Maximum 3-4 SETV 's ? I need some help...

[Pa John]

Hi! I read around the web, I can only get 3 to 4 SETV's ( single entry tourist visa ) back to back. I also read that there is no law about how many SETV's you can get, aswell as I read about many other's that have stayed in Thailand for many years on SETV's... I have lots of money and plan to stay in Th for a long time. I'm only 35 years old, I don't work and are not married yet, so my only visa option is SETV. I'm going to Penang for my SETV number 4 next week ( I have talked to an agent there and he says he can fix that, but it will be the last SETV from Penang ). So what do I do after that?? Get a new passport or can I get a new SETV from Laos??? How do you guys that have stayed here for many years do it???? I really need some help... It's very ok if you want to send me a private message or write here.

Thanks so much in advance.

[jackdd]

21 minutes ago, Pa John said:

I have lots of money

You have lots of money, so you should just buy Thailand Elite, that's the easiest way https://www.thailandelite.com

[dennis123]

If you stick to max 3 SETV's per embassy you can go on for a long time, I made the mistake to go to the embassy in Vientiane for the 5th time.

 

Previously i always went 3 times in a row to Vientiane, then 3 times in a row to Phnom Penh, sometimes another country in between and then repeat the same process, that way you can virtually go on forever.

[onera1961]

2 minutes ago, dennis123 said:

that way you can virtually go on forever.

No guarantee in this climate. IO may still not allow him to enter at the airport. Yes I know many people have stayed for long. Only guarantee is Elite Visa. As he says he has lots of money, the best advise for him is elite visa.

[dennis123]

1 minute ago, onera1961 said:

No guarantee in this climate. IO may still not allow him to enter at the airport. Yes I know many people have stayed for long. Only guarantee is Elite Visa. As he says he has lots of money, the best advise for him is elite visa.

I have a car so I always cross at land borders but yeah I read plenty of stuff that those immigration officers at the airport can be nasty, thank god I never had to deal with them.

 

It's funny how one of the agents near the Thai embassy in Vientiane suggested I come to fly in next time instead of crossing the border with my car. ???? Definitely not after all those horror stories, even read about someone that got rejected at the airport with an ED visa, and all this talk about 20k baht cash, most of the time I spend all my money in Laos or Cambodia and just have enough left to buy petrol to drive back or to get to the nearest Thai ATM ???? 

[BritTim]

If you had asked before planning to go to Penang, I would have told you to avoid them if you already have multiple tourist visas from elsewhere. The climate there has changed. You are likely to get the visa, but together with a "red stamp" indicating that you travel often to Thailand on tourist visas. This stamp makes it difficult to get additional tourist visas from most consulates in the region until you change your passport.

 

Recommended consulates these days are Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Hong Kong, Yangon and Savannakhet. You already know Vientiane is good for 3-4 visas. Kuala Lumpur seems also OK, at least for a single visa. Some suggest Kota Bharu, but travel there and back is not very convenient.

 

Apart from the issues with getting the visas, you can also run into trouble entering Thailand at Bangkok airports, though this is usually a problem only with visa exempt entries.

 

As already advised, consider the Thailand Elite program.

[buick]

i retired at 40 and stayed in thailand about 8 months a year for 10 years using visa exempt and SETV's.  the first half of that was fairly easy, i left every 30 days for a side trip of sorts.  many of those trips were back to USA to see friends and family.  others were to see other places in south east asia (usually a 10 day stay, hong kong, philippines, vietnam).  the second half was tougher, had to get SETV's as the crackdown on frequent visa exempt entries had begun.

 

i considered getting the thai elite visa but i enjoyed the travel and figured i'd keep doing the same thing but get SETV's in the USA each time i went back (instead of visa exempt).  after a few years of that, it got to be a little too much for me (always carrying the 20,000thb, buying throwaway tickets, setting my schedule based on when my permitted stay was up, etc...).  the last two years i wished i'd just bought the thai elite.  i finally turned 50 and was eligible to stay for a full year if i kept 800thb in a thai bank.

