Nong Khai visa run

[Shwaman]

So just to offer a little anecdotal information. When I exited Thai immigration in early January I was somewhat alarmed  when the Thai IO offered the opinion that I might be ok for a quick turnaround that time but don't count on it again. 

  This was contrary to the accepted wisdom of the day.

  Fortunately for my Feb 28th run I heeded his warning and used a very well connected agent out of Udon Thani and events proceeded without a hitch. But while on the Laos side it was obvious there were a number of distraught farang and the number of people crossing the border was significantly reduced compared to previous visits.

   The agent informed me that as of about 1 month ago immigration has decided the multiple visa exempt entry days are over. The basic position is that after 90 days (60 +30)  it's time to move on and reenter on a touist visa from an Embassy in a foreign country or begin the Non O visa process. 

    The rationale for this limited or no notice about this change of policy seems to be , simply put , that this has always been within any IO discretion.  Can't argue with that.

   But the driving force seems to be the increasing need to monitor the where abouts of bad actors. 

   These are just observations from my experience today and I hope with this foresight  everyone can enjoy this country free of border crossing anxiety going forward.

    If the above seems incorrect please accept the advice of Dr. Jack and other experts  on this forum who are more informed than me.

[Tod Daniels]

The Nong Khai land border crossing went from the easiest entry point in ALL of thailand, to one of the sketchiest ones in just a matter of months

While there has been no official rule change what we've seen since the free entry program went from 51 countries who got 30 days to 90+ countries who get 60 dayson July 15th, 2024 is that each border is making up it's own "imaginary criteria" about people bouncing for free stamp entries 

This came about because the cancelled the old rule that guaranteed you 2 free stamp (visa exempt) entries by land in a calendar year.. When that first happened people (myself included) were saying that it was unlimited entry <- sadly IT was not 😞  , By them cancelling the  rule that meant that there was no official limit <- which as many thousands of bouncers have experienced at the border does not mean unlimited 😮 

IF all you're wanting to do is bounce out/back to milk a new 60 day free stamp (visa exempt) entry, my advice to you is FIND A SERVICE that bounces people to the border and back from your area.

And before someone says that services are more expensive than a bus ticket to the border that's because the service "has it arranged" that their clients on that day get out and back in to thailand the same day, without proof of onward travel, funds, lodging or regard to their previous entry/stay history. <- THAT is what costs the money..
 

[Caldera]

6 hours ago, Shwaman said:

But the driving force seems to be the increasing need to monitor the where abouts of bad actors. 

 

You said that you used an agent for assistance and that it went smoothly. So maybe the increasing need to line their pockets is an even bigger driving force.

 

Immigration has quite a track record of failing to scrutinize bad actors as long as they pay up.

[DrJack54]

6 hours ago, Shwaman said:

These are just observations from my experience today and I hope with this foresight  everyone can enjoy this country free of border crossing anxiety going forward.

Thanks for the report. 

Questions re border crossings come up often.

We recently had a scary one where chap was made to stay 2 nights and in fact told to fly Vientiane to Bangkok.

Tod Daniels post above sums up current situation and his comment pasted here is best advice.

 

"IF all you're wanting to do is bounce out/back to milk a new 60 day free stamp (visa exempt) entry, my advice to you is FIND A SERVICE that bounces people to the border and back from your area." 

 

Back when the "2 per calendar year" was scrapped and the word Unlimited was tossed about in many threads....the comedy series "curb your enthusiasm" comes to mind.