maximum amount of tourist visas per year

[Isaanbiker]

2 hours ago, Max69xl said:

Immigration is starting to dislike 60 days TR obtained in neighboring countries, even in Vietnam. METV obtained in your country is ok,but from Vietnam,not so much.  

 

      I'm confident that the visa/extension history plays a significant role.

 

For those who've had several Non-B visas/extensions of stay based on working, it raises many questions what these people are finally doing, no matter on what kind of visa they are trying to get in.

 

And that's in no way different when people arrive on a new passport. 

Edited August 13, 2019 by Isaanbiker

[elviajero]

4 hours ago, Max69xl said:

There are rumours about people arriving at airports with 5-6 30 days Visa exempt in a row plus they didn't have 20000 baht in cash,were rejected. I have never heard about people with several 60 days TR Visa, who had any kind of problem.

Having pushed ‘visa runners’ to using buying visas they are now occasionally denying entry to TR holders too.

[Kleepanna]

I will be on my 4th visa on arrival this year but all of my visits have been 10 days no more than 16 and i always have my return ticket printed out in case they ask.

[Max69xl]

44 minutes ago, Kleepanna said:

I will be on my 4th visa on arrival this year but all of my visits have been 10 days no more than 16 and i always have my return ticket printed out in case they ask.

Bare in mind that a 30 days Visa is not really a tourist visa and not a Visa on Arrival (VOA = 15 days) it's a Visa exempt. The 60 days TR Visa is the real tourist visa. Immigration are getting tougher on people with many 30 days visa exempt in a row. 

[Max69xl]

14 hours ago, elviajero said:

Having pushed ‘visa runners’ to using buying visas they are now occasionally denying entry to TR holders too.

I am talking about a proper 60 days TR Visa obtained in your home country. I have never ever heard about anyone being denied entry.

 

[elviajero]

1 hour ago, Max69xl said:

I am talking about a proper 60 days TR Visa obtained in your home country. I have never ever heard about anyone being denied entry.

There have been reports of people denied entry with TR’s from their home country including METV’s.

[Max69xl]

9 minutes ago, elviajero said:

There have been reports of people denied entry with TR’s from their home country including METV’s.

I don't know about METV's, to be honest. But what should the reason be for denying entry when having a SETV from their home country? Then the problem is the history prior to the last entry. 

[elviajero]

45 minutes ago, Max69xl said:

I don't know about METV's, to be honest. But what should the reason be for denying entry when having a SETV from their home country? Then the problem is the history prior to the last entry. 

They have moved on from only denying back to back entries. They are looking at the cumulative amount of time spent in the country too. Heading to your home country to get a visa in order to quickly return is no guarantee you’ll beat the clampdown.

[Max69xl]

9 minutes ago, elviajero said:

They have moved on from only denying back to back entries. They are looking at the cumulative amount of time spent in the country too. Heading to your home country to get a visa in order to quickly return is no guarantee you’ll beat the clampdown.

High ranked IO's are usually saying that farangs are welcome if they follow the rules and are "good guys". I do understand the problem with all the 30 days exempt + visa-runs.

[elviajero]

32 minutes ago, Max69xl said:

High ranked IO's are usually saying that farangs are welcome if they follow the rules and are "good guys". I do understand the problem with all the 30 days exempt + visa-runs.

It doesn't really matter whether you're doing VE visa runs or TR visa runs because the end result is too long spent in the country as a tourist. As I said, they've stopped land visa runs and pushed VE visa runners to get a visa and the natural progression of that is to now stopping visa runners that are using TR's.

 

I do believe a TR obtained in a home country between visits helps, but only if the time out between visits is several months. Even if you spent 1 month 'home' between visits you could still stay 9 months out of 12, which in todays climate is pushing your luck.

[Max69xl]

5 minutes ago, elviajero said:

It doesn't really matter whether you're doing VE visa runs or TR visa runs because the end result is too long spent in the country as a tourist. As I said, they've stopped land visa runs and pushed VE visa runners to get a visa and the natural progression of that is to now stopping visa runners that are using TR's.

 

I do believe a TR obtained in a home country between visits helps, but only if the time out between visits is several months. Even if you spent 1 month 'home' between visits you could still stay 9 months out of 12, which in todays climate is pushing your luck.

I remember reading an article when they changed the land visa runs to twice a calender year, one government official said that one of the reasons was to make it possible for tourists with a 60 days TR Visa to stay even longer in Thailand. 

