Asianrider Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 this is just cosmetic tinkering again with no substance, addressing none of the real problems here in Thailand such as the strong baht, property ownership etc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevehaigh Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 Such arrangement is for Tourist Visa single entry only. -- Tourism Authority of Thailand 2009-02-27 http://www.tatnews.org/latest_update/detail.asp?id=4235 i wonder what the deal is if you apply for a double entry then? will they give the first entry free? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vision Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 (edited) Wow! You detractors are really in such a rush to criticize that you totally missed the point of a program like this. This is done like almost any promotion in order to issue a press release. Said release will go out on travel agent mailing lists, boards just like this one and to travel magazines. The value of the program is not measured in how many people that were already going to come here rush the gates to save 1.500 baht but in all the new people who are casually thinking about where to go on vacatation with nothing set in stone and now reading about this program think "Oh yea Thailand we should find out more about Thailand" only a fraction of them will finally decide to come here but the value of the program is in the press release it allows you to issue not in the program itself. The notion that property ownership would increase tourism is what is trully silly Edited February 27, 2009 by vision Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Briggsy Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 Does this include the Royal Thai Embassy in Vientiane? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john b good Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 I wonder if this is in affect for double entry tourist visa's as well.... If you read the OP you will see that it is for a single entry only Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
torrenova Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 Sounds good. And not a meaningless announcement, but a definite change of policy, for the slow season. Sorry but I disagree. It is a meaningless announcement for 99.99% of people from proper countries who don't need visas and who never stay more than 30 days. What they should do is kill this 15 day stupidity at land borders, kill all visas and visa costs except perhaps business visas, give everyone from proper countries 90 days on arrival (which can be extended for another 90 days again and again at immigration if you can prove cash of say Bt150,000 or so in the bank or at hand). Then make it easy and cheap to do business legally and not use the blunt force of an immigration tool against non tax paying business owners. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thaibkk Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 if you follow the news... the red will do soon what the yellow did a few weeks ago for example : shutting down the airport 2 weeks to make their point mind my words one thing : they will never do anything for the farang living here they only want fash cash from spending tourists Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misterman21 Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 Quite ludicrous! Anyone arriving for a normal vacation will get 30 days on entry anyhow. Can anyone really imagine that someone who may be planning a longish stay in Thailand would not come if they had to pay a few thousand baht for a visa. 'Hey John I see visas to Thailand are free - lets go for a couple of months, with the money we save on visa fees we can buy a cheap pair of training shoes" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SurfRider Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 "Lets get something real, like 5 years retirement visa and landownership. I heard from a friend that you can now own 1.5 ha of land in the Philippine" I lived in the Philippines back in the early '90s -- In order to keep your visa current, you had only to go to a travel agent every six months ( I used Thomas Cook ) and drop off your passport -- they sent a runner to Immigration with that day's batch of passports to process the stamp -- your passport was returned to you the next day -- cost US$15 ( 525 Baht at current exchange rates ) -- I NEVER had to go to the Imm. office, and to this day, don't even know where it's located -- The Philippines has far more U.S. Expats than Thailand - so many, that Manila has the only Social Security office outside the U.S. -- No problems with Expats there, so it makes you wonder why retirees in Siam are harassed by the requirement to personally appear at the Imm. office here 5 times every year? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barry Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 "At least the government is trying" Trying ? THEY'RE EXHAUSTING Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunsetlover Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 That is a very symbolic effort. Lets get something real, like 5 years retirement visa and landownership.I heard from a friend that you can now own 1.5 ha of land in the Philippine (I am not sure about the details). Robert I work in the Philippines the place is a Dump and the corruption twice as bad.the roads are bad and it takes for ever to a few km. i would be back to Thailand tomorrow. Don't agree completely...corruption, yes, but not more than in Thailand...roads outside of the big cities, yes, they leave much to be desired....but in Makati and the baywalk in Malate there is not a single piece of trash, can you say that about Sukhumvit?! As far as the free tourist visas discussion, how about a 3-month stamp on arrival, like in Malaysia, a "real" country, which doesn't depend on cheap tourism...but that's a topic for another discussion........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zappo Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 Wow! You detractors are really in such a rush to criticize that you totally missed the point of a program like this. This is done like almost any promotion in order to issue a press release. Said release will go out on travel agent mailing lists, boards just like this one and to travel magazines. The value of the program is not measured in how many people that were already going to come here rush the gates to save 1.500 baht but in all the new people who are casually thinking about where to go on vacatation with nothing set in stone and now reading about this program think "Oh yea Thailand we should find out more about Thailand" only a fraction of them will finally decide to come here but the value of the program is in the press release it allows you to issue not in the program itself.The notion that property ownership would increase tourism is what is trully silly No it will not increase tourism but it will bring in a lot of foreign money and that is worth much more than what an average tourist brings in. Being a marketing expert for many years I must give your right on the good side effects of this promotion. Sorry to say it also bounce back on the silliness of the whole idea. I doubt it will promote tourism OR investing at all, but for sure it will cost a lot of money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alstaxi Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 And some people just cannot be happy. They are trying to stimulate tourism. A single entry visa will cover most of the short term tourists that come here. as does the FREE 30 day visa on arrival,which is already free, this is not much use to anyone and sounds like a deal, but is more of nothing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dr_Pat_Pong Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 This will have zero effect on the number of visitors to Thailand. I agree.... absolutely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tropo Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 That is a very symbolic effort. Lets get something real, like 5 years retirement visa and landownership.I heard from a friend that you can now own 1.5 ha of land in the Philippine (I am not sure about the details). Robert Just as symbolic as changing the border run visas to 15 days from 30.Next....... Did I miss something? Have they changed it back to 30 days at a land border on visa exempt entries? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tropo Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 I wonder if this is in affect for double entry tourist visa's as well.... Re-read the OP. It said "Such arrangement is for Tourist Visa single entry only." We purchase tourist visa entries on a per entry basis. Will it mean that a double tourist visa applicant will get one entry for free? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScienceGuy Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 The fees were high to begin with. It's good to see they're realizing this and taking steps. The dates mentioned happen to coincide with hiring season for schools. The people who will benefit the most are the farang back-packers working illegally(and their thai overlords). Your typical tourist doesn't come for more than 30 days so they won't even notice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alstaxi Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 Sounds good. And not a meaningless announcement, but a definite change of policy, for the slow season. Sorry but I disagree. It is a meaningless announcement for 99.99% of people from proper countries who don't need visas and who never stay more than 30 days. What they should do is kill this 15 day stupidity at land borders, kill all visas and visa costs except perhaps business visas, give everyone from proper countries 90 days on arrival (which can be extended for another 90 days again and again at immigration if you can prove cash of say Bt150,000 or so in the bank or at hand). Then make it easy and cheap to do business legally and not use the blunt force of an immigration tool against non tax paying business owners. I agree, If they wanted to do something substantial I suggest they stop charging for retirement visa's and re entry permits for same. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yllorco Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 I have been thinking if the free 3-month visa would allow foreigners to stay in the kingdom without necessarily doing 15-day visa runs. If not, what would be the use of having visa runs without any fees at all? It would be an added job on the part of the immigration officers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misterman21 Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 I have been thinking if the free 3-month visa would allow foreigners to stay in the kingdom without necessarily doing 15-day visa runs. If not, what would be the use of having visa runs without any fees at all? It would be an added job on the part of the immigration officers. Please refrain from thinking logicaly when trying to understand such reasonings Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
animatic Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 Just give them a three month stamp on arrival. That method would be far too simple. It also puts Thais out of work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goonerone Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 its Free so what load of rubish when you enter this country you get a free 1 month visa if you are on a multi visa the you get a free 3 month extenstion so what the hel_l are the giving Free tourist visas between March 5 and June 4, 2009BANGKOK: -- Continuing its efforts to expedite the revival of the Thai travel and tourism industry, the Royal Thai government has agreed to exempt the fee for tourist visa applications for a three month period, effective 5 March, 2009 to 4 June, 2009. All foreigners who apply for Tourist Visa at the Royal Thai Embassies and the Royal Thai Consulates-General worldwide, including eligible foreigners who apply for Visa on Arrival at designed checkpoints, will be exempted from tourist visa fee from 5 March to 4 June B.E.2552 (2009). Such arrangement is for Tourist Visa single entry only. -- Tourism Authority of Thailand 2009-02-27 http://www.tatnews.org/latest_update/detail.asp?id=4235 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr_Pedantic Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 The Thai Government are like Thai girls they don't want long stayers with no money they want short stayers with lots of money Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asiawatcher Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 I think all these 'incentives' are for mindless Farang who are here with nothing better to do that respond to what we all know is as mindless as the incentive! Now arrest the people destroying property wearing red shirts for malicious damage, charge the fools with no eardrums (turn the volume up I cant hear it!) for noise pollution and perhaps take some positive steps to improve the country's image in foreign eyes that the Govt is at least strong enough to be in control of rabble. Then the suppression of the unsettling image may allow the media to report on sport or some other fabulous event to allow the peacefulness of Thailand to attract people who want to come here for relaxation or even yes, a holiday! Wake up Thailand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fresnoboy Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 And some people just cannot be happy. They are trying to stimulate tourism. A single entry visa will cover most of the short term tourists that come here. Most Western short term tourists do not need a Visa. They get in for free anyway. Exactly !!!!!!!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freefunk Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 Where is the source of this info pls? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lazygourmet Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 I agree with the poster who said "3 months on entry". Though as another said it's too easy. Some effort is better than no effort though! Right... It is not the -menial- cost which is annoying; it is the trip -and the wait- at the consulate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spalpeen Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 As far as visas for westerners moving to Thailand goes, whether married to one of the locals, running a business or retired, they need to get some Malaysians up here to run their immigration policy. Last time I went to Laos the immigration officer there even tried to persuade me to move to his country. Visitors, whether short-time or long-time, are a source of income and with Thai exports having just fallen off a cliff they could do with realising that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hhgz Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 "That is a very symbolic effort." Of course. The majority of vacationers don't need visas - the countries are on the visa waiver list. Too, how many people would decide to visit a country simply because you didn't have to pay a middling visa fee? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dan7385 Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 Just give them a three month stamp on arrival. That method would be far too simple. It also puts Thais out of work. Can anyone please clarify the situation for me..I am UK citizen and arrived here on a visa on arrival...I am aware of the rules for applying for a retirement visa but I am not sure about the "border run" visa. Will I get a 30 day or 15 day visa.. Or can i go to the Thai Embassy or immigration in BKK and obtain the free visa that it is being referred to in this forum. Many thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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