Tod Daniels

The first thing is DO NOT panic, many many hundreds of people per week are denied entry and it is not the end of the world OR of your time in thailand. If you are being denied entry it does not mean you're being "deported" (to get deported you have to be stamped IN to thailand) what they are doing is not letting you in this time. DENIED AT A LAND CROSSING When you are denied entry at a land border, all they do is put a denial of entry stamp in your passport and send you back to the country you just stamped out of. That country voids your exit stamp and they let you back in. Then you either fly in, go to a consulate and BUY a real tourist visa to come back OR try to "work something out" with the people at the border to get in the next day when the border opens. Most land borders have people approach you as soon as you go back to the country you just left when you're denied. They'll offer a way to "get you in tomorrow" for a fee. It really does work and I know people who ended up cutting a deal with those people showing up at the border at 6am the next morning and skating right in no issue. Usually what you can't do once you have a denial of entry stamp from one border is to go try another border because that seems to not work at all. I know peopled denied entry at one Cambo boder, slog over to another one and be told, nope you can't cross out here, go fly back to thailand DENIED BY AIR ENTRY If you're denied entry flying in, you'll get pulled aside, questioned about what you're doing coming into thailand so much on free stamp entries, told you're being denied entry, given some story about 90 days in 180 (which is a fake rule) even shown a sheet in english stating that. First tip - remain calm, you're not the first person denied entry, you're not even the first person that day. It happens, in fact it happens a LOT; especially at BKK (Suvarnabhumi), DMK (Don Mueang) and now we're seeing more and more denials at HKT (Phuket) Interestingly there hasn't been a confirmed denial of entry at CNX since the country re-opened after covid 😮 ) Second tip - DO NOT SIGN the denial of entry forms (which are usually all in thai except your name). If you don't sign them they can't put a denial of entry stamp in your passport. Don't get me wrong, they will still deny you entry and it'll be in the computer database that you were denied, but they won't put that GIANT half page stamp in it for everyone to see everytime an officer pages thru your passport Generally you're sent back to the airport you just flew in from, but they can let you go to any country you can get in to. One thing to keep in mind is the officer has the right to make you go back to country of passport origin (doesn't matter in the least if you live there or not). So if push comes to shove they can make you use a flag carrier and go back there. The flight out is your expense. You'll get put into IDC holding at the airport, it is not fun, BUT it's about 1000 times better than IDC lock up at Suan Plu in Bangkok, so be glad that's where you are. Depending on the officer you can sometimes "pay" to have them take you around, get food, get money out of an ATM, you can still use your mobile phone, etc. You just kill time until your flight out. Usually they'll give your passport to the steward on the flight and you'll get it when you land. Sadly once you're in lock up at the airport it's WAY too late to call a safe entry company to help you get in. That is something you have to set up BEFORE you fly in. Although believe it or not, if you contact one of them when you're denied you can set it up so you can fly in the next day (even at the same airport) and you'll get right in. No matter what they tell you the reason is, 99.99% of the denial of entry by air and land all say the same time "no means of support" the thai will say ไม่มีปัจจัยยังชีพตามสมควร. That's because it's one of the ONLY reasons you can be denied entry. There is no "you used too many visa exempt entries by air" rule, there is no 90 in 180 rule, there is no "you stay too long in thailand" rule. Those are just b/s excuses parroted to you by the officer. they will write "no means of support" stamp on the denial of entry stamp. They will write that as the reason even if you show them the proof of funds in CASH that you can be asked for (20K baht or the equivalent), it's just the reason they stamp in why you were denied Many people ask, IF I have a valid tourist visa to thailand will I get in? The answer to that is no, a tourist visa does not guarantee you get in to thailand. It only means that if they let you in, you get in for the 60 days that visa allows. It's your previous entry/stay history that controls you getting in free stamp or on a tourist visa, whereas if you have a new Non-Immigrant type visa you will get in no matter your entry/stay history. I probably get 10 or more messages each week from people being denied entry at land borders or some airport here. Not much can be done once the decision is made to deny you entry, you just go thru the process and get sent back out. THEN you come up with a plan to get back in. This is one reason I tell people not to burn BOTH their free stamp land entries and to keep one in reserve because that way IF you're denied by air, you can just fly to a border country and enter by land. That's actually how most people who are denied by air get back in. They fly to KL, then to Penang and cross at Sadao Hope this helped, sorry it was long, perhaps it had some value Here's a denial of entry stamp and the reason I mentioned

