A friend just got back from a Poipet border run. He is from the UK and entered Thailand for the first time after three years with a Visa exempt 45 days, with no subsequent extension applied to the exempt and was informed that he would not be allowed another visa exempt run.

 

Theoretically this should not be the case since the new calendar year starts in a few weeks and the reset for two per year should then begin again. However it's possible this is a single officer making an arbitrary decision or a general Poipet immigration interpretation, either way getting the  calendar year border run refresh is more likely to be available at Vientiane.

 

Is there any kind of historical log made to reflect the warning by either ink stamps / written notes on the passport or centralised data entry for individual electronic records?

Does your friend have any problems which would not allow him to get a proper visa?

If nothing was stamped or written into his passport (and no reason gor them to have been) , there is no record.

 

Poipet is the most difficult of all the Cambodian border crossing points.

6 minutes ago, Photoguy21 said:

Does your friend have any problems which would not allow him to get a proper visa?

Not sure, but that would be a different subject - I am just wanting to get an answer to the question posted. 

15 minutes ago, Photoguy21 said:

Does your friend have any problems which would not allow him to get a proper visa?

Surely a joke? 

If he is from country that Thailand provides visa exempt entry then why would he need a visa.

 

8 minutes ago, Sheryl said:

If nothing was stsmped or written into his passport (and no reason gor them to have been) , there is no record.

 

Poipet is the most difficult of all the Cambodian border crossing points.

Ahhh - OK, good.

 

Then I think what you are saying is there is no centralised electronic record made when these warnings are made

 

As for stamps or written notes made - He has over thirty nine  pages with various stamps and notes and its not clear from just the single and joining page if there is something hiding itself in content from the six different countries (from three non English speaking continents) which I can not actually read or determine if there is a special Cambodian stamp in the mix.  

40 minutes ago, spambot said:

Then I think what you are saying is there is no centralised electronic record made when these warnings are made

 

As for stamps or written notes made - He has over thirty nine  pages with various stamps and notes and its not clear from just the single and joining page if there is something hiding itself in content from the six different countries (from three non English speaking continents) which I can not actually read or determine if there is a special Cambodian stamp in the mix.  

Correct. No "no centralised electronic record made when these warnings are made".

 

What would be relevant would be any note made on this last entry stamp - and I much doubt there is one.  Makes no difference what may be written ion stamps involving other countries. 

 

Some IOs take it upon themselves to issue warnings like this. They have no legal import. (But good idea to avoid that same officer in future..and at border crossings unlike airport there aren't many of them so this means best avoid that border crossing for a while. )

25 minutes ago, Sheryl said:

Correct. No "no centralised electronic record made when these warnings are made".

 

What would be relevant would be any note made on this last entry stamp - and I much doubt there is one.  Makes no difference what may be written ion stamps involving other countries. 

 

Some IOs take it upon themselves to issue warnings like this. They have no legal import. (But good idea to avoid that same officer in future..and at border crossings unlike airport there aren't many of them so this means best avoid that border crossing for a while. )

Yup - This is sound advice!

In the past, certainly, there was no mechanism for an immigration official to annotate a personal record of you in immigration's system. I suspect that might no longer be true. Immigration officials, previously, would often make cryptic marks next to stamps which seemed to be intended for other officials in the future. I get the impression (I cannot prove it) that they recently acquired the capability to add remarks in their system instead.

 

Anyway, the most important advice is avoid Poipet in the future. That crossing has been problematic for tourists for years. They have even been known to hassle people with multiple entry Non O visas.

13 hours ago, spambot said:

Yup - This is sound advice!

Could also obtain a new passport. That helps

9 hours ago, BritTim said:

Anyway, the most important advice is avoid Poipet in the future. That crossing has been problematic for tourists for years. They have even been known to hassle people with multiple entry Non O visas.

Do you think the same holds true if one were using a visa-run company rather than going alone . . ?     

1 hour ago, ArtVandelay said:

Do you think the same holds true if one were using a visa-run company rather than going alone . . ?     

Visa run companies haven't used the Aranyaprathet/Poipet checkpoint since a long time.

4 hours ago, ArtVandelay said:

Do you think the same holds true if one were using a visa-run company rather than going alone . . ?     

None of the visa run companies will touch Poipet with a bargepole. They have avoided this crossing for years.

 

EDIT: Supposedly (this information is quite old) it is possible to bribe your way back in at Poipet. There are fixers on the Cambodian side who liaise with the Thai officials to facilitate this. The price was reported to be sky high (20,000+ baht).