anotherfarangishere

1 hour ago, Greenwich Boy said:

No, your two land border entries at Mae Sai are pretty much guaranteed and really only count against you if they pull the 'too much time in Thailand' card at an airport. By back to back I mean maxing out your say 30 plus 30 days, flying out then back immediately. I always stay out for 3 or 4 nights. Some great places nearby, I am currently enjoying DaNang. Dirt cheap from CNX

Thank you, it could be a good plan for me, I never went to DaNang.

16 minutes ago, BritTim said:

The normal meaning of "back-to-back" is consecutive entries with no (or minimal) gap between them.

Ok, thank you. Still, last time they make me problem in Bangkok, I was out for more than 4 months.

2 hours ago, Greenwich Boy said:

...avoid too many back to backs...

Thank you: I've booked a cheap Thai Air Asia flight Busan/Kuala Lumpur and I'll fly from Kuala Lumpur to Chiang Mai.

What do you mean by "avoid too many back to backs"? Visa run on Mae Sai?

On 6/8/2023 at 7:35 PM, BritTim said:

Since you have already burned your land based visa exempt entries...

What is this exactly ? Does it mean that now they "officially" can't refuse you two times a year crossing the border and coming back immediately ? (Mae Sai, Nong Khai...)

15 minutes ago, Daithi85 said:

Yes but if u fly into Kuala Lumpur,then the train to the Thai/Malay border.

 

 

? 

10 minutes ago, Lemsta69 said:

Here it is LOL. I found it by clicking on your user profile.

 

https://aseannow.com/topic/1297688-did-you-cross-the-malth-border-recently-at-padang-besar-or-came-in-th-by-landing-in-hat-yai/#comment-18140406

Thank you very much! I'm not very good with forums and I always forger that usually you can use your profile to find your posts.

4 hours ago, Daithi85 said:

In my own experience I've always found it better to cross at pedang bessar,there's 2 crossing points .

1 is for foot traffic and vehicles and the other and better option is the immigration check point used by train passengers.

 

 

But the one used by train passengers is inside Malaysia!

4 hours ago, Lemsta69 said:

Your post hasn't been deleted however nobody has replied to it yet.

I couldn't find it... my mistake, for sure. Thanks for letting me know.

In fact, there are many flights from Kuala Lumpur to Chiang Mai too and the price for tickets is only 10 or 20% more than flights from KL to Hat Yai (and anyway a lot cheaper than KL to Bangkok by train). So, it seems Korea to KL and then KL to Chiang Mai is the best option.

I've made a new post to ask about crossing the border Malaysia/Thailand - there are cheap flights between Korea and Kuala Lumpur - by land at Padang Besar or by plane landing at Hat Yai but it seems my post has been deleted... So, if someone has some recent experience or report about these two possibilities, please let me know.

Hello,

Following my previous post about landing to Chiang Mai rather than Bangkok to avoid eventual problem with immigration, here is the same one about crossing the border by land at Padang Besar.

Why Padang Besar ? Well, right now I'm in Korea and there are very cheap flights to Kuala Lumpur. Furthermore, I didn't stay in Malaysia since December 2021 so I could stay few weeks before to go to Thailand.

So again: I came in Thailand on December 2021 and thanks to the Covid extension, I stayed 9 months.

Then, I left Thailand in October 2022.

When I came back four months later - without visa, visa extension was still 45 days - immigration at Suvarnabhumi saw I stayed nine months and make me problems. At the end, they let me in but they checked if I had a departure ticket - I had - and a rental address in Bangkok - I had too.

Do you've recent experience or report about crossing the border by land at Padang Besar ? (I did it many times by the past and if I'm correct the two times train to Hat Yai has resumed ?)

Also, do you've recent experience or report about immigration at Hat Yai international airport ? 

Thank you!

1 hour ago, arithai12 said:

I believe there is at least another airline flying direct from Korea, Jeju Air. And for other passengers incoming from East, CNX has also direct connections from Japan, Vietnam, Hong Kong, not to mention lots from China. Among others in the region, also Singapore has direct connections.

You're right: Jeju Air as also some direct flights to Chiang Mai. Cheaper than Korean Airline but still, not cheap at all. Otherwise, VietJet has cheap flights with one stop in Hanoi or Saigon, I don't remember exactly. But they have horrible reviews on Skytrax.

1 hour ago, blazes said:

For visitors from North America, who want to enter LOS in Chiang Mai, one can fly with Eva Air from Taipei direct or Korean Air direct from Seoul (and probably with other Asian carriers).

Yes and I'm in Korea right now. Only problem: Korean Air's tickets are not the cheapest (euphemism).

Thank you very much, everyone. Especially for letting me know that a stop in Bangkok means immigration in Bangkok: if I fly to Chiang Mai I won't make a stop in Bangkok.

Still, my plan is to fly without visa.

And a short remember: problems happen when they saw the covid extension on my passport. Still, I never overstayed.

Hello,

I came in Thailand on December 2021 and thanks to the Covid extension, I stayed 9 months.

Then, I left Thailand in October 2022.

