I am curious what prompts an officer to interrogate some people and not others. I currently have 13 visa exempt entries in my passport for this year alone. I've been coming to Thailand since 2014 and have had very rare questioning from officers. I have been asked what I am doing here etc.. but never pulled aside from the queue. I could just be lucky...but I have a few friends who are in a similar situation. American Passport

49 minutes ago, jakee said:

I am curious what prompts an officer to interrogate some people and not others. I currently have 13 visa exempt entries in my passport for this year alone. I've been coming to Thailand since 2014 and have had very rare questioning from officers. I have been asked what I am doing here etc.. but never pulled aside from the queue. I could just be lucky...but I have a few friends who are in a similar situation. American Passport

Approximate age range you are in ? I think sub-40 might get hassled more...

On 9/14/2018 at 11:46 AM, elviajero said:

The same ‘rule’ has been quoted at land borders too over the last few years. It is has not been “invented” by individual IO’s/supervisors n Bangkok.

 

This rule was in place a long time ago for a very short duration.

But there is no 180 day ruling anymore.

Some IO are trying to bully tourist with this old non existing ruling but they cannot use it to deny entry.

To avoid problems tourist should get a proper visa before going to Thailand especially if they have multiple visa exemptions in their passport.

I don't think telling IO that you have a house/apartment here and are renovating it is a good idea as that could mean that you are or planning to live here.

And that is not allowed on a visa exemption entry or tourist visa entry.

Living here means that you are not a tourist anymore.

 

 

 

7 hours ago, merijn said:

 

This rule was in place a long time ago for a very short duration.

But there is no 180 day ruling anymore.

Some IO are trying to bully tourist with this old non existing ruling but they cannot use it to deny entry.

To avoid problems tourist should get a proper visa before going to Thailand especially if they have multiple visa exemptions in their passport.

I don't think telling IO that you have a house/apartment here and are renovating it is a good idea as that could mean that you are or planning to live here.

And that is not allowed on a visa exemption entry or tourist visa entry.

Living here means that you are not a tourist anymore.

 

 

 

"Some IO are trying to bully tourist with this old non existing ruling but they cannot use it to deny entry."

 

They can and do, but will just write something else in the passport as reason for rejection

2 hours ago, stevenl said:

"Some IO are trying to bully tourist with this old non existing ruling but they cannot use it to deny entry."

 

They can and do, but will just write something else in the passport as reason for rejection

That is of-course always possible but the 180 day can't be used as a reason for rejection.

1 hour ago, merijn said:

That is of-course always possible but the 180 day can't be used as a reason for rejection.

Agree with you, and my previous post was not really correctly worded.

 

IMO the rejections are really based on suspicion of working illegally, but IO's find that a very hard reason, and nearly impossible to prove. So they harass the person trying to enter on the 180 days rule, knowing full well that would not be a rejection reason, but also knowing that 'rule' has been violated, so the person being interrogated can not deny. They then write down 'no money' as official rejection reason, even if the person has the money and showed them, knowing that they will get away with this.

5 hours ago, stevenl said:

IMO the rejections are really based on suspicion of working illegally

IMO rejections are based on racial profiling for some Asian nationalities or African, and looks/clothes/behaviour/the way you respond, when it comes to Westerners.

 

Did anybody here ever bump into people that you had a feeling are "up to no good"?

 

That's how they make the determination. It's all about the vibe.

 

Again, IMO.

 

 

 

 

On 9/14/2018 at 10:28 PM, lordblackader said:

Can I ask how you opened a bank account as a tourist, so that you could transfer funds from the UK, to enable you to buy the condo ?

I opened a Bangkok bank account with a tourist visa and US embassy letter verifying my US address. (US embassy, in fact, does not verify anything. They just sign the letter based on you taking an oath under perjury). However, they did not give me online access (only phone banking). After I got an O-A visa, they gave me access to online banking.