Thai cabinet approves 45-day stay for tourists entitled to visa exemption and 30 days with Visa on Arrival

[NoshowJones]

1 hour ago, Bday Prang said:

a comment worthy of a teenager

But the truth just the same.

[scorecard]

9 hours ago, lkn said:

I doubt white tourists are subjected to any harassment, but two weeks ago someone I know was told she had to pay 10,000 baht as “entry fee”, she managed to get it down to 2,000 baht. They would not allow her to enter Thailand, if she did not pay. This was in Suvarnabhumi, and she did not already have a visa.

Worst verbal harrassment i've witneseed was on arrival in the USA. 

 

I arrived with 10 Thai executive MBA students for an invited international case study competition. All the students late 20's / early 30's, all spoke advanced English, all well dressed and groomed, all had visa issued by American Embassy in Bkk, several had done previous trips to the US for studies. 

 

I lined up first (entitled to entry on arrival), US passport lady said a polite 'hello', all completed in a few seconds, then a polite 'enjoy your stay'.

 

Next was one of my students, greeted with anger and annoyance and 'why do you come here?', student tried to pull the invitation letter out of the documents she had put on the counter, p'port lady responded quickly/loudly 'never ever touch my documents', then 'I don't really care and we don't need more Asians here'. Same level of agressive and rude attitude continued.

 

One of the young male students well dressed was wearing a beanie when he joined the p'port queue but quickly removed it, then waited while maybe 5 or 6 other arrivals (same group) were processed. When he put his documents on the counter the rude p'port lady said 'why were you wearing a beanie before, are you a girl? Truth is that's he's a very masculine champion football player.

 

Final student in the line was a very pleasant young lady. US p'port lady looked at the uni invitation letter and the visa then said 'are you sure this is legitimate and the real reason you come her, we all know what Thai girls do don't we?' Student was in tears.

[alex8912]

3 hours ago, josephbloggs said:

Do you get that nervous / anxious over every single thing you read??

No. Your post is useless. Knowing exactly what you get visa exempt day  wise and how long you can extend it is needed for people to make exact travel plans.  

[biggles45]

'Issue of a Visa is a privilege, not an entitlement. ' 

 

Yes, but when you have complied with all the, often onerous, requirements of a Thai Embassy and been issued with one why should some low rank IO who has had a bad day, be able to refuse you entry? 

[Filippo M]

I'm sure there are more european tourist in August, they should start to learn to count them.

[bluemoonpattaya]

In the words of Johnny Nash  " There are more questions than answers"

[kidneyw]

15 hours ago, Padthaigoong said:

They have never uttered a word to me in more than 25 trips.

Admitedly most of those were with a tourist visa.

I would be interested to hear what kind of remarks they have made to you.

Welcome hansum man.

[hansnl]

Next issue to address:

Double pricing, including in state hospitals, museums , parks, etc.

[Sparktrader]

1 hour ago, Filippo M said:

I'm sure there are more european tourist in August, they should start to learn to count them.

Europe is warm then. Cold in Dec. Far more in Dec.

[DJ54]

14 hours ago, lkn said:

I doubt white tourists

Hoping you meant something different…. Odd comment 

[Bim Smith]

How about making tourist visas easy to apply for like they used to be and stop the relentless cloud seeding and make the weather worthwhile visiting instead of this insane flooding. 

[Sparktrader]

9 hours ago, possum1931 said:

 What does FTFY mean? Nothing wrong with initials for the usual things, but some of these initials are very annoying, just being made up by the poster.

2 meanings i can see

[josephbloggs]

54 minutes ago, Bim Smith said:

How about making tourist visas easy to apply for like they used to be and stop the relentless cloud seeding and make the weather worthwhile visiting instead of this insane flooding. 

What????

[SunsetT]

So can one now fly in visa exempt, extend it, then do two more out/in visa exempt land border entries and get a 165 day stay? 45+30+45+45 = 165 days. Or even extend both land border entries for 30 days to give you = 225 days or thereabouts?

[Bim Smith]

11 hours ago, josephbloggs said:

What????

Look up the Royal Rain making project. They even admitted to doing so when they recently sold the technology to Indonesia and named the cities that would be affected. Educate yourself.

[josephbloggs]

53 minutes ago, Bim Smith said:

Look up the Royal Rain making project. They even admitted to doing so when they recently sold the technology to Indonesia and named the cities that would be affected. Educate yourself.

I know about Royal Rain Making.  They do this during the height of the drought season (around Jan-March), usually in northern Thailand to help bring rain and / or extinguish forest fires.  Sometimes they do it to prevent big hail storms (it hastens the precipitation before ice crystals have chance to form).

