30-days Border Runs Now Only 15 Days

[JIP]

which is why i suggest Vietnam...6 month visa with small fee,nice people,no hassles so NanLaew and Jip..maybe you should join me..when my two month tourist visa is up i dont think i will even bother with the extension,its GOOD MORNING VIETNAM!!

Vietnam, you'll find, is expensive living.

[oceano]

Extraordinary. They obviously do not want foriegners here for any length of time, only long enough to drop their cash and piss off back home. It begs the question as to whether they really deserve to have us come visit their extraordinary country at all.

Can't see the logic in what you're saying. People who wish to stay in Thailand for long periods of time and who fit the categories for whom they've designated long-term visas and who obtain those visas, are in no way effected.

If you've needed to make border runs, then either you couldn't be bothered getting the appropriate visa or you don't qualify for one. In either event you had to realize you were trying to remain here by exploiting the loopholes and the lax enforcement of existing regulations.

I'm not aware of any campaign in which Thailand sought out falang who would remain in the country for long periods without obtaining a visa. They apparently feel that certain categories of people contribute meaningfully to the Thai economy while others, in general, do not. There are obviously going to be exceptions, but the system is designed to deal in broad generalities, not individual exceptions, and it's designed to serve Thailand's interests, not those of everyone who might like to stay here.

Say to my son when him born that im an exceptions and i cant see him born and i cant stay whit him ok?...i will send to you my number

ciao

[MeetJohnDoe]

This will only hurt tourism and the economy more. Thailand's reputation as a tourist/expat friendly country is going down the drain.

Don't agree. 30-day visa exempt entries for many nationals and visas on arrivals for most of the rest; and the ability to extend one's stay up to 50% by making a short border excursion if one so wishes. Seems pretty tourist friendly to me.

[Kerryd]

This is really going to be a passport killer for some ! Couple years ago while waiting for a new contract start-up, I had to do 9 border runs in a row (still far cheaper than having to fly all the way to Canada to get a visa and fly back again).

Each one though requires a full passport page for the Cambo visa. Anyone doing the 2/month border runs, would use up 24 pages of their passport in a single year !

I can see it already, all farangs sleeping over the Cambodian border for a day, campsites would be comming out of the ground

Might be a good time to start investing in some cross-border "short-time" hotels !

so today 90% of bar in pattaya close? they are all owned by farang.......

Owned by Thai you probably mean.

I agree. Very few bars I know of are owned by farang. Even some of the ones that are claimed to be owned, are in fact leased.

(then again, there's that scam that has being going around for years supposedly, of certain "shady" farangs selling part interest in bars they have no connection to at all !)

[ozzieovaseas]

I've sussed it out!!

While the airports were holding the PAD conference the immigration officers had nothing to do, so for the 8 days off they decided to have a meeting of their own and this is what they came up with

YES!!!!

AND.. the reason is probabaly because they were pissed off for not being allowed to charge for us rich,drunk,womanizing,criminal farags for our overstays!!

hehe

[Dirk_brijs]

plain simple... the expat is going to pay the mess

Expats living here long term should have necessary documentation which allows for a Non-Imm visa and therefore shouldn't be affected.

So Mister Cockney,

Can you tell me what kind of papers I might need to get that long term visa

I am 38 years old never worked here as I work abroad on cruise shis. I have a son here who is 7 now

I have been in Thailand for 8 years now in between contracts. Once in a while I like to ask for an extended holiday longer then my normal 2 months off I have.

In those 8 years I have spend alot of money in this country and have paid my dues but I can not apply for any sort oflong term visa not even for marriage anymore? Cause they say I am too young???

Anyway any advise to your of your statement that everybody who wants can get that long term visa are appreciated.

Thanks

[ozzieovaseas]

which is why i suggest Vietnam...6 month visa with small fee,nice people,no hassles so NanLaew and Jip..maybe you should join me..when my two month tourist visa is up i dont think i will even bother with the extension,its GOOD MORNING VIETNAM!!

