Caldera

5 hours ago, visarunner said:

No, these two border will not stamp a denied entry and cancelled Cambodian stamp back into Thailand. These times are over, either get a visa in Phnom Penh or fly IN (at a very high risk). 

Wouldn't it then be better to go to Laos and get the visa there? I don't think the embassy in Phnom Penh would like the denial of entry stamp either.

3 hours ago, Tayaout said:

Funny also how the guy outside sell the queue number for 1500 baht now. There is way more than 250 applicants per day. If I remember right it was close to 500 when I went there. 

A friend who was in Vientiane recently told me the same. I'm curious if that will still work after the overhaul of their booking process. If yes, the "guy outside" clearly works with someone "inside". If not, he might have just gamed the system.

23 minutes ago, scorecard said:

When you apply for a new passport at UK embassy or perhaps online seems to me there is risk that the embassy would alert the Thai police about the overstay (but that's an assumption).

Your assumption is wrong, unless you are wanted in your home country.

I don't recall reports that confirm that a bank statement is needed in Vientiane, but if they in fact ask for one nowadays, I'd say you can be sure that they won't accept a statement that is two months old.

Why chance it? I assume you aren't eager to get stuck in Cambodia again. That "Laos is far" is hardly a good reason not to go there - if your paperwork is in order, Laos is a safe bet (Vientiane easier than Savannakhet, just book an appointment well before you plan to go).

No surprises there, I'm afraid.

26 minutes ago, elviajero said:

Let’s hope you don’t get your way and ALL long term tourists are prevented from also having a great time.

We will simply need to adapt if and when the day comes. If you don't have a compelling reason to spend more than let's say 180 days per year in Thailand, like myself, it's as easy as spending more time elsewhere. If you do have a compelling reason, explore other visa options. Ultimately, I think it would only be a real problem for people who work in Thailand illegally on tourist visa. Personally, I don't believe all that many people do that nowadays.

3 hours ago, elviajero said:

If you had followed immigration policy since 2006 you would have seen all the ways the Thai authorities have used to put a stop to visa runs, push visa runners to get Tourist Visas and then clamp down...

Not only have I been following the mess that you're misnaming "immigration policy" since 2004, I've also had the pleasure to experience it first-hand. Unlike others on here who take a negative view looking back, all I can say is that I've had a great time despite their best efforts to make things difficult at times.

In all this time, there have been shills and apologists on here and elsewhere who have defended even the most nonsensical, comical or improper actions by Thai officials. For the most part, I find it amusing. Please keep it up.

Personally, I would be fine with a hard limit on the time spent on visa exempt, VOA and tourist visa entries per year. I think it's beneficial to have clear rules you can plan with.

OP, could you share with us what reasons for denial they stamped your passport with?

Best of luck when attempting to enter overland! You will probably be fine.

33 minutes ago, Bundooman said:

Everything year Immigration is closed for the 9 day period, (Sat/Sun + Monday - through to Friday + Sat Sun).

No, they don't close that long. See ubonjoe's post above for the actual days immigration will be closed.

But allow me to add, the days just before and just after will be mayhem.

1 hour ago, JackThompson said:

I recall a frequent poster in the past - Chang Wattana office area - said he always did this to save the wasted day.  Now, even those who have the spare-time may be doing this soon.

Interesting! Any idea how to find an agent that offers that, in Bangkok? I've always thought that you have to go in person unless you're incapacitated.

1 hour ago, BritManToo said:

Incorrect as you can't get VISA waiver at land borders with Vietnam, only the main airports.

No, you can enter Vietnam visa exempt at land borders as well.

If you fly in, however, I'm pretty sure that both the airline and Vietnamese immigration will want to see your ticket out. I don't know for sure what will happen if you show them a bus ticket instead of a flight ticket. My guess (!) is that it will more likely be the airline that won't accept it.

Bit late to worry about breaking the law now, five years into his coup.

Personally I don't think he will be removed, I think he might simply tire of the job once he loses his special S44 powers.

On 3/4/2019 at 10:42 AM, steve73 said:

At 43 years old, and with a (claimed) income of at least 65k bt/month. I'm sure there must be loads of young Thai ladies that would happily take te OP into their marital bed, and allow him the possibility of staying here on a married visa.

Yes, but who in their right mind would take them up on their offer? Many IOs nowadays seem hell-bent to make the process for extensions based on marriage as denigrating an experience as possible.

13 minutes ago, KevinFR said:

Currently I do not have much stamp. I made an exemption + 1 extra month. I wanted renewed by doing a visa run but they refused

Where did that happen? At the Aranyaprathet/Poipet border crossing?

As for your future plans, assuming that you fly in from France, carry the usual (cash, proof of flight out within 30 days) plus proof of employment in France which could be helpful if you get questioned.

With large databases such as Thailand's immigration database, it doesn't only matter if an overstay is logged, but also how. Will it be easy for immigration officers to run a query like "show me all the overstays of this and that person", or can they only get a list of all the entries and have to sift through to find them? Reports seem to indicate that the latter might be the case.

Personally, I don't think they ever delete a record, so once something has been logged there it will stay there forever. But if and when they migrate their database, they might have a cut off date for ancient data that's no longer relevant.

4 hours ago, Tanoshi said:

The Thai Elite Visa is the only option for staying long term, under 50, unless married to a Thai, then there is no age restriction.

Actually having a child with a Thai national would be sufficient, you don't need to marry unless that's your thing. ????

3 hours ago, Lovethailandelite said:

Agreed and we could see it coming. The system will be changed from 23rd March. You will fill in your details as of now BUT you will need a personal E mail address. After filing your details, you will then receive a PIN code to that personal mail address. You will need this PIN code before you can actually get too the part of the system that allows you to make booking appointments. You go back in to the system and make the booking. You will then need to print or screenshot the details which will contain your personal details. That will make the booking unique to you. Without this, you will not be able to even enter there.

I don't get it, what's wrong with my embassy's much simpler system? You make an appointment and enter your personal details. If anyone else shows up, presenting their passport but an appointment under my name, they are being sent away. Easy, no need for two steps!

Assuming that it's developed by the same incompetent company that screwed it up the first time around, what are the chances that those PIN code emails will reliably reach their recipients?

3 hours ago, Lovethailandelite said:

Then unfortunately, you are not suitable for the scheme. You are what is termed as 'Undesirable' in the eyes of immigration.

I'll wait for the first actual report of someone denied for having had a few short overstays in the past. I have no reason to take your word for what you wrote, especially considering how much nonsense you've been posting about things like the great new integrated database, etc.

They need to search 6,000 premises to arrest just 7,000 something offenders. They are clearly doing it wrong.