But your assertion that they are still doing this to make rain in monsoon season and that they should just stop and make it nice and sunny for tourists is one of the most ludicrous things I have read on here - and that is saying something.

So, come on, I am waiting to be educated.  Show me where they are cloud seeding in the middle of rainy season and localised flooding.  I can't wait for this education!

[fresher]

On 9/21/2022 at 8:45 AM, robertson468 said:

 If you are unhappy about the County's Laws, I would suggest that you don't come here - simple!

Totally agree. That's why I didn't resume my 2x3months a year in Thailand until now. Two and a half years away from my friends in CM. But even now the 'O' visa requires 7 or 9 uploads, including the disgraceful compulsory health insurance that you can only purchase from one of a list of Thai companies. I refused to pay this (I had been coming on an 'O' visa for over 10 years), so this trip is on a multi-entry Tourist visa.

[hotandsticky]

2 minutes ago, fresher said:

Totally agree. That's why I didn't resume my 2x3months a year in Thailand until now. Two and a half years away from my friends in CM. But even now the 'O' visa requires 7 or 9 uploads, including the disgraceful compulsory health insurance that you can only purchase from one of a list of Thai companies. I refused to pay this (I had been coming on an 'O' visa for over 10 years), so this trip is on a multi-entry Tourist visa.

 

You might want to try checking the rules...........................I am not aware that any insurance is required for a Non-O visa.

[nickmondo]

On 9/21/2022 at 4:31 AM, alex8912 said:

Again. There is not a single word in this post that states the 45 day visa exempt can be EXTENDED for 30 or 45 more days in country at immigration. One expert mentioned it would be 30 days. But can someone FINALLY let all of us know what the exact extension can be for?  I completely understand that a 30 or 45 day extension at any immigration office can be denied for some reason. My question is can it for SURE at least be attempted for 30 or 45 days more?  Can you please prove it? Thanks! 
Just because the 30 day visa exempt can be extended 30 days does not equal that the 45 day visa exempt can be extended 45 or 30 days. Do you know why? TIT 

 

With TIT in mind. Is this 45 day visa exempt ( for countries that have been given 30 in the past) be available until EXACTLY 3/31/23 or as the article states " the end of March" the end of March can be March 26 th! 
Thanks again. 
 

they cant let you knowabout the extension because they dont know themselves.  only think one step at a time.

[Bim Smith]

8 hours ago, josephbloggs said:

I know about Royal Rain Making.  They do this during the height of the drought season (around Jan-March), usually in northern Thailand to help bring rain and / or extinguish forest fires.  Sometimes they do it to prevent big hail storms (it hastens the precipitation before ice crystals have chance to form).

But your assertion that they are still doing this to make rain in monsoon season and that they should just stop and make it nice and sunny for tourists is one of the most ludicrous things I have read on here - and that is saying something.

So, come on, I am waiting to be educated.  Show me where they are cloud seeding in the middle of rainy season and localised flooding.  I can't wait for this education!

You cannot cloud seed during the drought season. There is little moisture in the air and it won't be successful. Please do your homework before making stupid comments. They admitted to doing it just two weeks ago

[josephbloggs]

30 minutes ago, Bim Smith said:

You cannot cloud seed during the drought season. There is little moisture in the air and it won't be successful. Please do your homework before making stupid comments. They admitted to doing it just two weeks ago

Link please to where they admitted to cloud seeding two weeks ago in the middle of monsoon season when the country is flooded.  

[lkn]

On 9/21/2022 at 5:26 AM, possum1931 said:

I think there is more to this than what you are saying, though it does look like there is some sort of corruption involved

One officer took her passport, another escorted her to an ATM inside the arrival area and gave her a cloth to wrap the money (emphasizing that this is definitely not normal). She got back her passport when she handed over the money.

 

I fail to see how there can possibly be any reasonable explanation for this exchange of money for entry stamp other than extortion. And she was absolutely furious about this harassment. She got it down to 2,000 baht only because that would be roughly the price of a plane ticket, i.e. she was effectively told either pay them or book a plane out of Thailand, which she was willing to do if the entry fee was 10,000 baht.

 

Some Thais in the line did ask what it was about, and the immigration police replied that it was none of their business.

 

She came from Europe, had no visa, and passport from a southeast asian country (i.e. “poor”), but one where there is an agreement about visa exemption or visa on arrival (I forget which).

 

On 9/21/2022 at 5:26 AM, possum1931 said:

I have made many entrances into Thailand in the last 20 years, and never as much as even asked a question.