Vietnam, you'll find, is expensive living.

Really? i am staying at an appartment for starting cost of 5500 baht a month..what comparison to vietnam?

[Rama]

It would appear that Immigration has discovered that there are still foreign tourists still in the country despite their best efforts to keep foreigners out with the closing of the airports.

[mickg]

I think that Thailand wants to get rid of what it sees as the riff raff falangs. Those who cannot be bothered or just cannot get the right visa. If you have a legitimate visa there is no problem in staying here.

Well said Sir!

This is a particular beef with me the "border runners" working here illegally.

i have a 12 month O visa, that allows 90 day periods. i will leave thailand mid december to uk. my 90 days ran out a few days ago and have just renewed for 30 days from laos. i would not have been happy having to do 2 journeys, when one will do. mick

[LittleTina]

plain simple... the expat is going to pay the mess

Expats living here long term should have necessary documentation which allows for a Non-Imm visa and therefore shouldn't be affected.

So Mister Cockney,

Can you tell me what kind of papers I might need to get that long term visa

I am 38 years old never worked here as I work abroad on cruise shis. I have a son here who is 7 now

I have been in Thailand for 8 years now in between contracts. Once in a while I like to ask for an extended holiday longer then my normal 2 months off I have.

In those 8 years I have spend alot of money in this country and have paid my dues but I can not apply for any sort oflong term visa not even for marriage anymore? Cause they say I am too young???

Anyway any advise to your of your statement that everybody who wants can get that long term visa are appreciated.

Thanks

Hi why not get a Ed visa and get a 15 month visa 1 visa run only, my boyfriend got his almost 3 years ago and as only done 1 visa run he got this from TLS Language School and his Thai language skills have improved

[yadetout]

I don't think it's a great loss for Thailand - big spenders generally don't do visa runs but get proper long term multiple-reentry tourist or non-o visas in their home countries.

I understand what you mean, of course, you feel more peaceful when you know your visa is ok for 1 year.

However, I strongly think that getting 1% of something is better than 100% of nothing. So small spenders should be considered too.

But once again, I still agree with you everyone should get the proper visa prior to stay here.

NB: I often saw friends using these 3 months rule as a period to get their business starting or looking for a job before getting the visa and the work permit...

[george]

New Regulations For Extensions Of Non-immigrant Visas

Police Order 777/2551 dated Nov 25, 2008

Read here:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Regulations-...ig-t227532.html

[anotheruser]

It would appear that Immigration has discovered that there are still foreign tourists still in the country despite their best efforts to keep foreigners out with the closing of the airports.

No. All the legitimate tourists have already left, this law isn't designed for them. LOL

[CaptainBluebeard]

I don't see this as an issue for backpackers who have planned their trip properly and applied for the appropriate visas before hand.

As a UK national, I can apply for a tourist visa with three entries for 60 days each, i.e. entitlement for 6 months total stay in Thailand, with scope for three exits to take in other countries.

Plenty of scope for long stays in Thailand, and also flexibility to travel to the other countries in SE Asia whenever you like.

I did this 3 years ago - the rules on this haven't changed so it would apply equally now. I accept that it may be a different scenario depending on your country, but for UK nationals it is pretty straight forward.

Anyone looking for a longer stay could apply for a non-immigrant multiple entry category O visa instead, where each entry gives you 90 days, and which is valid for a year. From the Hull consulate website the cat O visa can be used for "visit friends/family, for extended stay in Thailand, visit as UK pensioner, to work as a volunteer, and to seek work/employment. This category does not allow paid or unpaid employment without work permit".

I agree with the guy who said play by the rules and you won't have a problem. I've had several visits to Thailand since my original trip, and getting through immigration is a walk in the park compared to trying to get into the USA (minimum 2 hours every time I have tried), and as always in the world, a polite hello in local language to the official, smile and be polite always does the trick. Don't expect them to smile back - they don't do that at Heathrow or Gatwick either, or in fact at any immigration I have been through at any airport in the world.

[MeetJohnDoe]

Not everybody can get a Non-Imm, especially if you are not 50 yo, not married, not working...

I was in the same situation up till a year ago, doing the Bangkok-Penang tourist visa shuffle every 60-days. It finally made more sense to just bite the bullet and go home and get a non-imm visa. I am now good for unlimited entries for 15 months, with just border runs every 90-days. Surely, if you have the case to live here and not be working, you can make-up a scenario for obtaining said visa from a home-country consulate. The key is to focus on the consul and honorary consul offices

[MeetJohnDoe]

Well, I'd expect them to be a bit more accomodating, I was allowed to buy (30 year lease) house for over 5 million baht, bought a car in my name but still am not allowed to live here legally!

So Thailand is supposed to conform their immigration rules to fit your personal situation?

The visa regulations have been pretty constant for a while (tinkering here and there but no major changes). If one planned to live long-term in Thailand and buy condos, cars, and other expensive items, it would behoove one to make sure they qualified for some type of long-term visa before making such purchases.

[anotheruser]

Not everybody can get a Non-Imm, especially if you are not 50 yo, not married, not working...

I was in the same situation up till a year ago, doing the Bangkok-Penang tourist visa shuffle every 60-days. It finally made more sense to just bite the bullet and go home and get a non-imm visa. I am now good for unlimited entries for 15 months, with just border runs every 90-days. Surely, if you have the case to live here and not be working, you can make-up a scenario for obtaining said visa from a home-country consulate. The key is to focus on the consul and honorary consul offices

I don't really understand why if a person goes through the trouble of getting a proper visa they have to scurry around to borders every 90 days.

[venturalaw]

I think that Thailand wants to get rid of what it sees as the riff raff falangs. Those who cannot be bothered or just cannot get the right visa. If you have a legitimate visa there is no problem in staying here.

Agreed. Good move by Thai authorities.

Not a good move because the bottom line is that you are adding further restrictions to tourism and therefore some potential tourists just won't bother coming. Now, the last I have heard, Thailand has lately been focused on losing tourists (a significant percentage of it's income). So how does this help?

BTW - this does not effect me directly for I have a non-immigrant visa and I am not in the tourist industry.

[niller74]

I just hope they wont cancel the grandfathering of the investment visas. I fear the worst from these people though.

[MeetJohnDoe]

I don't really understand why if a person goes through the trouble of getting a proper visa they have to scurry around to borders every 90 days.

Agreed. It's as silly as the 90-day reporting for retirees. Most likely some vestigial regulation that served some purpose in the distant past but has outlived its usefulness; but no one has got around to repealing it yet.

[MellowYellow]

i find it interesting how many people see every change in the visa rules as an opportunity to gloat when the people *they* look down on are getting screwed--in spite of the fact that they don't even know who these people they're looking down on are.

i guess everyone needs someone to look down on, and that must be really hard to find for some people, so they tie up their entire self esteem in their (obviously superior) visa situation. obviously *you* lot are vastly superior to visa runners, but you seem free to make up facts. you know what? you don't actually know who the people making these visa runs are. unless, of course, it's you.

hey i don't know who they are either. this change doesn't affect me. but the difference is i am aware that i don't know who they are or why they make border runs. why make stuff up? do you think it makes you look good somehow? so gloat away, but it only makes you look pissy, petty, and pathetic.

oh and i'm sure *your* morals are absolutely as impeccable as you lot seem to be saying they are. if any of you want to volunteer, i'll gladly follow you around with a camcorder for a month so you can prove it.

Quoted for Truth.

Lot of amusing, condesceneding "I'm so much better than others" attitudes in this thread.

I imagine these will be the same people whinging up a giant storm when "their" particular visa rules are changed.

I grow so very weary of running across self righteous farang who think Thainland is "their" exclusive club and all others must conform to "their" standards.

