Highlandman

There was no Covid in 2019. The first news of this came out on January 1, 2020, referring to what was claimed to be a "novel coronavirus" first "detected" on December 31, 2019. The first country to do surveillance and impose restrictions (although very minor and involving no more than form filling) other than China was Thailand and this occurred on January 3, 2020 on flights arriving from Wuhan.

Travelers need to exercise personal responsibility, not be forced to buy things. While travel/medical insurance is a good idea, I don't think it should be forced. Myanmar aside, which still requires Covid/medical insurance at least to apply for a visa, all other regional countries have scrapped insurance requirements. Why would/should Thailand impose such a requirement when even Singapore doesn't? Tourists would stop coming to Thailand and visit Laos/Cambodia/Vietnam instead.

Whether we're talking land borders or airports, both are entrance points into the country where you have to pass immigration. There really is no difference and thus it IS very relevant to talk about. Poipet is in Cambodia so your experience there isn't relevant to Thailand unless you are referring to Aranyaprathet. Mae Sot I found less friendly about 10 years ago but they improved after around 2015 once that unfriendly immigration lady I often encountered was transferred to another location. Mae Sot is irrelevant nowadays to us farang as we can't cross there now. It's for Thais and Burmese only. Don Muang prior to 2006 - nope, didn't strike me as being friendly. Most of the time officers would be grumpy, stamp your passport and place it down on the table with no smile, no welcome or sawatdee krab/ka. I have encountered the occasional friendly officer at Suvarnabhumi though. In the immediate post Covid period, late August 2022, the lady immigration officer I had was a gem. Very polite and engaging.

I still see plenty of Thais do that but haven't observed a foreigner/expat do that.

Oh no, might be time to double mask at all times, permanently from now on!!

Of course the LTR is a non-immigrant visa! It's certainly not an immigrant visa and offers no pathway to citizenship or permanent residency.

Nonsense. E-gates don't do passport stamps and there's no need for one if you use one.

It doesn't make sense to your western mind but it might just happen. There are different requirements for this visa compared to the privilege visa.

LoL!! Cambodia and Laos will continue to enjoy unlimited entries by land or any transportation method they choose of course. There is no way a 2 entries per year restriction could be enforced for them. There would be riots. No way it's happening. Funny you even believe this would be possible when so many come and go nearly every day of the year. I'm laughing over my coffee now.

Permanent residency IS permanent. It's designed for residents of Thailand, not for people to obtain and then live abroad. Duh! Whereas an LTR visa is more like a glorified tourist visa or a mix of a restricted work/investor visa + privilege visa all rolled into one.

I read mid year for arrivals but by the time it actually happens it will probably be end of year or next year. I understand Singapore and Hong Kong passport holders have been able to use e-gates on arrival for years now.

I know you're being sarcastic but in actual fact, eventually all this passport and stamping stuff will become obsolete. Even Thai bureaucrats will be forced to change and of course they will do so quite quickly once they can start virtue signaling that they're the first in the world to implement some sort of new dystopian surveillance technology to "combat crime" or something.

It's completely random. Some officers ask you to remove your glasses, others don't. Or it depends on the border. Some border crossings don't care others do.

They're doing what they've been told to do. As with other global initiatives, countries are required to meet certain goals and deadlines. The eventual elimination of manual passport checks is the goal and in time there will be no more passport stamps or even passports at all. It will all be biometric and dystopian. Sure, it might take countries like Thailand another 10 or 15 years to get there but it will happen in the not so distant future. Singapore is in the early stages of allowing passport free travel now. Already happening at land border entrances for Singaporean passport holders. Must use a QR code and register in advance.

Not all arrivals. Apparently only if you've registered and from certain countries. Last year I was processed manually as I came with my family. I'll also get myself processed manually in the future even if I arrive on my own as I don't like this dystopian egate stuff. Australia is the country where on departure only the infirm and disabled get to be processed manually. All others, including families with small children and babies are processed using the e-gates. If you complain, they won't flinch. You'll still be forced to use the e-gates.