You are correct, and I agree 100% it is confusing as can be I was able to select French, want to apply in Hong Kong and the eVisa system will let me thru to fill out an application BUT That doesn't mean that the thai consulate there <- where the visa application goes to be approved will let it go thru. Before when you had to walk up to the consulate you just showed that little "paper stamp" they gave you when you entered the country as the proof you're legally allowed to use that consulate, I would imagine you upload that and your entry stamp to show you're in the country. Try it, it'll either work or it won't

This topic comes up a LOT believe it or not Many people get pulled up stamping in by immigration officers who think they are abusing the free entry stamp, they are told they have to leave in 30 days and often they are made to book a ticket out of the country right there IN 30 days before they're stamped in. As Caldera said, the immigration officer at ANY office isn't going to have any idea what transpired between you and the officer who stamped you in. You'll get the 30 day extension fine without issue.

Thanx for that really concise update 👍 glad that it worked out

SWD Transport runs from Bangkok to the Ban Laem border with Cambodia every day from the Lotus's Parking Lot at the On Nut Skytrain Station every morning at 4:30. They use the bigger VIP mini-vans (where you have a bigger chair) and their drivers are pretty darned good SWD Transport

@anotherfarangishere You sure you can use the eVisa system IN Hong Kong

Nope there is no app for iPhone or Android anymore where you can do online 90 day reporting, the old app which I think was called "Immigration E Services") is not supported anymore You use the web-link (which you can do on a mobile phone 😉 ) Online 90 Day Reporting

Sadly for you (and everyone else who needs to transfer extensions to a new passport) there is no appt choice available for that meaning you show up and queue up with the zombie horde in the section that issues your extension and wait it out. If you book an appt for an extension renewal for the reason you have your extension they'll tell you that you can't use that appt to just move the stamps. One other thing IF you're on an extension based on retirement you need to update your bank book, and make a copy of the page with the balance the day you move the stamps

60 day entry didn't start yet, although it was approved by the thai cabinet, so you got stamped in for the correct number of days Just so you're clear IF you decide to get the extension in Bangkok you DO NOT go to the main immigration office in Building B at the Government Complex on Chaengwattana Road, 😮 Because you came in free entry stamp you would go to the immigration office located at IT Square Laksi Plaza at this location. IT Square Laksi Plaza Keep in mind Surat Thani province has FOUR different Immigration offices so whether you go to the main on IN Surat Thani town, the one on Koh Samui the one the "Island of Misfit Toyz" aka Koh Phangan or the one on "Turtle Island" Koh Tao https://suratthani.imm.police.go.th/contact/ No one can predict how long it will take to get your extension, at ANY immigration office, comes down to luck of the draw and how big the zombie horde is there when you show up . Get your ducks in a row, have the correct signed copies, the filled out form the passport photo stuck on and you should be able to skate thru pretty painlessly. I would avoid going on a Monday or Friday or the day after a holiday no matter what office you choose

Looks like the log jam of appt booking might ease up I checked the system this morning and there WERE openings for Friday July 5th a the consulate 🙂

You can pay 1200 baht for a single and 4000baht for a multiple re-entry and not need any copies, photo, or form. the 200 baht is a "special processing fee" and you skate thru fast by doing it

These "I'm going to save money and bounce myself" border bounce ideas often don't save a baht and if you don't know what you're doing end up costing you far more than just using a service (if there is one that bounces from where you are) to get you thru the process. With that being said, at either Ban Pakard or Ban Laem you can indeed pull off a "do it yourself" bounce. Just be prepared to be told you have to stay 24 hours in cambodia OR pay the "fee" to get right back into thailand. It's hit or miss if the officers on the thai side will tell you that

There has been nothing announced that would indicate that 30 day extensions on visa exempt entries will stop once the visa exempt entries go from 30 days to 60 days and cover 90+ countries We really don't know because nothing was said about it, BUT I personally can't see them stopping 30 day extensions even though they increase the visa exempt time from 30 to 60 days Then again, what I think or believe isn't worth the time it took you to read this We'll all know when they make the announcement on the official starting date that the 30 day visa exempt entries to go 60 days

typically so the foreign father can get some type of long stay visa (seeing as they're not married to a thai) is the primary reason to get granted "legal parental rights" factor in he said he lives with the mother and children, I was just "jumping to conclusions" 🙂

