ChinChan

My point of view: because tourism numbers are down: Thailand itself said -10% but in reality probably much more. Oh no, lose of face, Thailand is losing huge amounts of tourists to nearby countries. To me it seems one of their desperate attempts to crank up their tourist numbers a bit if ''tourists'' have to leave and re-enter the country more often to renew their visa's, as a result of shorter visa exemptions. Which will be effective as there is a significant number of ''tourists'' living in Thailand on visa exemptions. Thailand logic: tourism is in a huge decline so let's attract more tourists to make it harder for them to stay in Thailand.

At Bangkok Hospital in Udon Thani they looked at the x-ray photo and cleaned my wounds. I couldn't feel or see if the wounds were cleaned properly, but the doctor said my hand was swollen and prone to infection. Shortly after that I returned to my home country and visited a hospital there. There I showed the same x-ray photo and they immediately saw that there was still a dirty stone stuck in my hand, so Bangkok Hospital didn't clean my wound properly. They said this stone was the reason that my hand was swollen and infected. Picture: in my country they cleaned the wound properly and removed the stone that Bangkok Hospital completely missed. The hospital in my country said it wasn't a small stone.

I thought Bangkok Hospital was a pretty good hospital, that's why I went there. I heard and read a lot of good stories about Bangkok Hospital (but also some bad stories). But in my case they failed to do some pretty basic wound cleaning, with proof of it on their own x-ray photo. So that's a valid complaint. I have insurance so costs wouldn't be a significant problem. The main reason I opted to return home is that the expertise of Thai medical personnel could be doubtful, and that's something I don't want to risk. Sure the vast majority of patients are treated exceptionally well, but there are also cases where a Thai doctor just messes up. Furthermore in such case there is zero liability for anyone, neither there is a proper legal system, or even proper investigation, in any case something goes wrong. It's probably not my problem, but the well known practise of price hiking in Thai international hospitals to get as much money as possible from your insurance, is also a doubtful practise. And in case I need any aftercare, for example because it doesn't heal well or if there will be any complications, I prefer to be in my own country.

Another weird experience (or not?) with Thai immigration while trying to enter Thailand. I had a minor accident in Laos: I fell down and broke my finger. Communication at the Lao hospital was nearly impossible and the doctors were pretty pissed off because they were sleeping and needed to be woken up during their nightshift. Hence the next day I wanted to visit an (international) hospital in Thailand. Unfortunately the Thai immiration refused entry to me and said ''You don't have visa, go back to Laos''. I said I'm only coming for medical treatment about 1 day. The immigration officer said ''I don't let you enter, go back to Laos and get a visa''. As always, Thai immigration treating me horrific for some kind of reason. I thought that ''visa status / visa history'' would be resetted in the new calender year, but apparently not in my case... The busdriver from Vientiane to Udon Thani noticed I wasn't in the bus and came to find me. I told him they don't let me enter Thailand. Then the busdriver spoke some words in Thai with the immigration officer and said ''Okay I let you in this time''. I visited Bangkok Hospital in Udon Thani where they told me my finger is broken and that I need surgery as soon as possible. I went back to my home country for further medical treatment, where they found out that the service level at Bangkok Hospital is extremely bad, because they failed to clean my wounds (a dirty stone was still stuck in the wound which made my hand infected and swollen) and they also failed to read the x-ray photos of my hand, where you could see the stone still stuck in my hand... I made the right decision to not get further medical treatment in Thailand. Thailand stays off my travel list. The only reason I wanted to visit Thailand was for a short medical check-up but the immigration officers treated me like I was going to work there illegally for the next 10 years... From Laos, China would have been a better option for a medical check-up. A new lesson learned

Just to be extra clear. It will suprise you how many people in Thailand are not familiar with the words Dutch / The Netherlands / Holland.

