Translation Of New 15 Day Exempt Entry Rule

[hotrod4098]

i have o visa

is it still 90 days before leving

[Lite Beer]

i have o visa

is it still 90 days before leving

Yes

[ubonjoe]

Yet another thing to stuff up our well planned and booked three month trip in Thailand and Cambodia.

We were due to fly BKK to Phnom Penh on 5th December, returning on 5th January, but our flight is cancelled so we face the ordeal of overland travel .

And only 15 days transit allowance now but our flight back to the Philippines is at the end of January :jerk: .

We planned three weeks in ChiangMai before flying back to the Philippines, But we cannot do that now

Better to cancel our return to Bangkok ,stay in Cambodia for 3 weeks extra , bin our return BKK ticket to the Philippines , and fly back via Kuala Lumpur instead .

Well, Goodbye Thailand , not so much Good about it this time though.

A double entry tourist visa or a single plus a re-entry permit should see you through.

But that is complicated, it means travelling to an overseas Embassy, or the big no-no of trusting passports to the mail system.

The 30 day transit allowance fits the need well, start in the Philippines, four weeks in Thailand, Month in Cambodia, three weeks in Thailand.

Besides many people have reported big problems getting visas, in this thread for example it has been mentioned that the Phnom Penh Thai Embassy is not helpful, I assume that means they will not readily give you a visa.

Phnom Penh has been reported as not friendly if you are just going there to just get a visa. If you are going to be there anyway then it's worth it. They don't like visa runners is what it amounts to. In your case I think they would be more friendly.

[Jingthing]

High season ruined by PAD. Thailand's reputation as land of smiles ruined, perhaps forever. Add in a global economic meltdown for good measure. Now lets crack down on some visa runners who do spend money in Thailand. Strange timing, but almost predictable. I think the main reason is to shake out illegal workers and low quality tourists. They could easily solve the illegal workers and make money other ways, for example, turn in an illegal worker and get a reward paid for by the fine the worker must pay. Low quality tourists? Money is money!

Edited December 3, 2008 by Jingthing

[TerryLH]

I know it's early, but does anyone know if this will apply to Lao Nationals as well. Right now they can cross and get 30 days without a visa.

[ovenman]

I know it's early, but does anyone know if this will apply to Lao Nationals as well. Right now they can cross and get 30 days without a visa.

Interesting point. As far as I know, so do Malaysians. To my knowledge, that policy is part of an understanding amongst ASEAN countries.

[astral]

A friend who crossed at Hat Yai yesterday 2nd Dec was given 15 days until the 17th

So this new rule is definitely in force.

Nice of them to let people know in advance. :D

Astral. I hope you mean Sadao or Padang Besar (spelling) border crossings and not Hat Yai airport.

Yes, one of the land crossings.

He did not say which.

He was doing a visa run from Malaysia.

[ubonjoe]

The only real solution for people wishing to pop in and out of the country but spend more than 15 days here at a time is now a multiple entry non immigrant visa as tourist visas are down to a maximum of 3 entries. Consulates and embassies in some countries will not issue these easily and thus, it is just another nail in the already very well nailed down coffin lid that was Thai tourisism.

I can't follow what you are saying about tourist visas. Yes the most you can get is 3 entries on a single visa which would give you almost 9 months without getting a new visa if the use before date is 6 months after issue.

If you mean acutal entries total into the country there is no such limit.

The only countries that make it difficulet to get more than 1 entry on a tourist visa are all nearby consulates. Of course Vientiane gives 2 entry visas.

OK, I'll try again. Until relatively recently, you could get 4 entries on a tourist visa. Thus, even on a short trip with many border crossings, you could have your initial 30 days waiver (don't activate your tourist visa). If you are staying for less than 15 days on each visit, then do not activate your tourist visa but just collect the 15 days (previously 30 days). Only use the tourist visas when you need to either because of staying over the 15 days (previously longer than 30 days).

Now as you now only get 3 entries on a tourist visa and some countries will not issue 3 and some not even 2, the 15 day rule becomes more pronounced.

Yes, you could get a re-entry permit but 99% of people don't know about them. Even then, it is another previously unnecessary trip to the immigration office.

