Denied Entry

[AustinRacing]

It seems she’s got you on abusing the immigration visa system. Unfortunately for you she’s right. You keep mentioning overkill but it doesn’t really matter what you think as you’ve figured it by now. Get proper advice and do as the advice says and not what you think you should do. 

[BritManToo]

3 minutes ago, AustinRacing said:

It seems she’s got you on abusing the immigration visa system. Unfortunately for you she’s right. You keep mentioning overkill but it doesn’t really matter what you think as you’ve figured it by now. Get proper advice and do as the advice says and not what you think you should do. 

I think you're being a bit harsh, the government keeps complaining about not enough tourists, then when one arrives with plenty of money to spend, they turn him away.

 

If I were the op, I'd tell them to stick it and fly to the Philippines were he would be welcome to stay for two years without having a VISA.

[Nick Carter icp]

7 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

I think you're being a bit harsh, the government keeps complaining about not enough tourists, then when one arrives with plenty of money to spend, they turn him away.

 

 

 The Government wants genuine tourists, NOT foreigners who stay for months on end and not having a reason to be in Thailand .

   If you have a reason to stay long term, then get the appropriate visa 

[BexMan]

4 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

Why would you even mention "retirement" 

Post above has correct advice. 

Do you both have a Thai Bank account in separate names. 

If not obtain the Non O e-Visa prior to coming to Australia. 

Where do you plan to live in Thailand? 

Having read the comments, I won’t be mentioning retirement. Neither of us have Thai bank accounts. We plan to live in Jomtien.

[Lemsta69]

5 minutes ago, BexMan said:

Having read the comments, I won’t be mentioning retirement. Neither of us have Thai bank accounts. We plan to live in Jomtien.

 

Seems like you haven't been keeping up with changes regarding opening of bank accounts whilst on a tourist visa. Suggest you do more reading on the subject. 

[DrJack54]

30 minutes ago, BexMan said:

Neither of us have Thai bank accounts. We plan to live in Jomtien.

You are best to obtain the Non O retirement outside of Thailand (eVisa) 

In Jomtien there are excellent agents if that's your plan. 

[rwilem]

7 hours ago, TaoNow said:

Nothing in OP's post indicated that the Immo officers were shaking him down for a bribe.

Of course, the immigration officers are not going be shaking down arrivals for a bribe, that can't be done in out the open like that. The proper way is for the arrival to have arranged beforehand their 'safe entry'. The agent facilitates with immigration issue-free entry for the arriving customer, and the fee for that service is shared on the low down, not in the open. For those who might face heightened scrutiny over their entry when arriving at the airport, it's a good option. 

[GanDoonToonPet]

1 hour ago, Nick Carter icp said:

 The Government wants genuine tourists, NOT foreigners who stay for months on end and not having a reason to be in Thailand .

   If you have a reason to stay long term, then get the appropriate visa 

 

How is spending 6 months or less in a country not being a 'genuine' tourist?

 

If I want to spend 6 months in Thailand one year and 5 months the next, why should I be grilled by immigration when I enter, again when I return from a short side-trip to a neighbouring country, and worry about being refused entry?

 

I'm quite happy to prove that I have enough, in fact over and above, the necessary funds for my stay.

 

Also, there is no such thing as 'the appropriate visa'. The correct visa, or visa exempt stamp, is the one that is appropriate for me. I will choose the legal method that best suits me because I am the paying customer.

 

Look at the visa options available for Thai tourists in the UK, my home country. Are they not 'genuine' tourists if they avail themselves of these options?

 

 

[Nick Carter icp]

11 minutes ago, GanDoonToonPet said:

 

How is spending 6 months or less in a country not being a 'genuine' tourist?

 

If I want to spend 6 months in Thailand one year and 5 months the next, why should I be grilled by immigration when I enter, again when I return from a short side-trip to a neighbouring country, and worry about being refused entry?

 

I'm quite happy to prove that I have enough, in fact over and above, the necessary funds for my stay.

 

Also, there is no such thing as 'the appropriate visa'. The correct visa, or visa exempt stamp, is the one that is appropriate for me. I will choose the legal method that best suits me because I am the paying customer.

 

Look at the visa options available for Thai tourists in the UK, my home country. Are they not 'genuine' tourists if they avail themselves of these options?

