CK1980

Hi, I was hoping someone could help me out with a few questions and advice regarding the costs of pregnancy and birth in Thailand. I have recently moved here and my Thai girlfriend is pregnant. I don’t have a great deal of disposable income and I’m a bit worried about being able to afford everything up to and including the birth. She works here in the finance department for a Thai company but will soon be off work until after the birth. My girlfriend is not too clued up about what free health care she will receive if any. She will need a monthly maternity check up starting this month, I was wondering what the cost of these appointments will be in a local hospital/doctors/clinic or if this will be covered by the government health care system either through her work contract or otherwise, and then the cost of the birth itself, and again whether this will be covered by the government system or not. Any advice and rough costs involved would be greatly appreciated so I can try and budget for everything. Thanks in advance!

Yes good point, even a TV doesn't guarantee anything. When I say 'official' line, I mean the information coming from the Thai Embassy in London, who I called and they confirmed that you are allowed 2 VE's per calendar year. That is about as official as you are going to get but it doesn't really mean anything as the 'IO discretion' policy covers them for making the rules up as they go when you get to immigration. I guess it's always going to be a bit of a lottery if you are entering Thailand multiple times in a year, regardless of what visa 'rules' are in place....

I'd honestly buy a Tourist Visa mate, it's £30 well spent for the peace of mind. The immigration officers can use discretion and there are plenty of stories of them making up the rules as they go. Like the 90 in 180 day rule that I am worried about, I think this used to be a rule but there are reports of it still being used to deny entry. The official line now is that you can use 2 VE's per year, so I'd be very cautious of trying to get in on a 3rd one regardless of previous ones being only 30 days. Getting a TV in advance will save you so much stress, I wish I'd done it. It's not worth the gamble for the sake of £30 IMHO.

Thanks both of you for the info. You've lowered my anxiety levels somewhat! 😬 I really wish I'd looked in to this sooner and paid for a TV, but anyhow hopefully I get in! Have a great week, cheers!

Thanks for the reply. It's what I thought which is why I didn't get a tourist visa, but in hindsight I wish I had to save the stress, as you say, in TIT nothing is guaranteed! I guess the moral is to cover yourself and get a visa before you leave to avoid the uncertainty. Hopefully I get a decent immigration officer at Bangkok and get in. My main concern is about this 90 in 180 day rule which seems to be a since abolished rule but with reports of immigration officers still using it as a means to deny entry. 90 in 180 days would make no sense with the current 2x 60 day plus 1 extension VE per year. You would think it would be advertised as 1 VE per 6 months rather than 2 per year if this rule was in effect. But expecting things to make sense with rules in Thailand is never wise! The other concern I have is that I also have 29 days on a tourist visa from early this year. The trip (and TV entrance stamp) was last December so in the last calendar year, but I didn't leave Thailand until January 29th so technically have another 29 days added to the total amount of days spent in Thailand this year, although this was on a TV so I would hope it does not count towards the VE allowance if there is one... So in total I have had 88 days this year (29 on a TV and 59 on VE). I really hope this does not give more reason to be denied entry. I guess I'll find out soon! Thanks for the help.

Hi everyone, I wonder if anyone can shed any light on the requirements or restrictions on using a visa exemption twice in a year. I thought it was quite straightforward, but I keep finding information about people being refused entry, and restrictions for 90 days within 180 etc. Not sure if the rules have changed because of the new 60 day exemption but I'm starting to get a bit worried because I am leaving on Wednesday so have no time to get a tourist visa and I already used a 30 day exemption with a 30 day extension in March. So I have had 60 days already on an exemption earlier this year, then went back to the UK for 2 months, now I'm going again and hoping to get entry on my 2nd exemption this year, this time for 60 days. I should have known better and got a tourist visa for peace of mind, but it's a bit late for that now! Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks