Caldera

How about respecting the courts and whatever they will rule with regards to Trump? It's called the rule of law, and THAT is what's best for the country. I do take note that he seems convinced that Trump will be found guilty. And so am I. Where I disagree is that I think he should go to prison if he's being sentenced to a prison term.

It doesn't hurt to ask. No guarantees, but if they're feeling lazy and you present it well, it could work.

It's been a while since reading the last denied entry report, but from memory, people are usually asked to sign a form titled "Notice of Expulsion" or similar and get a copy of this form as well as a denial of entry stamp in their passport. As always with Thai officials who are notoriously sloppy and inconsistent, nothing surprises me. Hard to tell if they "forgot" to stamp your passport or if they deliberately didn't do that for whatever reason. You may even see that as them doing you a favor; at least immigration in other countries won't get to see anything that would otherwise have been visible in your passport

What did immigration in Malaysia do, did they give you a new entry permit? Interesting that you didn't get a Thai denial of entry stamp. Did you sign and/or get an expulsion form from Thai immigration?

Elites 555

In fairness, the OP was due to be detained overnight and has explained that he wasn't in possession of his passport. That isn't unusual when someone is denied entry, in fact his passport might be given to the crew of the flight he departs on and he might not get to see it again until he's back in Penang.

That isn't hypocritical at all. Advice needs to be given based on what actually happens, and those denials do happen, whatever their legal basis may be.

The question that you and others that read it the way you do can never answer is this: If IOs in fact have the discretion that you claim they have and exercise it lawfully, then why do they see the need to pick a bogus reason from section 12 for their denial of entry stamp? They could just write something like "None, denied using my discretionary powers" instead. That never happens. For me, that's proof enough that you're wrong.

Like what?

If possible, post a picture of your denial of entry stamp, to help determine which specific reason they denied you entry for. They typically claim a lack of funds. In that case, when making your next attempt to enter elsewhere, make sure to take along the requisite amount of cash (the equivalent of 20,000 baht) to be able to produce it if challenged or asked about the previous denial of entry.

Denial of entry as such doesn't mean you're banned from Thailand, so you can re-attempt to enter right away. To ensure that the outcome will be any different, however, you need to understand and address the underlying reason of your denial of entry. You haven't given us any details that would help us give you advice.

Hard to predict, especially with all the upcoming holidays... in Bangkok it seemed to be automated when my current landlord registered some years ago, he got a confirmation almost instantly on a Saturday. Others have reported waiting for days or weeks though.

The TM30 notification itself is instant, but the initial registration of the residence can take some time, depending on the immigration office and the documents supplied ti register.

Maybe the Japanese don't enjoy holidaying with hordes of Indians and Chinese they're prone to encounter in Thailand.

Quite ridiculous to announce this with less than a week's advance notice, whatever you may think of an extra holiday.

Go figure. Being "somewhat negative" is the only sensible reaction. What doesn't seem to compute with some posters on here is that the OP's wife didn't merely withdraw money from his bank account without discussing it with him first, but effectively made him an illegal alien in Thailand by doing so, because he's required to maintain a minimum balance. Your cavalier attitude towards this transgression isn't shared by immigration when it comes to assessing the OP's compliance with their rules, and consequently, he is left to scramble to fix this messy situation somehow. How you can not be "somewhat negative" considering all this is beyond me. The OP trusted his wife and it went horribly wrong.

I hope the defrocking commando is on its way already. What an unholy nutter.

I'd say the logo is the least of their problems, but then again, Elon knows best as per usual. ????

Yeah, that and it's also a good idea to set up SMS notifications for account activity. With the usual ATM limits, she couldn't have drained the account in a single day, and at least you would have known right away. I don't have a wife but I've always had SMS notifications. You just never know, bad things can and do happen, so it's best to be alert.

I doubt you can force her to return your money, just divorce the thief and move on.

With immigration's ongoing obsession with TM30 notifications, tenants really need to make it a habit to make this a part of the process when moving in. Relying on an agent's assurance that this will be taken care of later on isn't a good idea; as soon as you've handed over the money you're at their mercy. Any landlord who's willing and able to do the TM30 notification will most likely have the paperwork ready unprompted, so having to remind them is already a red flag.

If you do get a tourist visa, you're better off entering overland. Airport IOs won't like what you've racked up one bit. With your history, Vientiane is probably your only realistic option nearby anyway, so entering at a land border crossing isn't much of an inconvenience.

What's your nationality? Most nationalities that are eligible for visa exempt entry can only get two visa exempt entries by land per calendar year. Flying in would be high risk with your history, something like 270 days in Thailand without much time outside in between stays, almost consecutively. Getting a tourist visa in Vientiane might be an option.

You can't restore a bank account that was closed due to being dormant. It's gone. It would have been easy to keep it alive, much easier than opening a new bank account nowadays.

Fly the idiot home, then ban him from flying ever again. Passengers like this one cause unnecessary annoyances, delays and dangers to well-behaved passengers.