iian23

50 minutes ago, Sheryl said:

Having made 2 prior exempt entries is unlikely to be reason for airline refusal to board.

 

Airlines do not usually thumb through  prior history. They just refer to IATA listed requirements which are:

 

1. Return on onward flight within 30 days. (Usual reason for refusal). 

 

2. Passport valudity of at least 6 months and citizen of country eligible for visa exemption.

 

 

 

 

As previously stated, he has been to Thailand twice in the last 12 months. When checking in, the airline told him as you have had 2 visa exempt in the last year so you need a visa. He obviously questioned this. The airline claimed to have rung Bangkok immigration to check and they concurred. Travel was refused and he has now applied for a tourist visa.

I fully understand all the possible reasons for refusing travel, none of them apply. I saw the original post so posted my friends experience as it seemed relevent to the question. If there is anything to it, I would like to know as it would adversely effect me and probably others in a big way.

Instant dismissal of claims by people on these forums are not helpful, as unusual and unlikely they are.

1 hour ago, DrJack54 said:

Post exact details of your "friends" experience with what appears to be very limited stays in Thailand using visa exempt entries.

Many do this extensively without issue.

Perhaps @Pattaya57 can relate his personal experience.

BTW not unique his is a  common experience in fact. 

I have been doing this  ¨extensively¨ for the last 25 years with very few issues aside from a few extra questions at BKK airport immigration. Exact details stated.

23 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

Read the thread.

The information you posted is incorrect. 

Along with the reference to "friend" that entered TWICE last year using visa exempt.

You stated ....

"going on, I know someone who has been refused travel from UK having  travelled on exempt 2 times in the last year." 

 

That is nonsense. 

If refused "travel from Uk" it would possibly be non issue of boarding pass with no onward flight. 

Not a very helpfull reply considereing you are a moderator and not aware of the facts. I am well aware of all the possibities for refusal of boarding in the UK. Its not nonsense at all, it has just happend FACT. 

Something is going on, I know someone who has just been refused travel from UK (airline supposed to have contacted Bangkok immigration to confirm) having  travelled on exempt 2 times in the last year. Below from London embassy site. The first line says only 2 entries per year with no explanation but then further down it sepecifies by land and sea.

Tourist Visa Exemption Scheme

UK ordinary passport holders can travel to Thailand without visa for no longer than 30 days (maximum 2 times/year).

All UK travel documents (Refugee/Emergency) must apply for the visa before traveling to Thailand.

        - Foreigners entering Thailand by any means under the Visa Exemption scheme are required at the port of entry to have proof of planned travel (confirmed air, train, bus, or boat tickets) to leave Thailand within 30 days of the arrival date. Otherwise, a visa must be obtained before entering Thailand.

        - For traveling to Thailand by land and sea, UK ordinary passport holders are eligible for Visa Exemption Scheme with a maximum of twice in a calendar year. 

going on, I know someone who has been refused travel from UK having  travelled on exempt 2 times in the last year.

52 minutes ago, EricTh said:

Really? Then what criteria did the PM use then, pray tell...

 

UK used the daily cases in Thailand to put it off the red list.

No it didn't. The UK was worried about the beta variant, number of cases means very little.

3 hours ago, drenddy said:

It's the incidence, that matters.

Germany has a lower incidence than Singapore.

Only "safe" country is China, but they are not allowed to travel.

The incidence means nothing.

The UK tests 100's of thousands every day other countries test very few. More tests means more cases found. Vacination rates, varients and politics matter. The number of cases found each day is largely irrelevant without population and testing figures.

7 hours ago, DonaldBattles said:

Brown envelopes are a major reason for buying Sinovac.  I doubt that AZ is being manufactured for no profit. Why would they want to produce a quality vaccine in demand for no profit? For sure the AZ plant in Bangkok is not operating for cost only. They are selling to neighbor countries and not meeting the needs of Thailand. The PM has asked them to stop shipping overseas.

