Thai Embassy in New Zealand increases visa fee 600%

[tomazbodner]

4 hours ago, Yellowtail said:

Is 800k increased by 600% not 5.6 million? 

You noticed! But disappointed that's all you have to say...

[farangbuffalo]

Looking forward to the posts of Kiwi's who paid $1000NZ for a multi entry visa only to get denied at immigration because 'stay Thailand too much'

[Masterton]

17 hours ago, Kiwifarang said:

That's because the single entry for 3 months for $65 is a maximum of 3 months, whereas the multiple entry maximum of 6 months is $325 for 12 months if you leave 2 days before it expires and return the day before it expires because multiple entry resets each time you leave and you get a further 6 months upon re-entry. So, look at it this way $65 divided by 3 is $21.66 x 12 = $260, so you could save if you got 4 labels, but for convenience they offer you one label and the opportunity to leave and return as many times as you want without buying a re-entry permit. It's multiple by the way, not double.

 

Yeah I don't think that is correct... The visa is valid for 6 months meaning you can only use it up until the expiry date. If you enter 1 day before the visa expires then you can get stamped in for 2 months (plus you can extend 1 month at immigration), so techinically you can get +/- 9 months usage out of it, but there is no resetting the validity date upon re-entry that I am aware of.

[kiwikeith]

23 hours ago, Kiwifarang said:

Yes, New Zealand was concerned with the growing number of Little Ghosts in the country and in particular they wanted to prevent them from illegally working in the legalised prostitution industry.

NZ was full of Thai overstayers, some here for 15 years, I knew many of them, through the Thai temple and friends of my Thai wife, Chinese massage shops were exploiting them and young Chinese girls who were coming to Nz on student visas, sponsored by money from these parlours and going to school in the day and working the debts off at night in the parlour. On top of that they were staying in Chinese houses paying exorbitant rents. 

Still going on today, but the govt cracked down on Thai overstayers and made it very hard to get in to Nz. 

Chinese seem to get in on student visas easy, just to fill the private schools up and line their pockets, it's corrupt as hell, corruption is rife here just sails under the radar a bit more than LOS. 

[jacko45k]

21 hours ago, KannikaP said:

From where?

 

TNT mentioned something... but best to wait and see. 

[arick]

14 hours ago, Korat Kiwi said:

Because the cost of living in NZ is astronomical. 

 

Unless you own your own home expect to pay at least half your wage on rent... if you can find a rental. 

 

Price of food has skyrocketed due in part to having only 2 main companies controlling the majority of the supermarkets. 

 

Those with a job (middle income) are supporting the bludgers  who for generations have lived off the governments welfare pay outs.

 

Whereas corporate bosses pay their financial whizz kids to keep their tax liabilities low.  (To be expected). 

 

It's been that way in NZ for years.  The middle man works the hardest to make ends meet. And ends up paying the most in tax with F all relief from any government department. 

 

So yeah... I'm over NZ. 

 

 Lovely place to visit. Just don't try to live there 

And the point being? Why would they pay $12,000 to come to Thailand when there's many other countries that they can go for 25 USD

[Yellowtail]

11 hours ago, tomazbodner said:

You noticed! But disappointed that's all you have to say...

And I was disappointed you did not seem to notice any of the posts I made after the post you first responded to, why was that? 

 

What do you think it costs to maintain an embassy/consulate in New Zealand? Do you think this is some big money-maker for Thailand?

 

 

 

[george]

15 minutes ago, Yellowtail said:

And I was disappointed you did not seem to notice any of the posts I made after the post you first responded to, why was that? 

 

What do you think it costs to maintain an embassy/consulate in New Zealand? Do you think this is some big money-maker for Thailand?

 

 

 

 

The visa/service revenue for Thai Embassies differs from the Thai Consulates.

 

The Thai Embassies remit the visa/service funds to Bangkok (to MFA/Govt.) while the Thai Consulates keep all visa fees to cover their costs for keeping office and pay staff etc, like a business.

 

Some consular posts are huge businesses (one perfect example is Thai Consulate-General in Penang, who can laugh all the way to the bank.

 

Thailand has one of the largest network of Embassies and Consulates around the world servicing Thais abroad and issuing visas to foreigners. Not sure how the "revenue split" is with the new e-visas. Could be a potential disaster for many of them, and a few had to close already, which impacts Thailand's service levels abroad. Could worsen with the e-visas.

 

I have no idea how much revenue RTE Wellington has though.

[gravia]

suggest people actually read the artical it says 8 millon  not billion

[Aussiepeter]

I recall that in the 1990's Thais did not need a visa to go to NZ & got three months on arrival, so the Thai govt did the same deal for kiwi's. Kiwi mate in Chiang Mai used to boast about it. The problem was, literally thousands of Thais decided that they loved NZ so much, they didn't leave when they should have but rather, became illegal immigrants/overstayers in NZ. Perhaps it was because unlike LOS, you can breath the air almost every day of the year in NZ without getting lung cancer or gasping for oxygen. In response, the NZ govt then forced Thais to get a visa for NZ & the Thai govt promptly responded by making Kiwi's subject to the same rules to enter LOS as the rest of us. 

[arick]

4 hours ago, Yellowtail said:

And I was disappointed you did not seem to notice any of the posts I made after the post you first responded to, why was that? 

 

What do you think it costs to maintain an embassy/consulate in New Zealand? Do you think this is some big money-maker for Thailand?

 

 

 

I'm sure the crown can afford it

[John Drake]

Any follow up on this? Does this story have legs? Or is it just a New Zealand only thing?

[george]

1 hour ago, John Drake said:

Any follow up on this? Does this story have legs? Or is it just a New Zealand only thing?

 

We are working on an update when MFA has one. Sorry for the delay.

