do i really need show 20.000 at airport ?

[pumpjack]

due in thailand for a 2 week break,   i was last there in april for a month.  

 

do i really need show 20000 baht - £400 . 

 

i have a kasikorn account with funds in , could i take a snapshot of my statement to show immigration.  

 

i have 4-5 friends there at moment and they were not asked for proof of funds,  though i dont want anything going wrong. 

[stevenl]

Unless Thai immigration thinks you're working here or are a serial visa runner, very unlikely you'll be asked to show 20k.

[overherebc]

14 minutes ago, pumpjack said:

due in thailand for a 2 week break,   i was last there in april for a month.  

 

do i really need show 20000 baht - £400 . 

 

i have a kasikorn account with funds in , could i take a snapshot of my statement to show immigration.  

 

i have 4-5 friends there at moment and they were not asked for proof of funds,  though i dont want anything going wrong. 

Why take a chance on it. Show you have a bank account with money in it doesn't really make you look like a holiday maker/tourist to an IO who might be in the wrong mood.

Are you arriving with or without a visa has a bearing as well. How many recent visa exempts, tourist visas have you had recently?

Unlikly though that you will be asked to show it.

[Mrjlh]

I think if you just have proof if asked is all you need. If they ask then show it, if not don't worry about it. It is for those on tourist entries anyway. Don't make a big deal about it jut be prepared. Complaining isn't going to help. Relax.

[elviajero]

2 hours ago, pumpjack said:

due in thailand for a 2 week break,   i was last there in april for a month.  

 

do i really need show 20000 baht - £400 . 

 

i have a kasikorn account with funds in , could i take a snapshot of my statement to show immigration.  

 

i have 4-5 friends there at moment and they were not asked for proof of funds,  though i dont want anything going wrong. 

If entering without a visa it is 10K. With a visa it's 20K. Cash or travellers cheques only. Foreign currencies should be accepted.

 

They only generally ask to see the funds if they are suspicious that you are living in the country and or illegally working, as a lack of funds can be used as the reason for denying entry.

 

If your last entry was in April you shouldn't have any problems.

[JackThompson]

1 hour ago, Mrjlh said:

I think if you just have proof if asked is all you need. If they ask then show it, if not don't worry about it. It is for those on tourist entries anyway. Don't make a big deal about it jut be prepared. Complaining isn't going to help. Relax.

Proof will help getting a Visa at a consulate.  But lack of it in cash at a checkpoint can result in a "justified" denial of entry, per established rules.  They literally put the amount of "cash" you have on the rejection-form - and refuse to consider account-statements, or even let you go to an ATM and get the cash to show. 

 

Pretending that the "cash" a person has is relevant to their financial-solvency in this day and age is silly - but this a trap, not anything to do with the purported issue being addressed - so without the cash on hand, they have "got you."

 

3 hours ago, pumpjack said:

...  i was last there in april for a month ...

If you do not have any longer-stay pattern in your Thai entry/exit history, you will most likely not be asked to show the cash.  A break after a longer-stay won't necessarily help - but if you only visit occasionally for short periods, the chance of being questioned is slim.

 

That said, I would always bring the money, because it is cheap insurance to prevent a worst-case scenario with an IO who simply doesn't like you (or is having a bad day, or hasn't met a daily rejection-quota, etc).

[overherebc]

It's a bit like the old laws in UK still on the books but old.

I believe a Cavalry Officer with 6 men can still register at a licenced Inn and legally ask for hay for his horses, bread ale and cheese for his men and beds for one night.

???

[Mrjlh]

JT....Proof "is" having "cash" in hand. What other proof did you think I meant? Reading between the lines again? :)

[glegolo]

46 minutes ago, bkk6060 said:

I got the same about Cambodia.  Everyone kept telling me: go to Cambodia.  My question was why?  The response from more then you would believe was:  Oh, its so cool you can buy a beer for 50 cents. You got to go 50 cent beers! 

Uh uh OK,  ?????

PS:  Cambodia and Vietnam I think are the minor leagues compared to Thailand.

But, go and good to check it out for yourself.

 

Yeah I could go there if I was a comåplainer and a give upper.. (is that a word?) No problem for me what regards small things like adapting to the law that is present here.... I just show them 20K 40K or 100K or whatever they want OR I stay home in falang-country....

 

But to use shitty beers as an comparizon is like minor leqgue to me...

 

Glegolo

[overherebc]

23 minutes ago, glegolo said:

Yeah I could go there if I was a comåplainer and a give upper.. (is that a word?) No problem for me what regards small things like adapting to the law that is present here.... I just show them 20K 40K or 100K or whatever they want OR I stay home in falang-country....

 

But to use shitty beers as an comparizon is like minor leqgue to me...

 

Glegolo

As Tom Jones would say, It's not unusual.

Once had a guy in UK tell me one of the reasons he went to the USA every year on holiday was because the burgers were twice the size of the ones in UK.

Go figure.

To the OP, just carry 20K baht, a ticket out and an on line hotel booking. 

[Maestro]

    Removed an off-topic post about the price of beer and the replies to it.

[YetAnother]

15 hours ago, JackThompson said:

daily rejection-quota

hope you are jesting

[OJAS]

13 hours ago, overherebc said:

To the OP, just carry 20K baht'..... 

Or alternatively the GBP equivalent (which works out at around £460 at present xrates).