 

 

 

   Save it for the immigration officers who uphold the rules , its not me who makes the rules or enforces them 

[DrJack54]

3 minutes ago, Nick Carter icp said:

Save it for the immigration officers who uphold the rules , its not me who makes the rules or enforces them 

At some point please post "the rules" 

That's the whole problem. There are no rules. 

Very easy to make rules. 

example previously there was clear rule of limit of two visa exempt entries via land/sea per calendar year. 

In recent times that rule was removed. 

So pray tell what are the rules? 

[GanDoonToonPet]

13 minutes ago, Nick Carter icp said:

   Save it for the immigration officers who uphold the rules , its not me who makes the rules or enforces them 

 

What rules? 🤔

 

Which rule states that I can't spend longer than 3 months in Thailand as a tourist?

 

The only rule is the one that corrupt officials have unofficially implemented so they can line their own pockets. They might be in trouble soon with the reduction in tourist numbers due to the, albeit unrelated, closure of Cambodian border checkpoints.

 

How things can change in a heartbeat. It wasn't that long ago that you could happily fly in and out of the airport with impunity and they were restricting land border entries, or reducing them from 30 days to 15.

[StayinThailand2much]

2 hours ago, BritManToo said:

I think you're being a bit harsh, the government keeps complaining about not enough tourists, then when one arrives with plenty of money to spend, they turn him away.

 

You're assuming that the country has a coherent tourism policy, but it hasn't. There are the corrupt TAT and tourism ministry on one side that want to make money from mass tourism, and then there is the equally corrupt Immigration department at the border posts, hoping for bribes from 'safe entry services' and/or income from fulfilling denial quotas...

[DrJack54]

5 minutes ago, GanDoonToonPet said:

albeit unrelated, closure of Cambodian border checkpoints.

That hasn't happened as yet. Best put that on a watch. 

[Nick Carter icp]

8 minutes ago, GanDoonToonPet said:

 

What rules? 🤔

 

Which rule states that I can't spend longer than 3 months in Thailand as a tourist?

 

 

  You can spent three months in Thailand as a tourist .

I.O usually  question you and refuse entry when you live in Thailand on tourist visas .

   Questions usually begin after you've been in Thailand for 6  months and then come straight back after a few days abroad

[NanLaew]

On 5/30/2025 at 6:59 PM, thai006 said:

i have thai child here , they can say to me  you need a non O to come  so i denied you , but not i come on a VE 

That's irrelevant. I am sure your Thai immigration history, that pops up on the arrival immigration officer's screen, has a lot more to it than the OP's attempted back-to-back visa exempt entries within 3 months.

[DrJack54]

5 minutes ago, Nick Carter icp said:

You can spent three months in Thailand as a tourist .

You stated this in reply to "rules" 

Where is rule "you can spend three months in Thailand as a tourist"

 

You are making up nonsense. There are no stated rules. 

By all means Thailand please produce written rules. 

[Caldera]

40 minutes ago, Nick Carter icp said:

Save it for the immigration officers who uphold the rules , its not me who makes the rules or enforces them 

 

There's no official rule as to the maximum time a genuine tourist can spend in Thailand, and for good reason, because Thailand attracts quite a number of genuine long-term tourists.

 

There are IOs who disagree with that, but even in immigration, generating income has a higher priority than actually enforcing whatever limits they make up.

[Nick Carter icp]

1 minute ago, DrJack54 said:

You stated this in reply to "rules" 

Where is rule "you can spend three months in Thailand as a tourist"

 

You are making up nonsense. There are no stated rules. 

By all means Thailand please produce written rules. 

 

 I didn't say that it was a rule . 

I said that you can spend three months in Thailand as a tourist .

I am not making up nonsense, because I did say what you claimed 

[Nick Carter icp]

Just now, Caldera said:

 

There's no official rule as to the maximum time a genuine tourist can spend in Thailand, and for good reason, because Thailand attracts quite a number of genuine long-term tourists. There are IOs who disagree with that, but even in immigration, generating income has a higher priority than enforcing whatever limits they make up.

 

Look  we all know , everyone is aware that there are no exact rules and that Immigration officers use their discretion when enforcing guidelines  about long term stay in Thailand .

