RandyWhite

I tried for a triple entry tourist visa in Vientiane on Dec 16, 2009.

No go. They won't issue them while tourist visas are free.

So what did you get?

I am wondering whether to try for a single or double entry there early next month.

Can I get reliable info anywhere but the embassy or should I just ask when I apply ?

RAW.

Entry by land on a visa exempt stamp will be 15 days - by air 30 days. If person has a Consulate issued visa for entry the normal number of daysd stay for the visa type will be available by land or air.

So one key to maximizing stay on TR visa via Vientiane visa run is to obtain a Laos visa in Bangkok, am I right?

And having obtained such, I would be on an equal footing with someone who had arrived in Thailand by air from Vientiane even though I had arrived by land, am I right?

RAW.

Hi - I will be applying for a Thai TR visa ext. in Bangkok next week and then booking a return flight BKK - Penang for visa run in early Feb..

My last visa runs have been as follows:

1. Penang: usual 60-days

2. Penang: I didn't apply on advice of usual agent and got 30 day on arrival at Suwannaphoom instead

3. no visa ext. in BKK and then a 60-day TR visa in KL which was rubber stamped at Suwannaphoom

I figure that I will take my Penang agents advice on whether to apply there - or take a ~6 hour bus trip to Kota Baru and apply there as I've never been there and it sounds ok from all I've read on thaivisa.com.

Whadayareckonabouthathen?

RAW.

Does anyone have any recent first hand information about making a visa run to HMC?

Seems the Vietnamese visa will cost about 1,000 and the A/Asia ticket about 4,500.

I don't know anything else yet.

RAW.

Happy Father's Day

Any thoughts or facts on doing a TR visa run to Calcutta?

I found KL expensive and S'pore would likely be more expensive (although the A/Asia flights I looked at were almost a thousand baht cheaper than BBB/KL return) so I thought about taking Mon-Fri and going a little further to see the only big Indian city I haven't seen.

I expect the airfare might be a killer though.

RAW.

Guys - I was in the Tiger showroom to check them out and I can tell you that all of the Boxers are as ugly looking as those ugly brown police bikes. Any unbiased observer can see that Cagiva did a far better job with the original design about 15 years ago - an example of which was in the workshop so I had a chance to compare them side by side. The Cagiva even looks like a newer bike.

As for the motor, I'm sure that's an old Kawasaki design that Cagiva used and I guess it does the job.

Me? - I'll keep looking for a little black Spada or buy another GTO and do some sick things to it.

Bottom line: Who except a Thai cop in his ugly uniform would be completely happy with riding such an ugly bike?

RAW.

Years ago I used to buy Ampoerna and Gundang Guram here on the black market and I was thinking of taking a wander around Chinatown (Yaowarat) to find some.

Anyone got any better ideas on where to look?

RAW.

were any documents required like return ticket out of Thailand and or prove of financial means??

Saw some reports here where they asked for those?

If so would a bank book from Thai account work?

Just the usual form, xeroxed passport pages and a couple of photos.

RAW.

Actually, no - there are no stamps, so any information of that nature would be on the inbedded chip that the passport contains, and basically accessible only to bureaucrats: I have no idea how much the Thais can access, but the Thai who accepted my visa application in KL seemed to be unsure what to do when he could only find an exit stamp from Thailand. After he had a quick glance to see who was around, he seemed to decide to take the path of least resistance and leave it for immigration at Suwannaphoom to deal with.

Bottom Line: 'Clear as mud'

RAW.

In Thailand - this time and last time.

RAW.

As one of the 'usual suspects' in Penang, I went to KL this time with a new passport, no visa extension and no application (visa on arrival) and got 60 days. Sweet!

RAW.

Anyone know of any real cheap accommodation in Kuala Lumpur with convenient access to the Royal Thai Embassy?

I expect to be there for two nights on a visa run next month and I haven't been there for 20 years or so.

Also, can anyone confirm that it's still the old 'apply in the morning and get it back the next day in the afternoon' routine down there?

Any good tips would be much appreciated.

RAW.

From my experience, these A4 notices usually mean they are indeed serious and not open to persuasion. A few years ago I was stuck in Poipet for a few hours because of an A4 notice that required onward flight tickets, but has anyone heard of them being required under the latest clampdown for people flying back in from abroad?

RAW.

Thursday Oct.15: downtown in Georgetown, Penang

Upon my arrival on this latest visa run, my usual agent (N.B. and hotelier) didn't even ask if I wanted to try for a Thai TR Visa, so I just gave the whole thing a miss and kept the agents fee. Why throw good money after bad: I'll get 30 days at Suwannaphoom Airport and take things as they come.

