Just Lucky

[toolonginexile]

i have just come back from a visarun to viantiane/laos where i was planning to obtain a new tourist visa as i had had three consecutive visa exemptions (30+30+30 days) before. could for some reason, however, not make it to the thai embassy and had to travel back to nonghkai without a visa, expecting to get a maximum 7 days stamp.

i should mention i was travelling with a new passport, there was a record of my last three visa-free entries into thailand in the "transfer of visa" stamp on the first page of my new passport, however.

the lady immigration officer at the border just asked me "how long you want stay thailand?"

i replied: "oh, just a week is ok" (all i needed actually was the thai ATM machine on the other side of the border!)

within less than half a minute i got my stamp which, as i found out after walking ten metres away from the immigration booth, happened to be a 4th visa exemption stamp, a circled 1 as remark (meaning first visa exemption in six months period!?) which allows me to stay in thailand for another full 30 days.

guess i was just lucky but should the record of my previous stays not only be in the "transfer of visa" stamp (which she probably did not even look at) but in their computer system, too???

[eek]

toolong..were those visa exemption stamps back to back or did you have some other visa issued in between?

edit: sorry just read again and saw "consecutive". nvm.

Edited July 4, 2007 by eek

[Humanoid]

guess i was just lucky but should the record of my previous stays not only be in the "transfer of visa" stamp (which she probably did not even look at) but in their computer system, too???

The computer system isn't actually used.  If you go inside to look at the computers, you'll see that the monitors are always off.  They're just making believe to type your information into a computer!

Joking aside.  I suspect their computers aren't actually connected to any kind of central database.  They probably just verify the checksum on the passport (if it's machine readable), check if your passport is blacklisted, and then log your transaction on the local computer.

If they actually had access to your history on their computer, they wouldn't be spending so much time flipping through the physical pages of your passport.

[Isan Farang]

guess i was just lucky but should the record of my previous stays not only be in the "transfer of visa" stamp (which she probably did not even look at) but in their computer system, too???

The computer system isn't actually used.  If you go inside to look at the computers, you'll see that the monitors are always off.  They're just making believe to type your information into a computer!

Joking aside.  I suspect their computers aren't actually connected to any kind of central database.  They probably just verify the checksum on the passport (if it's machine readable), check if your passport is blacklisted, and then log your transaction on the local computer.

If they actually had access to your history on their computer, they wouldn't be spending so much time flipping through the physical pages of your passport.

So this would mean if you are British, you can have two passports. Then it would be possible to switch from one to another.

[astral]

So this would mean if you are British, you can have two passports. Then it would be possible to switch from one to another.

Not on a land border.

They ALWAYS check for the exit stamp from the other country.

[Fred Sanford]

guess i was just lucky but should the record of my previous stays not only be in the "transfer of visa" stamp (which she probably did not even look at) but in their computer system, too???

The computer system isn't actually used.  If you go inside to look at the computers, you'll see that the monitors are always off.  They're just making believe to type your information into a computer!

Joking aside.  I suspect their computers aren't actually connected to any kind of central database.  They probably just verify the checksum on the passport (if it's machine readable), check if your passport is blacklisted, and then log your transaction on the local computer.

If they actually had access to your history on their computer, they wouldn't be spending so much time flipping through the physical pages of your passport.

good point

[dr_Pat_Pong]

be very very wary ( particularly about your freedom and status in Thailand ). They are not a dumb as you think.

[toolonginexile]

surely i wouldn't recommend to anyone to try what i had to do, i mean, always get a proper visa if possible! but i just had no other option. i was literally shaking at the immigration booth and would, in the worst case, have been happy with a seven days or whatsoever stamp even though that would have meant quite some money spent for nothing. guess i just got away with it.

by the way: when leaving thailand at nongkhai immigration i had no problem with the transfer of visa as someone else on this forum had a week or so ago at the mukdahan border. the immigration guy seemed to be experienced, just gave me the proper form to fill and everything was settled within 15 minutes.

not sure how much the tourist visa at the thai embassy/ vientiane is now as visa fee has gone up to 30 USD??? is it 1500 baht now as i've heard from someone in nongkhai (which would be more than 40 USD!) i have never seen them accept USD, only THB, but paying in dollars, if possible, might save you some money now?? unfortunately i couldn't even try to find out.