As for your statement that the only countries which will issue only single entry tourist visas being neighbouring countries then I strongly suggest you do a little more research here and elsewhere. Certain parts of the USA for instance will only issue a single entry. This is constant moan though I will admit that many people here are better informed on how to circumvent this than on some other boards.

Almost everything you state is trying to circumvent the rules. Not using your tourist visa when you enter to just to get a few more days for example. Thats the entire problem.

I don't know the entire story about anybody having a problem getting a tourist visa from anywhere. Every consulate may have their own rules.

In the US I can tell you that if you deal with NY, DC, LA or Chicago conulates you might have a problem. The US like many other countries have honorary consulates that don't interpret the rules the same way. That's because they don't have a bunch of bureaucrats working in the office.

You have to understand why they are pushing people to get tourist visas or any other for that matter. They want more time to check people out rather than the short time they have to do it at immigration when you enter the country.

Edited December 3, 2008 by ubonjoe

[MeetJohnDoe]

I think the main reason is to shake out illegal workers and low quality tourists.

If that is the case, I am whole-heartedly in support of the new rules

I don't mind tourists on budgets or the backpacker set...but the "pint and a fight" crowd we can definitely do without (especially in my hometown of Pattaya).

[PoorSucker]

I have said it before and I will say it again; this is the result of people abusing the 30 day visa exempt entry to stay in Thailand on a long term basis and thus making life difficult for a lot of inocent people, especially genuine tourists.

The answer is simple. Get a visa appropriate to your stay. This is all the Thai Government has requested and it is not at all unreasonable.

I totally agree, get your papers in order then no problem.

Only criminals have problem to get a proper visa.

Sorry about all people that got stuck in middle, planing to do border run instead of getting a visa.

[jantrevor]

I am flying into Thailand, spending 4 days here and the flying to Laos. A week later I fly back into Thailand.

Do I then get 15 days visa on demand or do I keep my 30 days?

Jan

[torrenova]

Almost everything you state is trying to circumvent the rules. Not using your tourist visa when you enter to just to get a few more days for example. Thats the entire problem.

I don't know the entire story about anybody having a problem getting a tourist visa from anywhere. Every consulate may have their own rules.

In the US I can tell you that if you deal with NY, DC, LA or Chicago conulates you might have a problem. The US like many other countries have honorary consulates that don't interpret the rules the same way. That's because they don't have a bunch of bureaucrats working in the office.

You have to understand why they are pushing people to get tourist visas or any other for that matter. They want more time to check people out rather than the short time they have to do it at immigration when you enter the country.

It is the changing for the rules, without any thought as to the repercussions and which produce debatable benefits, if any, which is my point.

You see it as circumventing the rules but you have to dig deeper and see the bigger picture. I've explained what that is but the Thais don't work through how changes they make will apply in practice. I do not know another country on the planet with such stupid or forever changing visa rules.

You may thing some people are being disadvantaged now as things change whilst they are on vacation but there are people in Thailand leading totally respectful lives, providing work for Thai people which would not otherwise be there and putting money back into the economy who are having their livelihoods ripped apart by these stupid and illogical changes which you seem to want to hold up high as the Ten Commandments which must be obeyed without question.

As for someone trying to sort of cheat an extra 10 days or something by using an entry stamp and then a tourist visa then why not ? Just why on earth would someone try to argue that that was wrong ? The tourist visa for your information has an expiry date before which it must be used. I do not believe there is anything which states that it must be used upon first arrival in Thailand. Doing as I suggest is actually within the rules and is not ultra vires.

Your point about checking people out is laughable. Consulates issuing visas are rubber stamp jobs. If you fit the box you get your visa. Now when you get on your plane they have all your flight time to assess your risk (if information exchanged) and even at immigration, they have guns to stop you doing a runner if it flags you up when they swipe your passport.

[torrenova]

I am flying into Thailand, spending 4 days here and the flying to Laos. A week later I fly back into Thailand.

Do I then get 15 days visa on demand or do I keep my 30 days?

Jan

It is debatable.

People coming in overland have been getting only 15 days. I don't think we have a confirmed case of someone flying in from a country which also has a land border with Thailand. The same would happen from Malaysia, Cambodia, Burma for instance.

If you need more than 15 days after you arrive back in Thailand you have 2 choices. You can get a tourist visa before you arrive for the first visit and either not use it (using only the 30 day stamp) or get a re-entry permit from immigration in Thailand to protect your tourist visa. However you have only 4 days !