For the crowd trying to use visa "moral eqivalism" ("My country makes it harder for Thais then Thais make it for my countrymen"). Wake up and face the facts: Thailand is a developing nation, 2nd world (apparently trying to take steps backwards to 3rd world status based on look at recent political bumblings), NOT 1st world western democracy. The USA, UK, EU, AUS do NOT need Thai tourism to sustain their economies, Thailand ABSOLUTELY needs western tourism to sustain theirs.

riff raff/bad farangs

teachers

backpackers

sexpats

sex tourists

How are these people hurting your life? Who are you to judge them? Actually, I think a lot of the self righteous crowd needs them so they have someone to pretend they are better than.

A huge chunk of posters sound like an unfunny version of SirBurr's parodies.

[OriginalPoster]

I think that Thailand wants to get rid of what it sees as the riff raff falangs. Those who cannot be bothered or just cannot get the right visa. If you have a legitimate visa there is no problem in staying here.

Really? Then tell me how a 37 year old who's been here for 12 years with enough money to live on, most cash is in in a thai bank can get the right visa, not married, no intention of doing so either and no business???

Please elaborate.

For people that fit that profile, Thailand really does not have a visa category. Maybe they righfully should automatically grant longterm visas to men of leisure, but they decided to only do that for people who are 50 years of age or older. That it was previously possible to stay perpetually by making periuodic visa runs was a little silly actually, if they are going to allow continous visa runs it seems that it would make more sense to just grant those visa runners a longterm visa and charge them some amount of money for the priviledge.

[Lite Beer]

I just hope they wont cancel the grandfathering of the investment visas. I fear the worst from these people though.

Look here

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Regulations-...ig-t227532.html

[CHARLES1949]

anyone who needs to stay in thailand for a long period of time should have the necessary visa and not have to make visa runs.....visa runs are used to get around the law in being in thailand legally for long periods of time.

[NarcissusRIP]

This is really going to be a passport killer for some ! Couple years ago while waiting for a new contract start-up, I had to do 9 border runs in a row (still far cheaper than having to fly all the way to Canada to get a visa and fly back again).

Each one though requires a full passport page for the Cambo visa. Anyone doing the 2/month border runs, would use up 24 pages of their passport in a single year !

I can see it already, all farangs sleeping over the Cambodian border for a day, campsites would be comming out of the ground

Might be a good time to start investing in some cross-border "short-time" hotels !

so today 90% of bar in pattaya close? they are all owned by farang.......

Owned by Thai you probably mean.

I agree. Very few bars I know of are owned by farang. Even some of the ones that are claimed to be owned, are in fact leased.

(then again, there's that scam that has being going around for years supposedly, of certain "shady" farangs selling part interest in bars they have no connection to at all !)

A Thai owns a bar that does not run so well.

A farang is interested and would like to run a bar.

Once business is better after a small renovation, the Thai (land) owner will probably "takeover" again one way or another.

And the foreigner has to find a new place in Thailand, if he still has the money for that.

And some(probably most) have to back to their home country.

[anotheruser]

I don't really understand why if a person goes through the trouble of getting a proper visa they have to scurry around to borders every 90 days.

Agreed. It's as silly as the 90-day reporting for retirees. Most likely some vestigial regulation that served some purpose in the distant past but has outlived its usefulness; but no one has got around to repealing it yet.

Hmmm got around to? You would think they could do it when they got around to doing this? I think it is just a friendly reminder that one doesn't belong even when they have a visa.

[GlenP]

I have no axe to grind as i have a one year visa based on marriage and can happily do 90 day border runs locally.

That said i can only see this as having an adverse effect as the image of the country to those outside Thailand is not great at the moment (political turmoil airport closures etc). Throw in a world financial crisis and perceived confusion over visa requirements you may see the tourist look elsewhere.

Yes I know for those that can be bothered it can be worked out simply but when a backpacking year out student or anyone for that matter is considering travelling around the region they may not be to bothered about visa hassles and will plump for what seem to be the easy options.

I know it has been stated many times that your average tourist does not stay for more than 30 days, but it is also about how that two week holidaying tourist perceives things and from speaking to people in the EU recently they just want to stay away and this just adds to the reasons why.

