WitekM

My opinion isn't really important. However it seems they are weeding people out that are mainly on back to back visa waivers. I would do what you plan and keep myself updated on the situation. That doesn't sound unreasonable though. It shows a reasonable pattern of what a normal tourist does. Maybe others can weigh in but perhaps get the Thai tourist visa in Laos as it is less hassle if the time frame permits this.

Thanks your your opinion but I already got non-refundable ticket back to Europe (Aeroflot to Moscow and then Warsaw). My plan is quite simple. I go to Thailand on the 25th of October. I also got my AirAsia ticket to Myanmar for the 23rd of November. Therefore I want to spend 2-3 days in Bangkok, go overland to Laos (get Visa on Arrival), then overland to Vietnam (already got VISA), then the same way to Cambodia. In Laos or Cambodia apply for a tourist Visa to Thailand. Get to Thailand, the next day is my flight to Myanmar, back in Bangkok after 10 days. Then 2 weeks in Thailand and back to Europe. Seems reasonable?

If you leave Thailand (to Laos) and try to re-enter (from Cambodia) 28 days later, will you be denied entry without VISA?

That would depend on your "visa" history ...............

Why would anyone wish to enter without a visa ?

I have never travelled to Thailand before. Also, why would I get VISA if I got return / onward travel tickets and I am allowed to travel on visa exemption.

Because they are saying you will probably be refused if you don't.

Ok, let's say I fly to Thailand from Europe, get 30 days, then travel overland to Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia. In Cambodia apply for tourist VISA. Get back to Thailand, fly to Myanmar, fly back to Bangkok (having return ticket to Europe). What do you think ?

If you leave Thailand (to Laos) and try to re-enter (from Cambodia) 28 days later, will you be denied entry without VISA?

That would depend on your "visa" history ...............

Why would anyone wish to enter without a visa ?

I have never travelled to Thailand before. Also, why would I get VISA if I got return / onward travel tickets and I am allowed to travel on visa exemption.

If you leave Thailand (to Laos) and try to re-enter (from Cambodia) 28 days later, will you be denied entry without VISA?

Who cares?

Just fly to Singapore and return back the same day.

I for one care. The last thing I want to do is find myself not being allowed in at some land border with a proper Tourist Visa issued by an embassy and paid for.

If that will be the case I would like some clarification, so that at least I know I have to fly out or look at other solutions.

I would learn to read first before applying for any visa.

A Thaivisa member says checkpoints along the Thai-Cambodian border, as well as the Phu Nam Ron checkpoint at Kanchanaburi, are no longer stamping 15 or 30 day waiver stamps, but are accepting those with a valid Multiple Entry Non-O or Tourist Visa.

Yeah, and another poster was saying that his son got refused on a valid tourist visa valid until the 15th of December. Unless that person is trolling, what am I supposed to understand?

Do you need VISA if flying back to Bangkok from Cambodia?

No, I had no prearranged visa. Just showed up 3 months ago at Suvarnabhumi and today at Nong Khai.

i wanted to leave thailand overland to laos and get voa at Nong Khai.

Not a problem to get a VOA at Nong Khai, but you should get a Tourist Visa from Laos in order to return to Thailand. Time will tell if they are preventing people with Tourist Visas from entering. The problem appears to be people with Visa Exemptions who try to re-enter. I haven't perused the thread, so someone might correct me.

Ok thank you. Does the same rule apply if you enter Thailand by air? If you fly from Europe or Myanmar you also need VISA?

No, I had no prearranged visa. Just showed up 3 months ago at Suvarnabhumi and today at Nong Khai.

i wanted to leave thailand overland to laos and get voa at Nong Khai.

I just showed up with myself and my passport 3 months ago at Suvarnabhumi and again today at Nong Khai. Hadn't arranged a visa beforehand.

A bit of perhaps useful trivia for anyone entering Laos: I didn't check today, but it's been true for years that if you're from the U.S. or some European countries, they charge you $30- $35 cash to enter Laos. But if you want to pay in Thai money, it's been the equivalent of $50 in baht! (Plus today it was an extra $1 as it was Sunday.) So bring U.S. cash.

so you were able to get Visa on Arrival to Laos (from Thailand), right?

I just showed up with myself and my passport 3 months ago at Suvarnabhumi and again today at Nong Khai. Hadn't arranged a visa beforehand.

A bit of perhaps useful trivia for anyone entering Laos: I didn't check today, but it's been true for years that if you're from the U.S. or some European countries, they charge you $30- $35 cash to enter Laos. But if you want to pay in Thai money, it's been the equivalent of $50 in baht! (Plus today it was an extra $1 as it was Sunday.) So bring U.S. cash.

so you were able to get Visa on Arrival to Laos (from Thailand), right?

Ling Kae

That does not appear to be a simple case of "refusal".

Read the whole thread and , in particular, post number 18

it does not make any sense. Why would anyone stop you from leaving Thailand and getting Visa-on-Arrival to Laos?

I tried a visa run in Nong Khai today. At first my visa was approved and stamped. Then the officer looks at me and says, "You cannot come back into Thailand"!!! He cancels my visa and gives me back the passport. Tells me to go to a room behind me and to the side.

