Extend amnesty into 2021?

[JacksSmirkingRevenge]

Many things are unknown now, but Thailand basically said no tourists until 2021 and borders will likely be closed until then.  Do you think it's possible they'll extend the amnesty until 2021?  Because of the still closed borders and no tourist arrivals?  

Or do you feel September 26 is the final deadline?

Thoughts and opinions, please.  

[AndyAndyAndy]

Only people who have valid reason to stay will be allowed to stay (NON-O + B). And everybody else abusing the system (tourist, education, volunteer etc.) will be forced to leave. And to be allowed to come back until country is opened for tourists again.

[mtls2005]

[Tarteso]

6 more months with the borders closed, Thailand will need to search for Petroleum under the stones.

Edited August 10, 2020 by Tarteso

[richard_smith237]

‘Air-borders’ are not closed for those wishing to depart.

 

The current regulations seems quite clear and many other countries have opened up. Flights can be taken back to ones home country. 

 

I suspect the people being afforded amnesty are those who can present a valid reason / evidence / justification for further extension. Of course, the gamble will always be how flexible Immigration will be with their extension (its likely people will need a letter from their Embassy and to obtain that letter you would need to show proof you have attempted and are unable to return within the current amnesty period). 

 

If I were on a current Visa Amnesty - I’d be making preparations to either sort out my visa situation, either directly if I could, or through an agent if I had to, or, I would be making plans to secure a flight to my home country (country of nationality). 

 

Edited August 10, 2020 by richard_smith237

[CorpusChristie]

8 minutes ago, AndyAndyAndy said:

Only people who have valid reason to stay will be allowed to stay (NON-O + B). And everybody else abusing the system (tourist, education, volunteer etc.) will be forced to leave. And to be allowed to come back until country is opened for tourists again.

OBJECTION : We are not abusing the system , we are complying to the rules .

[at15]

its pretty clear to me , "prepare for departing the kingdom within september 26, 2020" . they didnt have this last time. 

 

there are 47 days left. i would be doing something now, as waiting until the last moment could lead to flights being booked up and going into overstay. 

Edited August 10, 2020 by at15

[CorpusChristie]

I do not think that they will extend the amnesty again 

[lemonjelly]

With the high amount of outbound flights being cancelled, what’s going to happen to foreigners still in Thailand after 26 September if their flights have been cancelled? I can’t understand the Thai government’s stance of kicking them out of the country in these terrible times.

[time2093]

Just now, lemonjelly said:

With the high amount of outbound flights being cancelled, what’s going to happen to foreigners still in Thailand after 26 September if their flights have been cancelled? I can’t understand the Thai government’s stance of kicking them out of the country in these terrible times.

From my understanding is that those who will still be stuck in Thailand after Sept 26 will need an a letter from their embassy explaining why they cant go home, be it medical, flight cancellation, home country boarder closer etc. will get a further 30 day extension by Thai immigration.

[BritTim]

13 minutes ago, lemonjelly said:

I can’t understand the Thai government’s stance of kicking them out of the country in these terrible times.

I believe it would be smart for Thailand to allow almost all those who want to stay to remain. However, it is clear that the most senior officials in immigration have a different view. They only care about what they see as abuse of the rules. They believe those who  came as tourists had stated they were coming for short visits, but now want to stay for many months or years. It is an emotional response, and will prevail unless other powerful forces combine to overrule them.

[mtls2005]

25 minutes ago, lemonjelly said:

With the high amount of outbound flights being cancelled

 

Flights are not really being cancelled. When you look at various departures boards on the interwebs those show flights scheduled as cancelled. In reality, those were cancelled months ago.

 

There were twenty-eight (28) international departures (from SBIA/BKK) yesterday (Sunday, 9 Aug), incl two flights to LHR.

