will require leaving and re-entering the country to get the 60 day stay from it.

Could this be used as a legitimate way to overcome the need to visit a border consulate i.e Apply for the tourist visa, then enter Visa exempt, then do a border run and use the visa?