Keelan74

I work in UK in Summer and spend the winter in Thailand and have done so for many years. I have always applied for a multi-entry tourist visa giving me three 60 day entries. Usually I'll go for 30 days at immigration after the 1st entry expires then two visa runs after that giving me a total of 7 months after which I go home for work. In fairness I've pushed the rules to the limit over the years (ie walked across the border and come straight back in rather than spending any time in the other country etc) but have never overstayed or broken the rules. This time coming in through Immigration at Swampy the BIB pulled me over and grilled me for a hour (lots of questions about why I come to Thailand every winter etc). I asked them repeatedly if I'd broken any rules and they had to admit I hadn't, however they said I had been 'tricky' whatever thats supposed to mean. At the end of the grilling they said they'd let me in on my first entry but when that finished I'd have to call them and pay them what they called a 'special fee'. Anyway I didn't call them and instead got a 30 extension from Immigration office as I usually do. Today I received a call which I didn't answer but traced to a certain state financial dept at Swampy. So basically its them chasing me up for the 'special fee'. I'm just wondering if anyone else has had a similar experience and what the upshot was. What concerns me is that they have flagged my passport when I try to leave (either for Visa run or just to go home) I will be pulled up and charged the special fee or worse. I'm aware I could get an Edu visa or similar but as I only want to be here another 4 months plus I'm on a tight budget I'm reluctant to do that. It also irks me that I'm being extorted to use a perfectly legal visa that I've already paid for but TIT. Any advice or insights would be appreciated.