Visa Question, Long Term Visitor from Germany

[mank]

Hi all,
It is about 10 years since I was in Thailand for the last time. Now I am planning another, longer stay (possibly a few years) and have noticed that the visa regulations have changed a lot.
Despite research and some reading in the forum, I have unfortunately not yet found all the appropriate answers.

Years ago it was possible to get a three month visa for Thailand. Then you traveled e.g. to Laos for a month, applied for a new visa for Thailand and came back again. But does Thailand seem to want to put an end to this practice, which allows such quasi-unlimited stays?

Or is it still possible to apply for a 60-day tourist visa in your home country, then extend it at the immigration office in Thailand for 30 days, leave for Laos, spend some weeks there, apply for a new visa and re-enter? And that without hesitation? I have also heard of a limit to being allowed to enter by land only twice a year...

The application for a "TOURIST VISA M: (60-day stay per entry, validity 6 months, multiple entry)" seems complicated to me. And what would happen after the 6 months, when it has expired? Can you extend that too?

Which method would you recommend? I am from Germany and not in the higher retirement age.

Thanks for the answers, although for many people it will probably be simple questions.

[ubonjoe]

You can still get single entry tourist visas in neighboring countries. The problem is that you may reach a point where they will stop issuing them.

You should start out with a tourist visa from your home country. You still extend the 60 day entry for 30 day at a immigration office.

Visa exempt entries at land border crossings are limited to 2 per calendar year. If you have a visa for entry there is no limit.

You can get a total stay of almost 9 months of total stay from a multiple entry tourist visa. It allows unlimited 60 day entries for 6 months from the date of issue. You can apply for a 30 day extension of each 60 day entry. If you leave and enter the country on or before the date it expires you can get another 60 day entry that can be extended for 30 days.

 

[BritTim]

The best approach depends on your age. I am assuming you are under 50. You have other, probably better alternatives if over 50.

Start with a multiple entry tourist visa from your home country. Each 60-day entry can be extended by 30 days at an immigration office on payment of 1,900 baht. However, you will probably elect just to do border bounces by land about every 60 days except for your final entry (just before the visa expires) that you might choose to extend, depending on he strategy you choose.

You then need to choose between the Non Ed route (commonly learning Thai) or proceeding with single entry tourist visas from nearby consulates. Neither is smooth sailing.

These days, with an education visa, you will usually be expected to attend class. The initial visa gets you a 90-day stay, which is followed by, hopefully, 90-day extensions with a new visa required after studying for 12 months. You can only study Thai for two years.

Now, when using single entry tourist visas to stay, you need to tread very carefully. There are limits, different for each consulate, in the number of tourist visas a nearby consulate will issue. Further, some airports have decided to impose unofficial rules to deny those they consider not genuine tourists, and you should plan to reenter Thailand using land crossings. At the current time, a series of single entry tourist visas (all that are available locally) together with 30-day extensions can carry you through for about 18 months with care, but it becomes difficult thereafter, and even 18 months may become impossible in the future.

The limitation on entry by land is only for visa exempt entry (which gives you 30 days with the possibility of a 30-day extension). Those should be reserved for emergencies, commonly where you did not get the visa you expected.

 

[arithai12]

The OP wants to stay a few years and is under 50.

I think the only option is the Elite Visa.

 

All the trickery to do long stays under false pretenses only add to the problem, no wonder immigration is tightening the rules.

 

 

[Tanoshi]

49 minutes ago, arithai12 said:

The OP wants to stay a few years and is under 50.

He doesn't state his actual age, unless he is a friend of yours and you know his age.

It would be helpful if the OP stated his age.

[Caldera]

1 hour ago, arithai12 said:

All the trickery to do long stays under false pretenses only add to the problem, no wonder immigration is tightening the rules.

I'm not sure where you see false pretenses in the OP's plans. Maybe he just has the time and the money, he wouldn't be the first!

[lamyai3]

39 minutes ago, Tanoshi said:

He doesn't state his actual age, unless he is a friend of yours and you know his age.

It would be helpful if the OP stated his age.

He mentions in the OP he's "not in the higher retirement age". 

[lamyai3]

1 hour ago, arithai12 said:

The OP wants to stay a few years and is under 50.

I think the only option is the Elite Visa.

 

All the trickery to do long stays under false pretenses only add to the problem, no wonder immigration is tightening the rules.