 

 

[zzzzz]

1 hour ago, CorpusChristie said:

OBJECTION : We are not abusing the system , we are complying to the rules .

true,

but your visa exempt time is up. Make plans to head home or suffer the consequences if you dont arrange a valid extension before end of Sept

 

Quote

From my understanding is that those who will still be stuck in Thailand after Sept 26 will need an a letter from their embassy explaining why they cant go home, be it medical, flight cancellation, home country boarder closer etc. will get a further 30 day extension by Thai immigration.

US and Australia have already announced they will NOT issue any letters for extensions.

Edited August 10, 2020 by zzzzz

[Sundown]

16 minutes ago, mtls2005 said:

 

Flights are not really being cancelled. When you look at various departures boards on the interwebs those show flights scheduled as cancelled. In reality, those were cancelled months ago.

 

There were twenty-eight (28) international departures (from SBIA/BKK) yesterday (Sunday, 9 Aug), incl two flights to LHR.

 

 

Thai Airways canceled flights just one week ago, there is also a topic about it.

 

There are no flights to Russia which has a lot of expats here.

 

With borders closed it's impossible to legally comply with some visa rules for those who need to stay and obtain a new/different visa class for whatever reason.

 

If the government wanted to act actively they had to set clear rules/fees to address these issues. Instead, it's all left again at the agents-IOs will and briberies. For these people now, it's all just matter of milking the last cows . 

[finy]

1 hour ago, lemonjelly said:

With the high amount of outbound flights being cancelled, what’s going to happen to foreigners still in Thailand after 26 September if their flights have been cancelled? I can’t understand the Thai government’s stance of kicking them out of the country in these terrible times.

If you look closely a lot of airlines are leaving 100% of the time every day now.

 

Ones like Luthansea, KLM, Finnair, and most of the Middle East ones. All with transits to some great countries.

[Benitostacos]

55 minutes ago, finy said:

If you look closely a lot of airlines are leaving 100% of the time every day now.

 

Ones like Luthansea, KLM, Finnair, and most of the Middle East ones. All with transits to some great countries.

Actually the situation is still pretty fluid. I had a Asiana (star alliance) flight booked for Sept 27th 1AM (so technically clocking out with immigration on the 26th) from BKK to LAX. Flight was cancelled today through email, and I checked and it seems Asiana is only planning to fly out once or twice a week, if even that, from Bangkok (it was originally supposed to be 4 times a week in Sept when I booked last week). Not that I'm in a hurry to return to the states, but I've actually lost count at how many cancelled flights I've had now. LOL

[richard_smith237]

2 hours ago, lemonjelly said:

With the high amount of outbound flights being cancelled, what’s going to happen to foreigners still in Thailand after 26 September if their flights have been cancelled? I can’t understand the Thai government’s stance of kicking them out of the country in these terrible times.

 

I am highly sympathetic to those whose countries are locked down and honestly unable to travel to their countries as a direct result of a lockdown without repatriation flights. 

 

However, for many others it seems there are plenty of inexpensive options: Examples: Flights from Bangkok to London (1 Stop) tomorrow for 14,000 to 21,000 baht (one way) with Etihad, Emirates, Lufthansa, KLM, Austrian.

 

No one is being ‘kicked out’ they are being told you have xx days (currently 47 days) to get your affairs in order within the Amnesty Period - for most, that is not a difficult thing to do. 

 

 

Unfortunately the genuine cases may become diluted by those who have simply become apathetic. 

 

 

[richard_smith237]

40 minutes ago, Benitostacos said:

Actually the situation is still pretty fluid. I had a Asiana (star alliance) flight booked for Sept 27th 1AM (so technically clocking out with immigration on the 26th) from BKK to LAX. Flight was cancelled today through email, and I checked and it seems Asiana is only planning to fly out once or twice a week, if even that, from Bangkok (it was originally supposed to be 4 times a week in Sept when I booked last week). Not that I'm in a hurry to return to the states, but I've actually lost count at how many cancelled flights I've had now. LOL

Awful, but you will be able to ‘catch one of them’ within the next 47 days, right ?

 

OR, if they keep cancelling, I think you have a genuine case for an extension. Keep proof of each cancellation notification. 

