robint Posted June 28, 2009 Share Posted June 28, 2009 I rang the Thai embassy in London to ask about a free visa (thai give something free to flang ). They refused to co-operate or acknowledge that the scheme existed and told me to go to my local Hon Con surpise surprise btw this is modern thailand http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/worl...?Submitted=true Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce1 Posted June 28, 2009 Share Posted June 28, 2009 It must be working - five people I know have bought tickets to Phuket on Air Asia in the last 3 days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
astral Posted June 28, 2009 Share Posted June 28, 2009 Is there any evidence that the previous "free visa" scheme boosted numbers?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce1 Posted June 28, 2009 Share Posted June 28, 2009 Can you PROVE that the earth is round, or do you just accept it word of mouth? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunholidaysun1 Posted June 28, 2009 Share Posted June 28, 2009 Free single entry visa's are not worth anything really to us who stay here. Normally if you havent got the bigger entry visa's such as Non "O" then I would think the Majority of us get the Double Entry Tourist visa, which we will still have to pay for. Those who fly in for a holiday would still get the 30 day on arrival stamp at the airport and if that isnt enough for them then they still have the 4 x 15 day option - all free. So who is going to benefit from the Single Entry Tourist Visa - NO ONE !!! Just a Scam for the Public to think Thailand is giving something away for Free to entice you here . TOTAL NAFFNESS if you ask me . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubonjoe Posted June 28, 2009 Share Posted June 28, 2009 Free single entry visa's are not worth anything really to us who stay here. Normally if you havent got the bigger entry visa's such as Non "O" then I would think the Majority of us get the Double Entry Tourist visa, which we will still have to pay for. Those who fly in for a holiday would still get the 30 day on arrival stamp at the airport and if that isnt enough for them then they still have the 4 x 15 day option - all free.So who is going to benefit from the Single Entry Tourist Visa - NO ONE !!! Just a Scam for the Public to think Thailand is giving something away for Free to entice you here . TOTAL NAFFNESS if you ask me . I think there might be a lot of people that are not from a counrty that is not one of the 39 that get visa exempt entries or the 12 that have bilateral agreements with Thailand.There about 203 countries in the world so that leaves 142 that have to pay to get in the country. Out of the 142 there are 22 that can get a visa on arrival good for 15 days that normally costs 1000 baht. So that leaves 120 that must go to a consulate to ge a visa. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeWill Posted June 29, 2009 Share Posted June 29, 2009 (edited) Fuzzy Math Do you know how many countries have the Royal Thai Embassies or the Royal Thai Consulates-General? Surely, not all 203 countries that you mentioned. Deduct from that list 39 + 12 = 51 countries and you'll get a real number of countries that are affected by the visa fee exempt. BTW, 203 - 51 = 152 and not 142. Edited June 29, 2009 by Condo_bk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubonjoe Posted June 29, 2009 Share Posted June 29, 2009 It does not matter how many of them have consulates or embassies. There is such a thing as postal and courier sevices that easily resolves that problem. A small typo at 6 AM. It just makes it a higher number that don't get free entries. The point was that their are a lot of people in the world that don't get free entries. There are lot of people posting on this forum that seem to think the entrire world can enter Thailand for free. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeWill Posted June 29, 2009 Share Posted June 29, 2009 There are also some people that seem to think that it is easy to get a visa, even if there is no consulates or embassies in your country/city. The main reason so many countries do not have consulates or embassies simply because there is no reason to have one - no tourists. If one wants to have more tourists, simply set up more consulates or embassies worldwide. This is a way to go, unless you want to allow visa on arrival for all. BTW, for your information, not all of 152 countries have the postal and courier services either. And individual travelers are rarely use it, it is mostly for group travel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_samui Posted June 29, 2009 Share Posted June 29, 2009 sweet! will be going to get a tourist visa in Laos next week! Be carefull, I am now in savannaketh and just applied for a tourist visa, the visa is free but they ask to see a Thai bankbook with sufficiant money inside (min. 45.000 Baht) or a Thai person who garantee for you, and this person needs to show a bankbook as well. They give only single entries Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lite Beer Posted June 29, 2009 Share Posted June 29, 2009 sweet! will be going to get a tourist visa in Laos next week! Be carefull, I am now in savannaketh and