Tourists Advised to Bring US$417 Cash to Enter Thailand

[webfact]

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Thailand is one of the most favored travel destinations for Indonesian tourists for its beautiful beaches and ease of access. Indonesians need no visa to enter Thailand, and the cost is fairly affordable.

 

However, entering Thailand is not as easy as it sounds. The Indonesian Embassy in Bangkok revealed that it received many complaints from citizens who were barred from entering the country—the reason being incomplete travel documents while Thailand’s immigration officers did a random check.

 

According to the embassy, visitors are required to show their active passport with a minimum validity period of six months, proof of a return ticket, and proof of accommodation. Lastly, visitors are required to show proof of financial ability during their stay in Thailand by bringing in adequate cash into the country.

 

“Thailand Immigration did not specifically mention how much money visitors must bring, but based on an open source at least 15,000-20,000 baht per person,” the Indonesian Embassy in Bangkok wrote in last week’s release.

 

Translator: Najla Nur Fauziyah

Editor: Laila Afifa

 

Full story: TEMPO 2024-02-24

 

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[Tropicalevo]

And yet Thailand complains to South Korea when a couple of its citizens are questioned when they arrive there.

Unbelievable.

[Emdog]

"...most favored travel destinations for Indonesian tourists for its beautiful beaches..."

Indonesia is an island nation, with about 14,000 islands (depends if count high or low tide). Islands often have beaches. The ones I have been to there are quite nice, plus you can see them (not behind wall of umbrellas). They also have surfing, something absent mostly in Thailand.

"..and ease of access." Maybe I missed the content of the article, but sounded to me like "ease of access" is what is missing. Silly me

 

[bendejo]

Pulling out a wad of bills like that in front of people is counter to instinct, especially with someone who has power over you at that moment.  Well, for me, at least.

 

There are a lot of Indonesians who go to Malaysia for work.  If you ever took an AA flight between the two countries you've witnessed it.  It looks like LOS is putting things in place to discourage that.  If people have that kind of money they probably would not be going abroad in search of work, looks like our folks in brown uniforms figured out.

 

[brianthainess]

Personally I think coming to Thailand for a holiday, you should have at least 250GBP in cash, but having proof of accommodation is over the top, how does my daughter show proof of staying with me? Also not everyone can determine when they may leave, for example spend 2 months here, then visit neighboring countries overland, or even fly home from there. A lot of individual travelers look for accommodation when they get here.   

Yes I know you can buy throw away return tickets and free cancelation hotels, but that just shows how stupid the rules are here and wastes peoples time and efforts.

[n00dle]

1 hour ago, Tropicalevo said:

And yet Thailand complains to South Korea when a couple of its citizens are questioned when they arrive there.

Unbelievable.

 

If it is a clear policy its not discrimination, and the 20,000 baht requirement has been in place for decades.

 

The Korean questioning, however, was on arbitrary topics and bizarre subjects. Surley even the most obtuse of AN posters  can make that distinction.

 

Quote

A Thai woman wrote on X that a South Korean immigration officer asked her to name every train station in the country, Thaiger reported.
...
Some Thai netizens said they were questioned about the color of their hotels and the number of trees in front of their accommodation.

https://e.vnexpress.net/news/travel/thai-netizens-complain-of-strict-korean-immigration-procedures-4673603.html

Edited February 24 by n00dle

[n00dle]

This should help stem the flood of folks arriving from Myanmar ...

[Tropicalevo]

3 minutes ago, n00dle said:

A Thai woman wrote on X that a South Korean immigration officer asked her to name every train station in the country, Thaiger reported.
...
Some Thai netizens said they were questioned about the color of their hotels and the number of trees in front of their accommodation.

At least they were not asked for a hand drawn map!

[n00dle]

10 minutes ago, n00dle said:

This should help stem the flood of folks arriving from Myanmar ...

Ah, it seems its primarily directed at Indonesians. my bad.

[richard_smith237]

Except that its widely documented on all (most) Thai Embassy Sites of the visa free entry regulations. 

 

The entrant must be prepared to get there.

- 10,000 Baht per-person

- 20,000 Baht for families

 

That said - the Thai Embassy, Jakarta website is unnavigable. 

 

 

This is perhaps Thailand Immigration being very difficult to Indonesian entrants and there is right to complain if the rejections are of genuine tourists and unfair.

 

The Issue of Korean Immigration being very difficult for Thai's to enter Korea has also been brought up in this thread. 

The rejection of genuine tourists in this case is also unfair.

