Lee4Life

The visa is still valid, but only for another month after our entry the day before yesterday. The I/O was questioned by my wife about why we weren't given sixty days, the answer was that the 60 day rule is not in effect yet. We have been staying in Thailand nine months out of every year for eighteen years now. The I/O at the local office our niece took our documents to yesterday told her that they don't see Non O O/A visas much at all anymore because most people who were using them before are now using other visas that allow 90 days at a time and are allowed to be extended twice. She said it requires 800,000 baht in the bank. I'm not sure what they were talking about. If it matters my wife and I are both US citizens, the wife is not Thai.

The entry stamp in our passport obtained at the airport when we first arrived using the e-visa approval letter and insurance documents has the words, "Non-O/A" and "e-Visa" written on it. Sorry if that was confusing. The document you are referring to as "a printed copy of your e-visa" must be the "notice of e-visa approval" that we used on our initial entry I would guess. I haven't seen a document that says that it is the actual e-visa. I guess I get confused by all of the different terms, After being here for eighteen years the whole e-visa deal is hard for me to get used to, getting old I guess.

not contradictory... I didn't list a date our visas expired, or were good until. I simply stated that they were valid when we entered at the airport, and that the local Immigration office advised us to exit across to Laos the final day of the visas and then return the same day, and if we showed insurance coverage for the next year we would be stamped in for one year. why do you need a "valid until date"? The visas were valid for thirty more days when we entered at Savarnabhumi the day before yesterday.

Our intent is to stay for nine months, our usual process is to obtain the Non O/A visa in the States and then on the last day it is valid to cross the border and re-enter, and by doing so be stamped in for an additional year, (O/A visas get stamped in for one year from the date of entry every time), then purchase re-entry permits for that year. In effect it stretches a one year O/A visa to two years. There is not a lot of savings in this method due to the price of the re-entry permits, but it does save the hassle of doing all of the paperwork required for a new visa every year. Looking at our paperwork I can see that the period they stamped us in for matches the expiration of our insurance policy and also the "good until" date of our visa. It could be that there was a miscommunication, the I/O clearly stated that we were given thirty days because we did not have proof of insurance, but it may very well be that the real issue may have been that they couldn't stamp us in for for a longer period of time than our medical insurance was valid for. In any case the local Immigration Office advised us that if we extended our health insurance for one year and went across the border and back on the last day our visa is valid they will stamp us in for one year. All is well that ends well.

That may be the case for some, but our insurance is still valid and did not start until the day we entered Thailand, it matches the period of our visas. The I/O in charge said the problem was that we could not prove we had valid insurance because we did not have the insurance documents with us. That was my fault, I assumed we didn't need the documents because the e-visa stamp was in our passport and I thought that was proof enough that we met all of the requirements, such as having had the notice of visa approval and insurance documents on our first entry into the country.

My wife and I have (or had) valid Non-O O/A Multiple Entry E-Visas acquired in the States. We went back to the States for three months and upon re-entry at Savarnabhumi yesterday we were asked for proof of insurance and also for the Visa approval confirmation sent to us when we applied for the visa. This was the first time we had re-entered through Swampy on the e-visas, we had always had the old visa stickers before, and additional paperwork had never been required, I didn't understand that even with a valid multiple entry visa in our passports they would require additional documents, so I didn't have them. I was only able to show them the visa approval letter that was still in my phone, but that was not sufficient and they stamped us in for thirty days, telling us to sort things out at our local Immigration office (NongKhai), or go to Savanahket to get a new visa. I thought I was up on all of the new requirements, but I totally missed this one. It is my hope that others may benefit from our experience and be sure to bring your e-visa approval letter and proof of insurance when re-entering Thailand on multiple re-entry O/A visas, even if you have not had any problems previously. (My wife had been across to Laos and back in at the bridge with no troubles).

Spoken like a true bigot

Our Thai niece was able to get a visa to the US, but not until the third try even though she met all of the criteria. No reason for denial was given, they just told her to pick up a form from a box on the way out of the door, the form listed all of the reasons visas are denied for, not detailing any particular one. On the second attempt the interviewer said she was denied, then told her,"come back in one year and we will give you a visa", that's exactly what happened.

Thank you Sir!

Yes sir, it does. The format is very similar to your example, only the "Visa conditions" states in Thai that I must have health insurance valid for one year from my entry date. Is that actually the expiration date? I would expect that "Visa must be used by" would mean that you must enter the Kingdom using the visa by that date. Maybe just terminology differences?

