Has anyone heard of a new law ??

[dauu]

 

Has anyone heard of a new law?

 

Entering the Kingdom through air land/sea/air border checkpoints under Tourist Visa Exemption Scheme is permitted only twice in a calendar year, except nationals of Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, and Singapore who may enter Thailand through such checkpoints more than twice in a calendar year.

[soi3eddie]

Don't know that it's a new law. My GF's old passport was full of stamps (only land border). Many, many more than two per year for 2 weeks per time. She's from Cambodia so maybe it's an Asean thing vs Other regions. 

 

[it is what it is]

 

sounds sensible, if people want to stay longer get the appropriate visa.

[Sheryl]

Therw has long been a restriction on land border entries visa-exempt (2 a year).  Does not apply to residents of neighboring countries. And does not apply to entries by air.

 

 

[Mike Teavee]

1 hour ago, it is what it is said:

 

sounds sensible, if people want to stay longer get the appropriate visa.

When working in Singapore I used to visit Thailand several times per year (once did 5 different trips in 4 weeks) but rarely for more than 2-3 nights & still got stopped at DMK asking why I spent so long in Thailand... Ended up getting a Non-IMM O not really the right visa for me as I wasn't staying long-term.

 

The max 2 entries at Land Borders per calander year has been in place since around 2018 but the restriction on air travel (if true) is a new development.

 

[DrJack54]

7 hours ago, dauu said:

Entering the Kingdom through air land/sea/air border checkpoints under Tourist Visa Exemption Scheme is permitted only twice in a calendar year,.........

The limit of 2 per calendar year refers to land and sea.

No stated limit via air. 

[Lee4Life]

1 hour ago, DrJack54 said:

The limit of 2 per calendar year refers to land and sea.

No stated limit via air. 

Actually I believe it is 6 visa exempt entries by air per year, my neighbor was denied entry based on that rule last year at swampy, but I am not sure it is enforced regularly.

 

Edited April 22 by Lee4Life

[Bday Prang]

32 minutes ago, Lee4Life said:

Actually I believe it is 6 visa exempt entries by air per year, my neighbor was denied entry based on that rule last year at swampy, but I am not sure it is enforced regularly.

 

Are you sure its even a law?  

Edited April 22 by Bday Prang

[DrJack54]

38 minutes ago, Lee4Life said:

Actually I believe it is 6 visa exempt entries by air per year, my neighbor was denied entry based on that rule last year at swampy, but I am not sure it is enforced regularly.

 

No such law/rule

[Liverpool Lou]

10 hours ago, dauu said:

 

Has anyone heard of a new law?

 

Entering the Kingdom through air land/sea/air border checkpoints under Tourist Visa Exemption Scheme is permitted only twice in a calendar year, except nationals of Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, and Singapore who may enter Thailand through such checkpoints more than twice in a calendar year.

From which source did you get that information?

[Bvor]

3 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

 

 

1 hour ago, Lee4Life said:

Actually I believe it is 6 visa exempt entries by air per year, my neighbor was denied entry based on that rule last year at swampy, but I am not sure it is enforced regularly.

attachment from MFA website.........validity, enforced regularly and I/O discretion cannot confirm.

[Mike Teavee]

52 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

From which source did you get that information?

There was a thread about it on The Thaiger approx 6 monthd ago... 

https://talk.thethaiger.com/topic/28861-new-regulation-limited-entries-per-calendar-year-on-visa-exemption/

 

[VocalNeal]

Quote

If entering Thailand by land or sea, eligible travelers holding normal passports will be granted visa-free travel to Thailand twice per calendar year. There is no limitation when entering by air.

 

https://www.thaiembassy.com/thailand-visa/thai-visa-exemption-and-bilateral-agreement

[UWEB]

1 hour ago, Lee4Life said:

Actually I believe it is 6 visa exempt entries by air per year, my neighbor was denied entry based on that rule last year at swampy, but I am not sure it is enforced regularly.

 

Tell him to get a Visa then he don't has the problems.

[Dan O]

1 hour ago, Lee4Life said:

Actually I believe it is 6 visa exempt entries by air per year, my neighbor was denied entry based on that rule last year at swampy, but I am not sure it is enforced regularly.

 

There is nothing in the regs that states a limit by air entry although that does not mean they can not decide your doing it too much. They do have  the 2 land entry limit. You neighbor may have been denied by Imm for what they perceive is too many or some other reason as they have that descretion based on all the information and evidence they see. 

[TigerandDog]

5 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

The limit of 2 per calendar year refers to land and sea.

No stated limit via air. 

Sorry DrJack but your answer re arrival by air is incorrect. There is a limit of 6 times per year when arriving by air. "Those who arrive at the airport without a prior visa will continue to receive a 30-day stamp up to 6 times per calendar year." 

 

Before you start saying the link is NOT the Thai Embassy, I'm aware of that, but it's been posted to support my post correcting your comment re "no stated limit via air".

 

New Visa Rules for Border Entry to Thailand | ThaiEmbassy.com

[Mangkhut]

That law is at least 10 years old….

