In a state of unknown:

I entered Thailand in September 26 2018.... VOA, basis of the story is, after a few land border runs and a tourist visa/ one flight to Malaysia and back to Thailand, once expired I returned to the uk in October 2019. I spent 3 weeks with family, then rebooked to return in November 2019 on a VOA 30 days. 
I had a return ticket for December 2nd, I had cash, I was smartly dressed with a trimmed beard. 
I was only asked if I had cash and was left to sit for 1 hour in waiting room at bkk airport, immigration returned with transit papers and passport, denied access and sent packing on EVA flight back to the uk. Passport stamped insufficient means..... I was told too many entries back to back in Thailand..... they said get a visa and come back next year ( 2020 )

I am now in the process of applying for a tourist visa, so that I can return and get married and obtain a spouse visa thereafter..... I am 48 years old, with savings, I do not work full time as I help out family and have a family monthly allowance.

with this detail I’ve provided..... what’s the likely hood of me being granted access on January 1st 2020 with a tourist visa, and lots of paperwork to back this genuine trip to visit my girlfriend? 
I am hoping to get some feedback from this forum, that will assist me or others in this complex immigration system, being that I am 48 years old without an official employer etc, any advice is greatly appreciated.

jss2019 Surrey area UK 

Coming visa exempt with any kind of history is unwise. With a tourist visa, you have a much better chance. That said, you have enough time in Thailand on tourist entries that you might be denied even with the visa.

 

If you want to get confident of a successful entry:

• get a tourist visa;
• fly UK-> Kuala Lumpur, and separately Kuala Lumpur->Vientiane; and
• enter Thailand via the Friendship Bridge to Nong Khai.

I realise this is a major hassle, and involves some extra expense, but it seems as though it is very important to you that you enter without problems.

 

Note that it will likely make no difference whether you enter now or in January. Your history of tourist entries will be recent in either case. Entering through either Bangkok airport will remain risky.

Edited November 18, 20196 yr by BritTim

2 hours ago, Jss2019 said:

with this detail I’ve provided..... what’s the likely hood of me being granted access on January 1st 2020 with a tourist visa, and lots of paperwork to back this genuine trip to visit my girlfriend? 

Get your girlfriend to write a letter confirming that you are visiting to get married. That should help if you get questioned again.

It seems a repeat customer is now bad for business! Totally new, brave world tourist economy!

As already pointed out, trying to enter Thailand with a history, on visa exempt, was asking for trouble. You might of got through with a visa, but doing so through a Bkk airport would of been risky too.

 

An Elite visa is your only safe option, but at 48 that's a lot of money for something you only really need for 1/2 years.

Other than that, it's entry by land borders until you're 50.

6 hours ago, Timwin said:

It seems a repeat customer is now bad for business! Totally new, brave world tourist economy!

Yes, it getting silly, be far better if let him in even if only for 7 days but stamped a remark in passport so can't do it again with a time lapse or requiring a visa from home country .
 

OP

exactly what entries you had fro sep 2018 to oct 2019 and in what order, you only get 2 land border voa's .

Did you have extensions on all entries, was it really only 1 setv ?

You likely get in in jan 2020 as the 180 day stay they assess you on refreshes 1st jan every year although exact visa history from your previous rather recent 13months mainly in thailand stay and luck on day going play on final outcome .
Reality is no one really knows exact answers as thai IO's at the airports and even some borders being very awkward at times and not following any exact rules or pattern .

31 minutes ago, BuckBee said:

 

You likely get in in jan 2020 as the 180 day stay they assess you on refreshes 1st jan every year

No disrespect to you, but that's terrible advice. 

 

This 180 days that people are quoting isn't real.  It's not part of immigration law,  and therefore, most definitely, does not refresh at the start of a calender year.  

 

If the IO thinks you've spent too much time in Thailand recently on tourist/ed visa's and/or visa exemptions, then you're done.  What exactly constitutes too much time is completely at the discretion of the IO. 

 

The 2 land border visa exemption runs per year refresh on Jan 1, as that is part of immigration law. 

Edited November 18, 20196 yr by DeadFlagBlues

Excellent place to want to continue to return to. Just can’t get enough abuse.

2 hours ago, DeadFlagBlues said:

No disrespect to you, but that's terrible advice. 

