How many visa runs before immigration start asking questions?

[Rudi OD]

Hi all. 

How many times can you realistically do visa renewal runs. 
 

By this, i don't mean 30 day extension 1 day missions. 

I mean travel across to another country for example Malaysia, go to the Thai embassy in that country and apply for a new TR60 Visa fresh. 

I arrived in Thailand on a TR60 Visa (obtained online with e visa service from my home country). 

 

I extended that locally for + 30 days 

I then left thailand, went to Malaysia, applied for another TR60 visa and was successful.  

Once this has expired I plan on doing it again. 

Eventually my plan is to go onto the ED Visa program but I'm having a hard time finding a school local to me in Nakhon Si thammarat province which is why I'm having to do another visa run mission. 

I worry that immigration may start asking questions if i keep bouncing these tourist visas, how long could I realistically do this for, and what would count as "resetting" my status, a 1 month trip to another country or something?? 

Cheers all.
 

[Chris Daley]

You can extend it at Ceang Wattana 6 times.  So about 6 months.  No one said a word to me.  They almost tore my arm off when taking the money.

Edited October 26, 2023 by Chris Daley

[Rudi OD]

Could you provide any more information on this, please? 

Is this just looping 30 day extensions or? 

I am a British passport holder by the way. 
 

[Pattaya57]

47 minutes ago, Chris Daley said:

You can extend it at Ceang Wattana 6 times.  So about 6 months.  No one said a word to me.  They almost tore my arm off when taking the money.

What are you going on about? Every tourist visa or visa exempt entry can only be extended once for 30 days. You can not extend it 6 times

[Caldera]

2 hours ago, Chris Daley said:

You can extend it at Ceang Wattana 6 times.  So about 6 months.  No one said a word to me.  They almost tore my arm off when taking the money.

 

Each time you enter as a tourist, you can only extend your permission to stay once, by 30 days.

 

If you manage to enter Thailand 6 times, then yes, you could extend 6 times (once per entry). Not sure if that's what you mean though. 

[Caldera]

2 hours ago, Rudi OD said:

worry that immigration may start asking questions if i keep bouncing these tourist visas

 

It's more likely that the embassy or consulate you visit to apply for another tourist visa will eventually refuse to issue you another one. It's hard to keep track of their limits, but that will happen sooner or later. 

[BritTim]

3 hours ago, Rudi OD said:

I worry that immigration may start asking questions if i keep bouncing these tourist visas, how long could I realistically do this for, and what would count as "resetting" my status, a 1 month trip to another country or something?? 

 

You might possibly run into a problem with Immigration at the airport when obviously using tourist visas for a long term stay, but you are going to find your applications for tourist visas in most neighbouring countries being refused before you reach the point of being denied entry on a tourist visa.

 

After six months almost continuous stay in Thailand as a tourist, you will likely be denied a tourist visa in Malaysia. You would be OK for one or two more tourist visas from the Thai embassy in Vientiane.

 

For absolute safety, even with a visa, returning by land rather than by air avoids the unlikely experience of being denied entry at the airport on arrival. Definitely, if refused a visa somewhere, and you need to return visa exempt, ensure you do so by land.

 

The 30-day extension at the local Immigration Office is virtually never denied.

[Rudi OD]

15 hours ago, BritTim said:

 

You might possibly run into a problem with Immigration at the airport when obviously using tourist visas for a long term stay, but you are going to find your applications for tourist visas in most neighbouring countries being refused before you reach the point of being denied entry on a tourist visa.

 

After six months almost continuous stay in Thailand as a tourist, you will likely be denied a tourist visa in Malaysia. You would be OK for one or two more tourist visas from the Thai embassy in Vientiane.

 

For absolute safety, even with a visa, returning by land rather than by air avoids the unlikely experience of being denied entry at the airport on arrival. Definitely, if refused a visa somewhere, and you need to return visa exempt, ensure you do so by land.

 

The 30-day extension at the local Immigration Office is virtually never denied.

Thank you so so much.

This is really appreciated.

I just successfully extended my second TR60 for another 30 days today at the local NST City office. 

I have until 27th November so need to make my decision then. 

An owner/admin of Thailand Visa Advice Facebook group advised me that I could go to Penang embassy in Malaysia and apply for another TR60 there, but he said if i went back to the same one in Kota Bahru that i just did 2 months ago it would get denied for sure. 

For safety though, do you think its best I make the trip to Laos instead? 

