Double Entry Tourist Visa

[block2]

Hi Everybody,

Just wanted to let everybody know about my problem 2 days ago at Maesot, so that it dosn't happen to anybody else.

On December 25th 2007, I went to Loas and applied for a double entry Tourist Visa. I was successful and returned to Thailand on December 27th. When i entered the immigration officer put a 27th Dec Stamp above the visa with a circled 1 next to it. I also got a 60 day stamp until 24th Feb 2008.

On 22nd Feb 2008 I went to immigration in Bangkok and got a 30 day extension...this was extended until 25th March 2008.

On Monday, which was 24th March I travelled overnight to Maesot to get there for the 25th March, the day that my 30 day extension expired. When I got there, there was an american chap in front of me...he was having all sorts of problems, what i gathered he had more or less used up all is 190 days...the immigration officer on the window was just sat there laughing and saying I will give you 5 day entry....as you can imigine the American was not too happy...he was saying he needed 10 days as then he was leaving Thailand for Hong Kong...even produced a air ticket as proof....but all the immigration officer did was hands on hips laughing uncontrollably aloud saying 5 days...5 days I give you 5 days....he reminded me of the laughing Policeman song from years ago.

Like I say, the American was not too happy...I told him he should go to the immigration office and have a word with the officers bosses as he should not be allowed to treat people like this...it wouldn't happen in England, or anywhere else as far as I know....but then again this is Thailand.

Next it's my turn, the laughing immigration officer took away my passport and arrival slip, closed the window, after maybe 3 - 4 minutes returned and give me my passport back with a big smile, and said see you in 10 minutes on your return from Burma, I said Khop Khun Krap, whereupon he started to laugh out loud again, hands on hips, beer belly wobbling like a freshly made jelly. I thought to myself, he must be still drung from drinking too much Los Cow from last night.

Went across the border got my stamp in Burma no problems...on my return I was greeted again by the laughing immigration officer....but this time he was in Hysterics...took my passport and arrival slip...closed window for maybe 3-4 minutes again then returned laughing outloud I give you 30 days.

30 days I said...you can not do this...this is a double entry visa not a single...I have only used one entry...he said to me if I had come the day before on 24th, or 23rd, or 22nd etc...no problems..but to day is 25th March... I said I knew that...thats why I had come as my 30 day extension on 1st entry expired to day.

He then pointed to the double entry tourist visa and said look....it says ENTER BEFORE 25th March 2008...I said I did enter before 25th March I entered on the 27th December. Still laughing outloud he said no you should enter before 25th March...I said it says ENTER BEFORE 25th March, which I did, on 27th December. I said it does not say USE BY 25th March.

He'd already stamped my passport for 60 days, stamping it with 23rd May, he has then crossed it out an give me a 30 day stamp up-until 23rd April, which does not look very nice. I tried arguing the case more, but he was having none of it, just laughing, and laughing outloud, told him there was something serious wrong with him an he was unfit to do his job...I also said I was going to go and see his top boss in the office......that stopped the laughing....a lady in the office came up to me as I walked away and said look if you go to office and the boss votes in my favour...then her an her colleague will be...( she put her finger to her throat and did a slit action as if her throat had been cut )...I said well thats what you have just done to me...you have cut my throat...and if your boss votes in my favour, then you only have yourselves to blame...1. For not understanding the rules...2. For showing no respect...I also said that her colleague should not be on the front desk with his attitude, which she agreed.

I had to wait for an hour an a half for the immigration office to open....which as now moved to the left side of the bridge were they house all the burmese that have been caught illegally in Thailand ready for deportation.

I was treated really well in the office...was giving a coffee as the big big boss had not arrived yet...I was spoken to by a very nice lady who did not understand the rules...I don't think any of them do...if I am truthful. She said to me ENTER BEFORE and USE BY mean the same...I said I am English and believe me ENTER BEFORE and USE BY are 2 different meanings. She got a dictionary out but couldn't find explanations for ENTER BEFORE and USE BY which did not surprise me. While we were chatting, I was explaning I had just been offered a job..teaching English at a local primary school in my village...the school had no big money and I had been offered 10,000 baht a month...which I know is peanuts but I want to help the children if I can, plus the school is going through the process of applying for a work permit, this is why I had applied for a double entry tourist visa, now I might not be able to stay in Thailand, and the children were going to suffer, as I had already been teaching for 4 months and had made a lot of friends at the school...she siad she understood an was trying to help me.