Besides, I may be back here next month: seems you could go down and back on the same plane and miss just the one day away from you-know-what. As it's best to book a few weeks in advance, does anyone have any suggestions as to the current practicalities of doing the same kind of fly out / fly back and get a 30-day TR at the airport on return? I'm wondering if they might ask to see a foreign entry stamp, not just a Thai exit stamp.

RAW.

confusing post. you mean it was a guarantee you would not get the tr visa so you blew it off or what?

When a Chinese won't waste his time trying for a commission you can read the writing on the wall.

A guaranteed waste of time is what he thought.

Only at landborders do they want to say a foreign exit stamp, not at the airport.

My info comes from THAI AIR ASIA ground staff at the airport who I questioned carefully.

Thursday Oct.15: downtown in Georgetown, Penang

Upon my arrival on this latest visa run, my usual agent (N.B. and hotelier) didn't even ask if I wanted to try for a Thai TR Visa, so I just gave the whole thing a miss and kept the agents fee. Why throw good money after bad: I'll get 30 days at Suwannaphoom Airport and take things as they come.

Besides, I may be back here next month: seems you could go down and back on the same plane and miss just the one day away from you-know-what. As it's best to book a few weeks in advance, does anyone have any suggestions as to the current practicalities of doing the same kind of fly out / fly back and get a 30-day TR at the airport on return? I'm wondering if they might ask to see a foreign entry stamp, not just a Thai exit stamp.

RAW.

A tourist from a " devolping country" cant work illegally in the so called " developed countries "

whats good for the goose is good for the gander

Agreed. Why should Thailand be so lenient on people who make aa mockery of its immigration and tax rules?

Because the people who decide such policies come from the elite and can therefore change them at a whim with impunity.

These 'tax farmers' and 'rent-seekers' are the ones really making a mockery of the whole idea of representative government here and they always have.

Thais and everyone else who works here - unless they're well connected, of course - are left in a dogfight for the scraps.

RAW.

First, the vast majority of farangs do not want to work in Thailand.

But there are a lot that do.

Now, what is the motivation behind this latest crackdown?

1) People living in Thailand on tourist visas are not in the tax system, which seems to be the reason behind why the authorities want to end the practice. Non-imm visa holders have been screened, and for many the only way that they will be able to stay in Thailand is to get work permits, and start paying income tax. This presents a revenue opportunity for the cash strapped government, and it is difficult to deny that governments the world over rightly expect residents to pay income tax.

2) Thailand gets constantly bashed for harbouring high profile criminals who are on the run. Clearly, this represents only a tiny fraction of one percent of all the good people who bend the rules with back-to-back tourist visas, but it has been a source of national embarassment nonetheless, as we have seen in the newspapers. Forcing people to return to their home countries once in a while, screening them in this way, solves this problem

Correction: A lot of people working without a permit DO pay income tax and we ALL pay VAT, right?

To those who talk about Abhisit being a military puppet and still talk about appointing national police chief - how can you possibly ignore the fact staring in your face - Abhisit pushed for his candidate AGAINST the army preferred choice?

And the fact HIS man IS the defacto Police Chief now.

It is officially a temp appointment, but it also allows him to

a ) do the job, build power

b ) solidify his position and make deals

c ) apply pressure where needed

But makes it easier to make it finalized,

and less loss of face for opposition factions.

Abhisit's increasing successes and his improved stature as PM have Thaksin turning green and howling ever more at the autumn moon.

Yeah, ok. "Politics is the art of compromise."

Abhisit's biggest fault is that he's a big Barry Manilow fan: talk about conservative!

To me -Abhisit's biggest problem is not Thaksin or that he isn't a smart leader, but that he heads a weak coalition government.

By contrast, Thaksin's biggest problem remains that he acts and speaks like an uneducated man (unless he's reading a prepared speech):

As the saying goes, "If it waddles like a duck and quacks like a duck, it's probably a duck."

RAW.

Friend just got back from Penang. 11 on the bus, 7 refused tourist visas. They consider that applying for a visa counts towards the final count of your total visas allowed. If that makes any sense, let me know.

Suggest to your friends to read this forum regularly. If they had they would have known not to go there in the first place, because Penang's policy on not issuing tourist visas to repeat applicants has been known for quite some time.

Clarification: Penang's policy eased off (60 days, no fee and no red stamps) about 12 months ago with the global recession and slump in tourism. However, apparently this year's crackdown began during the first part of September (i.e. last month).