 

This 180 days that people are quoting isn't real.  It's not part of immigration law,  and therefore, most definitely, does not refresh at the start of a calender year.  

It is real. It may not be law or regulation, but it’s the unofficial line in the sand IO’s use.

 

It not being law or regulation means it’s not a set limit and you can’t be denied entry specifically for exceeding that time, but they can still deny entry for another qualifying reason.

39 minutes ago, elviajero said:

It is real. It may not be law or regulation, but it’s the unofficial line in the sand IO’s use.

 

It not being law or regulation means it’s not a set limit and you can’t be denied entry specifically for exceeding that time, but they can still deny entry for another qualifying reason.

Yes I know that.  The point of my post was to debunk the claim by another poster that this unofficial/not law (call it what you will) 180 days refreshes at the start of a calender year. 

It doesn't. 

3 hours ago, DeadFlagBlues said:

This 180 days that people are quoting isn't real.  It's not part of immigration law,  and therefore, most definitely, does not refresh at the start of a calender year.  

Please don't take this as being argumentative - I'm just quoting what I was told when I went to the Immigration counter at BKK as I left a couple of weeks ago...........

 

180 days in a year and refreshing in January is exactly what I was told. It may not be part of the law but is appears to be what they are using - although you can't even rely on that. The I.O. I spoke to said, word for word, "It resets in January".

 

The OP appears to have stayed over a year with border runs so he should count himself lucky he wasn't denied long before now. That said, it would be much fairer and better for Thailand's image if instead of denying people they gave them a short entry, say 2 weeks and a warning. I was warned a couple of years ago after around 8, 2 week entries but that was a little different - I was married and I was told to get a Non O Visa.

 

On his next trip the OP should make absolutely sure he has a return ticket, cash and either a hotel booking or other evidence of where he will be staying. If he intends to stay with his girlfriend he should get a letter from her inviting him and a copy of a recent electricity bill for her house. Don't give them any reason to deny you under the rules.

Edited November 18, 20196 yr by KhaoYai

2 minutes ago, KhaoYai said:

 

 

180 days in a year and refreshing in January is exactly what I was told. 

I'm sure you were told that,  and maybe that's the criteria that particular IO is using,  but it's most definitely not the norm. 

 

You only have to read the multitude of denial threads over the last few months to know that nobodys getting a clean slate come Jan 1.

Any report that is coming from a new user, and does not have attached a picture of the rejection, I will consider trolling.

 

I am just stating my personal opinion.

 

To me, all these posts sound the same, what should I do, help, what are my chances.

 

I will take the chance of being wrong in a small minority of cases. Better that, than be naive.

Edited November 18, 20196 yr by lkv

4 hours ago, DeadFlagBlues said:

No disrespect to you, but that's terrible advice. 

 

This 180 days that people are quoting isn't real.  It's not part of immigration law,  and therefore, most definitely, does not refresh at the start of a calender year.  

 

If the IO thinks you've spent too much time in Thailand recently on tourist/ed visa's and/or visa exemptions, then you're done.  What exactly constitutes too much time is completely at the discretion of the IO. 

 

The 2 land border visa exemption runs per year refresh on Jan 1, as that is part of immigration law. 

180 days is referenced in the immigration act and been posted in image and links on here more than once.

You want quote me fully not just on the one line .

 

Also in Thailand rules are not totally important as no one follows them to a T and you don't get far quoting rules, what important is keeping track of IO trends .

Current trend is 180 days in 1yr (jan 1st to dec 31st) . 180 days and repeat almost back to back use of voa and setv and extensions is parameters they using .

1 hour ago, DeadFlagBlues said:

I'm sure you were told that,  and maybe that's the criteria that particular IO is using,  but it's most definitely not the norm. 

 

You only have to read the multitude of denial threads over the last few months to know that nobodys getting a clean slate come Jan 1.

It not so much you get a clean slate but you have far more chance of mitigating circumstances in your favour entering in january 2020 over december if had lot of time in thailand during 2019 but how beneficial will also depend on exact previous visa and extension use hence why I asked for OP's 2019 visa usage details .

 

It's a good idea to fly to Kuala Lumpur first . I think it's not necessary to fly to Vientiane unless your girlfriend live in northern Thailand. The only land border to avoid is Poipet. After your wedding you will be fine. 

