daeng1212

Hi. I'm an American residing in Thailand on tourist visas and extensions. I'm planning to travel to Amsterdam in March for a couple of weeks, and then back to Thailand. At that point, I will have used up all three of my 30-day visa extensions (actually visa-exempt entries). (Details: got a Tourist Visa in Vientiane in September, extended one month in Maesai [in November], and will extend three more times in Maesai [December, January, and February].)

My plan is to fly from Amsterdam to Vientiane, Laos (to get a new tourist visa), transiting through Bangkok (but not entering Thailand). My question is: when transiting through Suvarnabhumi airport, will I have to go through Immigration? I don't think I can enter Thailand at that point with no tourist visa and having already used three visa exemptions in a 6-month period. I did a Thaivisa search on this topic, and found a couple of posts. It looks like maybe I won't have to go through Immigration, but I wanted to check and make sure.

If anyone can answer my question, I will appreciate it greatly.

Daeng

I just got back from a trip to Vientiane, Laos, to get a new tourist visa. I arrived at the Thai consulate at about 10:45 a.m. on Monday and it looked there were already about 150 to 200 people there. I got in line, which inched slowly forward, and by 12:00 I had gotten close to the desk. Unfortunately, I chose the slow line, and since the initial two lines changed into three lines halfway along (at the bend), some people who had initially been behind me (in another line) actually got to the desk before me. And then, a little after noon, with about 30 people remaining, they stopped taking applications, and said "Come back tomorrow!" As you can imagine, there were some very upset people, having waited in the sweltering heat for an hour and a half only to be turned away. Somebody got the consul outside to talk with us, and he said that if we came early the next morning (at opening time - 8:30), he'd try to get us processed on the same day, if possible. So those of us who stayed after to talk with the consul did that (I think some people had left before the consul came out). Most of us came very early (7:00 to 7:30 a.m.) and waited outside the gate until it opened at 8:30. After submitting our applications and paying for the visas inside, we were told we could pick up our passports that afternoon at 4 pm (an hour after normal closing time). Actually, most of us got them around 3:30. The guy who gave us our passports said "My boss told me to tell you that the next time he won't do this. You need to come earlier, especially on Monday and Thursday when many people come."

So be warned, though the gates may still close at noon, getting inside the gates no longer assures one of being able to submit their visa application that day! It seems that it's necessary to come as early as you can, especially on Mondays and Thursdays.

I would think any normal, well-organized consulate would close the gates early, when they had reached their capacity of applications received, rather than make people wait in the heat for an hour and a half, only to be turned away just as they finally got near the desk.

I made my semi-annual trip to Vientiane two weeks ago to get a new Tourist Visa. Everything went well, except that I wasn't able to get the Express Bus from Udonthani to Vientiane. They are now refusing to sell tickets to anyone who does not already have a Lao visa. Since (as far as I know) the Lao government is no longer issuing visas in Bangkok, and only sells them at the border, this means that no non-Thais/Laotians can use this bus (unless you can somehow get a Lao visa before you go to Udon). It's a shame because this bus is convenient and time-saving - just two hours from Udon to the Morning Market in Vientiane. I assume that the reason they're only selling tickets to holders of Lao visas is that they don't want their bus to get held up at the border waiting for you to get your Lao visa. So here's what I did instead: I was already at the old Udon Bus Station (I had taken a #7 songtaew from the new Udon bus station to the old station), so I caught the Rayong-Nongkhai AC bus, which stops at the old Udon bus station, to Nongkhai. Then I took a took-took to the Thai border at the bridge, a van from one side of the river to the other, and another van from the Lao border at the bridge to the Thai consulate. More complicated and more expensive, but if you can catch all four legs of this trip without any long waits, it only takes a couple of hours and can get you to the Thai consulate on time (before 11:30).

I think I read that the key is not to get back-to-back TV's but to visit a border in-between and get the 30-day freebie entry stamp. Look like a tourist -- not a pseudo-resident...

To Taking a Vacation - Thanks for your response. I do make the border runs in between tourist visas (three runs to Maesai, once a month, so I need to get a new tourist visa only every six months). So is your understanding that if I do that, the tourist visas I get (every six months) are not technically back-to-back? That would mean that I could get a new visa next March without any problem.

I can't speak with specific experience of Vientiane, Laos, but such was not the case in Penang. People had received warning stamps after 3 TV's irrespective of having done border runs in between or not.

Did you get a warning stamp in your passport? I would hazard a guess that you'll still get another visa if you haven't received that warning yet?

No warning stamp in Visa

I think I read that the key is not to get back-to-back TV's but to visit a border in-between and get the 30-day freebie entry stamp.

Look like a tourist -- not a pseudo-resident...

To Taking a Vacation - Thanks for your response. I do make the border runs in between tourist visas (three runs to Maesai, once a month, so I need to get a new tourist visa only every six months). So is your understanding that if I do that, the tourist visas I get (every six months) are not technically back-to-back? That would mean that I could get a new visa next March without any problem.

I read recently (in this post - http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=145389) that Vientiane, Laos is now limiting back-to-back tourist visas to two visas in a 12-month period. I got a tourist visa in Vientiane on April 3, 2007, and then got another tourist visa on Sept. 25, 2007 (last month). After extending this visa four times in Maesai, I will need to get another tourist visa on about March 16, 2008. Since that date is less than 12 months from when I got my 1st of 2 back-to-back tourist visas, does that mean that Vientiane would deny a request to give a tourist visa to me next March? If that's the case, I'll need to go to somewhere else (like Penang or Kunming).

Thanks for any help anyone can give.

I bought my dirt bike from a guy named Seksit at S.T. Motorcycle in Chiangrai (not Chiangmai), and he's given very good service in the three years since I bought the bike. I asked him once if he could recommend a place that does repairs on dirt bikes in Chiangmai, since I go there sometimes. He recommended a place called Daeng's (not sure of the spelling; it's the word for "red" in Thai). It's on the moat road that goes past DK bookstore, but it's before the bookstore. It's on your left just after Ta Pae Road dead ends (at Ta Pae Gate) and the road goes 90 degrees to the left. It's easy to miss, as the entrance is small. I've been there a few times, and they do rent out dirt bikes. I know they use Dunlop tires, which says a lot (many places use Vee Rubber or some other Thai-owned copy-tires, which are cheaper and not as good). Their repair rates (the couple of times I've checked prices with them or needed their services) were reasonable, and the people there are friendly. If you ever want to rent a dirt bike in Chiangrai, I'd recommend S.T. - just 50 meters to the east of the clock tower (now being renovated).

Hi. I have a Chinese friend (who lives in China) who wants to teach Chinese in Thailand. I myself teach English in another city in northern Thailand, and go to Chiangmai fairly regularly to buy books to use in my teaching. I'd like to visit some private Chinese language schools to see if my friend can apply for a teaching job with them. I've suggested to my friend that she avoid teaching in the public schools (I've tried this myself before) because of the very large classes, the misbehavior of many of the students, the low pay, and the difficulty of teaching children without any knowledge of Thai.

Can anyone help me by mentioning any private Chinese language tutorial schools they know of and telling me approximately where they're located? The one school I've visited so far is the Tai Hua school located near the Icon Computer Plaza.

Thanks for any help anyone can give.

Argue it - They will back down.

I ordered some software from US to Thailand a few weeks ago. Customs asked for 30% Import duty and 7% VAT before they released the item to me.

I refused to pay and checked the correct duty level for Computer Software CD for personal use. Amount of Duty should have been 3%.

I presented this to customs and indeed they amended the invoice to 3% Duty 7% VAT with a smile on their face....

But makes me wonder how many just pay the invoice.....

Dekka007 - where did you learn the correct duty charge for your software CD? It seems to me that it might be helpful if someone could post a link to a listing of Thai Customs regulations and rates for incoming mail. It also seems to me that charging for a returned package is incorrect. I've had some bad experiences with Customs myself, and have read that it's the most corrupt government branch in Thailand. Maybe a careful reading of Thai Customs regulations and rates would enable the poster to get their package back without having to pay the bribe - oops, I mean, the tax.