Firstly, I've often waited longer at departure immigration than arrivals and departures is time critical because you still need to make your flight and preferably not by running to the gate. I once missed a flight at Don Muang (before the opening of Suvarnabhumi) because departure immigration processing was too slow and that was after I decided to cut the queue. Don Muang arrivals was always very slow and the worst part was how long you'd have to circle to come in for a landing particularly for evening arrivals. It was always at least half an hour of circling before landing, unlike at Suvarnabhumi where that only happens during inclement weather. As for friendliness of the officers - I don't recall Don Muang being any better than Suvarnabhumi. If you want friendly officers, go to a quiet border crossing such as Nan or Chong Sa-ngam. Very friendly officers at both. Busier ones such as Nong Khai and Hat Lek occasionally have chatty and friendly officers as well.

Nonsense.. What proof do you have an LTR visa wouldn't have been canceled under those circumstances? A PR visa is permanent but it's for residing within Thailand. Nearly all countries cancel permanent residency visas if the holder spends an extended period (usually 1 year or more) outside of the country. Thailand PR holders stuck outside of Thailand during Covid restrictions found their PR status was extended to allow them to come back later, I think they had 2 years rather than the usual 1 year. An LTR visa isn't permanent and does NOT provide a pathway to residency or citizenship.

Lol! Obviously Lao and Cambodian passport holders will continue to be allowed to do unlimited border runs. There is no way 2 visits per year could be enforced for them as they're a neighboring country.

I'm confused about the supposed addition of Laos and Cambodia to visa free entry into Thailand. For almost 20 years, nationals of both countries have been able to enter Thailand visa free, so the insinuation, based on the info graphic that these 2 countries are only now being afforded visa exempt entry into Thailand is highly misleading. So far, Laotians have been permitted unlimited 30 day visa free entry, while Cambodians have been receiving 14 days and vice versa for Thais visiting those 2 countries. What will change here? If they meant that they too will receive 60 days visa free, that would be a significant change BUT it doesn't change the fact that Laos and Cambodia are 2 nations who've been eligible for visa free entry into Thailand for many years and with no official limit on the number of entries either.

Of course these institutions "still" recommend mask wearing. They'll recommend Thais wear their [masks] for life, because there will literally never be a good reason to remove them, according to the MOPH, which is by far the most hysterical fear mongering health agency of any country in the world. No other country even comes close, not China, not Japan. Mask wearing is Thailand's national religion.

Well said sir.

Are you serious? What mall is this? If this story is true then I'm not coming back to Thailand. I'm not going to wear a [mask] again and especially not to enter a mall! If it were me I'd have told the staff how nonsensical it is to wear a mask (they're useless) and that I'm not going to wear one for the rest of my life (many Thais will be wearing them for life).

I've never loaded a debit or credit card with cash. Cards take money from my bank account/credit card account and could function/be topped up/paid off regardless of whether physical cash is available or not. A debit or credit card functions purely as a cashless device. A food court card can also be called a "cash card". As I've mentioned too many times, you start with cash and end with cash. Just because you're using a card for that brief period to pay for your meal or drink, doesn't mean you can bypass the use of cash. Therefore, not a true cashless system and NOT what is meant by cashless (not withstanding the QR code options you have now; I'm talking about food courts that don't have QR codes not to mention how you can go back decades before QR codes and these food courts required you to give cash to get a card to pay). Which doesn't happen with digital cashless payments because these do NOT require cash handling at any point in the transaction. From debit and credit cards to digital wallets and QR codes they all allow you to bypass the handling of cash if you so wish. A don't understand the need to be so pedantic and go back and forth on something that is so simple to comprehend.

The Starbucks stored value card is definitely cashless. Why are you making a distinction I never made? A stored value card where you have to refill it using cash is technically "cashless" but it's not really what is meant here because cashless in this context generally means a digital payment using either a card or electronic means such as a QR code. Thus cashless means it does not involve the use of physical cash at any stage.

I beg to differ. Your definition of cashless isn't what people normally think of as cashless. Cashless means not involving the use of cash in any way. Using cash to purchase a card and getting cash back at the end isn't what people think of when "cashless" is meant. You're still exchanging cash for something, in this case a card. Money in your bank account isn't cash. So if you're using PromptPay to pay for food at a food court, then yes, that's truly cashless.