1 hour ago, DrJack54 said:

Makes perfect sense and well known.

Good plan because with history you outlined may very well need it.

Indeed, perfectly possible to stay 9 months in Thailand on Tourist Visa and Visa Exempt.  But you would then have to stay outside Thailand for a considerable time (e.g. 3 months), before repeating this a 2nd time.  And as poster wrote, in that case foresee the possibility of being denied, by flying in to friendly thai airports from neighboring countries.

There are guys with nerves of steel who managed to do this for years, but given the present climate, doing it a 3rd time I would get really nervous at any border-crossing.

 

On 1/3/2020 at 7:50 AM, mockingbird said:

9 months in Thailand on tourist visas,  a month back home... You would definitely be taking a risk of being denied entry if you come back through the bkk airports. 

 

Make sure you obtain a tourist visa back home, and not attempt to enter visa exempt.

 

Doesn’t help much. 3 years ago I was questioned af while coming back with a tourist visa, after 5 months in Thailand. In his case I’d recommend flying to a different country first (That requires no visa such as Kuala Lumpur). so that If they refuse him he doesn’t have to fly all the way back to his country and then try by land. 

23 hours ago, SteveK said:

Laughable that the country bemoans it's ill-fated tourist industry,

It's more laughable that some people keep saying that the Thai tourist industry is ill-fated!

Worst case scenario is the hassle.

It's practically a gamble now if you have a history in Thailand when you get stamped in. Shouldn't be this way at all, but nothing we can do about it. So they deny your entry and you enter through a land border at Laos or Malaysia.

 

Since you guys have mentioned that there is no law that say "If you stay 9 months on tourist visas, then you must stay out of Thailand at least 3 months before coming back or wait until the new year for a clean slate". It's always a gamble to know what the Immigration Officer you are faced with will come up with. Like the whole "180 days per year" but ticked off "Not enough funds" as the reason for denial.

 

But in my opinion, I believe that if someone returned back to his home country and traveling again, he shouldn't have a problem COMPARED to a guy who just left Thailand for 1 week to Vietnam and then returned back to Bangkok on a tourist visa.

 

Also another point, I think that if you return to Thailand with out getting a tourist visa, and just showing up for the  free  30 day Visa exempt stamp. They know that you will not stay in the country that long compared to if you are coming back to Thailand on a Tourist Visa or METV where they know you will possibly be staying there 3-6-9 months. As I have gotten denied entry before when I went to Bali for a week and got a Tourist Visa and returned back to Bangkok and they said I did a "visa run" but luckily I used Thai Airlines at that time, and the ticket office told me that I can fly anywhere I want as long as I use Thai Airlines, so I was able to buy a flight to Vientiane and enter easily that way.