Just extended my stay for another 30 days with the Visa Exempt stamp at Maesai (after getting a tourist visa in Vientiane in early April and extending that on June 1 for 30 more days). No problems. I had heard that officials have been asking to see onward travel tickets at some places, and one person had recommended buying a train ticket from Bangkok to Butterworth, and then cashing it in for an 80% refund after doing the extension. So I stopped in to see a travel agent I know in Chiangrai a few weeks ago and asked him if I could buy a train ticket, and he said that train tickets could no longer be purchased in Chiangrai, and that I'd have to go to Chiangmai to do that. When I explained my situation to him, he said that some officials at Maesai weren't asking to see an onward travel ticket, and if they did, I could just tell them I planned to go to Laos (in which case a plane ticket would not be needed). Or, he said, I could make a plane trip reservation (no cost), get the print-out to show the Immigration officials, and then let the reservation cancel automatically (no money spent). So I did that - made a reservation for a trip to Kunming on July 24, which will cancel automatically 15 days before the trip. However, at Maesai today, no one asked to see any proof of onward travel.

Hello All, I spent the first 4 months of this year (2 lots of 2 month trips on a tourist stamp with a 30 day extension visa run on each trip - went back to UK briefly in march) My time in thailand was Jan 2 - march 9 and march 15 - May 2. My question is: Can I go back at the end of this month?

On the Laos border I noticed that your only allowed 90 days in thailand out of any 6 months and thought I was gonna get stuck in laos but the thai girl i was with said she could sort it no problem (I'd already been in thailand for around 90 days and was after another 30 day extention. She sorted it no problem.

So it appears there is no centralised database because had no problem leaving at the airport either. Can I fly out at the end of this month from the UK for a few weeks I wonder...?

cheers

I won't suggest you arrive with visa exempt entry. Last time an officer at passport control desk rejected a British woman because she got 3 stamps in row on her passport even all together it was less than 90 days. Better you post your application to Thai consular in Hull by Royal Mail......pay fee by credit card. You will get it day after it arrives the consular

I don't see why you couldn't come in on a visa-exempt stamp. Even if they count times instead of days (though they're supposed to count days), you've only renewed your visa twice by the visa-exempt stamp, right? The only thing is, if you'd want to stay longer than 30 days, you'd either have to risk trying to get another visa-exempt stamp, or else go out of the country to get a new tourist visa.

P.S. Thanks to "A Traveller" for your replies and efforts to help.

Problem is fixed now. I finally went to the local TT&T office and told them about the problem (should've done that first thing). They tried to access the website from their office, and couldn't get into it, so they called the main office and got it fixed within 24 hours. (I assume the problem was with the Maxnet configuration in Phayao, where I live.) One thing I like about smaller towns - people are friendlier and customer service is better than the bigger towns and cities.

ok. I figured out how to save the tracert I ran in Windows command. Here are the results:'

Tracing route to global.worldfriends.tv.ngrs.net [71.19.216.254]

over a maximum of 30 hops:

1 1 ms 1 ms 1 ms 192.168.1.1

2 134 ms 57 ms 133 ms 58.147.0.50

3 129 ms 53 ms * 10.122.50.250

4 75 ms 231 ms 75 ms 10.121.20.1

5 * * * Request timed out.

6 102 ms 145 ms 201 ms 58.147.0.52

7 76 ms 255 ms 75 ms 58.147.0.46

8 651 ms 619 ms 643 ms 202.47.254.161

9 577 ms 543 ms 575 ms 202.47.253.134

10 408 ms 617 ms 401 ms 203.131.243.57

11 397 ms 793 ms 701 ms ge-2-3-0.r00.newthk01.hk.bb.gin.ntt.net [203.131.240.205]

12 672 ms 649 ms 563 ms as-1.r20.snjsca04.us.bb.gin.ntt.net [129.250.2.34]

13 830 ms 691 ms 641 ms xe-1-4.r02.snjsca04.us.bb.gin.ntt.net [129.250.2.29]

14 782 ms 445 ms 779 ms as-1.r21.snjsca04.us.bb.gin.ntt.net [129.250.3.197]

15 973 ms 459 ms 773 ms ae-0.r20.snjsca04.us.bb.gin.ntt.net [129.250.2.96]

16 526 ms * 752 ms xe-1-4.r02.snjsca04.us.bb.gin.ntt.net [129.250.2.29]

17 748 ms 693 ms 613 ms xe-0.internap.snjsca04.us.bb.gin.ntt.net [129.250.12.82]

18 392 ms 587 ms 531 ms vip215-sjc-pnap.netli.net [71.19.216.254]

Trace complete.

