Hello,i have been in thailand for approx 20 days so far and and am planning on staying for another 3 weeks.Have spoken to a couple of people about extending it by 2 weeks.Some say i can and some say i cant.Went to the immigration office in samui today and they said i can get a 7 day extension for 1900 baht!! which sounds expensive to me.And then i read somewhere that tourist visas are now free to promote more tourism etc are they only giving free ones to people who aren't already in the country?.Is there another way of doing it without flying out of the country?thanks for any replys.

You are on a 30 day visa exempt entry not a tourist visa.

A 7 day extension at immigration is the only extension you can get. Only visas are free not immigration fees.

You can leave overland and get a 15 day entry or fly out and get a 30 day entry.

These are the only options you have to stay longer than your original 30 days.

Agree with the above.

Hello,i have been in thailand for approx 20 days so far and and am planning on staying for another 3 weeks.Have spoken to a couple of people about extending it by 2 weeks.Some say i can and some say i cant.Went to the immigration office in samui today and they said i can get a 7 day extension for 1900 baht!! which sounds expensive to me.And then i read somewhere that tourist visas are now free to promote more tourism etc are they only giving free ones to people who aren't already in the country?.Is there another way of doing it without flying out of the country?thanks for any replys.

If you plan to stay longer than the additonal 3 weeks, that is, something like another 6 weeks, you could stay for the remaining duration on your current visa free entry - and then go to Vientiane and get a tourist visa there.

@Ubon Joe, @LiteBeer are they also giving out the tourist visas in Vientiane for free?

Hello,i have been in thailand for approx 20 days so far and and am planning on staying for another 3 weeks.Have spoken to a couple of people about extending it by 2 weeks.Some say i can and some say i cant.Went to the immigration office in samui today and they said i can get a 7 day extension for 1900 baht!! which sounds expensive to me.And then i read somewhere that tourist visas are now free to promote more tourism etc are they only giving free ones to people who aren't already in the country?.Is there another way of doing it without flying out of the country?thanks for any replys.

If you plan to stay longer than the additonal 3 weeks, that is, something like another 6 weeks, you could stay for the remaining duration on your current visa free entry - and then go to Vientiane and get a tourist visa there.

@Ubon Joe, @LiteBeer are they also giving out the tourist visas in Vientiane for free?

As of yesterday no reports of free visas yet.

From Samui Vientiane might not be the best place to go for a visa.

Hello,i have been in thailand for approx 20 days so far and and am planning on staying for another 3 weeks.Have spoken to a couple of people about extending it by 2 weeks.Some say i can and some say i cant.Went to the immigration office in samui today and they said i can get a 7 day extension for 1900 baht!! which sounds expensive to me.And then i read somewhere that tourist visas are now free to promote more tourism etc are they only giving free ones to people who aren't already in the country?.Is there another way of doing it without flying out of the country?thanks for any replys.

If you plan to stay longer than the additonal 3 weeks, that is, something like another 6 weeks, you could stay for the remaining duration on your current visa free entry - and then go to Vientiane and get a tourist visa there.

@Ubon Joe, @LiteBeer are they also giving out the tourist visas in Vientiane for free?

As of yesterday no reports of free visas yet.

From Samui Vientiane might not be the best place to go for a visa.

yea maybe a bit closer to make the trek down to penang and get the 60 day for 1000 baht

Or Kota Bharu.

Hello,i have been in thailand for approx 20 days so far and and am planning on staying for another 3 weeks.Have spoken to a couple of people about extending it by 2 weeks.Some say i can and some say i cant.Went to the immigration office in samui today and they said i can get a 7 day extension for 1900 baht!! which sounds expensive to me.And then i read somewhere that tourist visas are now free to promote more tourism etc are they only giving free ones to people who aren't already in the country?.Is there another way of doing it without flying out of the country?thanks for any replys.

It's just a math problem. "planning on staying for another 3 weeks" = 21 days?

Extend the current stamp by 7 days = 1900 baht

Border run for a 15-day stamp = 2500 baht (max)

4400 baht total (21 days granted)

or

Single entry tourist visa at any Thai consulate = 1000 baht

4400 - 1000 = 3400 baht

Don't really know if you can get from Samui to a Thai consulate, stay a night and get back for 3400. 2 ferry rides, the worst seat on the train to Butterworth, a night in a hostel... maybe.

As per the zamp's post, he still has prob. around 9 days left. Now add the extension, so we are looking at another 16 days. If he plans only for 21 more days, then I would just make the stay 16 more days (9+7) and pay the 1900 Baht. To leave the island to get an additional 5 days before leaving and then return back, is that really worth it? (or course, unless the money is no issue whatsoever) My suggestion was more, if he changes his mind and stays on for let's say 6 more weeks. But you are right, Vientiane is probably a bit far, if he wants to stay in Samui.

Will be interesting to hear when the free visas start kicking in.

Or only do the visa run and no extension and enjoy the full 21 days.

The OP is a victim of the new 15 day limit at land borders. A genuine tourist who has to go through real hoops just to get a few extra weeks.

I wonder if the new government will eventually consider amending this ridiculous rule, especially considering it was enforced during a period with no functioning government in place.

The OP is a victim of the new 15 day limit at land borders. A genuine tourist who has to go through real hoops just to get a few extra weeks…

What a lot of people seem to forget is that when you travel to faraway countries you need to do a little more planning than when you just travel to another province in your own country, things like deciding in advance how many days you will be in a country and what the visa requirements are.

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Maestro

The OP is a victim of the new 15 day limit at land borders. A genuine tourist who has to go through real hoops just to get a few extra weeks.

I wonder if the new government will eventually consider amending this ridiculous rule, especially considering it was enforced during a period with no functioning government in place.

I honestly fail to see how the OP is a victim in this case, as he only spend 20 out of his 30 days in Thailand, and wants to stay for another three weeks (=21 days), so in this case, his still has 10 days remaining on his visa exempt stamp, needs an additional 11 days, which he will get at any border, and still has 4 days additional.

So in this case it doesn't make one bit of difference if he would get 15 or 30 days.