I read here the third should be fine but you'll probably get a warning stamp if you try for a fourth tourist visa in Vientiane. However, today I got a warning stamp on my third. I have a number of tourist visas from other places but this was only my third from Vientiane. No problems at the border.

 

Do you think Savannakhet will give me a tourist visa if I go there next year? I don't have any from there in my current passport.

3 minutes ago, edwardandtubs said:

Do you think Savannakhet will give me a tourist visa if I go there next year? I don't have any from there in my current passport.

I wouldn’t bank on it if you have the same passport with a warning stamp.

21 hours ago, edwardandtubs said:

Do you think Savannakhet will give me a tourist visa if I go there next year? I don't have any from there in my current passport.

I had 1 setv from Vientiane and 1 setv from Savanakhet .

So applied for my 2nd SETV from Savanakhet which i received ok for a total of 3 in laos non elsewhere.

The staff lady remarked that i would have problems with a 3rd from Savannakhet without a lot of documentation to support my medical tourism i had written on the form,

 

So seems 3 in the laos area is ok but number 4 could well be a problem.

 

My previous history was non B visas.

4 minutes ago, sapson said:

I had 1 setv from Vientiane and 1 setv from Savanakhet .

So applied for my 2nd SETV from Savanakhet which i received ok for a total of 3 in laos non elsewhere.

The staff lady remarked that i would have problems with a 3rd from Savannakhet without a lot of documentation to support my medical tourism i had written on the form,

 

So seems 3 in the laos area is ok but number 4 could well be a problem.

 

My previous history was non B visas.

Seems like you applied for a medical visa and thus will have to provide evidence of this .

Maybe you wouldnt have got red stamped , had you just applied for a tourist visa ?

3 hours ago, sapson said:

 

So seems 3 in the laos area is ok but number 4 could well be a problem.

 

I don't think the Laos total is relevant. At least, I've never heard it mentioned as an issue before. I think the only issue is that Vientiane is now being more strict, so you can do 2 in Vientiane and 2 in Savannakhet no problem but you'll probably get a red stamp for a third in Vientiane. I don't know whether you'd also get a red stamp for a third from Savannakhet. As has been mentioned, what the lady at Savannakhet said to you is probably more related to the specific requirements of a medical tourism visa than the number of tourist visas you have.

 

It would be interesting to hear from anyone who has tried for a tourist visa in Savannakhet with a red stamp from Vientiane.

Edited May 10, 20197 yr by edwardandtubs

Same thing  happened to me in Phom  Penh.so i had to fly to KL  and no problem. what pissed me off the most in KL is i was asked for an outbound ticket but i own condominium. I provide me  Pink card and Yellow book and they did not fxx  care.   we want an outbound ticket....  I tell you what !  both condos are for sale !    Shame on Thailand

19 minutes ago, peter14 said:

I tell you what !  both condos are for sale ! 

how much?

37 minutes ago, AGareth2 said:

how much?

2.5 MILLION  AND 1.9 MILLION

Edited May 10, 20197 yr by peter14
PRICE CORRECTION

How big are they and where at?

2 hours ago, peter14 said:

Same thing  happened to me in Phom  Penh.so i had to fly to KL  and no problem. what pissed me off the most in KL is i was asked for an outbound ticket but i own condominium. I provide me  Pink card and Yellow book and they did not fxx  care.   we want an outbound ticket....  I tell you what !  both condos are for sale !    Shame on Thailand

Tourist visa is just that. Tourist visa for tourist. I wager you are not a genuine tourist since you have your own condo. Thai Authorities don’t give shxt if you owned the whole condo block. They just want to see that you are a genuine tourist thus the outbound ticket. Get the appropriate visa for your circumstance. Don’t blame it on thailand! Given your self entitlement attitude, I would say good riddance !

11 minutes ago, Ctkong said:

Tourist visa is just that. Tourist visa for tourist. I wager you are not a genuine tourist since you have your own condo. Thai Authorities don’t give shxt if you owned the whole condo block. They just want to see that you are a genuine tourist thus the outbound ticket. Get the appropriate visa for your circumstance. Don’t blame it on thailand! Given your self entitlement attitude, I would say good riddance !

Shouldn't go buying condos if you can't get anything more permanent than a Tourist Visa.

9 hours ago, sanemax said:

Seems like you applied for a medical visa and thus will have to provide evidence of this .

Maybe you wouldnt have got red stamped , had you just applied for a tourist visa

No i didnt apply for a medical visa,my application was standard  SETV with outbound ticket, bank statement etc and medical applied too tourism on the bottom of the form since i was waiting to do an operation,

 

the visa was approved giving me a total of three, 1 from Vientiane and 2 from Savanakhet,she remarked that if i wanted number 4 as in three in a row from Savannakhet i would require more than the bank statement outbound ticket etc and some additional paperwork re medical would be required.