The second simple though time consuming option is to apply for a Thai tourist visa from Laos. Again, you waste time and you run the risk that such visas may not be available (they are at present) and if not, you would run the risk, as yet unquantified, of only receiving 15 days upon your return to Thailand.

I would get a tourist visa and just get a 30 day stamp upon my first visit.

[tartempion]

This "visa exemption stamp" should be looked at as an "extra privilege" in itself, no matter short, in order to "help" tourists circumvent the "standard" tourist visa.

With all due repsect.... BS....the visa waiver is a method to entice people to come to a country to spend their money, by minimising the hassle you have to go through to get into a country....look at the list where visa waivers are permissible...majority... perceived to wealthy western countries (most likely not the case these days)

So most certainly not a privilege, more of a carrot to get you in to spend your dosh, limit your days...we have emptied your wallet...now f*kc off home and come back next year and we will do the same...

I agree it's not a privilege. But why abuse it.

I can't understand why anybody that knows they are going to stay over 30 days wouldnt get a tourist visa. Tourist visas are easy to get and most consulates have a mail in service plus they only cost 1000 baht.

Why waste whole day making a border run and spending more money than a visa costs?

Well I live 120kms from Vientiane and because I need a 1300B tourist visa (which I can buy at the border) I went there just ONCE.

I would go there EVERY month or so if they had a visa exempt thing (interested in buying my monthly bottle of Ricard)

I went for the first and last time to Vietnam before the PAD idiots closed the airport because I can't be bothered to travel to a consulate and wait one week to get a visa at high cost (paid 62 euro for a 1 month Vietnam tourist visa)

I will return to Silipore and Malaysia some day because it does not require any hassle.

In fact I decided I would stay inside Thailand next year and plan a few trips to place I have not been to yet (Nan, Trat, Tran)

Seems to me Thailand is well on its way to reduce tourist income next year, helped by the PAD airport closure already.

[stickyb]

Surely this is a reaction to the airport closure and the expected downturn in numbers.

In other words, you can get 30 days and stay as long as you like provided you do it by air (paying lots of money!) but you only get 15 days by land to discourage that route.

[ubonjoe]

Surely this is a reaction to the airport closure and the expected downturn in numbers.

In other words, you can get 30 days and stay as long as you like provided you do it by air (paying lots of money!) but you only get 15 days by land to discourage that route.

It has nothing to do with the airports.

It is to discourage people from just going to the border and getting another period of stay wihtout getting a visa.

They made a change a little over 2 years ago to stop people from going to the border every 30 days by limiting those entries to 90 days in 6 months.

So now it's 15 days for the same reason.

[sceadugenga]

So the visa run of choice could now be bus to KL or Sillypore then fly back using one of the sheep transports like Tiger Air.

What about starting a new air service from Vientiane to Udon Thani?

[Mario2008]

But for air travel you need to have a ticket out of the country within 30 days.

[ubonjoe]

If you going to fly just to get a 30 day entry. Why not spend an extra day and get a visa which would make it a real visa run not a re-entry run.

I think Vientiane is going to get a lot busier and the border run companies are going to be less busy.

What is odd though is that there have not been any reports yet on Cambodia entries being cut to 15 days yet.

Edited December 4, 2008 by ubonjoe

[PhilHarries]

I have said it before and I will say it again; this is the result of people abusing the 30 day visa exempt entry to stay in Thailand on a long term basis and thus making life difficult for a lot of inocent people, especially genuine tourists.

The answer is simple. Get a visa appropriate to your stay. This is all the Thai Government has requested and it is not at all unreasonable.

Rubbish, what abuse? You are legally allowed 90 days visa exempt time in Thailand within a 180 day period after which you have to exit and not return for another 90 days.

What this is doing is reducing the immigration checks by saying if you arrive by air we'll give you 30 days and if you arrive by land we'll only give you 15 days but we're not counting days within any fixed period. So you can, as before Oct 2006, stay as long as you like provided you do the 30 day flights or 15 days road excursions. This is assuming the 90 in 180 rule has been dropped, the official line will confirm this or otherwise (I'll be a little surprised if it is dropped).