Thus its not new at all

[DrJack54]

12 minutes ago, TigerandDog said:

There is a limit of 6 times per year when arriving by air. "Those who arrive at the airport without a prior visa will continue to receive a 30-day stamp up to 6 times per calendar year." 

No

[Mike Teavee]

37 minutes ago, TigerandDog said:

Sorry DrJack but your answer re arrival by air is incorrect. There is a limit of 6 times per year when arriving by air. "Those who arrive at the airport without a prior visa will continue to receive a 30-day stamp up to 6 times per calendar year." 

 

Before you start saying the link is NOT the Thai Embassy, I'm aware of that, but it's been posted to support my post correcting your comment re "no stated limit via air".

 

New Visa Rules for Border Entry to Thailand | ThaiEmbassy.com

There is no date on that article (Edit: it's from 19th April 2015) but pretty sure that the rule got recinded years ago (If I had to guess I'd say 2017/2018 but certainly before COVID).

 

There's a lot of dated/misleading information out there, E.g. the London Thai Embassy (Edit: dated 16th October 2022) says max 3 times in 6 months...

Foreigners who enter Thailand under this Tourist Visa Exemption category may only do so for 30 days at one time with a maximum of 3 times in a 6 month period by flight and 2 times a year for overland crossing.

 

https://london.thaiembassy.org/en/publicservice/84256-tourist-visa?page=5d6636cd15e39c3bd00072dd&menu=5f4b6eb3f6ae4b236972c562

 

 

End of the day it's at the IO's discretion so whilst there may/may not be a maximum limit, you are more likely to be challanged the more visa exempt entries you do so best advice for longer stays would be to get a Visa rather than relying on extensions + border bounces. 

 

Edited April 22 by Mike Teavee

[DrJack54]

23 minutes ago, Mike Teavee said:

There is no date on that article (Edit: it's from 19th April 2015) but pretty sure that the rule got recinded years ago (If I had to guess I'd say 2017/2018....

In this thread attached ubonjoe mentions this "rule" think he refers to 2016 and gives bit of background. 

 

 

25 minutes ago, Mike Teavee said:

End of the day it's at the IO's discretion so whilst there may/may not be a maximum limit, you are more likely to be challanged the more visa exempt entries you do so best advice for longer stays would be to get a Visa rather than relying on extensions + border bounces. 

Your statement here best sums up the situation.

 

https://aseannow.com/topic/1138484-any-validity-to-the-180-day-year-rule/

[Bvor]

1 hour ago, TigerandDog said:

There is a limit of 6 times per year when arriving by air. "Those who arrive at the airport without a prior visa will continue to receive a 30-day stamp up to 6 times per calendar year." 

is this an official Order of the Royal Thai Police if so can the link be posted?

 

[Liquorice]

1 hour ago, TigerandDog said:

Before you start saying the link is NOT the Thai Embassy, I'm aware of that, but it's been posted to support my post correcting your comment re "no stated limit via air".

Could you post the official Immigration regulation that states the limit of entries by air then?
That is a commercial website, not an official Immigration website.

It's often found to be incorrect and/or out of date with information.

 

56 minutes ago, Mike Teavee said:

There is no date on that article but pretty sure that the rule got recinded years ago (If I had to guess I'd say 2017/2018 but certainly before COVID).

Dec 31st 2016.

 

1 hour ago, TigerandDog said:

Sorry DrJack but your answer re arrival by air is incorrect. There is a limit of 6 times per year when arriving by air. "Those who arrive at the airport without a prior visa will continue to receive a 30-day stamp up to 6 times per calendar year." 

If that were true, you can obtain 30-day extensions for each 30 day VE entry, which would mean you can stay all year on VE entries.

 

There is no written official regulations on the limit of VE entries by air, it's at the discretion of Immigration.

As far as I'm aware, the official guidelines for entering VE haven't changed since 2014, except for the limited land border crossing by VE restricted to 2 per calendar year.

Visa Exempt Guidelines June 2014 (2).pdf

 

Edited April 22 by Liquorice

[FritsSikkink]

1 hour ago, TigerandDog said:

Sorry DrJack but your answer re arrival by air is incorrect. There is a limit of 6 times per year when arriving by air. "Those who arrive at the airport without a prior visa will continue to receive a 30-day stamp up to 6 times per calendar year." 

 

Before you start saying the link is NOT the Thai Embassy, I'm aware of that, but it's been posted to support my post correcting your comment re "no stated limit via air".

 

New Visa Rules for Border Entry to Thailand | ThaiEmbassy.com

So a faulty statement on a website supports your claim?

Show a link to the law, which is going to be difficult as there isn't one.

I know people who come quite a bit more than that, they do stay for a limited time though.

Edited April 22 by FritsSikkink

[Pattaya57]

Why is this misinformation thread allowed to continue? The only links shown are to another forum site and an agents site and many false stories about visa exempt limits by air, maximum of 6 visa exempt entries per year or 180 days maximum stay in a year. This thread had all the false news in it claimed as fact 

 

Edited April 22 by Pattaya57

[sandyf]

14 hours ago, dauu said:

 

Has anyone heard of a new law?

