Phuket Immigration Gives Guidance to Israeli Tourists Unable to Return Home Due to Ongoing War

[webfact]

 

Phuket – Phuket Immigration has announced guidance to Israeli tourists who are currently unable to return home due to the ongoing war against Hamas in their country.

Israeli tourists who are unable to return to their country can contact Phuket Immigration in order to apply for a temporary stay in the Kingdom. Details are as follows:

 

Israeli tourists who are traveling with the exemption visa ผ.30 visa (30 days) or Tourist visa (60 days) can extend their stay normally if they have not been in Thailand for more than 30 days by using the following documents;

 

– Application form (TM.7), can get the form at the Immigration office by bringing a self picture (4×6 cm)

– Copy of passport (Bio page and the last entry to Thailand)

– Address registration (TM.30)

– Fee THB 1,900 (cash only)

 

By Goongnang Suksawat

 

Full story: The Phuket Express 2023-10-12

 

- Cigna offers a range of visa-compliant plans that meet the minimum requirement of medical treatment, including COVID-19, up to THB 3m. For more information on all expat health insurance plans click here.

 

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[jippytum]

Rubbish post.  Immigration saying extension available for 1900 baht.  No special treatment normal extension available to all. 

[Olmate]

5 minutes ago, jippytum said:

Rubbish post.  Immigration saying extension available for 1900 baht.  No special treatment normal extension available to all. 

Post says 'guidance', thats pretty special from immigration! 

[hotchilli]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

Phuket Immigration has announced guidance to Israeli tourists who are currently unable to return home due to the ongoing war against Hamas in their country.

Another 30 days for 1,900 baht... should be free.

[Srikcir]

Shouldn't it be "don't want to return?" 

It might be circuitous to travel back to Israel if not by direct flight but Israel is reachable by land and sea via friendly countries.

[ChipButty]

3 minutes ago, Srikcir said:

Shouldn't it be "don't want to return?" 

It might be circuitous to travel back to Israel if not by direct flight but Israel is reachable by land and sea via friendly countries.

They ain"t got any friends at the moment

[webfact]

Moved to

 

Thai Visas, Residency, and Work Permits

 

//Admin

 

[nobodysfriend]

Israels airspace is not closed ( yet ) , EL AL is still operating .

If they really want to go back , there will be a way ... but may be , they do not want ...?

[bamnutsak]

It looks like El Al is operating TLV-BKK, at least six flights per week (X FR).

 

Some Thais are returning to BKK on this flight today.

 

Plenty of seats available.

 

I assume many of the Israeli tourists here flew in on El Al, and have a return ticket in hand. I understand that some/many may not wish to return in the near term.

 

 

[realfunster]

58 minutes ago, Srikcir said:

Shouldn't it be "don't want to return?" 

It might be circuitous to travel back to Israel if not by direct flight but Israel is reachable by land and sea via friendly countries.

El-Al is still running flights from Bangkok to Tel-Aviv.

 

 

Edited October 12, 2023 by realfunster
Typo

[realfunster]

56 minutes ago, ChipButty said:

They ain"t got any friends at the moment

The flight mentioned above goes over Jordanian, Saudi and Emirati airspace….

 

[Twod0gs]

1 hour ago, Srikcir said:

.......... Israel is reachable by land and sea via friendly countries.

Lebanon? Syria? Jordan ? Friendly counties ?

[Rimmer]

A post and replies contravening our Community Standards has been removed.    

[ChipButty]

2 hours ago, bamnutsak said:

It looks like El Al is operating TLV-BKK, at least six flights per week (X FR).

 

Some Thais are returning to BKK on this flight today.

 

Plenty of seats available.

 

I assume many of the Israeli tourists here flew in on El Al, and have a return ticket in hand. I understand that some/many may not wish to return in the near term.

 

 

Make sure you sit on your bullet proof vest, when coming in to land TLV 

[brianthainess]

3 hours ago, hotchilli said:

Another 30 days for 1,900 baht... should be free.

Why?

[brianthainess]

2 hours ago, bamnutsak said:

It looks like El Al is operating TLV-BKK, at least six flights per week (X FR).

 

Some Thais are returning to BKK on this flight today.

 

Plenty of seats available.

 

I assume many of the Israeli tourists here flew in on El Al, and have a return ticket in hand. I understand that some/many may not wish to return in the near term.

