kharmabum

if thai immigration has an official policy of only allowing 3 visa exempt entries per year, or x number of months per year allowed in country, then they should tell people when they get their 3rd entry "sorry, but this will be your last one for at least a year. enjoy your time in thailand",then stamp their passport to make it official. they don't do that. they give no warning and then pull people into a room and scream and insult them. they did this to my wife also at don muang. although they didn't accuse her of being a prostitute. and at least it was all women immigration officers doing the screaming. they kept saying to her "you don't pay taxesin thailand!" she kept saying "i don't workin thailand, and i spend money in thailand", but they only cared about taxes, probably because that is what pays their salaries.

i recieved a response from the embassy, the extra documants(family registry and bank book/translated and notarized) is only for the multiple entry tourist visa. They still offer a single entry that costs about 35$(40,000 won) and all you need to apply is a passport, copy of passport, photo, confirmed air ticket. I was confused because their website doesn't have this information or even mention the single entry tourist visa, all their information is about the multiple entry.

I want to thank everybody who responded. Now I know I can extend a 30 day visa free entry for another 30 days,

RE:How do they know you are married?

They can know your residency status to the country in which the embassy is located because that country's visa stamp would appear in your passport.

i emailed them, hopefuly I get a response. I'm sure they have their reasons for all the rules. And I've had to jump through all these hoops before in korea. I actually had to gather many of the same documants when I got married and applied for permanent residency here. I just never thought I'd have to do it all over again just to get a Thai TOURIST visa!LOL

I bet these budget airlines are making a killing from people buying onward tickets they never use.

thanks everybody. really good info. please let me pick yer brains some more...

so obviously, without a visa, i'll need to have a return ticket to get on the plane and then be allowed in thailand,

but what if I have an open ended return so it doesn't show the return date, which I will choose AFTER i have entered thailand, but BEFORE I go to immigration office to get it extended. does that work? or will they insist the return half of my ticket be prebooked?

i can get vis free entry for 30 days, but i really wanted to stay longer. can i really extend a 30 day visa free entry for another 30 days? I've been out of the loop for the past 2 years so I'm not up to speed. didn't it used to be possible to extend for only 10 days?

I'm an American citizen, but I live in Korea. My wife is korean and I have permanent residency in Korea. I wanted to spend a few months in Thailand, so I go to the Thai Embassy in Korea website and click on the link for tourist visa. First of all, there is no longer any information about single entry, double entry etc.. there is only a page for multiple entry and it costs 170,000 won, or about $150. I want a single entry so i can stay 2 months,maybe three months if i extend it. then i read on and find out that people like me, a foreigner living in korea who is married to a local now needs to provide an original copy of the official family registry, and a translated copy, have them notarized by a lawyer, and then certified by another government office. I also need to provide a copy of my bank book, in ENGLISH! and then have that notarized by a lawyer. where does one go to get a bank book translated? i would have thought the numbers were obvious.

All this for a tourist visa. What the heck is going on here? Are they trying to create so much paperwork that people just give up and make other plans?

coming to siem reap from chiang mai soon for an extended stay.  if anyone could answer some questions it would be greatly appreciated.

 

1. Is it safe to brush your teeth with tap water? 

2. how much are sneakers there?   in chiang mai you can pick up a pair of reebok runners for about 1200 baht(40$). should i buy here or can i get there similar price?

3. can my wife get tampons there?  or should she stock up in chiang mai?

4. are there any places to get fresh vegetable juice(beet, carrot, wheatgrass..etc..)if so how much?

 

 

thanks in advance.

 

 

information recieved today from Vongbali who works at the thai consulate in bali...

1. they now require the visa fee be paid in indonesian rupiah. the price i was quoted for a triple entry was 1.680.000. at todays exchange rate that comes to around $145 US.

2. an outbound ticket is required for each entry and the date of ticket should fall within the validity of each entry.

thank you.

so i would need to show 3 tickets out for a triple entry tourist visa? or 3 tickets IN and OUT?

this is a tad frustrating. don't they realize that people can easily/cheaply leave via a land border?

and if it's possible for them to be 90 days apart, that would make the third exit well past the 180 day validity date of the visa itself. is that not a problem?

just checking...

does thai consulate in bali still issue triple entry tourist visas?

must i pay the 120$ in US dollars or do they accept indonesian currency and/or thai baht? if so, how much would it be in those currencies?

anything else i should bring besides...

1.passport

2.copy of passport

3.photos

4.money

5.copy of plane ticket out of thailand at anytime during the visa's validity

thank you

ever see airlines(air asia/bangkok air) advertise big sales only to find that those cheap tickets are no longer available even though the sale just started that day? is it possible that even though you can no longer book a ticket at the sale price yourself some travel agencies still can because they have blocks of tickets reserved already? i was just wondering if it was worth my while to pop into a few travel agencies and try to get a good price or not.

specifically, i want to fly from chiang mai to koh samui in april, but don't want to pay 5,600 bht. one way. seeings how they are advertising a sale price of 3,600 baht for that time.

thanx.

btw, it's been my experience that with nok air some travel agencies ALWAYS beat the online price offered by a few hundred baht. but be careful, because some travel agencies will double the price of the same ticket.

is there somewhere i can rent a safety deposit box besides a bank?