 

Entering the Kingdom through air land/sea/air border checkpoints under Tourist Visa Exemption Scheme is permitted only twice in a calendar year, except nationals of Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, and Singapore who may enter Thailand through such checkpoints more than twice in a calendar year.

The statement you quoted appears in this update from one of the US consulates, it refers to a government meeting late last year so up to date rather than old.

Historically the has been a difference of opinion between the info from Siam Legal sites and other sites that refer to the bilateral agreement with no limitation by air. I think there has always been a bit of confusion over the visa exemption scheme that apllies to the "majority" and bilateral agreements, but the table in this update indicates a distinct separation.

On the basis that the 4 countries mentioned in the OP have been singled out from the rest of the "majority", I would suggest that it can be taken as the current requirement.

The 4 countries in question have a bilateral agreement on diplomatic passports which may well have been extended to ordinary passports.

https://thaiconsulatela.thaiembassy.org/en/publicservice/visa-exemption-and-visa-on-arrival-to-thailand

 

Enforcement however is another matter entirely and many will contine to take their chances.

.

[Smokin Joe]

2 hours ago, TigerandDog said:

Sorry DrJack but your answer re arrival by air is incorrect. There is a limit of 6 times per year when arriving by air. "Those who arrive at the airport without a prior visa will continue to receive a 30-day stamp up to 6 times per calendar year." 

 

Before you start saying the link is NOT the Thai Embassy, I'm aware of that, but it's been posted to support my post correcting your comment re "no stated limit via air".

 

New Visa Rules for Border Entry to Thailand | ThaiEmbassy.com

 

That website is well known for having incorrect or out of date info. And their name is a blatant attempt to make people think it is an official government website.

 

 

[Sheryl]

IOs receive generic instructions to make sure people are not living in Thailand without an appropriate visa. Periodically this message is ramped up but-- typically for Thai government  proclamations -- without clear, objective criteria for making that dermination. So IOs (and their local supervisors) are left to wing it.

 

Many but not all do seem to use "more than 180 days a year" as a yardstick for the  point at which the person might be taken aside for further questioning and possibly barred from entry if IO not satisfied with the responses.

 

 Their computer system readily shows them durations of stay and it is usually time in country not number of trips that cause concern for air entries. Basically they want to be sure you are really a tourist and not actually living in Thailand without proper visa.  But given the vagueness of the instructions they get, and the natural  variations in IO mood and degree of zeal, odd things  sometimes happen.

 

They will usually take into account residence in the region if you can prove it (e g. Long term visa for a nearby country) though you might have to explain it as well as why you like to come to Thailand often. 

 

Things like back to back entries and long stays are likely to raise concern. But it is hit and miss, hence there continue to be people living here full time on strings of visa exempt and visa entries  leading to periodic campaigns to stop this by telling IOs to be more "vigilant", leading to more confusion and erratic decisions. 

 

Concrete rules would actually be better IMO but that just doesn't seem to be the style here. 

 

 

 

 

 

[Regyai]

7 hours ago, Bday Prang said:

Are you sure its even a law?  

 

 

depends which 'Law' you're referring to:

 

The one on the statute books

or

the one that they would like to be there/or have just dreamt up

 

(quite a worldwide phenomenon with uniform folk - though endemic in Thailand)

Edited April 22 by Regyai

[iian23]

Something is going on, I know someone who has just been refused travel from UK (airline supposed to have contacted Bangkok immigration to confirm) having  travelled on exempt 2 times in the last year. Below from London embassy site. The first line says only 2 entries per year with no explanation but then further down it sepecifies by land and sea.

 

 

Tourist Visa Exemption Scheme

 

UK ordinary passport holders can travel to Thailand without visa for no longer than 30 days (maximum 2 times/year).

 

All UK travel documents (Refugee/Emergency) must apply for the visa before traveling to Thailand.

        - Foreigners entering Thailand by any means under the Visa Exemption scheme are required at the port of entry to have proof of planned travel (confirmed air, train, bus, or boat tickets) to leave Thailand within 30 days of the arrival date. Otherwise, a visa must be obtained before entering Thailand.

        - For traveling to Thailand by land and sea, UK ordinary passport holders are eligible for Visa Exemption Scheme with a maximum of twice in a calendar year. 

going on, I know someone who has been refused travel from UK having  travelled on exempt 2 times in the last year.

[DrJack54]

1 hour ago, iian23 said:

Something is going on, I know someone who has just been refused travel from UK (airline supposed to have contacted Bangkok immigration to confirm) having  travelled on exempt 2 times in the last year. Below from London embassy site. The first line says only 2 entries per year with no explanation but then further down it sepecifies by land and sea

Read the thread.

The information you posted is incorrect. 

Along with the reference to "friend" that entered TWICE last year using visa exempt.

You stated ....

"going on, I know someone who has been refused travel from UK having  travelled on exempt 2 times in the last year." 

 

That is nonsense. 

If refused "travel from Uk" it would possibly be issue of boarding pass with no onward flight.