just applied for a tourist visa, the visa is free but they ask to see a Thai bankbook with sufficiant money inside (min. 45.000 Baht) or a Thai person who garantee for you, and this person needs to show a bankbook as well. They give only single entries That Consulate has a reputation for being unhelpful. Most go to Vientianne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubonjoe Posted June 29, 2009 Share Posted June 29, 2009 sweet! will be going to get a tourist visa in Laos next week! Be carefull, I am now in savannaketh and just applied for a tourist visa, the visa is free but they ask to see a Thai bankbook with sufficiant money inside (min. 45.000 Baht) or a Thai person who garantee for you, and this person needs to show a bankbook as well. They give only single entries That is no surprise at all. They have been on our do not go there list for a long time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunholidaysun1 Posted June 29, 2009 Share Posted June 29, 2009 It does not matter how many of them have consulates or embassies. There is such a thing as postal and courier sevices that easily resolves that problem.A small typo at 6 AM. It just makes it a higher number that don't get free entries. The point was that their are a lot of people in the world that don't get free entries. There are lot of people posting on this forum that seem to think the entrire world can enter Thailand for free. I dont think there are many who come here from all those other countries (120 that you stated ) that have to pay. There maybe 203 countries in the world but if you want to talk statistics then show me some how many people are coming here from those 120 countries.!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beechguy Posted June 29, 2009 Share Posted June 29, 2009 There are also some people that seem to think that it is easy to get a visa, even if there is no consulates or embassies in your country/city. The main reason so many countries do not have consulates or embassies simply because there is no reason to have one - no tourists. If one wants to have more tourists, simply set up more consulates or embassies worldwide. This is a way to go, unless you want to allow visa on arrival for all. BTW, for your information, not all of 152 countries have the postal and courier services either. And individual travelers are rarely use it, it is mostly for group travel. Oh really. How many countries don't have some type of postal or courier service? Even if an individual doesn't have an embassy or consulate in their own country, there is no reason not to send an application to another country. And, there are quite a few individuals that apply by post, happens on a regular basis in the U.S. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beechguy Posted June 29, 2009 Share Posted June 29, 2009 (edited) It does not matter how many of them have consulates or embassies. There is such a thing as postal and courier sevices that easily resolves that problem.A small typo at 6 AM. It just makes it a higher number that don't get free entries. The point was that their are a lot of people in the world that don't get free entries. There are lot of people posting on this forum that seem to think the entrire world can enter Thailand for free. I dont think there are many who come here from all those other countries (120 that you stated ) that have to pay. There maybe 203 countries in the world but if you want to talk statistics then show me some how many people are coming here from those 120 countries.!! Don't have numbers now, but you don't think China, Taiwan, India, along with Russia and several European countries, and countries in Central and South America within that group of 120 produce significant numbers of visitors? Edited June 29, 2009 by beechguy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubonjoe Posted June 29, 2009 Share Posted June 29, 2009 It does not matter how many of them have consulates or embassies. There is such a thing as postal and courier sevices that easily resolves that problem.A small typo at 6 AM. It just makes it a higher number that don't get free entries. The point was that their are a lot of people in the world that don't get free entries. There are lot of people posting on this forum that seem to think the entrire world can enter Thailand for free. I dont think there are many who come here from all those other countries (120 that you stated ) that have to pay. There maybe 203 countries in the world but if you want to talk statistics then show me some how many people are coming here from those 120 countries.!! The number is 152 because you have to include the 22 that can get visas on arrival because they do normally pay 1000 baht for the 15 day stay they get. For 2007 about 220,000 give or take a bit. Source: http://www2.tat.or.th/stat/download/0107/nat-1.xls Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeWill Posted June 29, 2009 Share Posted June 29, 2009 There are also some people that seem to think that it is easy to get a visa, even if there is no consulates or embassies in your country/city. The main reason so many countries do not have consulates or embassies simply because there is no reason to have one - no tourists. If one wants to have more tourists, simply