I still think you're confused on what a border run is It only counts as a border run if you EXIT/RE-ENTER thailand WITHOUT a visa 🙂 He's GOING to Lao (stamping out of thailand) but while he's there he's going to BUY a tourist visa and use that to come back. <- That ISN'T a border run, he's just exiting thailand by the land border to GO get a visa to come back It's only if he is denied the tourist visa and has to come in on that second free stamp entry that it would be a "border run" 🙂

I think you're over thinking it You get TWO free entries by land in a calendar year (Jan 1 - Dec 31) I said don't use BOTH of the two land entries, in case when you go to get the tourist visa you're denied, because that way you could come back to thailand by land on the second and final free land entry stamp

At this time there is no immigration office in the country that I'm aware of which requires you show proof of funds origin for the 400k baht to get the initial 90 day Non-O visa based on marriage to a thai. And I believe it's only Bangkok that requires proof of funds origin for the 800K baht to get the initial 90 day Non-O visa based on being over 50 (retirement) no other office asks about where the funds came from.

That was said quite succinctly, and I will give you three thumbz up for that 👍👍👍

I thought this was a thread about the proposed (and approved but not yet enacted) changes to the entry/visa/extension process. Seems to be turning into people saying "look how much I spend here, I'm important, I contribute, why isn't my visa category changing?" If long stay foreigners factored in to the equation in the least believe me they'd have fooled with the visa/extension rules to reflect it. Sadly we do not..

Thailand is expected to welcome 36 million foreign tourists in 2024. You do the math @Mike Lister. What us long-stay expats spend doesn't even factor into the grand scheme of things. We are too small a number to make a difference. It is what it is just have to accept it Believe me you're far from the first foreigner who has a skewed perception of their contribution or their importance to this country.. How about we agree to disagree and call it a day?

How about you tell you friend to make sure he gets the 30 day extensions on his free entry stamps at the immigration office for 1900baht. AND He wouldn't be using the second and final border run to go to Lao to get a visa, because he's not stamping back IN to thailand until he has the visa 😕 To use that entry he'd have to ENTER thailand without a visa, he's just leaving that doesn't count for anything You can exit thailand by land as many times as you want, you can only ENTER free stamp 2 times in a year

I think you are more than a little confused 😕 Long Stay expats (even ones married to thaiz who support the obligatory in-lawz & out-lawz) are NOT significant contributors to the country as a whole. It is TOURISTS that "grease this wheel" here. They outspend long stay foreigners day in day out AND most importantly after they're done touring, they leave and go back to where they came from 😛

I believe you have your wires crossed a bit @248900_1469958220 about how to go from one extension to another extension based on employment It does NOT include getting that "application for extension not approved" 7 day stamp that gives you a week to get out of dodge. <- That stamp can't be switched to anything inside the country, you just leave on or before that date What you'd do is get documentation from your current employer, saying you stop work on xxx date, you'd cancel the work permit and go to the immigration office about a week before the date on the termination paperwork. The office will cancel your current extension and stamp you in until the termination date. (Most offices allow you do go up to 2 weeks before your last day to cancel your extension) That gives you time to get the NEW documents from the new employer and apply for a brand new extension of stay based on employment at the immigration office. Now on the rare chance your office won't let you early cancel, you really have a gun to your head because you have to cancel your extension AND apply for the new extension with the new employer at the same time (hopefully they're at the same immigration office) It definitely can be done and is actually done quite a lot, One person recently cancelled their employment extension in Chiang Mai and then went to Hat Yai and applied for a new extension based on employment there 😮 So even between different offices/provinces it can be done if BOTH the old and new employer will "play ball" and supply the correct documentation for you.

IF I was a betting man, I'd bet dollars to durian NO you can't use a WISE account because it's not a bank. I mean they can try it but I'd sure take either their foreign OR thai bank account statement for the last 3 months in case they nix that lemme use WISE idea 🙂 They don't care if you burned your two free 30 day entries to thailand or not when you're up there applying for a tourist visa, just remember though IF you burn the two 30 day free entry stamps you get by land in a year, AND you get denied the visa at the thai consulate in Vientiane you aren't coming back to thailand by land 😕 You'll have to fly back I always tell people to hold at least one of the free entries by land in reserve in case you come off the rails getting a visa OR get denied entry by air, that way you can still enter by land free stamp

Nope that change from 30 day visa exempt to 60 days visa exempt was not officially approved yet, they are expecting it to roll out end of June or the beginning of July, BUT that is only an expected date Right now still 30 days by air or land