[elviajero]

17 minutes ago, Max69xl said:

I remember reading an article when they changed the land visa runs to twice a calender year, one government official said that one of the reasons was to make it possible for tourists with a 60 days TR Visa to stay even longer in Thailand. 

Which is true. And several years ago they increased VE entry extensions to 30 days to enable a tourist to stay longer and reduce the need for a visa run.

 

But have you ever heard of read a senior official say it’s okay to stay in the country for months/years as a tourist by extending the stay with visa runs?

 

If you follow everything that’s happened to clampdown on long term tourism since 2006, it makes perfect sense that they’re now targeting TR holders.

[Max69xl]

44 minutes ago, elviajero said:

Which is true. And several years ago they increased VE entry extensions to 30 days to enable a tourist to stay longer and reduce the need for a visa run.

 

But have you ever heard of read a senior official say it’s okay to stay in the country for months/years as a tourist by extending the stay with visa runs?

 

If you follow everything that’s happened to clampdown on long term tourism since 2006, it makes perfect sense that they’re now targeting TR holders.

Personally I don't think it's ok to push the system. I do think 4-5 months a year starting with a 60 days TR Visa from home is ok.

[elviajero]

5 minutes ago, Max69xl said:

Personally I don't think it's ok to push the system. I do think 4-5 months a year starting with a 60 days TR Visa from home is ok.

I agree that 4-5 months should be okay. If they do decide to formally limit tourism I believe it will be 6 months per year as it was when they tried to limit VE in 2007/8.

 

The other thing to note is that over 90% of westerners entering for tourism use VE. That’s why historically the focus was on VE.

[Max69xl]

1 minute ago, elviajero said:

I agree that 4-5 months should be okay. If they do decide to formally limit tourism I believe it will be 6 months per year as it was when they tried to limit VE in 2007/8.

 

The other thing to note is that over 90% of westerners entering for tourism use VE. That’s why historically the focus was on VE.

Some people think they save money when not applying for a 60 days TR at home. Then it cost at least 5 times that to do the visa run and back.

[StayinThailand2much]

2 hours ago, Max69xl said:

I remember reading an article when they changed the land visa runs to twice a calender year, one government official said that one of the reasons was to make it possible for tourists with a 60 days TR Visa to stay even longer in Thailand. 

That was one government official of one previous government, quite some time ago... - Visa rules and regulations seem to be in constant flow in this country; at the end of the day you rely, however, on individual IO's quotas to deny people, or that IO Somchai's leverage in granting or denying you entry into the country. If he had a good day, you're in, but if he had an argument with his Mia Noi, or the day's Somtam was bad, you may be the one on the wrong day and at the wrong time, who happens to get denied...

Edited August 14, 2019 by StayinThailand2much

[metempsychotic]

There is no limit on the number of tourist visa (exempt) you can get, it's the duration of stay that they look at. 

 

If for example you live in a neighboring country and fly in to Thailand for a few days every couple. Of weeks you will be fine. 

 

I entered Thailand around 15 times last year, and never stayed for over 10 days

 

Most trips around 4 days. 

 

Never been questioned. 

Edited August 14, 2019 by metempsychotic
Avoiding potential visa pedantry

[Max69xl]

5 minutes ago, metempsychotic said:

There is no limit on the number of tourist visa (exempt) you can get, it's the duration of stay that they look at. 

 

If for example you live in a neighboring country and fly in to Thailand for a few days every couple. Of weeks you will be fine. 

 

I entered Thailand around 15 times last year, and never stayed for over 10 days

 

Most trips around 4 days. 

 

Never been questioned. 

Most people stay longer than 10 days. There's been rumours about people with 5-6 visa exempts in a row have had problems at Suvarnabhumi. Rumours,as I said. 

[Max69xl]

19 minutes ago, FredGallaher said:

That however doesn't qualify as "staying in Thailand long time". Maybe 60-90 days seams OK.

The way I see it, is that people with many 30 days visa exempt in a row,they usually stay full time,then do maybe an extension,after that start with border runs. Maybe even go to Laos for a tourist visa. Today immigration can see every entry and if to many, they will eventually do something about it. 

[metempsychotic]

2 hours ago, FredGallaher said:

That however doesn't qualify as "staying in Thailand long time". Maybe 60-90 days seams OK.

That is what I said, not number of visas, length of stay. 

[Max69xl]

1 hour ago, FredGallaher said:

You'r correct, but they look at the number of stamps first. It is frequently reported that the IO thumbs trough the PP looking at arrival and departure date. It would be wise to have an explanation ready when they ask why.

That's correct,and one IO at the airport does his thing,and next IO his thing.