Visa run crackdowns?

[azt219]

Hi

 

My friend just did his usual visa run across the border and back again, but this time, the immigration person stated they were coming and going from Thailand too much and noted it in their system about this, they sounded quite threatening apparently and sounds like they won't to bar him from doing the visa runs in the future.

 

Has anyone experienced this recently?

 

I know many people have been doing visa runs for donkey years, so I was surprised to hear this, are they trying to stop visa runs these days?

 

 

[stoner]

usual entitlement run you mean ?

 

tell your friend to get a real visa or go home. i would be suspicious too his patterns raise a red flag for immigration. 

[JayClay]

What do you mean by "his usual visa run"?

 

What's his visa/visa-exempt entry history like?

 

It's well-known that problems will arise trying to stay in Thailand long-term on tourist visas and visa exempt entries these days.

[orchis]

which border crossing?
the word 'crackdown" is much too easily tossed around imo.

[DrJack54]

17 minutes ago, azt219 said:

My friend just did his usual visa run across the border and back again,

A visa run is exit Thailand and obtain a visa and reenter.

No doubt you mean border bounce.

Meaning exit Thailand and reenter visa exempt. Sometimes straight away.

Which border crossing was this and how many border bounces has your friend made. 

[OneMoreFarang]

A long time ago when I made visa runs the authorities had different "rules" for different locations.

I.e. the bus was supposed to go to Poipet, but on that day that wasn't so good, so they used another border crossing maybe 50km away from there.

 

Obviously the best is getting a proper visa. And if you can't get that then use a company which does regular visa runs. They normally know about the current "regulations". 

[BritTim]

As others have already posted, your OP is meaningless without more information, especially the land crossing used. The only thing that can be said for sure is that the Aranyaprathet/Poipet crossing has been involved in an ongoing "crackdown" for the last six years or so.

[BritTim]

One point I have just remembered could be related to your experience. Quite a few years ago, Immigration's system added a feature where officials were alerted if you had received a significant number of visa exemptions (from memory five, but I might be wrong) over the years, and instructed to screen you more strictly as a genuine tourist. This was at the time when the Thai authorities were concerned about some foreigners working illegally using border bounces to stay indefinitely in Thailand. I am guessing that the alert most likely still appears.

[RonJr]

4 hours ago, JayClay said:

What do you mean by "his usual visa run"?

 

What's his visa/visa-exempt entry history like?

 

It's well-known that problems will arise trying to stay in Thailand long-term on tourist visas and visa exempt entries these days.

 

4 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

A visa run is exit Thailand and obtain a visa and reenter.

No doubt you mean border bounce.

Meaning exit Thailand and reenter visa exempt. Sometimes straight away.

Which border crossing was this and how many border bounces has your friend made. 

YES, thailand is doing crackdown's on visa runs, even in BKK this last two months!

 

Main Takeaway (Stay Away from Poipet for any visa runs or other resets etc.) 

 

 

This is a very complicated subject similar to Marijuanna only being for “Medical” but regionally / selectively enforced or allowed freely,……if you find the more farang friendly crossings, embassy and air you will encounter less issues after using to many on arrival visas, there is still a limit to the border runs and after 6–8 they will begin to deny you over land. Even in airport as demonstrated thru recent Bkk crack downs!!

Never Use Poipet! I’ve gotten thru one time w My Big Bike / Greenbook/ Bike-Visa and returned week later after Ankor Wat luckily,

 

however last week after attempting the same thing in order to get my long time visa; / reset my clock they instructed me to cross into Cambodia and return for my bike minutes later to allow paper/visa  processing w big boss then denied me entry back in to my bike even and I had all documentation in order and the almost psychotic militant & fussy overweight thai lady officer couldn’t lose an inch of face so she immediately refused me and began to yell, like a stupid loud farang would be expected to. They demonstrated COMPLETE AND UTTER IGNORANCE VS. non-bias equal respect shown and simple enforcement/up-holding of the proper law… to which the Embassy honored and Issued me a Three Month Visa just two days later in Phenom Phen!!!!!!!! Because of thier ignorance or defiance to the thai governments official policies poipet immigration officials are very racist and agressive toward farang and will not allow same day return (ever) however the border south hat Lek presented none of the issues and pass thru farang just fine. 