 

starting this whole process at 35 (the OP's age), the thai elite is the best option.  unless you plan to get married soon, a year or two from now.  you might consider an METV from your home country to get you through a couple years.  but i can't see how you'll make it 15 years to qualify for the 'retirement visa' using the SETV or METV method.

[crazyk]

How much cash have you,if only 35 not a lot unless you got rich parents & a pampered brat,if you worked for your money & lived a sad existence to save money you ain't got a great deal left after paying the elite visa,I must have about 20 visas from malaysia,lots of 6 months multi entry which they stopped doing & 3 12 months visas,1 in London & 2 in penang,then they changed the rules,so had to get setv but alternate between penang & kl no problem if you got the appropriate paperwork

[JackThompson]

On 11/1/2018 at 8:39 PM, Pa John said:

Hi! I read around the web, I can only get 3 to 4 SETV's ( single entry tourist visa ) back to back.

Only a rule relating to "from the same consulate" - and some fewer. 

Quote

I also read that there is no law about how many SETV's you can get, aswell as I read about many other's that have stayed in Thailand for many years on SETV's...

Correct.  There is no legal limit on the use of Tourist Visas - issuance, or use to stay in Thailand.  Just avoid the airport and the Poipet/Aranya entry-points, where they have been known to claim non-published rules exist.  These unpublished-rules have not been reported quoted to visitors at any other checkpoints.

 

Quote

I have lots of money and plan to stay in Th for a long time. I'm only 35 years old, I don't work and are not married yet, so my only visa option is SETV. I'm going to Penang for my SETV number 4 next week ( I have talked to an agent there and he says he can fix that, but it will be the last SETV from Penang ). So what do I do after that?? Get a new passport or can I get a new SETV from Laos??? How do you guys that have stayed here for many years do it???? I really need some help... It's very ok if you want to send me a private message or write here.

Thanks so much in advance.

Here is how it is done.  Starting with a fresh-passport with no Thai Tourist-Visas in it, you go to the "pita" consulates first.  Phnom Penh is a good one to start with - only get one from there.  Next, you can go to the "less friendly" consulates, such as Penang - get one there, and maybe Hong Kong for another.  Then, you can start with the "friendly if you have all the stuff" consulates - such as Hanoi, and HCMC.  Then go to Vientiane 3x - but no more than that.  At the end, go to Savannakhet until they say "no more," - possibly returning Visa-Exempt by-land on that trip (can get 2x per calendar-year, and no problem on Friendship Bridge from Mukdahan).

 

The thing one is trying to avoid, is the so-called "red stamp" (though often in black or blue ink), which states something like, "This person travels to Thailand frequently using Tourist Visas...."  That will prevent you from getting Tourist Visas from many Thai consulates.  Visiting the same Thai-consulate for Tourist Visas too many times with the same passport can result in getting this stamp.  Each consulate has its own way of counting Thai Visas to decide whether to give you the stamp - and it is generally inconsistent even at the same consulate; some count their own Visas, others count all Thai visas.  The solution to the 'red stamp problem' (as consulate-staff will tell you), is to go to your embassy, and get a new passport.  The goal is to delay buying a new passport as long as possible.  When/if you must do this, be sure to do it immediately upon entry, so you have plenty of time to get it back before your permit-to-stay expires - or could also apply for it at your embassy in a neighboring country.

 

Note that each consulate has different rules for what you must show.  Vientiane is the easiest - money, form, passport.  Others want things like showing a "flight out" in 60 or 90 days (varies by consulate), hotel-booking or condo rental-contract, and proof of money from a bank-statement print-out (can be from online - try to get a PDF option from your bank to print - and make sure it is recent to the time of application).  

 

An important thing is to keep-track of which consulates are becoming problematic or changing their rules - which can happen without notice.  If you are fortunate, someone else will get hit with a rule-change and report it here, before you fall into the same trap.  But if you save your land-border visa-exempts for problems, you won't get "stuck" somewhere.

Edited November 6, 2018 by JackThompson