[JackThompson]

2 minutes ago, YetAnother said:

hope you are jesting

It's only speculation - but based on similar police-activities in other countries.  "Not enough rejections" could be interpreted as "not doing their job."   A financial-incentive is in place, with the 700 Baht/day "detention fee" - and this is taken from people who have not violated any law. 

Unofficial quotas are how USA Police are judged to be "doing their jobs"  - which is another reason I prefer it here.  Highways are not lined with cars stopped, inspected, and extorted - like some distopia police-state which was described to us as children = USSR and East Germany - now reality in the so-called "land of the free".  Even automated systems there follow a similar pattern; when "red light cameras" don't raise enough revenue, the yellow-light sequence is shortened, to "catch" more "bad guys."  It's "corruption" / extortion plain and simple - but all completely "legalized."

 

The airports have limited detention-space, and could certainly "round up" enough to fill those spaces among those who never dreamed they would be asked to "show cash," in this day and age.  Even limiting the drag-net to frequent and/or past longer-stayers, it would not be a challenge to keep the beds full.

 

Nearly every thread on this issue, someone says something along the lines of, "I can get it from the ATM," (you can't) or "I can show them my bank-account info," (phone-view or paper-statement are not accepted).  Only readers of threads like these would know that Thai-airports are in a "1970 time-warp" - and can anyone really blame them for not being sufficiently "imaginative" to dream up this scenario?  Even if they read the Airline-info, it tells them a credit-card is fine - but it isn't.

[YetAnother]

1 hour ago, JackThompson said:

Only readers of threads like these would know that Thai-airports are in a "1970 time-warp"

hmmmmm; so an evolving preferred method would be to fly into another airport in an adjoining country and laboriously make it to your thai destination by land border crossing....sure does muck up what should be straightforward

[JackThompson]

7 minutes ago, YetAnother said:

hmmmmm; so an evolving preferred method would be to fly into another airport in an adjoining country and laboriously make it to your thai destination by land border crossing....sure does muck up what should be straightforward

You may have to show the 20K baht at land borders - especially in the South.  But even having the cash is not sure-thing entering at airports, if one has a longer-stay history (there have been denials based on 'suspicion of coming to work illegally' when the person attempting entry had the money). 

For folks with longer-stay histories, and entering with a Tourist Visa, the sure way to avoid problems is to use a friendly land-border (still with the cash), then fly domestic.  Flying to Penang, train through the Pedang Besar checkpoint, then flying out of Hat Yai, seems to be the option with the best flight-prices.  Flights to Vientiane, then crossing at Nong Khai is even better, in terms of border-friendliness - though there are fewer well-priced options into Vientiane airport.

[BritTim]

1 hour ago, JackThompson said:

Flights to Vientiane, then crossing at Nong Khai is even better, in terms of border-friendliness - though there are fewer well-priced options into Vientiane airport.

Actually, since Air Asia started flying to Vientiane, flights booked in advance to Vientiane are often reasonably cheap these days. In July, a one-way flight from Don Muang to Vientiane cost me 1,250 baht. Of course, flying to Udon and crossing the bridge is even cheaper.

[pumpjack]

21 hours ago, Mrjlh said:

I think if you just have proof if asked is all you need. If they ask then show it, if not don't worry about it. It is for those on tourist entries anyway. Don't make a big deal about it jut be prepared. Complaining isn't going to help. Relax.

im only going for 2 weeks .

last there in april for 4 weeks

usually i go to holiday of no more than say 3 weeks x 4 times per year, every year for last 18 years. 

 

so why are people talking about tourist visa ?   

[JackThompson]

13 minutes ago, BritTim said:

Actually, since Air Asia started flying to Vientiane, flights booked in advance to Vientiane are often reasonably cheap these days. In July, a one-way flight from Don Muang to Vientiane cost me 1,250 baht. Of course, flying to Udon and crossing the bridge is even cheaper.

Yes - Vientiane is good for 3 or 4 Tourist Visas per-passport.  But I was thinking of returning from trips to HCMC, and other more distant Visa destinations.  Maybe there are discount options to Vientiane from other locations, these days.

[JackThompson]

13 minutes ago, pumpjack said:

im only going for 2 weeks .

last there in april for 4 weeks

usually i go to holiday of no more than say 3 weeks x 4 times per year, every year for last 18 years. 

 

so why are people talking about tourist visa ?   

If you are coming in Visa Exempt, you could have as little as 10K Baht, plus proof of your hotel-booking, plus proof of your flight out in 30 days.  Since you will have more than 6 lifetime Visa-Exempts in their database, you could be questioned, because the computer will "alert" on this.

Your travel-history as described should be deemed "acceptable" - even by Airport-IO standards - but I'd have those 3 things ready to show so that you have nothing to worry about.

[Aditi Sharma]

For a peaceful flight and because I am anxiety-prone, I have never travelled to Thailand VoA. 

[bkk6060]

44 minutes ago, Aditi Sharma said:

For a peaceful flight and because I am anxiety-prone, I have never travelled to Thailand VoA. 

Stuff 20,000 b in your pocket, take a Xanax and have a beer and relax.....

[Aditi Sharma]

43 minutes ago, bkk6060 said:

Stuff 20,000 b in your pocket, take a Xanax and have a beer and relax.....

I have heard than Xanax and beer can be counter-productive. But the combination can surely make you wonder aloud what the fuss was all about ;-)