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Amid increasing cases of travellers being denied entry to Thailand, tourism operators are urging the government to consistently publicise updated rules and enhance pre-screening measures, as the nation clamps down on multiple visa runs.

 

Recently, the Immigration Bureau launched four strategies to stop foreigners from entering as tourists while engaging in unlawful activities, including cybercrime and money laundering. Restrictions on multiple 90-day visa-exempt entries have been tightened, limiting foreigners to two visa runs, with excess runs leading to denial of entry.

 

Thienprasit Chaiyapatranun, president of the Thai Hotels Association, highlighted incidents where guests were turned away under visa-free privileges, with similar reports surfacing on social media. Such occurrences could lead to confusion among potential tourists planning to visit Thailand.

 

Thienprasit stressed the need for clear communication of these updated rules to ensure tourists entering under the visa-free scheme are informed.

 

To alleviate any misconceptions, agencies must clarify why certain social media cases resulted in entry denial. "The situation now leads to speculations about tourists inadvertently breaking rules or potential exploitation by officials," said Thienprasit. He criticised the current random screening methods and suggested implementing pre-screening and automated immigration gates, similar to those used in other countries, according to a report by the Bangkok Post.

 

The Thai government is exploring a pre-approval system for visa-free travellers, akin to South Korea's model, which the private sector supports as a way to improve entry procedures and assure smooth travel. With the Thailand Digital Arrival Card already in use, these adjustments could streamline the process. As of December 7, Thailand has welcomed 30.2 million foreign visitors, a decrease from the previous year, with the majority arriving from Malaysia, China, and India.

 

Key Takeaways

 

• Calls intensify for Thailand to publicise entry rule changes.
• New measures limit visa runs, aiming to reduce illegal activities.
• Tourism sector supports improved screening for seamless travel.

 

  Adapted by ASEAN Now from Bangkok Post 2025-12-11

 

 

 

Yes, please. Thailand wants to limit entries per year, or length of consecutive visits, please publish clear rules and guidelines. 

Was asked where my arrival card was, showed the email on the phone and said its digital. The IO wanted a hard copy.......

"limiting foreigners to two visa runs"

 

Are they sure about that?

 

Not complaining, but initial entry + 2 "visa runs" would give 180 days........just one extension alone would take it to 210.

 

 

 

49 minutes ago, sungod said:

Was asked where my arrival card was, showed the email on the phone and said its digital. The IO wanted a hard copy.......

 

How did you solve that?

i just told the IO the only copy i had was on my phone, I got a few tut tuts and sent on my way

1 hour ago, webfact said:

To alleviate any misconceptions, agencies must clarify why certain social media cases resulted in entry denial. "The situation now leads to speculations about tourists inadvertently breaking rules or potential exploitation by officials," said Thienprasit. He criticised the current random screening methods and suggested implementing pre-screening

 

I don't understand why they don't flag potential denials when we apply for TDAC.  They have our passport number, and the computer has our travel history tied to that passport. 

 

I'd rather find out before I hop on the plane than after I land. 

 

 

2 minutes ago, sungod said:

i just told the IO the only copy i had was on my phone, I got a few tut tuts and sent on my way

 

That's good info. 

 

I see a lot of people being kicked back to the TDAC kiosks, which probably sucks after they've been in the queue for half an hour, and a few jumbo jets have disgorged while they were in the queue and it's an hour long now. 

 

I fly in once a month and my heart goes out to the newbies that get caught unaware after a loooong flight and that soul crushing queue.  Only to get bounced back to the kiosks.

 

1 hour ago, impulse said:

 

I don't understand why they don't flag potential denials when we apply for TDAC.  They have our passport number, and the computer has our travel history tied to that passport. 

 

I'd rather find out before I hop on the plane than after I land. 

 

 

The systems aren't connected yet

 

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The issue is that there are no clear rules regarding visa exempt entries. 

 

The "insufficient funds" is in reality a way to deny entry. 