 

I was not red stamped as this is not a policy of Savanakhet Thai consulate.

9 hours ago, sanemax said:

Seems like you applied for a medical visa and thus will have to provide evidence of this .

Maybe you wouldnt have got red stamped , had you just applied for a tourist visa ?

See above post 

3 hours ago, sapson said:

It was a normal SETV application ...........with the addition of medical written next to tourism on the bottom of the form.

 

 

Probably better not to mention medical if applying for a normal SETV. I just write the word tourism where you have to write the reason for the application.

5 hours ago, DaRoadrunner said:

Shouldn't go buying condos if you can't get anything more permanent than a Tourist Visa.

 

That advice may seem valid today, and perhaps it's always been valid.   But before 2014, guys lived in Thailand for decades on monthly border runs and visa exempt and back to back to back tourist visas.

 

1 hour ago, edwardandtubs said:

Probably better not to mention medical if applying for a normal SETV. I just write the word tourism where you have to write the reason for the application.

I would agree unless you are providing proof of a booked medical procedure in which case it can help.

Just wait until the online database system has been going for whatever period of time and all the consulates and embassies anywhere require an appointment to apply for service. That information is already out, that they are slowly working towards all embassies and consulates requiring an appointment in advance (meaning your info is collected by them and kept in that database from that point). After your info is in that database, at least if you are juggling tourist visas, I reckon after some time people will start having their tourist visa application appointment requests rejected after having even 2-3 tourist visas from any consulate or embassy within a recent time of applying. The online database will almost surely show entries from previous passports as well - the full history of all the times that person has been to Thailand. 

 

And on top of that, that is only getting the visa itself. All this stuff plus what is in the database likely comes into play again when one attempts entry to the country.

 

For now, in my opinion, people may be able to get a few more tourist visas while the whole online apparatus is still being set. My guess is the fact that visa run companies have now started bringing hundreds of people to apply at the Savannakhet consulate a few times per week - that will increase the chances that that  consulate also will require appointments sooner than later. It would be consistent with the "screws tightening" style that has been ongoing for awhile.

 

Above comments only my opinion.

On 5/9/2019 at 4:11 PM, edwardandtubs said:

today I got a warning stamp on my third. I have a number of tourist visas from other places but this was only my third from Vientiane. No problems at the border.

 

Do you think Savannakhet will give me a tourist visa if I go there next year? I don't have any from there in my current passport.

I managed this once with a remark-stamp from a Phnom Penh TR Visa - but that was some years ago.  Also, they are more likely to care about the remark-stamp from the main Thai consulate in Laos, since they are under the same jurisdiction.  Long story short, do not count on this working.

 

When I was using Tourist Visas here, I took followed the advice of the personnel at the Vientiane Thai consulate - "Time to get a new passport."  Alternatively, you could switch to another type of Visa/extension plan, such as ED, in which case the remark-stamp on the Tourist Visa won't matter.

You won't get one from Savan in the same PP if you have a warning stamp from Vientiane

 

Time to get a new PP

On 5/11/2019 at 2:07 PM, Essecola said:

Just wait until the online database system has been going for whatever period of time and all the consulates and embassies anywhere require an appointment to apply for service. That information is already out, that they are slowly working towards all embassies and consulates requiring an appointment in advance (meaning your info is collected by them and kept in that database from that point). After your info is in that database, at least if you are juggling tourist visas, I reckon after some time people will start having their tourist visa application appointment requests rejected after having even 2-3 tourist visas from any consulate or embassy within a recent time of applying. The online database will almost surely show entries from previous passports as well - the full history of all the times that person has been to Thailand. 

 

And on top of that, that is only getting the visa itself. All this stuff plus what is in the database likely comes into play again when one attempts entry to the country.

 

For now, in my opinion, people may be able to get a few more tourist visas while the whole online apparatus is still being set. My guess is the fact that visa run companies have now started bringing hundreds of people to apply at the Savannakhet consulate a few times per week - that will increase the chances that that  consulate also will require appointments sooner than later. It would be consistent with the "screws tightening" style that has been ongoing for awhile.

 

Above comments only my opinion.

I agree.  Certain consulates will be seeing such an increase in workload that they will have to move to an appointment based system.  

 

Eventually, over the next 12 months, all the nearby consulates will be the same, as visa runners go consulate and boarder "shopping." 

 

By then, the biometrics system will be firmly in place, so I can only see a lot more visa rejections, and denials of entry, even at land boarders. 

 

In my opinion, we are only just seeing the start f the things to come.  

No problem. I'll get an METV when I'm back in the UK.

4 minutes ago, edwardandtubs said:

No problem. I'll get an METV when I'm back in the UK.