Higher chances? 

I am a UK British passport holder by the way. 

[Jaggg88]

20 hours ago, Chris Daley said:

You can extend it at Ceang Wattana 6 times.  So about 6 months.  No one said a word to me.  They almost tore my arm off when taking the money.

You can extend what at Chaeng Watthana 6 times? Certainly not a TR Visa

[raz0r21]

5 hours ago, Rudi OD said:

Thank you so so much.

This is really appreciated.

I just successfully extended my second TR60 for another 30 days today at the local NST City office. 

I have until 27th November so need to make my decision then. 

An owner/admin of Thailand Visa Advice Facebook group advised me that I could go to Penang embassy in Malaysia and apply for another TR60 there, but he said if i went back to the same one in Kota Bahru that i just did 2 months ago it would get denied for sure. 

For safety though, do you think its best I make the trip to Laos instead? 

Higher chances? 

I am a UK British passport holder by the way. 

 

Yes, Laos has higher success rate. You can use a visa service aswell to get a even higher chance of success. My suggestion is to use www.thaivisaservice.com. Have been with them many times, never any issues.

[Rudi OD]

40 minutes ago, raz0r21 said:

 

Yes, Laos has higher success rate. You can use a visa service aswell to get an even higher chance of success. My suggestion is to use www.thaivisaservice.com. Have been with them many times, never any issues.

Thank you! Yeah saw them looks good!

[swm59nj]

Sorry I can’t give you a definitive answer.  But it’s a crap shoot.  Doing any number of visa runs can potentially cause an issue with immigration.  In any country an immigration officer might question it.  Including Thailand. 

[FreddieMercury]

I’ve been in and out on tourist visas for over a year now with anywhere from 4-10 weeks away each time between visits. My last visa was issued in Manila and I stayed for just two months, now I’ve been out for 10 weeks. I’m returning next week and hope to use my visa waiver this time. I’ll let you know how it goes. 
 

(Anyone know an agent in Phuket who can arrange a Non-O without the 800k?) 😎

Edited October 27, 2023 by FreddieMercury

[Rudi OD]

4 minutes ago, FreddieMercury said:

I’ve been in and out on tourist visas for over a year now with anywhere from 4-10 weeks away each time between visits. My last visa was issued in Manila and I stayed for just two months, now I’ve been out for 10 weeks. I’m returning next week and hope to use my visa waiver this time. I’ll let you know how it goes. 
 

(Anyone know an agent in Phuket who can arrange a Non-O without the 800k?) 😎

Thanks!! Please do let me know. 

[BritTim]

3 hours ago, Rudi OD said:

For safety though, do you think its best I make the trip to Laos instead? 

 

The only location in a neighbouring country I feel comfortable recommending after an almost continuous six month stay is Vientiane. Note that you should definitely not use Savannakhet although it was good until relatively recently. Note that you need an appointment to apply in Vientiane.

 

It is possible that Penang might be OK. I am unsure. What I do know is that the Penang consulate is usually extremely busy. If applying there, be prepared to queue well before the consulate opens. They only process a limited number per day, and it is on a first come basis.

[raz0r21]

and to reply to your question, sorry... there is no rule about how long you can do it - but after 10 to 12 months you will almost certainly run into questioning. It has happened to many of who have come to stay for a full year. Around the 10 month mark one of my friends was told in Don Mueang to get a tourist visa in his home country instead, as it would be the "last time" he could come in with a tourist visa from a neighbouring country. He switched over to a ED visa after that.

[FridgeMagnet1]

After 2 years of coming and going on tourist exempt and covid extensions I finally got pulled out of the queue a while ago. The guy was nice enough and I explained I had money and no longer worked and travelled a lot in Thailand.

he pointed out I had previously had business visas and work permit and I told him i stopped work 2 years ago. 
 

He let me through after a few mins. 
not a pleasant experience, but not a grilling either 

[FreddieMercury]

I'm back in Thailand again.
Came in last time on a TR from Manila for two months.
Then I left to do some work projects for ten weeks.
Arrived a few days ago on waiver.
The IO asked a few general questions about how long I wanted to stay etc.
Stamped my passport. We wai'ed each other and off I went.
I suppose it depends on the IO.

Just to add: I'm not up to anything I shouldn't be. I literally just stay in my rented villa and read books by the pool and maybe once or twice a week head out for dinner and shopping around town. Boring perhaps, but that's me.

Edited November 2, 2023 by FreddieMercury