 

In reality the reason is too many/frequent ve entries. Especially with very little time in between visits. 

That does not have a clearly stated rule so they play the joker card "insufficient funds" 

It all depends on the officer of duty... Nothing is the same in Thailand, even every immigration office makes their own rules and requirements. Digital systems are not connected and because of the big pile of papers needed every time no wonder that things are unclear..It is more important to make a clear definition of who is tourist and who is a long stayer.. Tourists max 30 days no extention possible and long stayers the time they require no extension possible and not allowed to enter with 90 days after leaving or so..Easy to check and to implement

3 hours ago, Enoon said:

"limiting foreigners to two visa runs"

 

Are they sure about that?

 

Not complaining, but initial entry + 2 "visa runs" would give 180 days........just one extension alone would take it to 210.

 

 

 

How many visit is appropriate for a tourist?

 

  There are other visas available for long stay so people can stop gaming the system 

4 hours ago, Enoon said:

Not complaining, but initial entry + 2 "visa runs" would give 180 days........just one extension alone would take it to 210.

 

What if you only come for say between 3 and 5 weeks per trip and like to make more than 2 trips per year.

 

Clear as mud. They will deny don't they.

Some people have business to attend to back in the home country and don't live in Thailand - all caught up in the same net of dumbness.

Airlines hate it when rules are not crystal clear - they did this before - some major airlines no longer fly to Bangkok - why is that?

 

5 hours ago, sungod said:

Was asked where my arrival card was, showed the email on the phone and said its digital. The IO wanted a hard copy.......

 

if i remember rightly, the web site did ask for the arrival card to be printed. either way, any seasoned/experienced traveler will tell you, always have a hardcopy, because you never know, you may lose/have your phone stolen, then where would you be? 

43 minutes ago, it is what it is said:

 

if i remember rightly, the web site did ask for the arrival card to be printed. either way, any seasoned/experienced traveler will tell you, always have a hardcopy, because you never know, you may lose/have your phone stolen, then where would you be? 

 

It would be saved on my cloud and able to access from any device, welcome to the digital age!!!!

Western media are getting hold of these restrictions and how foreigners get harassed on arrival by immigration in Thailand. Tourists, foreigner retirees will plainly choose other Asian coutries to spend their winter break. 

10 minutes ago, Sigmund said:

Western media are getting hold of these restrictions and how foreigners get harassed on arrival by immigration in Thailand. Tourists, foreigner retirees will plainly choose other Asian coutries to spend their winter break. 

Out of curiosity, just now many tourists actually ARE harassed and denied entry per year. As far as I can read up on it, there are only a very small number, and those are the ones  causing the problem.

 

Perhaps the number is as low as or lower than 0.1% or even 0.01%.

 

The majority of genuine tourists don't seem to have any problem entering Thailand, but they are genuine tourists and not border hoppers.

 

 

YTD, 30 million tourists, 2,900 denied entry.

 

What is that in %, 0.01%?

 

I think many people are referred to senior officers for review upon arrival, and most are then admitted, though with a warning.

 

This isn't as big a deal as people are making it out to be. Just existing regulations and more aggressive enforcement.

 

It will be interesting to see if the clock really resets on 1/1/26, or if any weight is given to past entries?

 

Singapore is pushing hard on carriers to verify passengers before boarding at departure airports.

 

Singapore is implementing a new "No-Boarding Directive" (NBD) starting January 30, 2026, requiring airlines to stop high-risk or undocumented travelers from boarding flights to Singapore even before departure, using advance passenger data. This strengthens border security by preventing entry issues at Changi Airport, targeting those with invalid visas, expiring passports, or security flags, with penalties for non-compliant airlines and operators. 

 

 

5 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

The "insufficient funds" is in reality a way to deny entry.

Yes, sure it is, and that has clear rules that everyone can find out. If they apply the rule in all cases is not a fact, but why take the chance?