I recently got knocked back at Suvannaphum with a brand new METV from the UK and flying in the UK. With your history, which probably looks similar to mine, I would either get a new passport in the UK prior to getting the METV or fly in to Malaysia or Laos and use a land border where they will honour the visa.

1 hour ago, Briggsy said:

I recently got knocked back at Suvannaphum with a brand new METV from the UK and flying in the UK. With your history, which probably looks similar to mine, I would either get a new passport in the UK prior to getting the METV or fly in to Malaysia or Laos and use a land border where they will honour the visa.

Thanks for the update. Flying UK to KL and then the train to Hat Yai seems the best option.

 

By the way, did they send you back to the UK or did you go to a neighbouring country and cross the land border?

Edited May 12, 20197 yr by edwardandtubs

1 hour ago, edwardandtubs said:

By the way, did they send you back to the UK or did you go to a neighbouring country and cross the land border?

Denial of entry is denial of entry so they have no right to "send" you anywhere. It is not deportation. It is really difficult to use any other airline than the one that brought you in. So you are limited to where you can go. So, if I had come in on Emirates, I would have had little choice but to go back to Dubai as I don't think Emirates fly anywhere else from BKK than Dubai. Codeshares don't count. From Dubai or wherever your first destination happens to be, you can go wherever you want provided you can buy a ticket. That would include a neighbouring country to Thailand which will of course have a land border.

On 5/11/2019 at 4:02 AM, impulse said:

 

That advice may seem valid today, and perhaps it's always been valid.   But before 2014, guys lived in Thailand for decades on monthly border runs and visa exempt and back to back to back tourist visas.

 

Not that recent...even in 2013 there was a 4-consecutive border entry limitation without a visa before you had to come back with a visa (at least at land borders). This seemed to apply even if you (theoretically) spent 1 day in Thailand, left, came back the next day and did this a total of 4 times. They counted the number of entries not the amount of time you spent in Thailand.

 

As far as doing back to back tourist visas and visa exempts, that was cracked down upon starting around 2006. So I don't think these "guys" could get away with it until 2014. More like until 2006.

4 minutes ago, Tomtomtom69 said:

Not that recent...even in 2013 there was a 4-consecutive border entry limitation without a visa before you had to come back with a visa (at least at land borders). This seemed to apply even if you (theoretically) spent 1 day in Thailand, left, came back the next day and did this a total of 4 times. They counted the number of entries not the amount of time you spent in Thailand.

 

As far as doing back to back tourist visas and visa exempts, that was cracked down upon starting around 2006. So I don't think these "guys" could get away with it until 2014. More like until 2006.

I came off a work permit in 2008. Since that time, I have lived in Thailand. You would be surprised. It is only the last year that things have become really strict.

9 minutes ago, Tomtomtom69 said:

Not that recent...even in 2013 there was a 4-consecutive border entry limitation without a visa before you had to come back with a visa (at least at land borders). This seemed to apply even if you (theoretically) spent 1 day in Thailand, left, came back the next day and did this a total of 4 times. They counted the number of entries not the amount of time you spent in Thailand.

 

As far as doing back to back tourist visas and visa exempts, that was cracked down upon starting around 2006. So I don't think these "guys" could get away with it until 2014. More like until 2006.

 

Those may have been the rules, but I bought kayaks, boats and bicycles from several long stay tourists starting in 2014 when they were no longer able to stay for decades on their visa loophole.  Each of them told a sad story of the life they had carved out in Thailand, coming to an end when their method of long stay went away.

 

Admittedly, I did forget to mention the perpetual ED visa loophole, which didn't close until well after 2014.   

 

Regardless, my point stays the same.  Lots of guys bought condos and made out okay without residence status conveyed by visas and extensions that they didn't qualify for back then, and wouldn't qualify for today. 

 

 

Edited May 12, 20197 yr by impulse

3 hours ago, Briggsy said:

I recently got knocked back at Suvannaphum with a brand new METV from the UK and flying in the UK. With your history, which probably looks similar to mine, I would either get a new passport in the UK prior to getting the METV or fly in to Malaysia or Laos and use a land border where they will honour the visa.

 

This is the kind of story that some of the guys are claiming "never happens" on so many recent threads.  And an excellent cautionary tale.  I'm sitting in the USA with what is probably a similar travel history since my WP expired in 2016 with 6 or 8 visa exempt entries and side trips to Malaysia, China, HK and now the USA. 

 

Looks like Thailand won't be in my travel plans, even though I haven't been back in about 9 months.  Not worth the risk of being denied entry even with an METV.  Not when there are so many other choices, many of them a 3 hour flight from home.

 

On 5/12/2019 at 8:51 PM, impulse said:

...

Admittedly, I did forget to mention the perpetual ED visa loophole, which didn't close until well after 2014.   

...

It's not closed - alive and well.  It just costs more - mostly in "extra fees" for hassle-free extensions.