Who walks in but the Laughing immigration man, this time though he's not laughing, I pointed out the way he had behaved, which he denied, they spoke togeather for a while, he left and the lady said her boss was ready to see me now. She took me into another room, were I was introduced to the boss, again I was treat very well, she explained my problem to the her boss, again he did not understand the meaning of ENTER BEFORE....he said he was going to phone immigration in Chang Mai....no answer...he then called Immigration at the new airport....chatted for a while...after finishing chatting he said sorry I can't help you...if I had been on a plane...and plane was delayed then no problem...I pointed put I wasn't travelling by plane I had travelled overnight on the bus. He said the 2nd tourist visa had to be USED BEFORE 25th March...I said it does not say that it says ENTER BEFORE 25th March...which I did on the 27th December, i also pointed out that if it said USE BEFORE 25th March I would of come a day earlier...I also mentioned that the 30 day extension stamp on 1st entry was uptil 25th March...so I had obeyed all the rules...why didn't Bangkok immigration point this out when they stamped my passport...why did they stamp 25th and not 24th March. He couldn't answer my questions...he kept saying I want to help you, I am trying to help you....I said If I had known that the wording on the Tourist Visa meant what he was telling me I would of travelled a day earlier...I asked if i could pay 500 baht for oneday overstay so that I did not lose my 2nd Tourist Visa, but he said I couldn't.

I had to bite my lip as I said Thank You for your help.....I headed back to the immigration at the bridge to let them know that there jobs were safe....guess what!!!!!!! there was an old Australian boy there, he was distressed as, I asked what the problem was and he said Him...pointing to you know who....he'd found his laugh again and was just saying I give him 5 days, like I gave your friend....HA HA HA, see you in 30 days HA HA HA.

Told the Australian old boy were the immigration office was and told him to go and complain about the laughing immigration officer.....he said thankyou and off he went, not sure if he got a result.

Sorry if i have gone on a bit, but I am still fuming over what happened to me. I just want people to know what happened to me so it dosn't happen to them and also if you have problems with the laughing immigration officer...report him to his Boss, has he has no manners whatso-ever and should not be in the job.

Does anybody out there understand this ENTER BEFORE and USE BY meanings...????? any advice would be greatly appriciated. As I am seriously thinking of going to immigration in Bangkok and putting in an official complaint and trying to redeem my 2nd tourist visa, but don't want to waste the money if I am to be told the same as I was told in Maesot.

R&R as always

Block

[lopburi3]

It means you must enter before that date - just as immigration advised you. Many will let it slip but it is clear by the language that all entries must have been made before the stamped date and I have also been informed of that many years ago. It is nothing new or unique to that office or officer.

As for talk that UK or "every other country" would have been more understanding I suspect there are literally thousands of travelers who would say otherwise.

If you live here I would expect you to understand that most "laughter" is nothing more than trying to calm/make the best of the situation (often the reverse happens when done with foreigners unfortunately).

As for the American he was not entitled to any days if he had used the full 90 but suspect he had used 85 and they were providing the remaining 5.

[block2]

It means you must enter before that date - just as immigration advised you. Many will let it slip but it is clear by the language that all entries must have been made before the stamped date and I have also been informed of that many years ago. It is nothing new or unique to that office or officer.

Hi Lopburi,

Thankyou for your quick response as always.....I have just read thread about double entry visa from Loas again and you have stated / stressed, once or twice to use before the expiry date....didn't realise ENTER BEFORE meant EXPIRY DATE...sumnamna Me.

Again thanks for your quick reply, sorry my rant went on a bit, like I said i'm still upset, but hopefully my experience will benefit others.

R&R

Block

[jdinasia]

I feel for your situation, but the immigration folks were entirely correct.

MaeSot is my favorite place to make a 90 day border run as it is fast and the officials there are overwhelmingly friendly in my personal experience. Not to mention that the town is kinda nice and vastly different in atmosphere from other placers largely due to the heavy Indo-Burmese influences.

[TokyoT]

Does anybody out there understand this ENTER BEFORE and USE BY meanings...????? any advice would be greatly appriciated. As I am seriously thinking of going to immigration in Bangkok and putting in an official complaint and trying to redeem my 2nd tourist visa, but don't want to waste the money if I am to be told the same as I was told in Maesot.

I think the laughing man was actually technically correct. The ENTER BEFORE date means just that, in order to be able to use the visa one must enter before the date on the visa – not make the first trip before that date. The wording on my Chinese visa is very similar as well – so Thailand is not unique in the wording.

You were obviously upset by how things unfolded, and therefore this has likely skewed your perception of how the laughing man was acting. However, if he was indeed acting in a manor in which you have indicated then right or wrong something should be done about his behavior.

[sjaak327]

Maybe I'm missing something here, but since when is a double entry tourist visa only valid for 3 months, I thought a single entry would have an enter before date of 3 months, and from double entry onwards, the validity is 6 months, therefore when OP got his on december 25th, shouldn't his enter before date be 25 june ?

[lopburi3]

A two entry issued by Vientiane has a validity of 3 months - and that is the case in most local Consulates.