I was on a hiking trip in Laos (jungle / waterfalls / caves) but my hiking shoes broke (old and used). Unfortunately Laos is one of the worst places to go shopping: almost zero official branded shops and loads of fake Chinese stuff around. I want / need quality and semi-technical hiking shoes to continue my hiking trip. The last thing I want is get bitten by a snake or spider, or fall down and injure myself on a slippery jungle path / waterfall trail / cave. A short review of my shopping trip in Thailand: shopping in Thailand completely sucked (again). The staff doesn't know anything about the products they sell (and you are lucky if they speak any English at all, which I always found weird for service staff working in tourist hubs) Expensive prices: I found many shoes 50% cheaper in Malaysia and Vietnam. Many items were out of stock. When I finally found nice shoes, they didn't sell half sizes: shoe size US 8 was too small and size US 9 was too big, so I probably needed size 8.5, which after checking they sold in Malaysia and Vietnam... I also got scammed in the official Nike store: I bought summer socks but the employee staff switched my summer socks for winter socks and put it straight into the shopping bag. I found out 1 minute later when I opened the bag. Then the manager said ''no exchange and no refund''. No more shopping in Thailand for me. I left Thailand after a couple of days and went to do my shopping in Malaysia instead, which was a much better experience! No corrupt Thai immigration officers, went through immigration in 1 minute (e-gate) with a free 90 day visa exemption. Welcome to Malaysia!

He said he gave me 10 days but upon entering Thailand I checked my passport and saw I got a 2 month TR visa stamp

I applied for a Thailand tourist visa in Vientiane a couple of days ago. Once I filled in all the information correctly, I got my e-visa within 24 hours. However, upon entering Thailand I was taken apart and questioned by the supervisor, but I was allowed entry. The reason for that was because this year I stayed 4 months in Thailand already and it made them suspicious about not being a real tourist.

An expat friend in Thailand advised me to visit a visa-agent to check my profile in the immigration system. I did that and things finally became clear. Her contact at Thai immigration said: 1. Now the rule is that tourists are allowed to stay in Thailand up to 150 days per year without encountering any problems. 2. If you have ever stayed more then 120 days per year in Thailand your profile can be flagged as 'not a real tourist' and they might suspect you of working online or having a business in Thailand. He said I can also come to Thailand again next year but it's better if I don't stay too long in Thailand this trip. Well that was already the plan and I certainly don't want to push my limits any more. Finally I got some clarification! Thank you to everyone for your comments and opinions! Maybe this information can be helpful to some other people in the future.

Correct answer. After consulting a visa-agent who called her contact at Thai immigration to check my profile in the immigration system, they basically said the same thing

Pretty weird if they flagged me for staying 4 months / year in Thailand in 2023 when other people easily stayed up to 6-9 months / year during that time. After that I entered by air without any problems but didn't stay too long and booked a flight to my country of residence. In 2023 an immigration friend of a Thai lawyer friend looked in the systems and said: I haven't been flagged in the system / no notitions in the immigration system about a denied entry. Neither have I ever been given an official denied entry stamp. I think you also have to sign a document if you have been denied entry / deportation?

My nationality is "Dutch" and I'm from "The Netherlands", which is also my country of residence. That's why I was there from 1 March till the end of August (almost 6 months). But even after being 6 months in my country of residence, the Thai immigration still took me apart and questioned me again on my 2nd entry to Thailand (by air).

1st entry in this year (January 2025): entry by air at Don Muang airport. 2nd entry in this year (August 2025): entry by air at Suvarnabhumi airport. 3rd entry this year (December 2025): land border crossing at Nong Khiaw (with a paid Tourist Visa) (because of their announcement of stricter visa rules in November) Note: this was my first entry by land border crossing (which according to the rules are limited to 2 entries per year?) while I did 0 visa extensions this year

I was on a hiking trip in Laos and my hiking shoes broke (old and used). Unfortunately there are not many branded shops / quality shops in Laos (with also many fake Chinese copy products going around in that country). I'm specifically looking for hiking shoes of "The North Face" or "Columbia sportswear" so I had the option to buy those in Thailand or Vietnam. I checked for Vietnam first but they had a sale going on with 9 of 10 shoes not available anymore

Let me clarify this: 3 years ago I stayed in Thailand (during covid) (special times). and that time I stayed "only" 4 months / year in Thailand. During that time there were many people staying in Thailand for up to 7-9 months without getting into any problems, and entries by air were almost unlimited during that time. I also never got an official "denied entry" stamp, neither did I ever had to sign any document about a "denied entry". To clarify it more: 1 day later I flew back to Thailand and was approved entry without any questions asked. I should have written it down differently as with my "1st entry to Thailand " I meant the first time coming to Thailand again after a 1 year break + previous years staying only for about 4 months / year. My travel records to Thailand started fresh this year (no visa exemptions / any other kind of visa / no visa extensions) so that's why I said "1st entry to Thailand".