 

Both are poor situations and just because one country has unfair, spiteful or or even rogue immigration officers it is not justified or excused by another countries immigration officers behaving the same way...  This just highlights that there are a number of people in official positions who are spiteful and there are forum members who seem to take some form of enjoyment in this. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Ben Zioner]

1 hour ago, bendejo said:

Pulling out a wad of bills like

417 USD ? 

[sirineou]

All reasonable requirements.

It's not like those requirements were a secret.

If one fails to meet reasonable requirements it's their fault and not the fault of those doing the job for which they were hired. 

[sirineou]

5 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

That said - the Thai Embassy, Jakarta website is unnavigable

I googled it and in 2 seconds . I had the answer from 10 different sources. 

:

1. "A valid passport.

   You will need a passport valid for at least 6 months following your departure date. It is also recommended that your valid passport have at least 2 remaining unused pages for any necessary entry and exit stamps that may be issued.

2. A confirmed travel itinerary
3. Proof of accommodation and funds of at least THB 10,000 per person and THB 20,000 per family.
4. '

 

https://indonesia.siam-legal.com/#:~:text=Thailand Visa Application&text=Citizens of Indonesia are permitted,under the Visa Exemption Rule.

 

IMO

 

[richard_smith237]

Just now, sirineou said:

I googled it and in 2 seconds . I had the answer from 10 different sources. 

:

1. "A valid passport.

   You will need a passport valid for at least 6 months following your departure date. It is also recommended that your valid passport have at least 2 remaining unused pages for any necessary entry and exit stamps that may be issued.

2. A confirmed travel itinerary
3. Proof of accommodation and funds of at least THB 10,000 per person and THB 20,000 per family.
4. '

 

https://indonesia.siam-legal.com/#:~:text=Thailand Visa Application&text=Citizens of Indonesia are permitted,under the Visa Exemption Rule.

 

IMO

 

 

Did you get the answers from the Thai Embassy in Jakarta ?

http://www.thaiembassyjakarta.com/intro.html

 

As I pointed out, that website is unnavigable....   Most tourists are not as worldly wise as you and I and may not cast their search for information as widely. 

 

If I'm in the UK and want a Visa to travel to the US, I look for information at the US Embassy London Website and may cross link with other source, but the primary information source will be the Destination Embassy / Consular site of the country I'm in (i.e. in this case Thai Embassy Jakarta).

 

 

[sirineou]

7 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

Did you get the answers from the Thai Embassy in Jakarta ?

No I did not, but that's no excuse , 

I briefly looked at three different sources and all said the same thing. 

So now, if someone wants to claim " Ohh Yea , I knew all these things,but were not from the Thai embassy so I ignored them." and see how far that gets you. 

By the way those requirements are pretty much the requirements for most nationalities. 

Edited February 24 by sirineou

[fondue zoo]

What exactly is the 'Cash on Person' amount required to gain entry to other countries?

[richard_smith237]

25 minutes ago, sirineou said:

No I did not, but that's no excuse , 

I briefly looked at three different sources and all said the same thing. 

So now, if someone wants to claim " Ohh Yea , I knew all these things,but were not from the Thai embassy so I ignored them." and see how far that gets you. 

By the way those requirements are pretty much the requirements for most nationalities. 

I think you miss the point - not everyone is as worldly wise & travelled as you, I and most of us on this forum. 
 

I only knew of the cash requirement from

posts on this forum about 7-8 years ago but have been here much longer. 
 

 

 

 

[ravip]

According to the embassy, visitors are required to show their active passport with a minimum validity period of six months, proof of a return ticket, and proof of accommodation. Lastly, visitors are required to show proof of financial ability during their stay in Thailand by bringing in adequate cash into the country.

 

Are these truly unreasonable demands?

[Andrew65]

1 hour ago, brianthainess said:

Personally I think coming to Thailand for a holiday, you should have at least 250GBP in cash, but having proof of accommodation is over the top, how does my daughter show proof of staying with me? Also not everyone can determine when they may leave, for example spend 2 months here, then visit neighboring countries overland, or even fly home from there. A lot of individual travelers look for accommodation when they get here.   

Yes I know you can buy throw away return tickets and free cancelation hotels, but that just shows how stupid the rules are here and wastes peoples time and efforts.

In the UK we're giving free money and accommodation to 'tourists', and there's nothing we can do to get rid of them.

[richard_smith237]

8 minutes ago, fondue zoo said:

What exactly is the 'Cash on Person' amount required to gain entry to other countries?

A bank statement is often required to show proof of funds when applying for visas…

 

Wife has needed this for Japan, UK, Schengen Visas 

[Roo Island]

14 minutes ago, Andrew65 said:

In the UK we're giving free money and accommodation to 'tourists', and there's nothing we can do to get rid of them.

