If I remember correctly, you can only receive the VAT refund if you have a tourist visa, not a non-immigrant. is that correct?

If they didnt change the rules since last Dec, then it isnt correct.

I recieved VAT refund in Dec, and I had non-imm. O visa.

I have only got the refund once and that was about 5 years ago, was working outside Thailand at the time and came in on visa exempt. The store checked my passport, the first counter at airport checked my passport, and before they gave me the money, they checked it again...

TH

If I remember correctly, you can only receive the VAT refund if you have a tourist visa, not a non-immigrant. is that correct?

Check this Revenue Department of Thailand's website:

http://www.rd.go.th/vrt/who.html#link01

They say you cannot claim if "You carry a diplomatic passport and reside in Thailand" or you're a Thai.

I did get my refund last month (March, 2008) and I have non-immigrant B visa.

Officials at the revenue department desk checked my passport thoroughly and I even talked to them in Thai so it was obviously to them I was not a tourist.

Problem is, the shop never told me that I had to have the goods inspected by the customs and have the form stamped first BEFORE going through the passport control desk. And the only sign board I saw that tells you where that is in the airport (and that says you have to have it inspected by the customs FIRST) was so small and misleading that it can easily be missed if not its location easily mistaken. I got the impression from the sign board that shows where their desk is that it is beyond the passport control booth but it wasn't, and when I inquired the officers at the desk behind the immigration booth AFTER I had my passport stamped they told me it's before the passport control and you can't backtrack once you're through.

When I went to the revenue department counter near duty free shops, they said they can't refund it without the stamp (obviously) and suggested that I ask the airline staff who might be able to assist me. When I did go down to the lower level (from where the duty free shops are) and went to the only place where I could find the sign of the airline I was flying with (JAL business class lounge), it appeared as if they're used to receiving the same request for help a thousand times and they suggested that I do claim again if I was travelling in another 90 days. When I said I have no plan to travel in the near future and they realized what the refund amount was (which they admitted not so small, at least by their standard, at 2,600+ Baht), they reluctantly but decided to send one of their business class lounge receptionist to the passport control booth and told me to follow her. From there, she used her pass to go through the gate to the other side of the immigration booth with the VAT refund claim form and my passport, leaving me behind on the other side and reappeared with the stamped form perhaps after ten minute's wait (hooray!). They never inspected the goods purchased as I had it with me at all times while I was waiting for her. Revenue department staff refunded me the VAT and told me I was lucky to get it done the way I did.

I had another chance to travel again later that month (unexpectedly) and looked for that customs desk although I had no VAT to claim for refund this time but I still coudn't figure out where the desk was (and I didn't see the sign board this time).

Edited April 13, 200818 yr by Nordlys

The place to get the stamp office at Suv. is, at least was last year between the domestic entrance/and the international passport check. After the check in counters. So do it before you check in any luggage.