When I came back four months later - without visa, visa extension was still 45 days - immigration at Suvarnabhumi saw I stayed nine months and make me problems. At the end, they let me in but they checked if I had a departure ticket - I had - and a rental address in Bangkok - I had too.

What is your experience with Chiang Mai international airport ?

Thank you.

Hello everyone,

I'm confused about flying from Bangkok to Kuching:

- does Sarawak require some special document/visa?

- is stay limited to 30 days?

- something else?

Thank you very much.

1 hour ago, DrJack54 said:

If your plan is to fly to thailand visa exempt then the airline at departure may/will require you to show onward flight within 30/45 days.

This is an airline requirement.

Note does not need to be return ticket.

Any onward flight accepted. 

Yes, thanks, I mentioned it "(I'll got a plane ticket for leaving Thailand before 30 days)" and it seems it depends more of country than company. For exemple, from Japan I've flied with many companies and they all require an onward flight. Still, I would love to know about people getting some experience with Air Busan as I find their "And even if you have a round trip ticket..." a little bit scary, I want to be sure nobody could pretend that without visa I can't board.

Hello everyone,

I found a less than 200€ ticket, direct Busan/Bangkok (Suvarnabumi) with Air Busan. Trying to book it I got this pop-up:

If you don't have a round-trip ticket, you may denied to board a flight based on a law of country of departure or arrival and existence of a visa, etc. And even if you have a round trip ticket, you may be denied boarding by the International Terms of Transportation if the purpose of your visit withno visa is not met.

Not sure if at the end it's just like any company (I'll got a plane ticket for leaving Thailand before 30 days) or if this Air Busan company - I never used them - is especially harsh on this purpose. Does someone has some experience with them ?

Thanks !

1 hour ago, Deserted said:

As you may know, you are only allowed one extension, then you have to leave the country.

Yes, I know. Thanks.

1 hour ago, Deserted said:

It's still 45 days with 30 day extention, and yes the Immigration is still in IT Square Laksi. They stopped issuing the TM6 for a while but have started them again. 

Thank you very much.

1 hour ago, theoldgit said:

You’ve asked in the wrong forum, I’ll move your question to the correct one.

??? So sorry... Thank you.

1 hour ago, Salerno said:

30 days.

At least, I would have tried ???? Thanks !

Hello everyone,

After having left Thailand since October, I'll be back in March.

So, without any Visa and as I'm French, I should get 45 days (if entering Thailand before March 31)?

After 45 days, I could get 30 days extension... or is extension 45 days!?!?!!! (I'm quite sure it's still 30 days but who knows...)

BTW, for Bangkok, is extension still in Lak Si ?

Thank you!

6 minutes ago, BritTim said:

How many visa exempt entries into Thailand have you had over, say, the last five years? It is known that once you hit six visa exempts, the immigration official used to receive an alert that you should be subjected to enhanced scrutiny to determine whether you are a regular tourist. (I do not know it this alert still exists, but suspect it likely does.) Against you will be that you have spent over 10 of the last 12 months in Thailand as a tourist. That might be a problem if the official decides you need extra scrutiny.

 

If you return by air to Suvarnabhumi or Don Muang, the odds are that you will be OK. However, it would be safer to fly somewhere like Penang and enter Thailand by land. It would be good if you could get a tourist visa for your return, but the Thai embassy in Japan does not issue visas to foreign visitors. Although short notice, maybe it would be possible to get a tourist visa through the e-visa system. Another option would be to fly somewhere like Kuala Lumpur (appointment required) for a tourist visa before flying to Bangkok.

Since they refused me entry in 2019, I stopped to go to Thailand until December 2021. And I've a new passport since 2021.

I won't find a cheap ticket between Japan and Penang. And anyway, I passed the border à Padang Besar so many times by the past before to take a night train in Hat Yai, I'm a little tired about it. And BTW, the last time I tried to get a Thai Visa in Penang, they refused to give me one because I didn't have a flight ticket between Malaysia and Thailand.

To ubonjoe

Thanks for your answer. Well, in 2019 I left Thailand for 6 weeks and when I came back from Philippines (via Malaysia) DM immigration refused me the entry, saying I past too many times in Thailand... in 2018 ! I was forced to go back to Kuala Lumpur. Meanwhile, for more than 10 years I left Thailand for few days or even few hours to come back immediately without any problem. I can even say that since 2005, 2018 is the year I spent the least time in Thailand. It's so irrational, so it's why I I'm looking for people with more or less the same background as me with recent experience.

Anyway, thanks again for your comment.

Hi everyone,

I arrived in Thailand in December 2021 without visa, got visa exemption and with 30 days extension and 4 covid-19 extensions, stayed until 2nd week of October 2022 before to fly to Japan where I'm still right now.

I'm thinking coming back to Thailand next week, without visa, (so, getting a visa exemption, BTW it's 30 days or 45 days ?) and I would like to know if some people less or more in the same situation that mine did get some trouble at immigration office in DM (or even in Suvarnabhumi). I mean people with 4 or more covid-19 extensions who came back to Thailand after some weeks outside the kingdom and didn't have any visa. Thanks in advance.