13 minutes ago, BuckBee said:

180 days is referenced in the immigration act and been posted in image and links on here more than once.

It is not. 
 

13 minutes ago, BuckBee said:

Current trend is 180 days in 1yr (jan 1st to dec 31st) . 180 days and repeat almost back to back use of voa and setv and extensions is parameters they using .

The trend is that IO’s look at the last year +, not Jan to Dec.

Go somewhere else, Cambodia is nice.

Plenty of girlfriends to be had there, and the beer is cheaper.

18 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Go somewhere else, Cambodia is nice.

Plenty of girlfriends to be had there, and the beer is cheaper.

You need to mention the cannabis , did you forget this time ?

17 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Cambodia is nice.

Had this before.... Phnom Pehn certainly isn't, Snooky isn't either. Is anywhere there worth considering?

1 hour ago, elviajero said:

It is not. 
 

The trend is that IO’s look at the last year +, not Jan to Dec.

Yes it is

the time span is mentioned in immigration act, look it up, it been linked to several times on this forum, one post in last couple months had good detail and links on it .

current trend is 180 day tourism in 1yr calendar year, This even been pressed to regional consulates via immigration .

Edited November 19, 20196 yr by BuckBee

15 minutes ago, BuckBee said:

Yes it is

the time span is mentioned in immigration act, look it up, it been linked to several times on this forum, one post in last couple months had good detail and links on it .

I guarantee you it’s not. If you believe otherwise then post the section of the immigration act that states 180 days. But don’t waste too much time looking as you won’t find it.

 

15 minutes ago, BuckBee said:

current trend is 180 day tourism in 1yr calendar year, This even been pressed to regional consulates via immigration .

Nope. If a serial tourist spent 179 days in the country and left on December 31. No IO would ignore those 179 days if the person re-entered in Jan 1 and the IO felt they’d spent too long in the country for tourism.

1 hour ago, BritManToo said:

Go somewhere else, Cambodia is nice.

Plenty of girlfriends to be had there, and the beer is cheaper.

he talks about getting married and your response is as above

It's a known fact that either BKK airport will give you grief with your previous travel history.. 

 

If travelling with a visa and entering via CM, I think the likely hood of being refused entry should be greatly diminished, looking at previous reports. But too many VE there, and you'll likely to be refused entry.. 

 

Do not fly into Bangkok, even transit, because you may need to clear immig again to board your forwarding flight.. Fly to KL, and take a new seperate flight to CM.. If refused you'll ONLY be sent back to KL and not to LHR.. Your visa will still be active, just then change your strategy and re-enter via land either from Malaysia or fly and enter via Laos.. Keep your min. 20k Thb or eqiv on hand, invitation from GF or hotel booking, outgoing ticket 60/90 days to anywhere outside Thailand.. Could be Vientiane and then use a land entry to extend your stay further.. 

17 minutes ago, steve187 said:

he talks about getting married and your response is as above

1 post, almost certainly a troll or clickbait.

Why not have her apply for a Visa to get married in your country? Then you can start the marriage visa process with the Thai embassy in your country. Not sure if that makes sense or not just an idea.

It's 100% up to the immigration officer. I have 7 SE TV's in my passport and never had a problem. I'm leaving for Thailand again next week. Never had any issue before. Get a study visa mate. 

4 hours ago, BuckBee said:

180 days is referenced in the immigration act and been posted in image and links on here more than once.

You want quote me fully not just on the one line .

 

Also in Thailand rules are not totally important as no one follows them to a T and you don't get far quoting rules, what important is keeping track of IO trends .

Current trend is 180 days in 1yr (jan 1st to dec 31st) . 180 days and repeat almost back to back use of voa and setv and extensions is parameters they using .

Which Section of the Immigration Act contains this "180 days" that you cite? I have read the Thailand Immigration Act of 1979 from start to finish on multiple occasions, and can recall no such reference.

2 hours ago, BuckBee said:

Yes it is

the time span is mentioned in immigration act, look it up, it been linked to several times on this forum, one post in last couple months had good detail and links on it .

current trend is 180 day tourism in 1yr calendar year, This even been pressed to regional consulates via immigration .

Your wrong and you can spend all the time you wish and will not find it. There was a regulation for about a year that was resinded in 2008 and no longer exists. it is sometimes refered to by IO's but no longer exists.