How to answer the question "What are you doing here?"

[aussiexpat]

6 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

I don't understand the vested interest and negatively from some offices/officers.

My guess is to force use of agents. Why not just do their job. 

 

Pre-covid, with 40 million tourists I could go to immigration and have a TM30 or visa exempt extension done in 15 minutes.

 

Now, it's 3-4 hours of lining up and coming back the next day to pick up passport. All with less than a million tourists....why shouldn't IO's be <deleted> off with the process now?

[DrJack54]

10 minutes ago, aussiexpat said:

Pre-covid, with 40 million tourists I could go to immigration and have a TM30 or visa exempt extension done in 15 minutes.

 

Now, it's 3-4 hours of lining up and coming back the next day to pick up passport. All with less than a million tourists....why shouldn't IO's be <deleted> off with the process now?

Don't understand one word of your post. 

 

Which office?

Sounds like Jomtien.

Can't you make appointment there? 

Why would io,s have a vested interest. 

They are clerks. Their job is to check couple of basic forms, give a stamp. 

Edited March 4, 2022 by DrJack54

[BKKTRAVELER]

Tell them you go to travel as a tourist in Thailand. Anything further will set you back.

 

If they ask why you spend this much time here, it's because you love it so much, Thailand is the best country. Use your Thai (Prathay Thai dee teesud nei loke blablablah)

 

If they ask for financial proof for your stay, have more cash than needed ready.

 

You better have a hotel booked for a few nights. A condo would defeat the purpose.

 

Have a smile during your "interview" as if you actually came to enjoy some well deserved holidays in Thailand.

 

Good luck.

[aussiexpat]

1 minute ago, DrJack54 said:

Don't understand one word of your post. 

 

Which office. Sounds like Jomtien.

Can't you make appointment there? 

Why would io,s have a vested interest. 

They are clerks. Their job is to check couple of basic forms, give a stamp. 

Sorry you don't understand English. Before Covid extensions, life was easy working at immigration, now its hundreds of people every day seeking covid extensions which aren't even real as everybody can leave Thailand if they really wanted. I'd be <deleted> off if that happened in my job

[DrJack54]

4 minutes ago, aussiexpat said:

I'd be <deleted> off if that happened in my job

Whoopie.

Do your job according to government policy or quit. 

 

BTW keep it civil. 

Your words....

"Sorry you don't understand English".

I have found many of your posts incorrect however offer civil replies. 

 

Edited March 4, 2022 by DrJack54

[aussiexpat]

9 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

Whoopie.

Do your job according to government policy or quit. 

 

And if they did follow government policy. Affidavit box 1 says your own country does not allow entry due to covid...which country's would that be? Anyone ticking this box would be lying and can get charges for lying on an affidavit.

 

Affidavit box 2 says Embassy refuses to give you a letter saying you are not able to get home due to covid. Again, untrue, no-one contacts embassy and the embassy not decline letter. False Affidavit statement....

 

etc...

 

Edited March 4, 2022 by aussiexpat

[DrJack54]

3 minutes ago, aussiexpat said:

. Again, untrue, no-one contacts embassy and the embassy not decline letter. False Affidavit statement

Again false.

Some folk provide reply from their embassy. Which is statement of rejection.

Enough ignore. 

 

[aussiexpat]

13 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

BTW keep it civil. 

Your words....

"Sorry you don't understand English".

I have found many of your posts incorrect however offer civil replies. 

 

Well you said "Don't understand one word of your post", assumed English was the problem...

[BritTim]

28 minutes ago, Sticky Rice Balls said:

I tell them Im here to take care of sick buffaloes......(thud goes the stamp)

Thais love to laugh. I could imagine that working with some officials.

[Scott]

Troll post in all caps has been reported and removed.

 

[Onerak]

I don't understand what is wrong telling the truth why somebody is in Thailand instead of their home land. If one is on tourism can say so. 

[BKKTRAVELER]

5 minutes ago, Onerak said:

I don't understand what is wrong telling the truth why somebody is in Thailand instead of their home land. If one is on tourism can say so. 

Problem is, sometimes the truth doesn't appeal to officers.

 

I have an older friend (over 60) using 30 days exemption visa in the past. That was after he used retirement extensions.

 

The reason why? It kept him traveling to neighboring countries or further, which he didn't previously as he became "lazy" with the possibility to stay here indefinitely. This way, he discovered Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong and more. He was satisfied.

 

One day, on his return from SEA, he was stopped by an immigration officer. Although he had enough funding, an ample bank account here to show and multiple condos in Thailand, the angry IO was not satisfied with his answers. I ultimately had to book an emergency plane ticket for him within 30 days out of the country in order to get through immigration. The process took over 2 hours..

 

It was a traumatizing situation for him and I remember applying for an Elite visa with him the very next day. Everything went well and he is happy.

 

Just to put things in perspective. The truth doesn't always bring the best results with immigration officers and that's the reality of it.

[zugzug123]

Is "I come to Thailand to marry my gf" acceptable? Or would that qualify me for a different visa type? Marriage visa seems to require a marriage certificate?

[Maestro]

Removed a troll post.

[stigar]

23 minutes ago, zugzug123 said:

Edit: sorry but I actually posted my reason for stay (which are not "fishy") but then I got to my senses and realized I don't own an explanation to trolls ????

 

Still the question remains, would the IO be satisfied with the explanation that I come to take my gf to the Amphur when entering on tourist visa?

I understand what you mean.As i told is up to the IO to decide.Anyway you can try and see if that will works for you.

