anymajordude

Thanks for the reply. Can I return by air if I'm able to get a tourist visa in Vientiane? Or might I be rejected at the airport even with the tourist visa?

I've been here continuously except for border runs.

How long would I have to spend outside Thailand before re-entering (whether visa exempt or with a tourist visa)? And yes, I am under 50, but I am not working here or doing anything illegal.

What are my odds of getting the tourist visa? And would other places be better than Vientiane (Penang, Phnom Penh, etc.)? Are you saying that I might be able to simply do a visa exempt entry by air? Also, I don't know if this matters, but I have a new passport. I will have to transfer my stamps next time I leave Thailand, but all of my previous extensions won't be visible in the new passport, though I assume it will still show up in their computer.

Is it possible to get an SETV in Vientiane after having been here since 2019 on border runs and Covid extensions? I've already done my two border runs and two 30-day extensions this year. If I fly to Laos, would I be rejected either while applying for the visa in Vientiane or upon attempting to re-enter Thailand by air? Thanks for any advice.

I'm not sure if it's safe to assume that. So far the news articles seem to emphasize that this new rule only affects "air passengers".

Seems like the news articles on this so far have specified that the restrictions are for travelers arriving by air. I haven't seen anyone addressing land borders yet.

The website for Thai Visa Service is pretty informative on policies at land borders and is updated frequently. So far I see nothing about requiring proof of vaccination at land borders. https://www.thaivisaservice.com/

I just went up there myself and did it yesterday. Cabbed it there and took the metro back (I'm limping a little faster now). I actually made an online appointment for 2:30 PM, but since I was there with everything filled out at 1:45 PM, they told me that it would just be quicker to go through the ordinary queue than to wait for my appointment time. I think I had my passport back with the stamp at around 2:20 PM. Pretty fast and simple. Also, for anyone thinking of doing the online appointment, they want you to have it printed out, although there are shops right there that can print it for you.

With an appointment I suppose it could work. This might be what I end up doing.

Well, I've injured my foot and can only walk very slowly right now. Realistically I'd be taking a taxi to Laksi and back from the Sukhumwit area, which is around half the extra cost of using an agent (Thai Visa Centre was quoting 3,500 baht to do the extension). How busy is Laksi right now? I'd hate to go all the way up there only to be told to come back the next day or something like that. I have the TM30 and have done Covid extensions at Laksi as well as ordinary 30-day extensions at CW in the past (pre-Covid).

I'm a US citizen. I did a border run to Cambodia last month and have a 45-day stamp that will expire on 2 Jan 2023. Is there a visa agent in Bangkok that can process the 30-day extension for me? I tried using Thai Visa Centre but they told me that their quota is full until next year. Thanks for any information.

I don't know much about this, but the last time I entered Thailand (Feb 2020), I had done a border run down to Penang and back, and they did something similar to what you describe at the airport, stopped me for like 30 minutes and told me it would be my last entry and entered something on the computer. This was after I had already done several border runs. I know that they did in fact put something on my computer file because the notorious "dragon lady" at the K counter actually mentioned it to me when I was doing one of my Covid extensions. Still it hasn't prevented me from staying in the country continuously for the past 2.5 years. It would be nice to know how long you would realistically have to stay out of the country, after a period of doing back-to-back border runs, for it to be considered acceptable to re-enter Thailand visa exempt without any hassles.

Yeah, the previous one was until 21 Sep, so I got the full 60 days.

I just used an agent to do it this time, stamped in until 20 Nov 2022.

They were pretty emphatic that it had to be no sooner than 2 weeks before. 3 weeks would not be okay.

They're strict about only being able to get an extension less than 2 weeks in advance. I tried to get an extension at IT Laksi in Bangkok last week (my current stamp is valid until 24 May) and was told to come back at a later date.

I went in today (Thursday, 10 Mar 2022) and had the same thing happen. Fortunately I had seen your report and was prepared for this, so I just told them I was leaving on 24 May and got that date stamped on my passport. I would recommend that anyone going in for a Covid extension have the maximum date (24 May if your current stamp is until 25 March) in mind in case this happens. This was the notorious "dragon lady" at MTT.

You may be right, but it isn't entirely clear. I'd say the announcement is very poorly worded. I imagine it will be clarified one way or another.

Thanks, but does "the 60-day period for permission to stay in the Kingdom" refer to the 60-day period we are in now (i.e. ending March 25th), or the future 60-day period we would receive with a further extension (i.e. ending at some point in May)? If the latter, that would still mean that mean that we would still get one more extension, as opposed to no more extensions (or only a 7-day extension), as some of us were told last time. It doesn't answer whether the "threat" we received last time was valid or not.

So for those of us who were told at MTT that the previous extension would be our last, you think that was just a bluff essentially?

Not sure what I'll do if they continue the extensions. Might use an agent to do it next time just to be on the safe side.

They got rid of the "under consideration" stamp at MTT around the middle of last year.

Yeah, I think she wrote "LAST VISA" on mine (in English) and drew a box around it. Not sure if that actually means anything or if it's just a scare tactic, so to speak. Wouldn't they write a meaningful annotation in Thai? The use of English could imply that it's just for you/me to read, and not something actually significant. But I don't know. I was also told the same thing about only receiving 7 days if I came back again.

Maybe. My passport stamp is identical to the previous one but they wrote something on the form I handed them, and I was told that it would be my last extension not only by the woman at the counter but also by the woman who returned me my passport, so I'm not sure what to think about that. I suspect they made some kind of annotation on my file on their computer.