Hence my comment about “white tourist” or “rich farang” or whatever you wanna call the affluent segment who are normally not subjected to this <deleted>.

 

I must confess that this incident in Suvarnabhumi does surprise me, despite knowing how corrupt the police in Thailand is, and how often they pressure people to “settle issues on the spot” or their “we come and check your shop each month, and you pay us 6,000 baht for that”, but times are hard for people in Thailand, and that probably also goes for the (immigration) police…

Edited September 22, 2022 by lkn

[NoshowJones]

1 hour ago, lkn said:

One officer took her passport, another escorted her to an ATM inside the arrival area and gave her a cloth to wrap the money (emphasizing that this is definitely not normal). She got back her passport when she handed over the money.

 

I fail to see how there can possibly be any reasonable explanation for this exchange of money for entry stamp other than extortion. And she was absolutely furious about this harassment. She got it down to 2,000 baht only because that would be roughly the price of a plane ticket, i.e. she was effectively told either pay them or book a plane out of Thailand, which she was willing to do if the entry fee was 10,000 baht.

 

Some Thais in the line did ask what it was about, and the immigration police replied that it was none of their business.

 

She came from Europe, had no visa, and passport from a southeast asian country (i.e. “poor”), but one where there is an agreement about visa exemption or visa on arrival (I forget which).

 

Hence my comment about “white tourist” or “rich farang” or whatever you wanna call the affluent segment who are normally not subjected to this <deleted>.

 

I must confess that this incident in Suvarnabhumi does surprise me, despite knowing how corrupt the police in Thailand is, and how often they pressure people to “settle issues on the spot” or their “we come and check your shop each month, and you pay us 6,000 baht for that”, but times are hard for people in Thailand, and that probably also goes for the (immigration) police…

Good post, though I do not think things are hard for the immigration officers, yes they are also police officers. They just make up their own rules to suit themselves, every IO is different, they won't lose out on anything. 

The normal police officers are different, they have lost a lot of their bungs from the bars, clubs and other businesses because they were closed during the pandemic, so as far as what I have been reading, they are trying to compensate for this now by putting the screw on if you know what I mean.

[henry213]

On 9/20/2022 at 7:07 PM, Bday Prang said:

a comment worthy of a teenager

Thanks i'm only 13! ????????

[Filippo M]

On 9/21/2022 at 8:46 AM, Sparktrader said:

Europe is warm then. Cold in Dec. Far more in Dec.

I know that but nobody has 3 or 4 weeks of vacation during Christmas, so, people prefer to spend money in August to stay more. Of course rich people can always go.

[jacko45k]

23 hours ago, Bim Smith said:

You cannot cloud seed during the drought season.

When is the drought season?

[VBF]

22 hours ago, Filippo M said:

I know that but nobody has 3 or 4 weeks of vacation during Christmas, so, people prefer to spend money in August to stay more. Of course rich people can always go.

I think you'll find that modern working practices no longer comply with that  "tradition". People who are self-employed, on contract etc make up a larger percentage of the workforce than they used to - they (we) take time off when it suits them (us). So really no time of the year is "holiday season" any more - for me my travel IS decided by what time of year suits my desires, which in turn is controlled by prices, weather etc.

[Filippo M]

3 hours ago, VBF said:

I think you'll find that modern working practices no longer comply with that  "tradition". People who are self-employed, on contract etc make up a larger percentage of the workforce than they used to - they (we) take time off when it suits them (us). So really no time of the year is "holiday season" any more - for me my travel IS decided by what time of year suits my desires, which in turn is controlled by prices, weather etc.

I like what you said, and probably I am even a little bit "envious", but my job and probably my country ( Italy ) seems less "modern" and has some difficulties to leave this tradition, anyway I would like to know how many italians come in Thailand during christmas and during low season, I still think that they are more in July and August. Sorry but my english is not very well.

[VBF]

4 minutes ago, Filippo M said:

I like what you said, and probably I am even a little bit "envious", but my job and probably my country ( Italy ) seems less "modern" and has some difficulties to leave this tradition, anyway I would like to know how many italians come in Thailand during christmas and during low season, I still think that they are more in July and August. Sorry but my english is not very well.

Fair comment - I was looking at it from a British perspective. And my answer to your question is..... I have no idea - sorry ????????

Edited September 24, 2022 by VBF

[fresher]

On 9/22/2022 at 10:36 AM, hotandsticky said:

 

You might want to try checking the rules...........................I am not aware that any insurance is required for a Non-O visa.

Try applying for the visa! (Maybe it's changed since I tried in August. The point is that not all of the requirements are shown on the web-site - you don't know/can't see all the rules until you actually apply)