There's other options than the elite visa, as described above. Until and unless immigration change the rules, there's no false pretences or trickery in continuing to use the long established existing methods.

[Tanoshi]

16 minutes ago, lamyai3 said:

He mentions in the OP he's "not in the higher retirement age". 

What is regarded as the 'higher retirement age'.

I'm over 60 but don't regard myself as being in the higher retirement age bracket.

 

Knowing if the OP is under, or over 50 makes a significant difference in the choices available to stay for years in Thailand.

Edited June 4, 2019 by Tanoshi

[lamyai3]

7 minutes ago, Tanoshi said:

Knowing if the OP is under, or over 50 makes a significant difference in the choices available to stay for years in Thailand.

I don't see why he'd mention retirement age at all in a visa specific thread, except to point out that he's not in the age range that would qualify him for one. 

[Tanoshi]

3 minutes ago, lamyai3 said:

I don't see why he'd mention retirement age at all in a visa specific thread, except to point out that he's not in the age range that would qualify him for one. 

The only Visa specific relates to choice for entry into Thailand.

For a long term stay in Thailand, his choices are not Visa specific, but do depend on his age.

i.e. Extensions based on retirement, must be 50 years of age.

[mank]

Hello together and thank you for your answers!

 

To the details: I am under 50 years old and these special visas for people over 50 are out of the question for me.

 

By the way, I want to spend most of my time in Thailand in a Buddhist monastery and practice Buddhism. So far I have not decided yet if I really want to ordain. I realize that a monk has different visa requirements. But until I decide whether I want to become a monk or not, I first apply as a normal tourist.
So it would be nice if, for example, I could stay in a temple for three months, then travel to Laos for a month, get a new visa and then spend another three months in a temple, and so on, until I decide if I really want to ordain. So my question goes in the direction of how long at a stretch this model just mentioned would be possible.

 

 

16 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

You can still get single entry tourist visas in neighboring countries. The problem is that you may reach a point where they will stop issuing them. 

You should start out with a tourist visa from your home country. You still extend the 60 day entry for 30 day at a immigration office.

Visa exempt entries at land border crossings are limited to 2 per calendar year. If you have a visa for entry there is no limit.

You can get a total stay of almost 9 months of total stay from a multiple entry tourist visa. It allows unlimited 60 day entries for 6 months from the date of issue. You can apply for a 30 day extension of each 60 day entry. If you leave and enter the country on or before the date it expires you can get another 60 day entry that can be extended for 30 days.

 

 

Is there an exact time, when this point is reached, at which the border guards denies the entry? Or is that the opinion of the official? Because if I have a 60 days SETV - possibly extended in immigration by 30 days, this limit of 2 entries is not relevant ...? Does anyone have experience to have been refused at the border?

 

 

 

 

Edited June 4, 2019 by mank

[BritTim]

12 minutes ago, mank said:

Is there an exact time, when this point is reached, at which the border guards denies the entry? Or is that the opinion of the official? Because if I have a 60 days tourist visa - possibly extended in immigration by 30 days, this limit of 2 entries is not relevant ...? Does anyone have experience to have been refused at the border?

At the current time, immigration at most land crossings will not deny you entry if you have a visa. You may have a problem entering with a tourist visa at some airports. The main issue is that the consulates in Laos will not issue you tourist visas ad infinitum. You can probably stay about nine months with single entry tourist visas from Laos (to add on to about eight months with the initial multiple entry tourist visa I recommend you get before coming to Thailand). You can get further tourist visas with careful timing from Malaysia and Myanmar (and possibly locations further afield) but it becomes tough when needing to return to Thailand by land to avoid immigration problems.

[Tanoshi]

No defined time limit.

Embassies/Consulates may denied further Visas after 4 back to back applications.

Immigration could refuse entry if they feel your not a genuine tourist.

 

Extensions are available for the purpose of studying Buddhism.

I see no age restriction or financial requirements.

https://www.immigration.go.th/content/service_13

[mank]

Thanks for the quick replies.

So is it true that in my case there is no fixed limit on the length of stay, but it is in the decision of the Thai representation abroad, whether to get another entry permit? And if, for example, the Thai embassy in Laos refused an application, would there be a possibility to apply for a new visa for Thailand in another neighboring country?

So it seems likely to make sense to have a letter from the monastery that you practice Buddhism in their Temple?