 

 Thailand has certain areas in which the head of the government authority doesn’t even have control over, similar to areas controlled by militias near the Malaysia border they don’t talk about…. But for borders , such as……….. the poipet border crossing where some yell and act similar to a 1900 German Soldier, in which the thai government’s official Embassy Website states even likens (about their own immigration officers stating they are quote  “MILITANT & FUSSY”, which in incredible considering your rarely hear a official thai institution slander their own institution and warn the public in their own website… here is the link and snippet from the website very informative. 
 

this is just my two cents, A subject that merits much more in depth analysis/discussion however I’ll leave it there for now. 

HTTPS://www.thaiembassy.com/thailand/thailands-land-borders
OFFICIAL STATEMENT QUOTED:

Some crossings are known to be a bit more problematic than others, most noticeably the Aranyaprathet/Poipet crossing into Cambodia, where you will find very militant and fussy immigration officers as well as a swarm of people trying to get money out of you. Quieter crossings such as Savannakhet/Mukdahan will likely be less of a headache, however, crossing the border will still take you around half an hour or so, depending on how busy it is. The attitude of the immigration officials also appears to vary between the different crossings, with some being friendly and polite and others downright rude and obstructive, really it’s pot luck what you will experience on any particular day. Also, you should be aware that there is a rule that you can only obtain two visa-exempt entries at land borders per calendar year, but there is no such restriction by air.

Another thing to mention is that the days of the “border bounce”, i.e. just going across the border and coming almost immediately to obtain a new visa-exempt entry are well and truly over. Once a very common and easy practice, now the Thai immigration officials see this as an abuse of the visa rules and will almost certainly refuse entry. Therefore you should plan to spend a few days in the neighboring country before trying to come back in or even obtain a new visa at a Thai embassy rather than relying on a visa-exempt entry. There is a huge amount of variation and inconsistency between different land border crossings when thinking about how they interpret and apply the rules, two people crossing with the same travel history may get very different outcomes, depending on the immigration officer they are faced with.

In total there are more than 20 land border crossings in Thailand, here we will take a look at the most useful and commonly used ones.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

17 minutes ago, RonJr said:

in which the thai government’s official Embassy Website states even likens (about their own immigration officers stating they are quote  “MILITANT & FUSSY”, which in incredible considering your rarely hear a official thai institution slander their own institution and warn the public in their own website…

The website you're quoting from has nothing to do with the Thai government, contrary to what you claim in your post. And if you look at the top of the webpage you linked to, you'll see the snippet -- "This website is managed by Siam Legal
International - a law firm in Thailand"

 

Another giveaway would be the fact that the "HTTPS://www.thaiembassy.com" website you're quoting from has a "dot-com" domain, which means it's hosted by a commercial entity like a law firm, instead of the typical "go.th" domain for a Thai government agency.

 

Of course, it also says at the very bottom of the webpage -- "This is NOT the official website of the Thai Embassy."

 

[AgMech Cowboy]

5 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

A visa run is exit Thailand and obtain a visa and reenter.

No doubt you mean border bounce.

Meaning exit Thailand and reenter visa exempt. Sometimes straight away.

Which border crossing was this and how many border bounces has your friend made. 

@DrJack54 In my past experience here, and I'm not going to argue the semantics.  While true, the person who travels to the border to get a new visa exempt permit to stay sort of does a 'bounce', the actual "border bounce" is a term that was (is) used for those who already have a Non-O (or Non Immigrant visa requiring departures every 90 days) and only need to leave the country and return to get a new 90 day permit to stay stamp.  See the person who is hoping to get another visa exemption may not be so lucky, so they ain't bouncing.  IMHO

So, "visa run"???? maybe short for Visa Exempt run. again IMHO

 

Back on topic...  I found it interesting the statement "I know many people have been doing visa runs for donkey years".  How long you been here @azt219?  Prior to the COVID panic, there were pretty established guidelines (still are on the borders) 2 visa exempts per calendar year (I believe), but I'm not an authority on that.  DrJack54, BritTim and ubonjoe are the guys to ask about that.  COVID's over, the old rules will be creeping back in.

[paul1804]

Why can't Thailand make up its mind as to wether they actually want tourists here or they dont. They say they want them but the recent actions from the authorities quite openly suggest they dont want foreigners here, unless they are Chinese of course. I was bewildered all through covid as to the efforts the authorities made to get people to leave in one breath and in the other stated how to attract people to come to Thailand. 

[DrJack54]

38 minutes ago, paul1804 said:

I was bewildered all through covid as to the efforts the authorities made to get people to leave in one breath and in the other stated how to attract people to come to Thailand.

Your post doesn't make sense.

Thailand kept making covid extensions available beyond time when borders were open.

Generous imo. 

 

Regards your reference to Chinese...they require a visa.