- Daeng

From the location {your own computer? you mention cafes hence the question} assuming on Windows, run a command window and use tracert post the results here, maybe someone can shed light on this.

A consistent issue here is that there's always some fiddling around with routes etc., and often one provider, or even one part of the providers network can't access sites or services.

Might be worth adding OpenDNS as you defined name-servers, this can help overcome up-cocks, but not blocks per se.

OpenDNS

Regards

PS Am able to see site from BKK on True ADSL with OpenDNS

/edit add PS //

Thanks for your reply to my post. I'm new to the tracert thing, but when I tried traceroute for the www.tracert.com site, I got this reply:

traceroute to global.worldfriends.tv.ngrs.net (71.19.160.254), 30 hops max, 40 byte packets

1 vlan250.lon-service6.Melbourne.telstra.net (203.50.2.177) 0.28 ms 0.298 ms 0.221 ms

2 TenGigabitEthernet8-1.lon55.Melbourne.telstra.net (203.50.80.65) 0.31 ms 0.338 ms 0.214 ms

3 g0-2-0-0.bdr4.mel.connect.com.au (203.8.183.122) 0.326 ms 0.37 ms 0.376 ms

4 ge-0-1-1.dst2.mel.connect.com.au (203.63.170.190) 0.418 ms 0.369 ms 0.368 ms

5 so-3-0-0.cre1.mel.connect.com.au (202.10.0.133) 0.475 ms 0.386 ms 0.517 ms

6 as0.cre1.bur.connect.com.au (202.10.0.65) 0.8 ms 0.824 ms 0.771 ms

7 so-5-1-0.cre1.hay.connect.com.au (202.10.0.250) 14.21 ms 14.322 ms 14.196 ms

8 so-0-0-0.bdr5.hay.connect.com.au (202.10.4.98) 14.866 ms 14.161 ms 14.319 ms

9 g0-3-0-4.sybr5.global-gateway.net.nz (203.96.117.69) 14.587 ms 14.348 ms 14.474 ms

10 * * *

11 * * *

12 vip215-syd-pccw.netli.net (71.19.160.254) 14.466 ms 14.35 ms 14.326 ms

I don't know if that indicates that it connected to the site or not; I had to choose a traceroute server from their list, so I just chose the first one, since it was in Australia, which isn't too far away.

I also tried doing a tracert via "Run" -->"cmd"-->"tracert" and the trace did reach the website, but I didn't see any way to copy the results so I could list them here.

I tried using OpenDNS, and changed my DNS settings in Internet Options as they recommended, but was unable to change the DNS settings in my router (Maxnet) because I couldn't find any place in the router preferences where two DNS addresses were listed together. After rebooting, I was still not able to access the website.

-Daeng

I am unable to access one website that I am a member of (japanpersonals.meta4-group.com). When I try to access this website, I get the following message:

Network Error (tcp_error). A communication error occurred: "Operation timed out" The Web Server may be down, too busy, or experiencing other problems preventing it from responding to requests. You may wish to try again at a later time. For assistance, contact your network support team.

This is the only website that I am unable to access. Occasionally, I get the "Network Error (tcp_error)" message when I try to enter other websites, but after trying again a couple of times, I am always able to get into the website. I use a TT&T Maxnet router. I've tried many things to try to solve this problem, including turning off my firewall, running my computer with only the basic, necessary running processes (in case any programs were blocking the site), doing a special port forwarding for port 80 (http), and changing my router MTU value from 1500 to 1428. I wrote to japanpersonals, and they just suggested that I delete cookies and files via Internet Options-general, which also did not solve the problem. I live in Payao, and when at internet cafes in other towns (Chiangmai, Chiangrai, Chiangkhong) I have been able to access this site. Can anyone help?

"1) If you plan to take the bus that goes from Udonthani directly to the Morning Market in Vientiane (there's also a direct bus from Nongkhai to the Morning Market), it's best to get your Lao visa ahead of time, (though I don't know if the Lao Embassy in Bangkok is issuing them or not)."