[zugzug123]

4 minutes ago, stigar said:

I understand what you mean.As i told is up to the IO to decide.Anyway you can try and see if that will works for you.

So intending to marry is a valid reason to enter on tourist visa?

[KhaoYai]

7 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

Your 14 years of coming to Thailand may not have involved continuous stay over lengthy period with short trips out and back sometimes couple of days.

Agreed.  I usually have a Multi Non O and enter 6 - 8 times per year but a few years back I decided I wasn't going to pay for a visa when I usually only stay 2 weeks at a time.  After 5 or 6 visa exempt entries I was asked what the purpose of my visit was. I told the officer I was visiting my wife and was told in no uncertain terms that I would not be allowed in again without a visa and he typed something into his computer. The time before that a female I.O. spent a while looking at my passport and counting the stamps.

 

Around the same time exactly the same happened to a mate - back to Multi Entry's.

 

Whether they will start the same antics again in the current climate is another matter but anyone who's previously entered several times per year on visa exempt without question is simply lucky.  There is of course the argument that the Thai authorities don't class visiting a spouse as tourism and therefore I should have had a visa but there were plenty of reports of denied entry using exempts around 2017 - 2019 - I don't remember any of those mentioning being married.  I believe the Thai authorities at the time stated that they suspected people who entered often and did visa runs etc. of working illegally.

[BritTim]

6 hours ago, zugzug123 said:

Is "I come to Thailand to marry my gf" acceptable? Or would that qualify me for a different visa type? Marriage visa seems to require a marriage certificate?

If you have been in Thailand continuously for the last two years, except for the previous three days, and are returning from a visa run to Cambodia, that might not seem very credible. Why did you not marry last week, rather than waiting until your return from Cambodia? Saying you are in a long term relationship with a Thai GF (or boyfriend if you happen to be gay) is more credible, and one of the better lines. However, I would advise you to only use this if true. Officials might ask you to show evidence.

[Hummin]

11 hours ago, CharlieH said:

Your over thinking it. Any question would generally be regarding your current entry and visa, rarely have I heard of questions about previous entries.

 

It's a TV your visiting as a tourist for X amount of time. Period. Short to the point.The more elaborate or complex the answer the more you may trip yourself up.

For continuous stay in the country, he is on wrong visa, and when/if asked what he is doing here, he have abused the system no matter what answer he will come up with. Covid extension is no longer an excuse.

 

 

[DrJack54]

2 minutes ago, Hummin said:

. Covid extension is no longer an excuse.

Is in my book. Also the government extended their issue till March 25. 

[Hummin]

10 hours ago, zugzug123 said:

So what should I've answered in your opinion?

You should have visa for your purpuse of stay, no answer is correct when you have been abusing the system for so long as you have, and you continue to do so after covid amnesty was given and now finished. 

[Hummin]

3 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

Is in my book. Also the government extended their issue till March 25. 

My mistake, so no reason to leave the country then. 

[In the jungle]

While on a multiple entry visa I once got berated by an immigration officer for "using the visa too much".

Edited March 5, 2022 by In the jungle

[shackleton]

There's me thinking they wanted tourists to come to Thailand and see what Thailand has to offer. Or 

Did I miss something ???? 

[Hummin]

2 minutes ago, shackleton said:

There's me thinking they wanted tourists to come to Thailand and see what Thailand has to offer. Or 

Did I miss something ???? 

Tourists? He is no more a tourist, he is living here. A tourist can come on exemption visa 30 days, renew on immigration 30 additional days, for then do a border crossing and add 30 new days. Then you already used your 90 days of your 180 total of the year, and have to apply for a tourist visa, 60+30 days. Then you should go somewhere else for some months before you come back.

 

If your intention is to stay longer you have to apply for proper visa for your purpose because you are no longer reckoned as a tourist 

[MajorTom]

12 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

12 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

Spot on. 

They suspect that your working.

Added to that thinking is very quick turnaround.

Prior to covid how many times do you read threads asking about quickest place to get a visa and return. 

 

 

 

I'm not so sure about the "suspect that you are working" angle. Especially with a western passport.

Either way, if someone was working illegally in Thailand it would be a lot easier to do so on a long stay visa?

 

When i was given a warning years ago for having too many exempt stamps, they also said "You work in Thailand!!?"

I had documents to prove i did not, including a work permit in another country, contracts, and a seamans record book. They had zero interest in seeing any of this.

[DrJack54]

34 minutes ago, Hummin said:

Then you already used your 90 days of your 180 total of the year

Where do you dream up these non existent rules? 

A trivia question for you.

What is the limit on visa exempt entries via air per year? 

 

Edited March 5, 2022 by DrJack54

[Dante99]

Always be honest with Immigration Officers so you tell them

 

"I come to drink beer and sleep with cheap women. " 

 

They will smile and say correct, stamp you in and wish you good luck.

[Hummin]

7 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

Where do you dream up these non existent rules? 

A trivia question for you.

What is the limit on visa exempt entries via air per year? 

 

Never easy to know what is the practice at anytime, and those who stay within what I described, most likely will never experience any trouble. 

 

Holders of normal passports of the following countries are granted visa-free travel to Thailand for a period of up to 30 days. The exemption is granted at most twice in a calendar year when entering over land or via a sea border but there is no limitation when entering by air.

 

https://www.thaiembassy.com/travel-to-thailand/alternative-state-quarantine-asq-in-thailand

[DrJack54]

2 minutes ago, Hummin said:

.....but there is no limitation when entering by air

Correct. 

Now just drop the 180day per year bit. Does not exist.