7 minutes ago, Gottfrid said:

Yes, sure it is, and that has clear rules that everyone can find out. If they apply the rule in all cases is not a fact, but why take the chance?

You are missing the point. 

Fact is there is no stated limit with visa exempt entries via air. 

No rules regarding time spent in Thailand on ve entries. 

Just vague statements "you are not a tourist" 

Even if someone had the 20k in cash they could still be denied and even have (in Thai script) reason "insufficient funds" 

 

9 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

You are missing the point. 

Fact is there is no stated limit with visa exempt entries via air. 

No rules regarding time spent in Thailand on ve entries. 

Just vague statements "you are not a tourist" 

Even if someone had the 20k in cash they could still be denied and even have (in Thai script) reason "insufficient funds" 

 

I was addressing the 20k baht, which have clear stated rules. And you have first hand info about that, or is it only people who been denied saying that?

Some of you are just slow learners on The Thai Way...

 

The Thais have never liked rules or regulations to be in black and white... A to B to C to D to ect...Is just not how they like to roll....

 

The Thais seem to quite like things fuzzy and murky in a gray area regarding a whole lot of stuff..

 

I think they quite like the murky visa rules just the way they are....

Just a couple of months ago the tourism industry was demanding that they become more strict on admitting people and that they reduce visa exempt back to 30 days.

 

https://www.facebook.com/TheNationThailand/posts/thailands-tourism-industry-is-calling-for-urgent-government-intervention-with-a-/1200016652151667/

 

The whiplash is insane.  These people want to blame everyone for their business problems except themselves!

20 hours ago, impulse said:

 

I don't understand why they don't flag potential denials when we apply for TDAC.  They have our passport number, and the computer has our travel history tied to that passport. 

 

I'd rather find out before I hop on the plane than after I land. 

 

 

That would be too easy

Just now, hotchilli said:

That would be too easy

 

I was actually kind of hoping that someone would know when they'll link up the databases and bring it to fruition.  If ever...

Ease the visa system, which is a maze of its own, and that will bring down the visa runners automatically. The closing of the borders to Myanmar/Burma and Cambodia has polarized this peculiar traffic of non-Thais to either Malaysia and Lao PDR. 

You cannot have only the billionaires on vacation here as Thailand does not have the product of this eloquent customer base. Go for the middle classes without racism and nationalistic backgrounds, boil down your entry criteria into four or five categories, simple to follow and Bob's your uncle. It will not happen as Thailand needs to feed tens of thousands of public servants who would not be able to find a job in the private sector - unfortunately - but that is the declared yet not publicly announced modus operandi to keep the underlings at bay 😉 

2 minutes ago, impulse said:

 

I was actually kind of hoping that someone would know when they'll link up the databases and bring it to fruition.  If ever...

Link data bases... that would mean empires would have to share information... that would never do

15 hours ago, ukrules said:

 

What if you only come for say between 3 and 5 weeks per trip and like to make more than 2 trips per year.

 

Clear as mud. They will deny don't they.

Some people have business to attend to back in the home country and don't live in Thailand - all caught up in the same net of dumbness.

Airlines hate it when rules are not crystal clear - they did this before - some major airlines no longer fly to Bangkok - why is that?

 

 

You have profiled one of the ideal groups of visitors and  one that is typical of the self sufficient "profitable" visitor. There are people who visit less than 60 days 2X a year and who may want to visit a 3rd or 4th time for short periods if  in the region.  Altogether, these people would be in Thailand for around 90 days. Unfortunately, the new rules can be interpreted to keep them out because they used 2  visa waiver arrivals. It's not clear and will discourage the independent retirees and leisure travelers.

2 minutes ago, Patong2021 said:

It's not clear and will discourage the independent retirees and leisure travelers.

 

Oh it's very clear. I know some who changed their plans completely due to this.

They are reasonably wealthy, old and travel often - the exact kind of people Thailand says it wants to attract.

You know what - they also hate paperwork and this 60 day entry system suited them very well. Not any more.