The timing is also questionable for the same reasons. I agree with an earlier poster that immigration have just had time on their hands and have come up with this after a week long meeting.

Off to Pattaya now to see my 'bad falang' pals before they have to relocate or go home.

[anotheruser]

I was thinking that perhaps the fair way to do it would be give 30 days for any initial journey into the kingdom via air, road or sea. After that subsequent visits could fall under the 15 day scheme. Seems like this would alleviate some of the legitimate concerns people had under a variety of circumstances given. What is the sense of limiting somebodies initial visit?

[justSumGai]

Great idea in principal. If you want to work in Thailand, get the correct visa, work permit and pay your taxes.

Finally, immigration is clamping down. I hope they stick to their guns.

I got to agree with you. Everyone should have a correct visa and not misuse Thailand's visa policies. We should be happy that they let us in for two weeks if we don't have a visa (Thai's need a visa to travel to my country). I always have the correct visa but if I do come in on a 30 days stamp, I normally don't stay longer then one week and use Thailand only for shopping and to buy cheap tickets.

MISUSE???? hey, the rule was, 30 days, they allow for two more such periods within a year no? Why did they make that in the first place? how is deciding to stay longer and re-entering abusing that rule? how does this get rid of the "riff raff". This point always seems like crap to me as if planning ahead means you are golden. Like criminals don't plan. All this seems to do is penalize ppl who decide their stay is good and want to extend it another month. Unless they have the money to fly out and back in huh? So riff raff is ppl who are not rolling in it?

[oceano]

i find it interesting how many people see every change in the visa rules as an opportunity to gloat when the people *they* look down on are getting screwed--in spite of the fact that they don't even know who these people they're looking down on are.

i guess everyone needs someone to look down on, and that must be really hard to find for some people, so they tie up their entire self esteem in their (obviously superior) visa situation. obviously *you* lot are vastly superior to visa runners, but you seem free to make up facts. you know what? you don't actually know who the people making these visa runs are. unless, of course, it's you.

hey i don't know who they are either. this change doesn't affect me. but the difference is i am aware that i don't know who they are or why they make border runs. why make stuff up? do you think it makes you look good somehow? so gloat away, but it only makes you look pissy, petty, and pathetic.

oh and i'm sure *your* morals are absolutely as impeccable as you lot seem to be saying they are. if any of you want to volunteer, i'll gladly follow you around with a camcorder for a month so you can prove it.

Quoted for Truth.

Lot of amusing, condesceneding "I'm so much better than others" attitudes in this thread.

I imagine these will be the same people whinging up a giant storm when "their" particular visa rules are changed.

I grow so very weary of running across self righteous farang who think Thainland is "their" exclusive club and all others must conform to "their" standards.

For the crowd trying to use visa "moral eqivalism" ("My country makes it harder for Thais then Thais make it for my countrymen"). Wake up and face the facts: Thailand is a developing nation, 2nd world (apparently trying to take steps backwards to 3rd world status based on look at recent political bumblings), NOT 1st world western democracy. The USA, UK, EU, AUS do NOT need Thai tourism to sustain their economies, Thailand ABSOLUTELY needs western tourism to sustain theirs.

riff raff/bad farangs

teachers

backpackers

sexpats

sex tourists

How are these people hurting your life? Who are you to judge them? Actually, I think a lot of the self righteous crowd needs them so they have someone to pretend they are better than.

A huge chunk of posters sound like an unfunny version of SirBurr's parodies.

And say all:

How many come in thailand for the sea and the nature and the temple?

Come on we are 99% men.....

wich difference from one man take lady in him house and pay everyday, and someone change one and pay one different everyday.

And then why THEY dont close all ....place were sex is selling? opsssssss were there are lady that take care of you?

COME ON how many tourist do you have in thailand whitout sex??????????????????????????????????????????????????????

At the end if i have money and im a criminal i stay in KENYA, Malindi where the real rich and poor criminal live.

ciao

ciao