No need really to take that bus to Talad Sao , just take the bus from Udon Thani Airport to the friendship bridge (150 baht, 1 hour) the bus doens't go to Nong Khai first, so no need for a tuk tuk, then take the bus across the bridge (15 baht), then get your visa, and take a taxi directly to the Thai embassy for about 250 baht. Total time required, about 2 hours and that includes waiting for your visa and entering Laos.

I actually think that the BKK lao embassy still issues visas, but why would anyone bother nowadays, it takes a whole lot longer then getting one at the border. Even with the express fee, it still takes about two hours to get the visa, not to mention the time required to get there.

Thanks for this information. It's a way to not be rushed to get the Lao visa at the border, but it is quite a bit more expensive. The direct bus from Udon to the morning market in Vientiane is just 80 baht for the bus - and it's a nice new air-con bus, and then 40 baht for the tuk-tuk to the embassy . The way you've suggested totals up to 415 baht, although if you substitute the local songtaaw for the taxi from the border to the embassy, it'd probably come out to about 240 baht.

Anyway, where does the bus from Udon to the friendship bridge depart from?

Great idea, I absolutely love Vientiane, it's such a contrast with Bangkok (which I equalle love by the way).

Anyway to get there from Bangkok, fastest way is to take Air Asia or Nok Air into Udon Thani, take the minibus to the friendship bridge (1 hour, 150 baht) then take the bus that will take you over the bridge (7 minutes, 15 baht) and get your visa, (1500 baht and a photo, or if you don't have those an additional 50 baht) Of course paying with USD is cheaper, since the exchange rate to the baht is very favourable for Laos, it's 35 USD for most nationalities. Then you just take a taxi to either the embassy or to your hotel first (250 baht 25 minutes).

I myself have stayed at the Lao-Paris hotel in thanon Samsenthai, basic rooms with aircon for about 550 baht per night, you are right in the center, close to the river. Another option would be the Khamhoun hotel on Lane Xang avenue, close to Talad Sao (morning market) I got the big family room for 800 baht, but they have cheaper options, it's also not far from the thai embassy, which is past the Patuxai (famous vientiane landmark, which you can't miss from the hotel). But if you plan to stay for several days, I would go to the Lao-paris hotel since it's closer to the temples and river. Do go to the river and get some food along the river, great Lao food at rock bottom prices, and the best beer in South east asia is readily available at around 7000 to 9000 kip

Anoter question then.. Im going from chiang mai to chiang kong with bus, then taking the boat over the river but then what? do i go by boat or bus to vientiene?

and how long does it take?

It'd be best to go from Chiangmai to Udonthani - the VIP bus is best if you take the overnight bus and if you want to have any leg room. You might check the prices at airasia.com for a plane from Chiangmai - Bangkok - Udonthani; I don't think it's a lot more expenseive than the VIP bus. If you go over the border at Chiangkhong, (I think the Lao town across the river is Houixay), I think the roads and busses from there to Vientiane are not very good. I've heard it can be done, but it'd probably take a lot longer.

Please tell me..

I have decided to go to Vientiane Laos to get a new tourist visa. I had 60 days, went to immigration office to get 30 more days, did 3 visa runs to Maesai and now I have to go a thai embassy or immigration office or what the name is..

Where is that place in Vientiane?

Is Vientiane a easy place to get a new Visa? ( I was told Cambodia was the worst..)

Can someone recommend a goos place to stay for a capital of days?

Glad for every little piece of information I can get.

Tahlin - see my post today (Apr.4) called "Successful Visa Run to Vientiane"