  Its common knowledge, does it really need to be stated again ?

I know, You know , everyone knows the situation about long term stay in Thailand and getting the correct visa   . 

  

[DrJack54]

12 minutes ago, Nick Carter icp said:

I didn't say that it was a rule . 

Sorta funny. 

Here are snippets of your posts... 

" Save it for the immigration officers who uphold the rules , its not me who makes the rules or enforces them  " 

 

What rules are they upholding. 

 

[Nick Carter icp]

3 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

Sorta funny. 

Here are snippets of your posts... 

" Save it for the immigration officers who uphold the rules , its not me who makes the rules or enforces them  " 

 

What rules are they upholding. 

 

 

   That was a different post .

Anyway, 

What rules are they upholding ?

Thailand immigration rules 

[DrJack54]

Just now, Nick Carter icp said:

What rules are they upholding ?

Thailand immigration rules

Please state the rules you keep referring to. 

It's a simple question. 

Actually don't bother as there are none. 

It was a rhetorical question. 

[Jack1988]

Rules??? All I can say is that i've been going to thailand since 2016 and i have had many type of visas, lots of tourist visas. Never had a problem 😴

[Nick Carter icp]

7 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

Please state the rules you keep referring to. 

It's a simple question. 

Actually don't bother as there are none. 

It was a rhetorical question. 

 

  If there are no rules, then why are people denied entry ?

[oldcpu]

6 hours ago, BexMan said:

Having read the comments, I won’t be mentioning retirement. Neither of us have Thai bank accounts. We plan to live in Jomtien.

 

If no Thai bank account then I recommend you follow DrJack54's recommendation.   Why ?

 

If you arrive Thailand visa exempt, you will need to open a bank account to obtain a non-immigrant type-O visa.  But you will find it almost impossible to open a bank account if you enter Thailand visa exempt.  Which means you nominally then can not obtain a type-O visa inside Thailand (with no Thai bank account). 

 

One work around in such a case is to find an agent and pay them $$ in order to help you open a bank account.  But recent new articles have noted Bangkok Bank pushing back on those who opened accounts when Visa exempt, and freezing their accounts (until long term visa can be shown).

 

To avoid all the hassle, if you obtain the 90-day Type-O visa when outside of Thailand (while in your home country), then when you arrive in Thailand, you can immediately open a bank account on the Type-O (as Thai banks accept that visa), and start moving money into Thailand so to be ready for applying for a 1-year extension on your Thai Type-O visa (which you nominally should do after being in Thailand for about 60-days when on a 90-day Type-O visa).

 

I recommend you do NOT come to Thailand on a one year-Type-OA visa (this is DIFFERENT from the Type-O).  For the Type-OA 1-year extensions on the permission to stay in Thailand, it has health insurance requirements with a 'Thai twist' to them. The Type-O does not have that 'twist'. 

 

The 'twist' I refer to is the health insurance for a Type-OA pretty much MUST be from the Thai branch of a health insurance company. Even if your original out of country health insurance (to get a type-OA) was from outside of Thailand, that can NOT be used when applying for the 1-year extensions of the permission to stay in Thailand.  Typically when going for the extension of a permission to stay in Thaliand (on a Type-OA visa), health insurance from a branch of a health insurance outside of Thailand is not accepted.

 

But the Type-O does NOT have health insurance requirements.

 

Which all gets back to why DrJack54's suggestion should be considered - get a Type-O outside of Thailand first, is the optimal way to do this if you can.

.

 

 

[Equatorial]

3 hours ago, Nick Carter icp said:

 

  If there are no rules, then why are people denied entry ?

 

For the same reason drivers in Thailand are often fined for "speeding" when they are not speeding. 

[Nick Carter icp]

12 minutes ago, Equatorial said:

 

For the same reason drivers in Thailand are often fined for "speeding" when they are not speeding. 

 

  What reason is that ?

[BritManToo]

4 hours ago, oldcpu said:

To avoid all the hassle, if you obtain the 90-day Type-O visa when outside of Thailand (while in your home country), then when you arrive in Thailand, you can immediately open a bank account on the Type-O (as Thai banks accept that visa), and start moving money into Thailand so to be ready for applying for a 1-year extension on your Thai Type-O visa (which you nominally should do after being in Thailand for about 60-days when on a 90-day Type-O visa).