Some details: I entered Thailand at Suvarnabhumi three months ago. Got a 30 day tourist visa on entry. Then went to Immigration and got a 2 month extension as I am married to a Thai. After getting turned down today, I phoned my wife who came and talked with the officers in the back room. The guy was speaking Thai but sounded like he was going on and on about how you can no longer just go back and forth across the border and instead you have to get a visa before entering.

We are leaving the country later this month, and scheduled to return in December. An Immigration officer we know tells my wife they'll let me in again at Suvarnabhumi, but I'm worried- if they stopped me at Nong Khai, probably they'll stop me at the airport. And it would be really a bummer! So while I'm in America, I'm going to apply for a Non-Immigrant "O" Visa (Family Visa) $200 for multiple entries for one year. A lot of money, but don't want to go through this again.

So you are allowed to leave Thailand by land in Nong Khai if you want to get visa-on-arrival to Laos? You just need Thai Visa to get back? Do you need VISA when flying into Thailand?

The Thai Consulate in Birmingham UK have posted a notice that the Thai Authoritihave changed the way in which they deal with tourists entering Thailand for up to 30 days without a valid visa and have given some explanation to try and clarify some of the resulting confusion

"The most important point to understand is that this Only affects people who do not have a valid visa." It is clearly stated that if you have a valid visa you are not affected.

The visa exemption applies only if 1) you hold a qualifying passport, 2) you are visiting as tourist ONLY, 3) you have a confirmed air ticket to leave the Kingdom within 30 days DIRECT FROM A THAI AIRPORT). You must be leaving by air and not from an airport outside of Thailand. Clearly someone doing a border run will not have the required confirmed flight.

The consulate state that this has been the rule for many years, the only change is that the rules are being applied more strictly. You will not be allowed entry into the kingdom without either a valid visa or complying with the three conditions summarised above for an exemption.

The consulate state that you may be given an exemption on entering via a land border but still subject to the same three conditions including the confirmed air flight out, direct from a Thai airport. The consulate refer only to a15 day exemption at the land border but I understood that for G7 countries 30 days was available at a land border. Obviously the 15 day exemption requires the flight in 15 days.

The consulate specifically note that this enforcement of the current rules is intended to end the practice of those without a valid visa crossing the border every 30 days. Airlines have also been asked to be vigilant in checking passengers have an appropriate visa or a 30 day or less return flight.

does it mean that you can enter Thailand from Cambodia if you hold any "out of Thailand" plane ticket? Hasn't it changed now?

Based on that report you are ok to enter as long as you have a booked flight out before the end of your allowed 15 or 30 day stay.

There has always been a rule to have an onward ticket but it wasn't enforced much by immigration. They seem to be limiting onward travel by air only, whereas before it could be by any method.

i will be travelling to Thailand from Budapest on 26th of October. I will have my plane ticket to Myanmar (from Bangkok on the 23rd of November). I wanted to travel to Laos and Cambodia by land, then back to Bangkok. I will have confirmed plane ticket every time I enter Thailand (twice).

I have also noticed elsewhere on the embassy and consulate websites that you are only allowed 90 days total exemption within any 6 month period. Clearly this hasn't been enforced with back to back border runners, until now. Another thing that may be more often checked (?) is the requirement for adequate finances for all visitors (10,000 baht per person, 20,000 per family).

The 90/180 rule is old and out of date information. This regulation ran from 2006 was repealed in 2008.

seriously, can you leave Thailand as usual? Do I need Thai Visa to get to Laos?

The Thai Consulate in Birmingham UK have posted a notice that the Thai Authoritihave changed the way in which they deal with tourists entering Thailand for up to 30 days without a valid visa and have given some explanation to try and clarify some of the resulting confusion

"The most important point to understand is that this Only affects people who do not have a valid visa." It is clearly stated that if you have a valid visa you are not affected.

The visa exemption applies only if 1) you hold a qualifying passport, 2) you are visiting as tourist ONLY, 3) you have a confirmed air ticket to leave the Kingdom within 30 days DIRECT FROM A THAI AIRPORT). You must be leaving by air and not from an airport outside of Thailand. Clearly someone doing a border run will not have the required confirmed flight.

The consulate state that this has been the rule for many years, the only change is that the rules are being applied more strictly. You will not be allowed entry into the kingdom without either a valid visa or complying with the three conditions summarised above for an exemption.

The consulate state that you may be given an exemption on entering via a land border but still subject to the same three conditions including the confirmed air flight out, direct from a Thai airport. The consulate refer only to a15 day exemption at the land border but I understood that for G7 countries 30 days was available at a land border. Obviously the 15 day exemption requires the flight in 15 days.

The consulate specifically note that this enforcement of the current rules is intended to end the practice of those without a valid visa crossing the border every 30 days. Airlines have also been asked to be vigilant in checking passengers have an appropriate visa or a 30 day or less return flight.

I have also noticed elsewhere on the embassy and consulate websites that you are only allowed 90 days total exemption within any 6 month period. Clearly this hasn't been enforced with back to back border runners, until now. Another thing that may be more often checked (?) is the requirement for adequate finances for all visitors (10,000 baht per person, 20,000 per family).

does it mean that you can enter Thailand from Cambodia if you hold any "out of Thailand" plane ticket? Hasn't it changed now?

Does anyone know if it works both ways? Can I still get Visa-On-Arrival at Thailand-Laos border? Do you need Thailand visa to leave the country? Please help.