Thailand looks at easing visa rules in bid to boost tourism

[VBF]

9 hours ago, TropicalGuy said:

US has the nastiest intrusive ( western) Federal Govt. This culture feeds into US Immigration which questioning can be downright brutal for the simplest of cases. 

Slightly

Long time since i travelled to USA (I'm a Brit) but I found that US Immigration were usually the most suspicious and aggressive authorities of anywhere I've been. And that's always with the correct (Business or Training) visa and always showing suitable respect. On one occasion, in Atlanta, they spotted the fact that I'd been to several ME countries, and marked a red dot in my passport after which Customs had me unpack my case so they could X-ray the empty case.  Never had that treatment in FE, ME, Africa, or Europe.

They were polite both before and after finding nothing wrong, but it was very clear what they suspected.  Their right of course and, as ever...YMMV.

Oddly the second "keenest" seems to be UK - but that's in Customs, not Immigration which is simple as I hold a UK passport.

 

[jacko45k]

11 hours ago, bokningar said:

Just change the O-A visa back to what it was prior to the demand for (useless) insurance came in to play. And I will come back spending money in Thailand 5-8 month of the year like I use to do.

Or a 90-day visa exempt like Malaysia. If you could extend that 1 time.

That came about under pressure from the medical services in LOS, that claimed they were being left with large unpaid hospital bills from foreigners who had no insurance (or money). Why it was applied to O-A specifically did not have much sense behind it... all the reports we had of unpaid medical bills seemed to be from crazy tourists getting involved in motorcycle accidents.. likely on TV or Exempt permissions. 

[Millcx]

18 hours ago, jacko45k said:

So what, is it a race.... is the target perhaps number of infections or something?

CON-Icrom

[mania]

23 hours ago, jacko45k said:

So she had to get a Visa despite being married to a USA Citizen....?

Read comprehend take two & call me in the morning  ????

Quote

I brought my wife to USA in 2007 as my girl friend ( she a Thai citizen earning a Thai wage<sic>)

 

[mania]

22 hours ago, TropicalGuy said:

US has the nastiest intrusive ( western) Federal Govt. This culture feeds into US Immigration which questioning can be downright brutal for the simplest of cases. 

Not if you study & know the rules

Look at the foreign affairs manual & learn

Quite simple actually

 

[jacko45k]

1 hour ago, mania said:

Read comprehend take two & call me in the morning

Nothing worth reading.

She needed a Visa, the fact she was your girlfriend or wife at that time is not relevant. As far as I know she needed a Visa.

USA Nationals can enter Thailand Visa Exempt, The USA does not reciprocate.

[MyFriend You]

On 6/18/2022 at 6:48 PM, mania said:

Bro I dont know which Hawaii you mean but the State of Hawaii dropped mask rules on March 26th & we have not worn one since

 

https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2022/03/08/governor-state-health-department-hold-news-conference-mask-mandate/

I take this straight from the link you so kindly gave me............I also read the news, and watch the Local News Channels:

Here is what The Govenor said in the link you sent:  

In announcing the end of the mask mandate, Ige and state Health Department officials also stressed that masks wouldn’t be going away entirely. They are likely to still be required in public schools, prisons and jails, city buses, and airports. Private businesses are also within their rights to require masks.

Hawaii was the only state in the nation with an indoor mask mandate still in place. The state instituted its first mask mandate in April 2020, and for many months required them both indoors and outdoors.

I just spent the day in about half dozen stores, about 60% of folks shopping are wearing masks, went down to Waikiki and no one was wearing masks on beachside, store side again a good amount wearing masks.   To each his own       Peace

 

 

 

[bokningar]

12 hours ago, jacko45k said:

That came about under pressure from the medical services in LOS, that claimed they were being left with large unpaid hospital bills from foreigners who had no insurance (or money). Why it was applied to O-A specifically did not have much sense behind it... all the reports we had of unpaid medical bills seemed to be from crazy tourists getting involved in motorcycle accidents.. likely on TV or Exempt permissions. 

As you say, that change didn't make much sense only hitting the O-A visa.

In the end they must have lost a lot of nights spent in Thailand on that move. For my self I just spend a fraction of the time I used to spend in Thailand since they made that change. Hope they change it back, I still like Thailand. But I wont spend money on insurance for months I don't stay in Thailand, And that is what you end up doing if you want to get an O-A visa right now.