My wife and I have been here on Retirement Visas for around ten years. We learned early (via UbonJoe and also an I/O) that if we did a border run on the last day our visa was valid we would get stamped in for another year, then buying a one year re-entry permit gave us the abilities to travel also. But then along comes the E-visa...we are on our first ever E-visa now and the last day the visa is valid is not clear to us. The old paper sticker visas had a definite expiration date on them, then there was an entry stamp with a date we must exit stamped in our passport when arriving by any border or airport. My passport has no visa now, just an entry stamp with the arrival date and an "until" date and "E-Visa" hand written under it. The E-visa approval document the Thai Consulate in the U.S. provided does not have an expiration date on it either. Before heading to the local Immigration Office I figured I would ask if anyone else has any experience in this matter?

Checked luggage does go through a security process (scanning) before being allowed aboard an aircraft, and if there is a problem the TSA or airport security can and will call you back from the gate. It's not usually up to the airlines as to what they can or cannot carry. (It's up to the TSA or the similar body in whatever country you are flying in if it's domestic) Tools are not Automotive parts, so they fit another category.

I thought about that too...but I lived near a military reservation before, and dummy or practice grenades could be found there once in a while.

A friend of mine tried to bring brand new automotive parts in via his checked luggage. They were confiscated coming through security for his first flight, seems that auto parts were not allowed whether brand new or not. I have managed to bring such items as new air and oil filters, also light bulbs. I wouldn't risk trying shock absorbers though, especially at that price tag.

"The planned construction timeline is four years for the civil engineering work, followed by an additional five and a half years for establishing the electric rail system." Unless they are already a couple of years or so into the civil works the time frame doesn't work out, at least not if the statement, "followed by" is correct.

Actually I believe it is 6 visa exempt entries by air per year, my neighbor was denied entry based on that rule last year at swampy, but I am not sure it is enforced regularly.

I have been here for 16 years, and have a good relationship with neighbors and shops, it doesn't take much to do that here, just mind your manners. I avoid other foreigners for the most part, but I have approached a few who I have seen repeatedly here and who seem well mannered. I have also apologized to a few Thai shop keepers and store workers for other foreigners at times. Why do they have to bring their unhappiness here? Do they think Thailand will magically solve all their attitude problems? Or did someone else send them here thinking maybe they wouldn't come back?

sorry posted in the wrong thread

I have always printed them as two separate pages and it has worked well. Now that I think of it, I'm not sure I have seen anyone at the I/O ever print or copy anything front and back.

all that is needed is your name, and thanks to social media and google, people can find your friends, where you live, your family...nearly everything about you.

That's actually a law in Thailand, not to pick up property that belongs to others that is.

don't think it will do much good there, but yours is a novel approach!

what a load of malarkey

That's okay, I don't mind that you think poorly of my decision, but it was my decision to make and I'll live with it. you can do differently when you are faced with the same situation if you like.

I live in a border town in Isaan, today I was at the local Tesco and just after using the ATM to make a withdrawal I was approached by a middle aged foreign woman, she asked if I spoke English and then proceeded to tell me she was an Australian tourist on her way from Bangkok to Laos and the group she was with had over-nighted in our town the previous night before crossing the border. She said she had come to Tesco to use the ATM before crossing the border and the ATM had impounded her ATM card, she stated she had called the emergency number on the ATM machine and they were of no help. Then she called her bank and they told her that her card had been locked and impounded due to a fraud alert and they would send her a new card that would arrive the next day. She stated that she had no money for anything and couldn't pay even for another night at the hotel and was looking for someone who could help her. I told her that if she explained to the Hotel staff what had happened it was very likely they would allow her to stay until she receives her new ATM card, to which her reply was that she didn't even have enough money to get a ride back there. I then asked her if she had a working phone, she replied that she did, so I suggested she call the Tourist Police and they would assist her. Then she said, "so you're not going to help me?" to which I began to reply that I would like to help, but her story has become a popular way to scam people out of money, and though I would like to believe her she is a complete stranger to me. But once I got the word scam out she walked off and commented loudly over her shoulder, "You don't need to explain!" Here is what stood out to me: I was approached immediately after using the ATM to withdraw money, it was a story I had heard of others being scammed by, and the thought came to my mind that if I were traveling from Bangkok to Laos I would definitely have withdrawn adequate funds before beginning the trip just in case there was a problem. While I don't feel good about not helping her, there were just too many red flags. What would you have done? Given her money or not?