[Jackcwba]

Clearly some people are taking advantage of the amnesty but it makes absolutely no sense financially or whatever is left of it to kick the tourists out especially when the front door is going to be closed until 2021...

 

Any income is better than no income how many more businesses will go under because of it? On top of the fact the gov forced some

businesses to stay closed for a long period of time and now they are forced to play catch up ... and now they kick the stragglers out, sad. Well done Thailand. 

[edwardandtubs]

Absolutely no chance at all. They've already said 26th September is the end of it and they have no reason to go back on that.

[edwardandtubs]

3 hours ago, Sundown said:

 

 

There are no flights to Russia which has a lot of expats here.

 

 

There are plenty of flights to Russia, you just need a stopover. There really is no excuse anymore.

[Sheryl]

They are making arrangements to enable migrant workers in country whose visas/permission to stay have expired to obtain new visas without leaving the country. This should go into effect shortly and certainly by 26 September everyone in that category - many hundreds of thousands of people, far larger group than Western expats -  - should be sorted out.

 

That removes a big reason for the amnesties.

 

2 months notice has been given which perhaps not coincidentally is the length of time one would need to season money to meet requirements for extension of stay on an O or O-A visa.

 

And people here as tourists can certainly go home.

 

So while no one can say, I would nto bet on further extensions. Especiallly not blanket amnesties for all visa types.

 

But that's just my opinion.

[Maestro]

Removed two troll posts.

[yinki]

i came in thailand just before my child birth as a tourist , planing to gather all document to apply a support child visa. 

 

now that i have all document i need to get out of the country and back in to apply for my dependent child visa..

 

but how long will i be away from my family?

 

letting people apply to any visa without having to leave the country, itwould solve many problem and there would be no need of an amnesty

 

 

[richard_smith237]

2 hours ago, yinki said:

i came in thailand just before my child birth as a tourist , planing to gather all document to apply a support child visa. 

 

now that i have all document i need to get out of the country and back in to apply for my dependent child visa..

 

but how long will i be away from my family?

 

letting people apply to any visa without having to leave the country, itwould solve many problem and there would be no need of an amnesty

 

This may be justification for an extension of your current Tourist visa or extended Amnesty. 

 

It may be worth contacting an agent to find out if you can apply for a Non-Immigrant Type O from within the country given the current situation. 

 

 

 

 

[FlyingThai]

7 hours ago, edwardandtubs said:

Absolutely no chance at all. They've already said 26th September is the end of it and they have no reason to go back on that.

 

How often have we heard that now? ????

[oompie69]

16 hours ago, lemonjelly said:

With the high amount of outbound flights being cancelled, what’s going to happen to foreigners still in Thailand after 26 September if their flights have been cancelled? I can’t understand the Thai government’s stance of kicking them out of the country in these terrible times.

As repatriation flights for Thais and approved foreigners increase, so will the availability of outbound flights, I think. While Japan is closed at the moment, many European countries are open. So, as time goes by it is going to become increasingly difficult to play the stranded-in- Thailand card. I would be making arrangements to leave if it was me.   

[vandeventer]

What I don't understand is why does this government waits to the last second to tell us 

there is no amnesty or yes there is a amnesty. Two friends have already had their flights

cancelled.This is a joke and it's all on us.

[mrwebb8825]

I really don't understand what all the whining is for. IF you're supposed to be here you can stay and if you're not, you need to be ready to leave.

It isn't Thailand's fault there's a pandemic, it's China's. If you want to <deleted> and moan then direct it at the cause, not the solution chosen by your host.

Personally, IF I were in the situation where I had to leave but didn't have any reason to hurry back to my home country (US) I would book passage on 1 of the hundreds of freighters still traveling unfettered and enjoy a slow boat ride but, I have always loved the ocean way back to my sailor days. 

[easydoor]

What are you hoping for? To stay 6 months more without a correct visa?

This will be the final amnesty, those what had to leave they had time enough to do so. There is NO EXCUSE anymore. Just do what you have to do, if you cannot..... just go.