 

I'm guessing you are able to enter visa exempt.

That also was a generous increase to 45 days for a period of time. 

 

I recently went to Vietnam and only option to me (Oz) was single entry tourist visa 30 days.

 

Check out all the options for trouble free stay in Thailand.

METV easy and can provide up to 9 months. 

Hells Bells. 

 

Take a trip to most  neighbouring countries. 

Just get a visa (required) 

 

Edited April 27, 2023 by DrJack54

[flexomike]

4 hours ago, RonJr said:

 

YES, thailand is doing crackdown's on visa runs, even in BKK this last two months!

 

Main Takeaway (Stay Away from Poipet for any visa runs or other resets etc.) 

 

 

This is a very complicated subject similar to Marijuanna only being for “Medical” but regionally / selectively enforced or allowed freely,……if you find the more farang friendly crossings, embassy and air you will encounter less issues after using to many on arrival visas, there is still a limit to the border runs and after 6–8 they will begin to deny you over land. Even in airport as demonstrated thru recent Bkk crack downs!!

Never Use Poipet! I’ve gotten thru one time w My Big Bike / Greenbook/ Bike-Visa and returned week later after Ankor Wat luckily,

 

however last week after attempting the same thing in order to get my long time visa; / reset my clock they instructed me to cross into Cambodia and return for my bike minutes later to allow paper/visa  processing w big boss then denied me entry back in to my bike even and I had all documentation in order and the almost psychotic militant & fussy overweight thai lady officer couldn’t lose an inch of face so she immediately refused me and began to yell, like a stupid loud farang would be expected to. They demonstrated COMPLETE AND UTTER IGNORANCE VS. non-bias equal respect shown and simple enforcement/up-holding of the proper law… to which the Embassy honored and Issued me a Three Month Visa just two days later in Phenom Phen!!!!!!!! Because of thier ignorance or defiance to the thai governments official policies poipet immigration officials are very racist and agressive toward farang and will not allow same day return (ever) however the border south hat Lek presented none of the issues and pass thru farang just fine. 

 

 Thailand has certain areas in which the head of the government authority doesn’t even have control over, similar to areas controlled by militias near the Malaysia border they don’t talk about…. But for borders , such as……….. the poipet border crossing where some yell and act similar to a 1900 German Soldier, in which the thai government’s official Embassy Website states even likens (about their own immigration officers stating they are quote  “MILITANT & FUSSY”, which in incredible considering your rarely hear a official thai institution slander their own institution and warn the public in their own website… here is the link and snippet from the website very informative. 
 

this is just my two cents, A subject that merits much more in depth analysis/discussion however I’ll leave it there for now. 

HTTPS://www.thaiembassy.com/thailand/thailands-land-borders
OFFICIAL STATEMENT QUOTED:

Some crossings are known to be a bit more problematic than others, most noticeably the Aranyaprathet/Poipet crossing into Cambodia, where you will find very militant and fussy immigration officers as well as a swarm of people trying to get money out of you. Quieter crossings such as Savannakhet/Mukdahan will likely be less of a headache, however, crossing the border will still take you around half an hour or so, depending on how busy it is. The attitude of the immigration officials also appears to vary between the different crossings, with some being friendly and polite and others downright rude and obstructive, really it’s pot luck what you will experience on any particular day. Also, you should be aware that there is a rule that you can only obtain two visa-exempt entries at land borders per calendar year, but there is no such restriction by air.

Another thing to mention is that the days of the “border bounce”, i.e. just going across the border and coming almost immediately to obtain a new visa-exempt entry are well and truly over. Once a very common and easy practice, now the Thai immigration officials see this as an abuse of the visa rules and will almost certainly refuse entry. Therefore you should plan to spend a few days in the neighboring country before trying to come back in or even obtain a new visa at a Thai embassy rather than relying on a visa-exempt entry. There is a huge amount of variation and inconsistency between different land border crossings when thinking about how they interpret and apply the rules, two people crossing with the same travel history may get very different outcomes, depending on the immigration officer they are faced with.

In total there are more than 20 land border crossings in Thailand, here we will take a look at the most useful and commonly used ones.

You are only allowed two border runs per calender year

[Denim]

We are very lucky to have new posters giving old hands the heads up. Where would we be without their informative and helpful contributions..

[DrJack54]

4 minutes ago, Denim said:

We are very lucky to have new posters giving old hands the heads up. Where would we be without their informative and helpful contributions..

Was that a typo for uninformative or my sarcasm alert is numb.

