5 Years Of Tvs, Eds And Voa In My Passport

[theformer]

Greetings

Just curious what you the ThaiVisa folks think about my situation considering the current state of affairs regarding visa regulations and more to the point immigration officer sentiment.

Been traveling in and out of Thailand for five years (not in Thailand for five years straight though), and my passport is littered with Cambo visas(from border runs), a couple Thai Ed visas and quite a few Thai TVs. I've been out of the country since March, but I am planning on returning in November. It is my intention to go the ED visa route with perhaps the Wallen institute.

My question is do you think it would make much of a difference if I simply got a new, fresh passport? I realize they have computer records and will easily see when I have been in the country, but maybe a passport that they don't have to flip through 20 pages of Thai and Cambo visas to find a clean page would affect their general sentiment during the process? (which they do have some discretion in)

Maybe this is a no-brainer, but there is no hiding the history on their computer systems and I don't necessarily have the 4-6 weeks to get a new passport.

Any thoughts? Anybody interacting or doing visa runs these days with a passport that screams "I've been a long-term tourist in your country for five years now"?

theformer

[lopburi3]

I don't see the need - if you plan to obtain a non immigrant visa what your passport looks like prior to that will not be the deciding factor. With the non immigrant visa Immigration will not have to count days.

[theformer]

Thanks for the quick response. For the record having been out of the country for 6 months I think I'm clear of any day counting or other visa restrictions (unless 60 day TVs are now being counted retroactively to sometime in 2006, did I read that just recently here? If not, apologies). Either way, I'll be applying for a 60 TV in my home country before getting the non-imm ED.

Sounds like since they can't technically deny me it shouldn't be a problem.

Thanks, and any others' thoughts on dealing with immigration with a passport that's been used primarily for tourism in Thailand, please chime in. Personally I've been given a couple dirty looks while they marked the second and then third 30 stamps with the yellow highlighter, when that first kicked in.

former

[bangkokgas]

Thanks for the quick response. For the record having been out of the country for 6 months I think I'm clear of any day counting or other visa restrictions (unless 60 day TVs are now being counted retroactively to sometime in 2006, did I read that just recently here? If not, apologies). Either way, I'll be applying for a 60 TV in my home country before getting the non-imm ED.

Sounds like since they can't technically deny me it shouldn't be a problem.

Thanks, and any others' thoughts on dealing with immigration with a passport that's been used primarily for tourism in Thailand, please chime in. Personally I've been given a couple dirty looks while they marked the second and then third 30 stamps with the yellow highlighter, when that first kicked in.

former

Five years on t.v.'s with the odd border run (and at this point for the curious, I have no intention of explaining why I have followed this partucular route _ perpetual tourist and proud!). I have seen no problems with playing within the rules regarding going for t.v.'s, then the odd visa run. I have been asked to show bank statements before and have done so, though they are in japanese I'm not sure they undertsood what they were reading!

[jonniebkk]

i would concur with Lop...my passports are about a littered with multiple Thai visas of various types, numerous 30 day visa exempt arrival stamps, 7-day and 30-day in-country extensions, entry stamps and visas from just about all the countries of Asia...at one point, when I had a double set of additional pages in my last passport, it must have been 75 pages long. My current passport is just over a year old and already has 3-4 Thai visas (tourist and now a business) and several visa exempts and I don't find that the immigration officers look askance at it when I present it for entry to the country. It is my impression that Thais (like all Asians) are very big on hierarchy and rules. That keeps the social order greased and everybody in their place. Therefore, as long as one follows the formal rules then things generally work out okay. As to entry to Thailand, as long as one has a valid visa or meets another criteria for entry, it will be granted (whatever the state of ones passport). At least, this has always been my experience.

However, it doesn't hurt to look presentable when one presents oneself for entry (especially if one is a "long-term tourist" as opposed to one truly on vacation) smart casual or semi-business works for me. I also make a mental note of the page number/letter of the exit stamp of the country I have arrived from and the next blank page in the passport so if the officer looses track of them I can kindly provide that information.