[Poseidon]

On 2/27/2024 at 4:11 PM, kingstonkid said:

SO ASEANNOW has joined the click bait world.  Can people not get a grop and report things properly in the headlines.

 

YOU LIED

 

ncreased visa fees by up to 600% expected at Thai Embassies and Consulates worldwide

 

 

Excellent. I will certainly cut my stay down of I can only do visa free entry only. I'm not paying a 600% increase and I will simply pocket the saving or spend 4 weeks Thailand 4 weeks phillapines 

[george]

As a side note, the "visa friendly" Thai Consulate in Sydney, Australia, is launching e-visas from March 19, 2024.

 

https://aseannow.com/topic/1321230-thai-consulate-in-sydney-au-launches-evisa-from-march-19-2024/

 

[mstevens]

47 minutes ago, george said:

As a side note, the "visa friendly" Thai Consulate in Sydney, Australia, is launching e-visas from March 19, 2024.

 

https://aseannow.com/topic/1321230-thai-consulate-in-sydney-au-launches-evisa-from-march-19-2024/

 

And you can guarantee that visa fees will increase by a similar amount as has been flagged in New Zealand. This will be worldwide. Guaranteed. 

[mstevens]

16 hours ago, John Drake said:

Any follow up on this? Does this story have legs? Or is it just a New Zealand only thing?

Of course it’s not a New Zealand only thing. There is absolutely no reason why it would be. It was simply that the Thai embassy in New Zealand announced it first. New fees are coming soon to an embassy and consulate near you!

[747man]

On 2/27/2024 at 6:37 PM, BestB said:

how much tourism is coming out of NZ to Thailand?

Probably next to NOTHING !!

[747man]

7 hours ago, Poseidon said:

Excellent. I will certainly cut my stay down of I can only do visa free entry only. I'm not paying a 600% increase and I will simply pocket the saving or spend 4 weeks Thailand 4 weeks phillapines 

 4 weeks phillapines .......WHERE ??............It's The Philippines !!!

[gomangosteen]

13 minutes ago, 747man said:

Probably next to NOTHING !!

From NZ's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade:

 

"From January to July 2023, 46,925 New Zealanders entered Thailand. Extrapolated to a full 12 months, this will equate to around 80,000 visitors in 2023, down on the 112,680 who entered Thailand pre-COVID in 2019."

[747man]

6 minutes ago, gomangosteen said:

From NZ's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade:

 

"From January to July 2023, 46,925 New Zealanders entered Thailand. Extrapolated to a full 12 months, this will equate to around 80,000 visitors in 2023, down on the 112,680 who entered Thailand pre-COVID in 2019."

Well I'm AMAZED by these numbers, But Then again it is AMAZING Thailand.....

[gomangosteen]

8 minutes ago, 747man said:

Well I'm AMAZED by these numbers, But Then again it is AMAZING Thailand.....

I was just 'surprised' ... It's quite a percentage from a population just over 5m.

 

We're not in a high overseas tourist area, the only NZer I've met in Thailand since Covid was last year - at the NZ Embassy (a likely place!).

 

We've hosted various NZers over the years, mostly here on extended stopovers to or from UK/Europe; all were short stay visa exempt, there's no numbers I can't find any figures on how many actually visit on longer SETV or METV.

[Red Phoenix]

On 2/29/2024 at 1:44 AM, Masterton said:

 

Yeah I don't think that is correct... The visa is valid for 6 months meaning you can only use it up until the expiry date. If you enter 1 day before the visa expires then you can get stamped in for 2 months (plus you can extend 1 month at immigration), so technically you can get +/- 9 months usage out of it, but there is no resetting the validity date upon re-entry that I am aware of.

Yes, that's fully correct. 

So when you want to squeeze the max possible stay out of the METV, you should not apply too early for that Visa as it only stays valid for 6 months from date of issue.  And indeed when re-entering Thailand on the last day of the Visa validity you will get once again a 2 months Permission to stay which can be extended for an additional 30 days, so when timed right you can get almost 9 months of stay out of that Visa (with no need for Re-Entry Permits during the Visa validity period).

[garygooner]

On 3/1/2024 at 11:21 AM, 747man said:

On 3/1/2024 at 11:13 AM, gomangosteen said:

"From January to July 2023, 46,925 New Zealanders entered Thailand. Extrapolated to a full 12 months, this will equate to around 80,000 visitors in 2023, down on the 112,680 who entered Thailand pre-COVID in 2019."

Expand  

Well I'm AMAZED by these numbers, But Then again it is AMAZING Thailand

Well I'm amazed by the word Extrapolated!  

[george]

UPDATE:

Source: https://visaguide.world/news/thailand-introduces-higher-visa-fees-for-new-zealand/

[condo62]

Great idea rip off the types of tourists that actually spend money.....Good way to lose them altogether 🤔

[Pattaya57]

14 minutes ago, george said:

UPDATE:

Source: https://visaguide.world/news/thailand-introduces-higher-visa-fees-for-new-zealand/

This source doesn't match what Thai Consulate in New Zealand says. Seems to be converting NZ$ to $US

[george]

8 minutes ago, Pattaya57 said:

This source doesn't match what Thai Consulate in New Zealand says. Seems to be converting NZ$ to $US

 

Yes, USD as the source is an American visa info site.

[Lee65]

How was the claimed 600 % increase calculated?

 

 

[Denim]

On 2/27/2024 at 6:50 PM, Ironman1958 said:

Hey Thailand!

You keep saying you want MORE people to visit!

This IS NOT the way to do that

 

It's called Thainess. Whenever there is a shortage of tourists , jack the price up for those that do come and the financial status quo is maintained. 

 

That's their strange theory .