Hi All,

Australian passport holder here currently residing in Bali.

When I arrived in Thailand the last time (29th May, 2017) the immigration officer noted that I had too many tourist and education visas and whatnot; as I had been there for more than a couple of years by that time. He wrote down inside my passport "Apply visa type B. or O."  and told me the same. Now, I have been away from Thailand for basically a year now and would like to come back for a short holiday (one or two weeks at most). My question is: since I have been away for over a year now, will I still need to apply for a B. or O. visa as is written by hand in my passport OR should I just try my luck and apply for a tourist visa at the Thai consulate in Bali? Any other advice/suggestions would be much appreciated. 

Thanks in advance.

You cannot apply for a non-b or non-o visa unless you qualify for them and have the correct supporting documents to get them.

I see no reason why you could not enter the country using a tourist visa.

41 minutes ago, ekg338 said:

When I arrived in Thailand the last time (29th May, 2017) the immigration officer noted that I had too many tourist and education visas and whatnot; as I had been there for more than a couple of years by that time. He wrote down inside my passport "Apply visa type B. or O."  and told me the same

There is no legal count-limit on the use of Tourist Visas, though some IOs in airports believe such limits should exist.  You encountered one of those IOs (or under the command of one).  If entering by land, anywhere but Poipet (which is run by the same clique as airports), this problem would never have come up.

 

44 minutes ago, ekg338 said:

Now, I have been away from Thailand for basically a year now and would like to come back for a short holiday (one or two weeks at most). My question is: since I have been away for over a year now, will I still need to apply for a B. or O. visa as is written by hand in my passport OR should I just try my luck and apply for a tourist visa at the Thai consulate in Bali? Any other advice/suggestions would be much appreciated. 

Thanks in advance.

You could enter with a Tourist Visa and 20K Baht* or Visa-Exempt with 10K Baht* without any issue at any land-crossing other than Poipet. 

 

If you must enter at airport-immigration, where unwritten rules may be invented and enforced, then different rules apply.  They will see you had stayed longer-term in the past, and could decide to create problems.  In this scenario, I would only use a Tourist Visa (not visa-exempt), plus have the 20K Baht*, plus have your outgoing air-ticket and hotel-booking to show.  I would also have an explanation for what you intend to do/see during your short stay committed to memory. 

 

* (The money can be in any convertible currency of Baht equivalence)

Thank you very much both UbonJoe and JackThompson. Love your work!