 

 

Draught dodgers, as they declared war then all previous coscripts are reservists.

[brianthainess]

As Thailand says it remains Neutral then why are immigration not giving guidelines to Palestinians? 

[Pattaya57]

OP makes no sense as it just describes the current 30 day extension that was always available

 

I read the article link though and it includes they can get further 30 day extensions, however "they must prove the case of necessity, with certification or a formal request made by their embassy or consulate"

 

It's good they put something in place but I doubt the Isreal Embassy will give them a letter saying they can't travel home?

[Olmate]

29 minutes ago, Pattaya57 said:

OP makes no sense as it just describes the current 30 day extension that was always available

 

I read the article link though and it includes they can get further 30 day extensions, however "they must prove the case of necessity, with certification or a formal request made by their embassy or consulate"

 

It's good they put something in place but I doubt the Isreal Embassy will give them a letter saying they can't travel home?

thats what "Links" are for.... 

[hotchilli]

3 hours ago, brianthainess said:

Why?

Humanitarian help?

[Caldera]

How about kicking them out and urging them to return home to protest against their war criminal prime minister and military leaders?

 

That's what I'd do anyway.

[Tropicalevo]

6 hours ago, brianthainess said:

Draught dodgers, as they declared war then all previous coscripts are reservists.

Or maybe their home in Gaza has been bombed?

[BritTim]

15 minutes ago, Tropicalevo said:

Or maybe their home in Gaza has been bombed?

It is extremely unlikely that anyone from Gaza is in Thailand. Israel has banned virtually all travel in and out of the Gaza concentration camp for the last 15 years. This (combined with the crushing poverty there) is one of the main causes for the current irrational and horrific explosion which Israel has already basically announced will lead to officially endorsed genocide. Netanyahu has announced that anyone deemed to be a Hamas member will be liquidated without trial, and there will be no investigation of human rights abuses. I really hope (but doubt) that Israel will permit the evacuation of non combatants from Gaza before they raze it.

[DrJack54]

8 minutes ago, BritTim said:

It is extremely unlikely that anyone from Gaza is in Thailand. Israel has banned virtually all travel in and out of the Gaza concentration camp for the last 15 years. This (combined with the crushing poverty there) is one of the main causes for the current irrational and horrific explosion which Israel has already basically announced will lead to officially endorsed genocide. Netanyahu has announced that anyone deemed to be a Hamas member will be liquidated without trial, and there will be no investigation of human rights abuses. I really hope (but doubt) that Israel will permit the evacuation of non combatants from Gaza before they raze it.

Stick to "visa , work permits..."

 

Not aware that political opinion comment was domain of this forum.

 

Don't understand why this topic is in this forum when threads already in News forum 

[Sharp]

Baffling Israelis can't return home ????????‍♂️

[couchpotato]

25 minutes ago, Sharp said:

Baffling Israelis can't return home ????????‍♂️

Same as the young Russians, they don't want to go home and fight.

Not that baffling.

[OJAS]

On 10/12/2023 at 2:54 AM, webfact said:

Phuket Immigration has announced guidance to Israeli tourists who are currently unable to return home due to the ongoing war against Hamas in their country.

So we are presumably talking about another local Phuket Immigration initiative which, I take it, is not being replicated by any other office in LOS. They are, of course, the solitary office which does not enforce the mandatory health insurance requirement for non-immigrants who originally used an OA visa to enter Thailand up until October 2019. Even though both initiatives are IMHO to be applauded, it still beats me as to how the Immigration Bureau bigwigs in Bangkok seem prepared to let Phuket get away with them!

 

Edited October 13, 2023 by OJAS

[xylophone]

On 10/13/2023 at 8:46 AM, OJAS said:

Phuket Immigration has announced guidance

I didn't know where else to post this, despite searching, so I will add/announce my own guidance with regards to immigration at Phuket........ 

 

It is packed with all sorts of nationalities, with many being Russian, and when I went there on Monday to try and renew my retirement extension, I had to wait almost 3 1/2 hours to be able to hand the passport in and get the ticket to come back the next day!

 

What made it even worse was that there were about five Russian agents, all women, and between them they had approximately 35+ passports/paperwork to process and once they got inside of course, that one agent, delivering multiple passports and paperwork to the overworked staff added to the long wait outside of the office.