I just successfully got a tourist visa in Vientiane, Laos yesterday, but I did run into a couple of problems that I thought I should warn folks about. I arrived in Udonthani (from northern Thailand) at about 7:00 a.m. My hope was to get to the Thai consulate in Vientiane before 11:00 (the time I had read at a thaivisa.com post that the consulate office stopped receiving applications), so that I could pick up my visa the next day. For those wanting to go from Udonthani to Vientiane, there is now a direct air-con bus that leaves the main bus terminal (#1) in Udonthani (departure times are 8 a.m., 10:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 2 p.m., 4 p.m., 6 p.m.), and takes about two hours to get to the bus station at the Morning Market (ตลาดเช้า) in Vientiane. (This is much more convenient than before this bus ran, when one had to take a bus from Udonthani to Nongkhai, then a tuk-tuk or songtaaw to the border, then a bus over the border, then either a taxi or songtaaw to get into Vientiane town.) My plan was to buy my Lao visa at the border, since I had been told by a travel agent in Chiangrai that the Lao Embassy in Bangkok is no longer doing Lao visas, and that they must be purchased at the Thai-Lao border. After I got on the bus, the bus attendant checked my passport, and when he saw that I didn't yet have a Lao visa, he said (in Thai) "It'll probably take a while for you to buy the Lao visa at the border, and this bus won't wait for you". So I told him I'd try to get it as quickly as possible. Fortunately, there wasn't a long line to get the Lao visas and it didn't take too long, and the bus attendant was helpful in getting me into the shortest line and getting a form for me to go through Lao Immigration, and I didn't get left behind.

I got to the Thai embassy by tuk-tuk (almost all the tuk-tuk drivers overcharge, so it takes some hard-bargaining to get a reasonable fare) by 10:30 a.m. On the back of the form were listed what was needed to get a tourist visa - a passport with at least 6 months left on it, two color photos, 1000 baht, and a copy of the passport. I was prepared for everything except the copy of the passport. At the numerous posts I've read at thaivisa.com about getting a tourist visa in Laos, I don't ever remember reading anything about a copy of the passport. I asked some others in line, and a few other people hadn't gotten a copy of their passport, either, so I decided to chance it. When I got near the front of the line, I saw that a young women who, like me, hadn't gotten her passport photocopied, had to go get that done. It was now close to 11:30, so I asked the guy I was chatting with to hold my place in line, and went racing out of the consulate to find a copy machine. There's a building to the immediate right of the main consulate building (it may be part of the consulate itself) where some enterprising (maybe "mercenary" is a better word) Laos were taking advantage of those like me who hadn't gotten their passport copied, asking for between 30 - 50 baht for two copied sheets (the page with your picture on it, and the page with your Lao visa). I found one guy who said he'd do it for 30 baht, and since I was in a rush, paid the exorbitant fee. Shortly after I got back into the consulate compound, the gates were locked (around 11:30).

I encountered one other matter that almost became a problem when I discovered that my Lao departure card had gone missing. When the official stamped it at the border, she just stuck it inside the passport (not like the Thai officials who will staple it in); I had heard that if you lose that card, you'll get held up at the border (maybe fined as well - I'm not sure), and I had an early evening bus I needed to catch in Udonthani for northern Thailand. Fortunately, I found the card in my back pants pocket. Whew!

So, lessons learned:

(1) If you plan to take the bus that goes from Udonthani directly to the Morning Market in Vientiane (there's also a direct bus from Nongkhai to the Morning Market), it's best to get your Lao visa ahead of time, (though I don't know if the Lao Embassy in Bangkok is issuing them or not).

(2) You need a photocopy of two pages of your passport, as described above.

(3) Don't misplace your Lao departure card. It's best to take it out of your passport before you turn in your passport to the Thai Consulate, and put it somewhere safe.

P.S. for Tahlin - (1) Vientiane, Laos is just across the border from Nongkhai in northeastern Thailand; The Thai Consulate in Vientiane is about a 3 km tuk-tuk drive from the Morning Market; (2) it does appear that's it's easy to get a tourist visa there. There must have been over 100 people who submitted their forms (though some were for other kinds of visas) on the day that I was there, and it looked like everyone was getting their visas ok; (3) there are lots of places to stay in Vientiane, depending on how much you want to pay; since Vientiane is usually sweltering, I've ended up staying at the Phone Paseuth Guesthouse (pronouned "Pawn Pasert", or พรประเสริฐ); it's kind of expensive - 600 baht per day - but it's clean, and the air-con, hot shower, and tv (with cable) all work well.