A bit off topic.

[Andrew65]

Just now, Roo Island said:

A bit off topic.

A few years ago I watched a fly-on-the-wall documentary about immigration etc at Sydney Airport. A guy had arrived on a direct flight from Houston (I think) about 17 hours. It was found that he had no money whatsoever on him, and no way of getting any. He didn't even have the A$5 to get into Sydney on the bus. He was put on the return flight to Houston. I thought it was a bit bizarre that someone would do that!

[sirineou]

25 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

I think you miss the point - not everyone is as worldly wise & travelled as you, I and most of us on this forum. 
 

I only knew of the cash requirement from

posts on this forum about 7-8 years ago but have been here much longer. 
 

 

 

 

I get it, 

but the assertion was made that it was the fault of the Thai authorities for not making the Thai embassy website easier to read. If one is wordily enough to access the Embassy website. then IMO is also wordly enough to do a google search, in the Indonesian version of Google. . 

Go ahead do a simple google search "requirements for indonesian tourists to enter Thailand" .  But they don't even need to do it in English. I am sure there is an Indonesian google version.  

.  

IMO the least you can do when   visiting a foreign country is find out what the requirements are,. 

Edited February 24 by sirineou

[lordgrinz]

3 minutes ago, sirineou said:

IMO the least you can do when   visiting a foreign country is find out what the requirements are,. 

 

You would think it would be the first thing on every tourists list, last thing you want is to be denied access.

[Roo Island]

8 minutes ago, Andrew65 said:

A few years ago I watched a fly-on-the-wall documentary about immigration etc at Sydney Airport. A guy had arrived on a direct flight from Houston (I think) about 17 hours. It was found that he had no money whatsoever on him, and no way of getting any. He didn't even have the A$5 to get into Sydney on the bus. He was put on the return flight to Houston. I thought it was a bit bizarre that someone would do that!

My wife was taken aside on a trip to Singapore from here. Asked to prove she had funds. Just opened her banking app and all was ok!

[Andrew65]

3 minutes ago, Roo Island said:

My wife was taken aside on a trip to Singapore from here. Asked to prove she had funds. Just opened her banking app and all was ok!

This guy had no banking apps, no plastic, no cash, no gold....nada. No way whatsoever of getting/having money!🙂

Edited February 24 by Andrew65

[richard_smith237]

11 minutes ago, sirineou said:

I get it, 

but the assertion was made that it was the fault of the Thai authorities for not making the Thai embassy website easier to read. If one is wordily enough to access the Embassy website. then IMO is also wordly enough to do a google search, in the Indonesian version of Google. . 

Go ahead do a simple google search "requirements for indonesian tourists to enter Thailand" .  But they don't even need to do it in English. I am sure there is an Indonesian google version.  

.  

IMO the least you can do when   visiting a foreign country is find out what the requirements are,. 

 

Yes... and I pointed out that if I'm in the UK and heading to the US I will seek information first from the US Embassy Website in London as the requirements from elsewhere may differ, as may other sources. 

 

The Embassy Website 'should' be the updated and most accurate and official source - the point I wish to make is that the Thai Embassy, Jakarta Website is unnavigable... Not only is it unnavigable, the English version does not work at all.

 

And, yes, I agree with you that the information is widely available elsewhere, and someone with greater travelling knowledge and common sense will seek out this information - others don't....   Its also common for people on this forum not to be aware of this information (cash requirement upon entry).

 

 

Most people also use digital currency so the physical cash requirement is also antiquated.

 

There is another facet to this...  Thai Immigration have used this 'cash requirement' to reject someone they don't want, don't take a liking to, or don't buy their story that they are here for tourist and not work etc.... 

Thai Immigration use the cash requirement as a tool - sometimes unjustly it seems.

 

 

Edited February 24 by richard_smith237

[milesinnz]

the "return (flight) ticket" is a joke when many people will exit Thailand by a land border.. even a pre-booked bus ticket to say Cambodia does not count..

[Scott Tracy]

1 hour ago, richard_smith237 said:

As I pointed out, that website is unnavigable....   Most tourists are not as worldly wise as you and I and may not cast their search for information as widely. 

I found the information in seconds...http://www.thaiembassyjakarta.com/en/consular-services/tourist-visa/

[Scott Tracy]

1. Evidence of adequate finance:
   • Single-Entry Tourist Visa: Bank Statement showing at least THB 20,000 per person or THB 40,000 per family or equivalent in other currencies.
   • Multiple-Entry Tourist Visa: Bank Statement showing at least IDR 80,000,000 (USD 7,000) for the past 6 months, and Letter of Employment

Where's the cash requirement?