 

It didn't help that one obnoxious Russian agent was arguing with the young woman who was checking the paperwork and wouldn't let it go, and I don't know what happened to her, but she was definitely holding up the other people!

 

After my long wait I was looking forward to going back the next day to pick up my passport and get the re-entry permit, but the next day was even worse than the one previous, with a queue coming out from the re-entry permit office and snaking round the outside of the building, and the chairs inside of the office were full, so I estimated about 60 people in all waiting for re-entry visas/permits.

 

I looked at that mess and decided it wasn't for me and thought that I might be able to get my re-entry permit at the Patong immigration office, which I have just done today, and now that I know that avenue is open to me, I will use it in the future.

 

I can now see why some people use agents, even when they have sufficient money in the bank, because waiting for perhaps a total of more than seven hours, with two return visits over two days to Phuket immigration is not their idea of fun, mine neither.

 

There was one noticeable stand out in amongst all of this melee, when one Russian guy carrying a plastic folder (full of passports and paperwork?) walked past everyone waiting for their turn to be called, went straight into the office, deposited the plastic folder on the desk, and immediately came out and left??

 

Only guessing here, but I would think the legendary "brown envelope" played a part in this........... 

 

So my guidance would be: – get to the immigration office at 8 AM in the morning, on both mornings, or if you are able to find an agent who will cater for your needs, then save yourself time, stress and inconvenience and use him/her. Not something I would have normally said, but then the old adage comes into play, "if you can't beat them, join them" (with regards to using agents that is).

 

For the readers of this post, I do have the full 800,000 baht sitting quietly in my bank here.
 

[SingAPorn]

If Biden or Blinken are regularly posing in front of TV live from Israel, if El Al is still operating it's flights daily, one cannot understand why it is considered that they cannot go back. It maybe  rather that they do not wish to go back to Israel, which is more clear 

 

So no reason for any special treatment.  They pay just like the other foreigners that need to shell out money for any dealings with immigration.

Edited October 19, 2023 by SingAPorn

[SingAPorn]

18 minutes ago, xylophone said:

I didn't know where else to post this, despite searching, so I will add/announce my own guidance with regards to immigration at Phuket........ 

 

It is packed with all sorts of nationalities, with many being Russian, and when I went there on Monday to try and renew my retirement extension, I had to wait almost 3 1/2 hours to be able to hand the passport in and get the ticket to come back the next day!

 

What made it even worse was that there were about five Russian agents, all women, and between them they had approximately 35+ passports/paperwork to process and once they got inside of course, that one agent, delivering multiple passports and paperwork to the overworked staff added to the long wait outside of the office.

 

It didn't help that one obnoxious Russian agent was arguing with the young woman who was checking the paperwork and wouldn't let it go, and I don't know what happened to her, but she was definitely holding up the other people!

 

After my long wait I was looking forward to going back the next day to pick up my passport and get the re-entry permit, but the next day was even worse than the one previous, with a queue coming out from the re-entry permit office and snaking round the outside of the building, and the chairs inside of the office were full, so I estimated about 60 people in all waiting for re-entry visas/permits.

 

I looked at that mess and decided it wasn't for me and thought that I might be able to get my re-entry permit at the Patong immigration office, which I have just done today, and now that I know that avenue is open to me, I will use it in the future.

 

I can now see why some people use agents, even when they have sufficient money in the bank, because waiting for perhaps a total of more than seven hours, with two return visits over two days to Phuket immigration is not their idea of fun, mine neither.

 

There was one noticeable stand out in amongst all of this melee, when one Russian guy carrying a plastic folder (full of passports and paperwork?) walked past everyone waiting for their turn to be called, went straight into the office, deposited the plastic folder on the desk, and immediately came out and left??

 

Only guessing here, but I would think the legendary "brown envelope" played a part in this........... 

 

So my guidance would be: – get to the immigration office at 8 AM in the morning, on both mornings, or if you are able to find an agent who will cater for your needs, then save yourself time, stress and inconvenience and use him/her. Not something I would have normally said, but then the old adage comes into play, "if you can't beat them, join them" (with regards to using agents that is).

 

For the readers of this post, I do have the full 800,000 baht sitting quietly in my bank here.
 

East europeans in general, that would include the Russians are a fussy bureaucratic bunch who often make problems if they don't get what they want and they end up in getting it. Obviously not all are like that, but many. Cultural maybe.