 

I recommend you do NOT come to Thailand on a one year-Type-OA visa (this is DIFFERENT from the Type-O).  For the Type-OA 1-year extensions on the permission to stay in Thailand, it has health insurance requirements with a 'Thai twist' to them. The Type-O does not have that 'twist'. 

I'm not entirely sure a 90 day non-o will allow you to open a Thai bank account.

Read somewhere they want you to have permission to stay 9 months.

And not allowing people with DTVs (6 months) to have bank accounts seems to back that up.

So only an O-A (12 months) would work.

 

But did read that contacting Bangkok head office asking to open a bank account to apply for a 1 year extension will get you permission to open a bank account.

 

I suspect these bank account problems are only temporary as nobody thought about the problems that restricting account opening would have on VISA extensions. It's not as if the Thai higher ups think about knock on effects all that carefully. If they did, they would have realized that taxing incoming money would result in much less incoming money .........

[shdmn]

On 5/30/2025 at 4:34 AM, ChangIsMyFavBeer said:

Hello all, I got denied entry to Thailand. This was my second entry this year in 2025 (Visa exemption, using US passport). My prior entry this year was in Feb, 2025 and I stayed for 89 days total (60 days Visa Exemption + 30 days extension) after which I flew to Vietnam for 2 weeks and flew back to Thailand via BKK airport. The IO at the desk asked me what I will be doing here, and I stupidly mentioned that I will be traveling and might take some Muay Thai classes. The female IO immediately said you need to get DTV visa and that I have already stayed long enough (89 days) and was taken to this area where they made me fill out the form. I was hoping that I would get chance to explain the situation, because my intention wasn't really to take muay thai classes the whole time. I just wanted to take 1 or 2 classes and see how I would like it. I understand now that it was mistake on my part to mention this but I didn't get chance to talk to any other IOs after being escorted to the back area. I had enough funds to show for my travel, proof of legit onward travel and 1 week hotel booked which they didn't even ask.

 

What are my options now to go back to Thailand? I don't want to go DTV route as its an overkill. I don't plan to stay for 5 years as I need to go back to work.

If I attempt to enter again with Visa Exemption, I am worried that they will deny me again because they might have attached notes in their system that I need DTV. Is getting a Tourist visa safer bet? (but I think I need to go back to my home country to apply). Or should I use the "Safe Entry" services that others have mentioned in this forum?

How early can I safely attempt to go back again? 

Here's a brief history of my prior travels all on visa exemptions:

• 😭

I didn't get any rejection stamps on my passport and the airline crew assured me that I am not being blacklisted, but he said to wait at least 1 month before trying again. 

 

Edit: Have edited post at OP request. 

 

I was in a similar situation 2 years ago.  I had been on a 60 day multi entry tourist visa (METV) good for 6 months.  I went to Vietnam for a couple weeks and by the time I got back my Visa had expired. I wasn't concerned because I assumed I could get a 30 day waiver on arrival.  Instead, the female immigration officer almost denied me entry.  Like you, I also had an onward ticket.  I think that is what ultimately saved me.  She never asked for it and seemed ready to deny me, so out of desperation I pulled that out and showed her, which seemed to be just enough to sway her.  I still had a condo in Thailand along with a suitcase full of stuff I left there, so getting denied would have been a big problem.   This was before the DTV, which I am now on, because I NEVER EVER want to be put in that situation again.

 

My advice is to get the DTV even if you think it's overkill for your situation, just for the peace of mind and not having to worry or pay close attention to travel dates like you would with the METV. Also, keep in mind that the METV expiry date is 6 months after the day you get approved, not 6 months after the day you first enter Thailand.  So if you apply and get approved a month before going to Thailand, it will only be good for 5 months after entry.  If you get a DTV you basically don't have to worry about any of that stuff, beyond the 180 day thing, for 5 years.  Totally worth it imo.

[DrJack54]

4 minutes ago, shdmn said:

Don't try do what I did by using it up to the 6 month expiry and then trying to come back in on a waiver

Yes that was a whoopie. 

BTW which DTV did you opt for. 

Digital nomad or soft power etc. 

Where did you obtain it. 

Some would be interested. 

Seems great option