RAW.

It is easy follow the law and you have no problems.Try to get a visa for europe as Thai people and you will see were it is the most difficult.

If you work get a workpermit like in every decent country in the world and you get a 1 year renewable visa.If you are retired put 800.000 baht in a thai account and you get also the same visa.The people who complain are those who are doing monkey business and think that as foreigner all is allowed.Dont forget we are guest here no local people.

You forgot all the foreigners who are less than 50, not married with Thai and don't work, just spend time and money here.

I know a lot of these guys and they don't understand the strict rules as they support Thai local economy.

Who think about them ?

For all you 'I'm alright, Jack' posters, here's an all too common scenario that the clampdown does not take into account:

A farang begins a new job under the usual deliberately misrepresented terms and conditions here on the usual six month 'probation' system during which the employer will not provide the documents for a Non. Imm. visa.

Then the farang either a) passes probation, doesn't pass probation - no justification required other than "unsuitable", c) resigns - usually due to employers 'misrepresentations' - i.e. lying and cheating, d) passes probation and resigns due to ongoing 'misrepresentations'.

So unless it's a case of 'first time lucky' (rare) or of accepting (rationalizing?) the insultingly uncivilised and unprofessional state of affairs (TIT) foisted on the organization, the industry (especially those like education which are well insulated foreign competition) and in fact the whole country by those in power, then - depending on the current state of policy 'flip-flop' - the alien farang can still have a problem even though they started off with a 60-day Tourist Visa.

As professional operators are very hard to find here (again, I don't blame the Thai staff - it's the system and those responsible for it) in those industries (and most others) the process of finding a second (or third job) compounds the difficulty for those unwilling to 'KOW TOW'. or as the Chinese so charmingly put it, 'tremble and obey'.

And some people wonder why it's called the Kingdom of Illusions.

RAW.

Alien Alert for the Kingdom of Illusions

Around the end of September (2009) a warning that the government would be tightening up (once more) on the issuance of consecutive 60-day tourist visas appeared on ajarn.com.

I have had a few red stamps in the past which necessitated an inconvenient change to my normal comfortable visa run, so I'd be interested to hear from contributors as to if and how the more relaxed attitude of the last 12 months has actually changed.

RAW.

I've noticed how sometimes on TV after a thread has run for a few days, some members vulture in to find fault with and attack various posts along the way. Sometimes by intellectual elitists getting their egos stroked at the expense of somebody just casually enjoying the thread, or by somebody having an axe to grind on life in general.

I don't see this changing. So be it, but intellectual arrogance has always been a pet peeve of mine. So you're super smart, big f##cking deal. Your crap smells the same as mine.

OK now, somebody blast the shit out of this reply - hope it feels good!

10-4

Dear Lopburi, has it occured to you that some of us don't get on for days or weeks at a time?

And no, this doesn't feel good - not for that reason anyway.

BTW: Try a dog next time - they make better pets than peeves.

Me? People who have to stop and wait everytime before they step onto an escalator drive me nuts!

Bottom Line: POBODY'S NERFECT

RAW.

So how is it better now? Freedom of speech is better? Freedom of the press is better? Individual liberties better? LM prosecutions are fewer? How exactly is it better now?

I think you'd refuse to see that it's better regardless of any arguments.

Freedom of speech - in T-days people were sued left and right for billions, not happening anymore.

Freedom of press - there are half a dozen anti-government publications. In T-days he sued every media outlet even slightly critical.

Justice - for the first time in history power does not give immunity anymore.

Why don't you look at it through Thaksin's lawyers eyes, they've spent six months in jail, or former EC commissioners who were jailed, or Pojamarn, who was convicted of tax fraud, or Samak who tried to fool the court with fabricated evidence, or Thaksin himself who can't escape justice despite all his money and fan clubs everywhere.

Thaksins lawyers: you mean those fall-guys for Thaksin that tried to offer that judge the snack box stuffed with cash?

RAW.

Dysfunctional? Yes. Failed? Not at all.

Thailand functions pretty much as it chooses to. All that appears odd, or messed up by western standards such as corruption, nepotism, and lack of general order on the roads is not a result of failure, it's how the Thais like it, and it's by their standards that the country's success needs to be measured, not foreign journalists.

Correction: it's how the elites who, by and large, run the state "like it" and no one else except perhaps their lackeys "like it".

Actually, because they have been the victims of double-standards and corruption more than farang, they detest them even more.

RAW.