[bananafish]

1 hour ago, paul1804 said:

Why can't Thailand make up its mind as to wether they actually want tourists here or they dont. They say they want them but the recent actions from the authorities quite openly suggest they dont want foreigners here, unless they are Chinese of course. I was bewildered all through covid as to the efforts the authorities made to get people to leave in one breath and in the other stated how to attract people to come to Thailand. 

I suppose they want to make it easy for real tourists and less easy for people to live here using entry allowances intended to allow ease of tourism. 

[Bday Prang]

38 minutes ago, flexomike said:

You are only allowed two border runs per calender year

Unless you have  have a multiple entry visa

[Denim]

20 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

Was that a typo for uninformative or my sarcasm alert is numb.

Well, you decide. A lot of threads started recently by new posters asking provocative posts such as ' bum gun or toilet paper ' '

Is Bangkok safe after dark ? ' 

Can I import a car / motorcycle

My bar girl story.

Etc etc.

 

Getting a bit ridiculous IM0.

 

Good way to kill a forum though. Maybe trolls from other forum trying to undermine the place. Doing a good job so farn

[DrJack54]

32 minutes ago, Denim said:

Good way to kill a forum though. Maybe trolls from other forum trying to undermine the place. Doing a good job so farn

Understand.

I avoid chit chat forums. 

I stick to this particular forum and sometimes visit forums such as Health forum. That forum is one of several with in the main serious feedback . Helps with mod such as

@Sheryl

Edited April 27, 2023 by DrJack54

[chalawaan]

9 hours ago, BritTim said:

As others have already posted, your OP is meaningless without more information, especially the land crossing used. The only thing that can be said for sure is that the Aranyaprathet/Poipet crossing has been involved in an ongoing "crackdown" for the last six years or so.

If it was Poipet he likely would have been flat out denied. Even legit tourists on their first bounce currently get sent to PNH Airport!

[Leon1980]

It will be very interesting to see what the Russian and Ukrainians in Thailand will do for visa runs when they have completed their 2 land border runs. 

 

The land border crossing at Wang Prachan had lines of Russians in March. 

 

Most arrived in November and I expect by middle of May there will be some announcement on changes and relaxing of rules to prevents overstays

[BritTim]

2 hours ago, Leon1980 said:

It will be very interesting to see what the Russian and Ukrainians in Thailand will do for visa runs when they have completed their 2 land border runs. 

If they are not already doing so, they will apply for tourist visas in Penang or Savannakhet. The queues there on certain days are already completely out of hand. They are set to get worse.

[bigt3116]

18 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

A long time ago when I made visa runs the authorities had different "rules" for different locations.

I.e. the bus was supposed to go to Poipet, but on that day that wasn't so good, so they used another border crossing maybe 50km away from there.

 

Obviously the best is getting a proper visa. And if you can't get that then use a company which does regular visa runs. They normally know about the current "regulations". 

That was a "border bounce", not a "visa run".

 

[OneMoreFarang]

33 minutes ago, bigt3116 said:

That was a "border bounce", not a "visa run".

Maybe that is what you call it now. But at that time, we all called it visa run. ???? 

[visarunner]

8 hours ago, Leon1980 said:

It will be very interesting to see what the Russian and Ukrainians in Thailand will do for visa runs when they have completed their 2 land border runs. 

 

The land border crossing at Wang Prachan had lines of Russians in March. 

 

Most arrived in November and I expect by middle of May there will be some announcement on changes and relaxing of rules to prevents overstays

Russians have Unlimited access to Thailand, based on Bilateral Agreement signed 2005.

[visarunner]

10 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Maybe that is what you call it now. But at that time, we all called it visa run. ???? 

The first change to Unlimited visa run was 2006, hence afterwards the word "border run or border bounce" became established. "Visa Run" ,nowadays is used for Visa application at a Thai Embassy. 

[Lemsta69]

14 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Maybe that is what you call it now. But at that time, we all called it visa run. ???? 

Depends on which crowd you fell in with. I was taught the terminology that @bigt3116describes, back in the late '90s.

Edited April 28, 2023 by Lemsta69

[visarunner]

5 hours ago, BritTim said:

If they are not already doing so, they will apply for tourist visas in Penang or Savannakhet. The queues there on certain days are already completely out of hand. They are set to get worse.

Savannakhet has recently becoming stricter and stricter. Not an easy destination anymore.

[bigt3116]

1 hour ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Maybe that is what you call it now. But at that time, we all called it visa run. ???? 

Wow, when was "that time"?