The last time when I was crossing a land border, I was asked to cross the thai border to go to an atm to withdraw money so that I could demonstrate 10k baht to them. So I did. And atm was located 2 km away from a border.  Then they put a stamp into my passport and let me enter Thailand, officially.

 

Is it allowed in general - to cross a border in such a way? What if I crossed it, stayed for a week, somewhere, and then came back ?

You were operating under police orders - this is a routine thing.  They did not authorize you to spend a week doing it however so expect you would have issues if much longer than normal time.

 

That said people do enter countries without going through normal procedures at times so common sense would likely be tried before fixed laws.

I accidentally crossed into Myanmar from Thailand and went back the way I came.  Seemingly had no problems.

Moving to the Visas forum. 

2 hours ago, Raddi said:

Is it allowed in general - to cross a border in such a way? What if I crossed it, stayed for a week, somewhere, and then came back ?

Normally that certainly would not be done. When you went to the ATM did they hold your passport until you got back.

There are crossings just outside of Hua Hin to and from Myanmar (Burma) and Trat to and from Cambodia, where you can cross freely where there are no border police.

Not much use if you were doing a border run for a visa overstay, but good if your undocumented.

49 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

Normally that certainly would not be done. When you went to the ATM did they hold your passport until you got back.

No.

op you were lucky they allowed you to do this, normally they could refuse entry, why would you take a risk and be in a country illegally

Better, IMO, to cancel your exit from the country you just left, go to an ATM there, and return with the cash.  Better yet, carry travelers checks, so your mind can be at ease in the generally less-safe areas near borders.

On 13/11/2017 at 11:52 AM, JackThompson said:

Better, IMO, to cancel your exit from the country you just left, go to an ATM there, and return with the cash.  Better yet, carry travelers checks, so your mind can be at ease in the generally less-safe areas near borders.

You can still get/use travellers checks?.  I haven't seen one in over twenty years.  Can they be cashed easily anywhere these days? 

1 hour ago, tryasimight said:

You can still get/use travellers checks?.  I haven't seen one in over twenty years.  Can they be cashed easily anywhere these days? 

I have not personally used travelers' checks in ages, but I know they are still easy to buy, and to exchange in banks. It is not as easy to use them in hotels and retail outlets as it was in the era before ubiquitous 24-hour ATMs.

3 hours ago, tryasimight said:

You can still get/use travellers checks?.  I haven't seen one in over twenty years.  Can they be cashed easily anywhere these days? 

Yes, they are available at Bangkok Bank.  When the "Don't have 20K Baht" refusals of entry were reported here, I "topped up" my supply of ancient travelers checks, which I had purchased when going expat over a decade ago (fortunately, they never expire).

 

Given the global ATM network, I agree they are generally pointless to have, except when you enter the 1970s Thai Immigration Time-Warp, where "carried cash" is presumed to have some sort relation to one's access to liquid-capital - and where access to ATM machines to demonstrate one's ability to obtain cash is purposefully-denied, to enable the enforcement of this anachronism.

Edited November 15, 20178 yr by JackThompson

On 11/15/2017 at 10:55 AM, JackThompson said:

When the "Don't have 20K Baht"

Why 20? It's 10. I've seen 10k in the rules and was asked to show 10k too.

51 minutes ago, Raddi said:

On 11/15/2017 at 9:55 AM, JackThompson said:

When the "Don't have 20K Baht"

Why 20? It's 10. I've seen 10k in the rules and was asked to show 10k too.

I was using Tourist Visas when this rule's enforcement began being reported (by people who were rejected-entry for not having cash in-hand).  The rule with any Visa is 20K, so was what I needed. 

It's only 10K required for Visa Exempts - but more would be better, if being questioned as a prelude to rejection.