[Sheryl]

On 6/13/2022 at 2:14 PM, MRToMRT said:

I think it's a good proposal. 

It is, though need to clarify if there will still be possibility of 30 (or better yet, 45) day extension.

 

Other thing they ought to do is stop requiring people to upload private financial data onto an insecure government website to get a tourist visa.  Asking people from the countries required to use evisa to prove they have $1,000 in the bank is completely absurd, their airfare along will equal that in most cases.

 

Contrast this to the Cambodian evisa, which requires nothing more than upload passport page, application form and payment.

 

 

[worldexpress]

Quote

But now the TAT will propose the visa exemption be extended by a further 15 days. The idea is that the longer tourists can stay in Thailand, the more they will spend.

So why stop at 45? 90 sounds like a good number to me, if we're going to be arbitrary.

[starky]

On 6/13/2022 at 3:13 PM, ukrules said:

Lots of countries issue 90 day stamps, they're a bit dim here.

Tell me again how normal "tourists" go on 90 day holidays in the same country?

[starky]

On 6/13/2022 at 2:47 PM, EricTh said:

The other flipside is that it will attract those backpackers/visa runners with hardly any money to stay longer in Thailand.

 

It's good to extend the visa exemption but make sure that they distinguish true tourists from those visa-runners who want to stay long-term in Thailand on a shoestring budget.

 

Why not reintroduce the minimum amount of cash requirement? 

Your not far off the mark. How many regular tourists would have a "holiday" that lasts 45 days? Even 30 would be sufficient it would only mostly people trying to game the system who would need a 45 day visa.

[ukrules]

16 minutes ago, starky said:

Tell me again how normal "tourists" go on 90 day holidays in the same country?

Come December lots of people (most of them of retirement age) like to escape the cold winters so they fly off to somewhere warm for a few months.

 

In truth 90 days isn't enough for the whole winter. I know people who time their visits and departures based on the maximum amount of time they're allowed with a visa free entry - 30 days + a 30 day extension - then they stop spending money and go home.

 

The only reason they limit their stay to 60 days is because they don't want to send their passport off to a notoriously badly run embassy staffed by imbeciles and unless you leave the country and come back again then 60 days is the maximum stay - so they just go home instead.

 

 

Does that cover it for you?

[Rhys]

some 

 

[starky]

1 hour ago, ukrules said:

Come December lots of people (most of them of retirement age) like to escape the cold winters so they fly off to somewhere warm for a few months.

 

In truth 90 days isn't enough for the whole winter. I know people who time their visits and departures based on the maximum amount of time they're allowed with a visa free entry - 30 days + a 30 day extension - then they stop spending money and go home.

 

The only reason they limit their stay to 60 days is because they don't want to send their passport off to a notoriously badly run embassy staffed by imbeciles and unless you leave the country and come back again then 60 days is the maximum stay - so they just go home instead.

 

 

Does that cover it for you?

So a decrepit  retiree dodging the winter would be considered the "average" tourist to you? ????????????????

[jacko45k]

3 minutes ago, starky said:

So a decrepit  retiree dodging the winter would be considered the "average" tourist to you? ????????????????

He could also be a summer worker, like a younger person working hard in construction for the spring and summer months... these types of tourists likely spend quite a lot. Thailand would do well to make them welcome, rather than having them go to neighboring countries. 

[mania]

On 6/19/2022 at 8:52 PM, jacko45k said:

Nothing worth reading.

She needed a Visa, the fact she was your girlfriend or wife at that time is not relevant. As far as I know she needed a Visa.

USA Nationals can enter Thailand Visa Exempt, The USA does not reciprocate.

Yes but as I said in her third year in USA she became a US citizen...Any such path in Thailand for you? No need to answer we know already ????

[jacko45k]

15 minutes ago, mania said:

Yes but as I said in her third year in USA she became a US citizen...Any such path in Thailand for you? No need to answer we know already ????

No of course not.... I am reviewed on a yearly basis and possibly only a single faux-pas away from being asked to begone. But we were talking of tourism really... and so many here bang on how Thailand should make entry ( well staying longer term) easier, while their own countries have Visa obligations and fail to reciprocate to Thailand.