7. Please note that the period of visa validity is different from the period of stay. Visa validity is the period during which a visa can be used to enter Thailand. In general, the validity of a visa is 3 months, but in some cases, visas may be issued to be valid for 6 months, 1 year or 3 years. The validity of a visa is granted with discretion by the Royal Thai Embassy or Royal Thai Consulate-General and is displayed on the visa sticker.

http://www.mfa.go.th/web/2482.php?id=2487

[sjaak327]

Right, then it is som nam na indeed.

[retiredusn]

Why is anybody replying to a post that is several months OLD??

[jdinasia]

Why is anybody replying to a post that is several months OLD??

Because it isn't?

[sniffdog]

Think this is no brainer .... my second entry has to be before the 16 april, while my 30 day extension ends on the 16th. So I have to make a border run on the 15th .... simple!

Edited March 27, 2008 by sniffdog

[monty]

Actually most mistakes are made by travelers who applied for a double entry visa in their own country, which often is done several days or even weeks before departure.

They then end up with a much bigger difference between the "enter before" date and the allowed till date (if of course they got a 30 day extension)!

[jstumbo]

...he was saying he needed 10 days as then he was leaving Thailand for Hong Kong...even produced a air ticket as proof....but all the immigration officer did was hands on hips laughing uncontrollably aloud saying 5 days...5 days I give you 5 days....he reminded me of the laughing Policeman song from years ago.

Like I say, the American was not too happy...I told him he should go to the immigration office and have a word with the officers bosses as he should not be allowed to treat people like this...it wouldn't happen in England, or anywhere else as far as I know....but then again this is Thailand.

Any western country probably would not have allowed him even the 5 days. He did not have the right to be in the country and should have felt lucky that he was given the 5 days.

And as for the "enter before" date. That is the date you need to enter before. So if it says March 25th, you need to enter on the 24th, because you need to enter before the 25th.

Edited March 28, 2008 by jstumbo

[block2]

Think this is no brainer .... my second entry has to be before the 16 april, while my 30 day extension ends on the 16th. So I have to make a border run on the 15th .... simple!

Hi Sniff,

"NO BRAINER"

I posted the original post....

On the tourist visa it states ENTER BEFORE the 25th March...I did on the 27th December...it dosn't say anything about 2nd entry. It states enter before 25th March, and like I say I did on the 27th December.

Ok I messed up...but I'm not on here to take the urine, I'm on here to help other people, to not make the same mistake as I did.

You must have a sad life...if you just surf Thai Visa looking for fellow Falangs mistakes, then making witty comments.

R&R as always

Block

[jstumbo]

Many people get confused by these types of things. There are people that think they have to finish their stay before the date on the visa. Unfortunately people that just get a visa for the first time maybe do not know as much as people who have been doing it for years and can get caught making these mistakes.

Anything that helps other avoid your mistake will be good. Yes you did enter before that date for your first entry, but you were trying to enter after that date for your second entry. Visas expire, you cannot just use a first entry before the expiration and then wait 10-20 years to use the next one just because your first entry was before it expired.

Glad you made it back in. Now I guess you need another visa run to Vientiane. Don't forget to request a double entry. Don't worry about the guy laughing, probably just trying to defuse the tension and keep it light.

Lucky you made it back in after telling the guy that there was something wrong with him and that he was unfit for his job.

[tropo]

Think this is no brainer .... my second entry has to be before the 16 april, while my 30 day extension ends on the 16th. So I have to make a border run on the 15th .... simple!

Hi Sniff,

"NO BRAINER"

I posted the original post....

On the tourist visa it states ENTER BEFORE the 25th March...I did on the 27th December...it dosn't say anything about 2nd entry. It states enter before 25th March, and like I say I did on the 27th December.

Ok I messed up...but I'm not on here to take the urine, I'm on here to help other people, to not make the same mistake as I did.

You must have a sad life...if you just surf Thai Visa looking for fellow Falangs mistakes, then making witty comments.

R&R as always

Block

It is a no-brainer.

You entered once on the 27th December. You left again didn't you?...so it's pretty obvious you have to get back before the "enter before" date if you want to use your 2nd entry. A double entry tourist visa means you can enter Thailand twice within the validity of your visa.

I'm in exactly the same situation. I have an extension until April 23, but my visa says I must enter before April 23 to use my 2nd entry. I'll be doing my visa run on April 22. You will always lose 1 day with a 3-month double entry tourist visa...there's no avoiding it. In actual fact you are lucky that Vientiane is issuing double-entry tourist visas.

Regarding the laughing immigratioin officer. I'd love to meet a laughing one - it would be a great change from the usual surly, stern-faced mob. You only have yourself to blame for not doing your homework - it has all been discussed on here before.

Edited March 30, 2008 by tropo