I read Keenok's post at the "Enforcement of 90 out of 180 days" topic, and, as I was in Mae Sai today, decided to check out the exact wording on the new visa law as it's posted at the Immigration booth at the Mae Sai - Takilek border. I copied down the section on Visa Exemption (often called "Visa On Arrival"). Here it is in Thai and English:

กรณียกเว้น VISA

อนุญาตให้ผู้ถือหนังสือเดินทางหรือเอกสารใช้แทนหนังสือเดินทางจาก 39 ประเทศ

ตามที่กำหนด สามารถเข้ามาในราชอาณาจักรได้ โดยไม่ต้องขอ VISA ล่วงหน้า

โดยอนุญาตให้อยู่ในราชอาณาจักรได้ ครั้งละไม่เกิน 30 วัน รวมแล้วไม่เกิน 90 วัน

นับแต่วันแรกที่เดินทางเข้ามาในราชอาณาจักรภายในรอบระยะเวลา 6 เดือน

VISA EXEMPTION

Passport holders from 39 exempted countries will be able to enter into the Kingdom of Thailand without visa and remain in Thailand for 30 days per each visit. However, the total duration of stay should not exceed 90 days within a six month period, counting from the date of first entry.

This section is the fourth of five sections in the overal document, as follows:

(1) Principle and Reason

(2) Decentralization (includes this line: “…law officers at operational level will be more

authorized to make the decision making…”)

(3) Extension for Business

(4) Visa Exemption

(5) Tourist Visa

So, from the way this is written, it seems clear that the "90 days out of 180" restriction refers only to Visa Exemption (Visa On Arrival) and not to tourist visas. The main part of Keenok's post reads:

"i have just been to immigration in jomtien to extend my tourist visa.

visa history since october 1st is:

oct 29 enter on 30 day visa exempt at suvarnabhmi

nov27 exit at nong khai (30 days up)

dec 4 enter at nong khai on tourist visa (60 days given,expire on 1 feb)

jan 26 extension at jomtien(30 day extension given to expire on3 mar)

the officer told me he could grant me a further 7 days in case of emergency,otherwise at the end of my extension i will have to leave for 3 months!!!!!.")

Keenok, I think that officer is mistaken. If I were you, I'd try to do a 30-day visa extension (wherever is nearest you - Cambodia?), but be prepared to leave the country if they don't allow it, that is, have arrangements made so you can pack up and leave in 7 days if necessary. I have a hunch that the can get the 30-day visa extension. If not, you can probably get another 90 day tourist visa in Penang (60 days extendable to 90), if you want to shell out the money for that. Air Asia has really cheap flights to Penang. If you book online at www.airasia.com it's a lot cheaper than going through a travel agent.

now i really am getting pissed off with the inconsintencies here. i have just been to immigration in jomtien to extend my tourist visa. visa history since october 1st is:

oct 29 enter on 30 day visa exempt at suvarnabhmi

nov27 exit at nong khai (30 days up)

dec 4 enter at nong khai on tourist visa (60 days given,expire on 1 feb)

jan 26 extension at jomtien(30 day extension given to expire on3 mar)

the officer told me he could grant me a further 7 days in case of emergency,otherwise at the end of my extension i will have to leave for 3 months!!!!!. this makes no sense to me at all. theyre making it up as they go along i think.its going to be the same old story ,its going to be up to the INDIVIDUAL you deal with and how they interpret it.

It looks like the official is counting the days you spent in Thailand on the tourist visa as part of the 90 days in 180. That's not right, is it? My understanding was that the 90 in 180 rule (you can be in Thailand for only 90 days in a 180 day period) applies only to the 30-day border stamp extension. Did the official make a mistake? Could it be appealed somewhere? This situation applies to me - and probably to a lot of others. I was in Thailand after Oct. 1 for about 80 days on 30-day border extensions, and then got a tourist visa in Penang in mid-December. My plan is that after the tourist visa is extended and then expires (after 88 days), that I would then get 3 30-day extensions at Maesai before getting my next tourist visa. Will this work?

Does anyone know of a decent restaurant or cafe that sells Indian food in Chiangrai? I saw one by the Udomrak massage place (in the soi between Pizza Company and the street with the beer bars) a while back but it's not there anymore.

No it has gone unfortunately.... I think it only lasted about 3 months or so.

I too am a big Indian fan and we can only hope that one comes along soon..

ITR

ok - thanks for your response.

Does anyone know of a decent restaurant or cafe that sells Indian food in Chiangrai? I saw one by the Udomrak massage place (in the soi between Pizza Company and the street with the beer bars) a while back but it's not there anymore.

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