Extension Of 30 Days Visa On Arrival

[laps]

In June I arrived in Thailand without any visa, and I got the regular 30-days visa on arrival stamp in my passport. As my flight home was 50 days later, I went to the cambodian border (Poi Pet) to get another 30 days stamp in my passport.

When entering Thailand again after one hour stay in Cambodia, immigration officer said I could not enter Thailand if I had no air-ticket leaving Thailand within the next 30 days. I had this ticket to show, so I was OK.

But what happend to the rule " 2 times ext - 90 days - during 180 days " ? What if you don't have an air-ticket out of Thailand, you cannot extend 30-days visa on arrival at all??

[sjaak327]

It's not a visa on arrival, that's something completely different and is ony 15 days and do cost money.

You are getting a visa exempt stamp, good for 30 days into the country.

Now the only limit imposed here is that you cannot stay on these exempt stamps for more then 90 days in any 6 month period counted from the first date of entry.

The onward ticket requirement is a very old requirement and is recently being enforced on the cambodian borders, at Aran, they do insist on such a ticket, but at Ban Laem, they will sell you a 200 baht bus ticket, that can be used as proof of onward travel.

[laps]

So that means, anyone planning to extend their 30-days visa exempt stamp, should do it at any border but the cambodian border? Or do it at the cambodian border but you might not be able to re-enter??

Why not have one set of immigrations rules that apply for the whole country as one, and not one set of rules for that border and another set of rules for this border !?!

Hmmm, agree??

[lopburi3]

You do not extend a 30 day visa exempt entry. You obtain a new visa exempt entry. Any visa exempt entry issue has the requirement that you can present an outbound travel ticket to a country your passport allows you to visit within the 30 day period of you visa exempt entry stamp. Any border and/or airport can enforce this rule at any time. In fact Bangkok Airport has had active enforcement recently. Many airlines will not even fly you to Thailand without you showing them such travel documents (or a visa for entry).

The simple way is to obtain a tourist visa prior to travel if you plan to stay longer than 30 days.

[marginline]

Why not have one set of immigrations rules that apply for the whole country as one, and not one set of rules for that border and another set of rules for this border !?!

Welcome to Thailand laps!

Technically when lopburi3 writes "You do not extend a 30 day visa-exempt entry"; you don't - but you can. FWIW my third (and last) visa-exemption was up during the first week of this month but as I felt so bloody awful the day I was supposed to travel to Laos, I extended for a further 7-day period (cost me ฿1,900); which is the maximum allowed (unless of course you get hit by a bus within the intervening period).

IMHO I would heed sjaak327's worthy advice and for your last visa-exempt visa run, hook yourself-up with a visa service which takes you to Ban Laem (aka Pong Nam Ron) and provides you with the ฿200 bus ticket solution.

Have a safe journey!

[farangsay]

So that means, anyone planning to extend their 30-days visa exempt stamp, should do it at any border but the cambodian border? Or do it at the cambodian border but you might not be able to re-enter??

Why not have one set of immigrations rules that apply for the whole country as one, and not one set of rules for that border and another set of rules for this border !?!

Hmmm, agree??

They do have one set of rules , it's just that not every single border outpost applies them all.

[laps]

I think that the immigration-authorities has a rather ambivalent view upon all the farangs entering their country. That some of them wouldn't mind sealing their country off, someting like Bhutan, in order to preserve their culture. But then it was the tourist-industry. My friend, who works in Thai Airways, never talks about her country as "The Land Of Smiles". She calls it: "The Land Of Farang".

[mrmark]

I think that the immigration-authorities has a rather ambivalent view upon all the farangs entering their country. That some of them wouldn't mind sealing their country off, someting like Bhutan, in order to preserve their culture. But then it was the tourist-industry. My friend, who works in Thai Airways, never talks about her country as "The Land Of Smiles". She calls it: "The Land Of Farang".

... LOL... similar to why Californians going to U.C.L.A. call it the "University of Caucasians Living amongst Asians" I would imagine. Keep things in context, the reason they are smiling is because they have our wallets, purses, mobile phones, laptops, and camera's. When you see a smile, now you know why. But we do love Thailand - for all the bad, there is much good to be found. Agreed that the boarder run thing is the most ridiculous policy in the world (you know this if you travel often) and it was solely set up by the government to keep our money flowing to the travel industry and boarder towns. What else would they do without our money and this trumped up business that this policy created?