They produce it at no profit because Oxford University invented the vaccine and did not want to profit from the worlds misery therfore made it a condition for who ever wanted to manufacture it, AZ agreed. Which is why the AZ vaccine only costs a few dollars compared to the 10's of dollars the other money grabbing pharma companies. So all the uniformed opinions spouted on these forums about money being made from this vaccine, including the ones manufactured in Thailand are nonsence.

Does driving through a province count as visiting it? If I drive from the south upto the northeast will I be deemed to have visited Bangkok?

The quarantine period may as well be reduced, depending on your ASQ your 2nd covid test can be as early as day 11. So any further quarantine is pointess after that negative test if you developed COVID nobody would know unless you became ill.

Sound about right. A few weeks ago I posted mine on a Tuesday afternoon and it was delivered back to my house Friday morning. 

Guidance from the COE application website.

How many days in advance of your flight actually leaving did youapply for the COE? 

I just sent them (by post) the first page of a few bank account statements which showed the balance of the accounts and some transactions. For some accounts that showed a few months transactions and for others it was only a month of transactions. The total amount of all the balances was about £20k. 

The statements I sent were just printed at home and were not stamped in the branch of the bank.

I uplooaded a screen shot of my halifax online banking summary, my daughter's birth certificate and her passport, also an email from my daughter's mother inviting me to stay at her address. The last box asks for residency permit if applying from another country, I put my passport page in that section as it would not accept leaving it blank. I sent it all off online and selected to apply by post.

I though they would look at the uploaded documents then let me know via the website if I was successful or not. So I waited a few days but nothing seemed to be happening. Not sure what the point of uploading the documents is really as one of the helpful replies on this thread gave me a link to the london embassy (I had only been looking on the evisa site) which says I had to post my documents. So on tuesday I printed off lots of bank statements showing all my available cash, my parnters ID and passport, my daughters passport, the front page of rental contract of our condo and the email inviting me to stay at our condo. I also printed off the information they email you after completing the online application. I'm not sure if all that paperwork was necessary however I posted it all off on Tuesday and my passport has just arrived at my house with my visa.

I forgot to mention I included a special delivery stamped addressed envelope to send my passport back, normal stamped addressed is fine thats just your choice.

I was in the same boat as you, desperate to get away. From the UK the only realistic places at the moment are Turkey and Greece. I just spent 2 weeks in Turkey. I had no idea what to expect. its not SE Asia, but I really enjoyed it.

I'm not applying for COE yet. I was just applying for a non o first (being a father). At the end of my application it asked if I was applying in person or post. I selected post. So do I wait for them to contact me before sending my passport or do I send it now? Do I have to provide them hard copies of the documents I uploaded?

I am in UK. I have made a non o visa application online.

Does anyone know what I do next? Do I just wait for an email with the result of application? Do I have to post hard copies of my documentation? Do I post them my passport?

Thanks in advance.

What documentation do immigration need to see in order to get the certificate for opening the bank account? 

I travel in and out of the country every month sometimes on visa exempt at the moment I have METV. When I'm here I stay with girlfriend and our baby but the rental contract for house is in her name.

Bangkok Bank here in Samui say go and get letter from immigration its no problem. I'm not so sure.

Black and white print out of the application form is fine. I recently paid for my friend and gave him black and white print outs. Just sign the form on your friends behalf. They will not know if the signature is real or not as they never see the card. I signed the form for my friend but he did not take my card with him. As long as the numbers are all correct and you have your friends permission you will have no problems.

On 30/01/2017 at 7:41 AM, ncc1701d said:

Thanks. So getting a visa isn't going to save my passport pages. Not much point in getting one. Cheers for the reply.

I draw a line in pencil vertically down the centre of each page then draw 3 horizontal lines on each page thereby creating 8 boxes. I find the immigration officers put their stamps in these boxes giving me 4 trips to Thailand per page rather than them stamping the pages in and untidy way often wasting space and getting a maximum of 3 trips per page.

Yes they work in departures and they are useful save a lot of time. Fill in your name and flight details if departing just hand in the pass in blank if arriving. When I depart the check in staff fill in the card when I arrive a member of staff stands at the aircraft door and hands them out. I would not worry about airline stamp the officers don't look at them in great detail. Sometimes they don't even take them off me.