The people this will affect are the back packers who are touring south east Asia predominantly by land transport. They will only get 15 days in country which may not be sufficient thus forcing them into a border run. Of course they could all toe the "TV holier than thou brigade" line and get tourist visas for each and every country they visit but these are the people, casual travellers, the exemption rule is set for.

If they want to go after the people who really abuse the system they need to overhaul the overstay penalty. IMO 20,000 Baht maximum fine with no repercussions is way too lenient. But the rules are their rules and implemented accordingly.

I currently visit Thailand for roughly 14 days at a time every 11 weeks and do so on an exemption stamp. Sometimes I stop in Thailand only a few days then go on somewhere else then stopover again on the return leg for a few days. Yes I could get visas but even without that my passport is filling up at an alarming rate. I resent the sentiments expressed by some board members that exemption entry people are all low life scum and that those with visas are pure as the driven snow. The system is set up for people to use it within the rules, if they break the rules Thailand's system has methods to deal with them and does not rely on a kangaroo court on some anonymous internet forum.

Anyhow the new rules, however they pan out, are unlikely to affect me. The last time I entered Thailand at a land crossing was just that, THE last time.

[Mario2008]

Yes, it will just mean that more and more people will need to get a tourist visa.

Going to get bussy in vientanne, It is already too crowded there. Going to be a nightmare unless they will decide to tell people not to apply again.

[Mario2008]

Sorry Phill, but there is no proof immigration will drop the 90 day rule.

As finding the idea of abuse rubbish. The visa exempt entry is meant for tourists. You can call people who live countinously in Thailand on visa exempt entries and tourists visa hardly tourists. Fact is they are making abuse of the rules, but that is indeed not the same as breaking the rules.

[bazookaa]

Surely this is a reaction to the airport closure and the expected downturn in numbers.

In other words, you can get 30 days and stay as long as you like provided you do it by air (paying lots of money!) but you only get 15 days by land to discourage that route.

not exactly

one of my friend went to border yesterday by Visa Run 1 day Pattaya-Cambodia and he obtenaid a 30 days entry.

i think police control the "true" tourist and people who are working illegaly...

he is canadian, he come in thailand every year for 2 months, policeman asked him if he came for hollidays only.

[ubonjoe]

It sounds to me like the Cambodia border immigration check points haven't got the new rules yet.

[LTGTR]

A recent post stated that the visa-runner only got 15 days at Andaman Club (Myanmar), so the rule does seem to be true.

What on earth is the reason for this new rule? Just to cause more hassle/expense for land-border visa-runners??

Seems pretty crazy to me - very frustrating.

Simon

This Third World country is becoming less visitor and less everything firiendly.Very smart-the economy is in the crapper,next year's tourist totals will be halved and now this.Cambodia is looking better for next year for this ex-pat.

[tropo]

I think its too early to say whether fly ins will be effected. If fly ins are effected, will other Asean countries like Singapore and Vietnam be considered neighboring, or does a physical border need to be shared?

Either way, the days of visa runs are over. No one will go to the expense of flying to Singapore or Vietnam in order to get a 30 day visa exempt stamp and I can't see too many people do border runs for only 15 days.

Queues at the consulates in Penang and Vientiane will be getting longer than ever.

Edited December 4, 2008 by tropo

[tropo]

Heard today, American went Mae Sai, Tachileck, and on return only got 14 day, new policy starting today-??? Dont know about 90 day requirement.

Yes. Probably 15 days.

In reality it is 14 days as they count the day you arrive as day 1.

[mgjackson69]

I anticipate a general increase in the health of the buffalo population as more Isaan families acquire farang sons-in-law.

[stander]

I have lived in Thailand since April 1987, and I have never really inderstood why people can’t get the correc t visa to suit their stay.

On occassions when I am working on in country projects my company gets me a WP and when, like now I am working on overseas projects I simple come back every 8 weeks or so on a 30 day exempt visa.

Surely it is not so difficult to get the correct visa, for example if you intend to stay one year then you can get a visa to suit. Why do people have to do “Visa Runs”?

[MeetJohnDoe]

So the visa run of choice could now be bus to KL or Sillypore then fly back using one of the sheep transports like Tiger Air.

Why not just get legal (get a proper visa)? You'll feel better about it and save money too