thanks in advance

does immigraition require plane ticket to extend tourist visa?

also, do you need to show plane ticket when applying for a thai tourist visa in laos?

also, do you need to show plane ticket when doing a visa run/mae sai/to enact the second part of a double entry tourist visa?

thanks in advance

i was looking through some old photpgraphs with my wife of the first time we visited chiang mai, more than 10 years ago, and came across some pics that reminded me of all the great restaurants there used to be. so it got me wondering if maybe some of the owners of those restaurants opened new ones that were just as good, but under a different name or different place. specifically, i wish i could eat the pizza from 'OK PIzza', a little place that used to be located at the main intersection of the night bizaar, in the same complex as mcdonalds. also, there used to be a place on lacrois called 'mango tree' that made the best breakfasts around.

if the OP were to fly out of thailand on a round trip ticket, would he be able to use the return without an onward ticket?

looking for options/links to mid range places that offer good rates on long term stays. preferably around nimanhaemin, but if you know of a gem in another area, go ahead and mention it . signing a 3 month contract is no problem. don't want to have to furnish the place with bed/tv/closet etc... so basic furnishings a must. figuring in the 6,000-10,000 baht per month range?(not including utilities)

last time I was in chiangmai i stayed at the dome residence. it wasn't bad, and right now I consider it my backup plan, but hoping to find something with a little more character that offers better value.

thank you for your time.

if you were to do a visa run to mai sae or chiang kong, get your exit stamp from thai immigration, then go stand on the bridge(mai sae) without techinically entering myanmar, or hang out at the boat launch in chiang kong(without crossing over into laos), and then head on back to thai immigration for your entry stamp, would that work? or is it not allowed? just checking.

i've never heard so many people use the phrase "cheap charlie" so effortlessly. isn't that expresssion from the roaring 1920's flapper era? anyway, sorry some of you think i'm such a "cheap charlie". i'd rather you think of me as "the cats pajamas". peace out. man. that's 1960's hippie lexicon.

i think i've found a solution to my dilemma. after finding out songthauw drivers earn only 10$ a day on this thread i had an idea. i walked outside and woke one up who was sleeping in the back of his truck. i think he was still drunk, but i when he heard what i had to say he sobered right up. i offered him a job for 11$ a day to be my personel shaufer and drive me to and from the country club each day. and the best part is i will now have more than enough space for my titanium golf clubs without any annoying kids taking up premium bench space and making me late for tee off because THEY needed to be dropped off at school!LOL

thanks to everyone who contributed such valuable information about how songtauws work in chiangmai and pattaya and bangkok. and oh, i almost forgot. that hellodolly guy gave me a great idea and i've already sold the rights. coming soon.. an iphone app that will use gps to lead you through the mistifyingly complex world of pattaya baht bus routes,from noklua all way to walking street!( incuding a built in breathalizer!)

The question should be why is public transportation so easy and cheap in Chiang Mai and while cheap in Pattaya a mystery as how to use it.

yeah, those bus routes in pattaya are one of the great mysteries of the universe. right up there with 'why is there something rather than nothing?'LOL

once i stayed in noklua for the whole 60 days of my visa because i couldn't figure out how to get to the beach.

For some strange reason I believe you.

By the way the $10 a day just pays their expenses unlike where ever you come from people need food and clothing here plus shelter.

so they earn 10$ a day and that 10$ "just pays their expenses"? so they work for free? and people in thailand need food and shelter and clothing too? i thought they just ate free mangosteens growing wild and slept in rent free thatch huts in the forest where they walk around naked except when they have to come downtown to serve us beer and american breakfasts. oh well. learn something new everyday.

Again, it's a case of tightwad cheap charlies trying to save every baht at the expense of people earning about $10 a day.

As was already explained, the Pattaya busses are running a set route.

they only earn 10$ a day? so they only get 15 passengers a day? i'm so sorry. i didn't know.

i'm plenty used to them. i just can't fathom why they are so much more expensive in chiangmai than in pataya and bangkok, when everything else is cheaper in chiangmai.

Well, Jeremy, I just explained it. It's the difference between a taxi and a bus. You'll only get the higher 40 or 60 baht quote if its a long distance and there aren't any other passengers on board.

sorry i misunderstood. i thought you wrote that they could charge as much as 60 with other passengers already on board, and as much as 150 if you charter it solo.

anyway, i try and walk most places to save money and get excercise at the same time. plus, my wife is usually with me so if we go far we usually pay the extra 20 and take a tuk tuk for about 60 and feel like a king and queen riding around the moat.

btw, who is jeremy?

The question should be why is public transportation so easy and cheap in Chiang Mai and while cheap in Pattaya a mystery as how to use it.

yeah, those bus routes in pattaya are one of the great mysteries of the universe. right up there with 'why is there something rather than nothing?'LOL

once i stayed in noklua for the whole 60 days of my visa because i couldn't figure out how to get to the beach.

The Chiang Mai Red Taxis work a lot better once you're used to them.

i'm plenty used to them. i just can't fathom why they are so much more expensive in chiangmai than in pataya and bangkok, when everything else is cheaper in chiangmai. and i don't know where you're being charged 60 baht for a ride with other people on board. unless it's from CMU to doi suthep.LOL