33 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

To get a multiple entry non-o visa based upon being the parent of a Thai in Penang. All that is needed is your child's birth certificate and a copy of their house book registry plus the 400k baht in the bank.

To get a one year extension at immigration you would to have to have your parenthood legitimized by a court or the Amphoe if 7 years old or over.

You can also get 60 day extension to visit your child for any type of entry.

See this topic.

 

Not according to the Thai consulate in Hull and Liverpool I even tried the Thai embassy in London who were quite adamant. They said we cannot give o visa  just because you have a baby there are lots of farrangs who have babies but have nothing to do with their up bringing. Hence the rule you have to have legal custody or be married. I can see their point when I think about it.

Sounds like that rule is not being applied in Penang if the above statements are up to date, which would not surprise me. I just know they will not give me one in the UK based on me being the father of a half Thai child.

4 hours ago, Odin Norway said:

Oh.That I could use my kids birthsertificate is new to me.I thought it was only married or turned 50 that was available.

The money can always be raised if needed.

Thanks Joe

Just being the father is not enough for the non o visa, you have to be married (which you previously stated you are not) or have legal custody of the children which you have to get via the courts. I tried to get one under the same circumstances last year.

I am in a very similar situation as you roughly 2 weeks here and 2 weeks away and have been doing it for over 10 years. Earlier this year I went to the UK for 4 days then returned with no problems.

Years ago they said we could only have three 30 day visits in a 6 month period without any visa, it was not law and I'm not sure they ever enforced it, non o visas were easier to get then so I travelled on those visas for 3 years but then on my 4th application the consulate told me not to bother as not necessary. However every now and then at immigration they tell me next time you must have visa. I have now worked out on the three occasions this has happened if I total up the number of days spent in Thailand during the previous 6 months it has gone slightly over 90 days. As 90 days would be the same number of days allowed with three visa exempt entries in a 6 month period this seems to be a trigger to ask me more questions and some officers tell me to get at visa, this is just my theory by the way.

Last week I was told to get a visa again so I totalled up the previous 6 months and it would be 93 days upto the end of August. However next time I arrive later this month, if my theory is correct the measuring period will be April to September which will knock me back under 90 days as I stayed for 20 days last March. I'll see what happens. And before any helpful posters say why don't you just get a tourist visa I have only 1 blank page left in my passport and do not have the time to renew my passport and go get a visa before my next visit.

I've only been in the small ones near G and F. Very average I wouldn't pay 1000 baht for 2 hours in there, really not worth it.

Hang on hang on! you don't have to go through immigration when you are coming from an internal flight and if you were coming from the other direction(from overseas to internal) then you would have to go through immigration and customs as well ?

I'm not sticking up for the airline, it's just commen sense! If you were coming from an internal bangkok airline flight then for secutity sake you will have to pick up your bag from domestic and reapply for your international flight, considering that the domestic flight lands at DM and the international from Suvanabumi hoow are they going to transfer the bags??

Read the OP's post before jumping on him and posting irrelevant details. you obviously have no idea what he is talking about.

what a ridiculous and overly dramatic title to your thread just over baggage handling procedures. You want to be very careful making accusations like that on the Internet or you might find yourself being sued for defamation.

Has it ever occurred to you that such policies might have nothing to do with the airline itself and might have been introduced by the airport.

Again another ill informed poster. Firstly it is the airlines policy and secondly the airport is owned by Bangkok airlines

Just take hand luggage then you wont have the problem. Personally I don't consider it a big deal but obviously the OP does

You still can no longer do immigration in Samui either as we used to be able to, unless you have a through ticket.

The OP brings up a very valid complaint also one that people need to be aware of or they could find themselves missing connections in Bangkok that they used to be able to make. Its a shame so many ill informed Thai visa posters jump on people so often, especially when they clearly have no idea what they are talking about.

I fully understand the OP's opinion as a fellow traveller who will be inconvenienced by this cost saving measure. What you lot seem to forget or in most cases probably don't even know is that we have to pay extortionate prices to fly out of Samui and therefore entitled to expect the best service possible.