set up more consulates or embassies worldwide. This is a way to go, unless you want to allow visa on arrival for all. BTW, for your information, not all of 152 countries have the postal and courier services either. And individual travelers are rarely use it, it is mostly for group travel. Oh really. How many countries don't have some type of postal or courier service? Even if an individual doesn't have an embassy or consulate in their own country, there is no reason not to send an application to another country. And, there are quite a few individuals that apply by post, happens on a regular basis in the U.S. You can't compare the situation in the U.S. and the rest of the world, especially the 3rd world countries. U.S. BTW doesn't belong in that group of 152 or so countries. The exempt of visa fees was not intended for U.S. tourists. Re: "some type of postal or courier service" One needs a reliable service to send out a passport. You may think that it is easy, but you definitely don't speak from experience... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beechguy Posted June 29, 2009 Share Posted June 29, 2009 There are also some people that seem to think that it is easy to get a visa, even if there is no consulates or embassies in your country/city. The main reason so many countries do not have consulates or embassies simply because there is no reason to have one - no tourists. If one wants to have more tourists, simply set up more consulates or embassies worldwide. This is a way to go, unless you want to allow visa on arrival for all. BTW, for your information, not all of 152 countries have the postal and courier services either. And individual travelers are rarely use it, it is mostly for group travel. Oh really. How many countries don't have some type of postal or courier service? Even if an individual doesn't have an embassy or consulate in their own country, there is no reason not to send an application to another country. And, there are quite a few individuals that apply by post, happens on a regular basis in the U.S. You can't compare the situation in the U.S. and the rest of the world, especially the 3rd world countries. U.S. BTW doesn't belong in that group of 152 or so countries. The exempt of visa fees was not intended for U.S. tourists. Re: "some type of postal or courier service" One needs a reliable service to send out a passport. You may think that it is easy, but you definitely don't speak from experience... I'm not just comparing the situation in the U.S. My career involves alot of travel, and some are not very nice places. I assure you, I do know what I'm talking about, and speak from 12 years of experience. DHL, Fedex, and others, operate from almost everywhere. Perhaps you should do a little research. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeWill Posted June 29, 2009 Share Posted June 29, 2009 ubonjoe, Do you seriously think that TAT have a clue in regards to the worldwide tourists arrivals. Such data could be obtained from airlines maybe. But also not easy. How many countries have flights to Thailand? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeWill Posted June 29, 2009 Share Posted June 29, 2009 There are also some people that seem to think that it is easy to get a visa, even if there is no consulates or embassies in your country/city. The main reason so many countries do not have consulates or embassies simply because there is no reason to have one - no tourists. If one wants to have more tourists, simply set up more consulates or embassies worldwide. This is a way to go, unless you want to allow visa on arrival for all. BTW, for your information, not all of 152 countries have the postal and courier services either. And individual travelers are rarely use it, it is mostly for group travel. Oh really. How many countries don't have some type of postal or courier service? Even if an individual doesn't have an embassy or consulate in their own country, there is no reason not to send an application to another country. And, there are quite a few individuals that apply by post, happens on a regular basis in the U.S. You can't compare the situation in the U.S. and the rest of the world, especially the 3rd world countries. U.S. BTW doesn't belong in that group of 152 or so countries. The exempt of visa fees was not intended for U.S. tourists. Re: "some type of postal or courier service" One needs a reliable service to send out a passport. You may think that it is easy, but you definitely don't speak from experience... I'm not just comparing the situation in the U.S. My career involves alot of travel, and some are not very nice places. I assure you, I do know what I'm talking about, and speak from 12 years of experience. DHL, Fedex, and others, operate from almost everywhere. Perhaps you should do a little research. I can't comment on your experience with DHL, Fedex, and others. I'm in the travel business in Thailand for almost two decades. Tourist Visa to Thailand is a big problem for tourists in many countries worldwide. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beechguy Posted June 29, 2009 Share Posted June 29, 2009 (edited) I'm not just comparing the situation in the U.S. My career involves alot of travel, and some are not very nice places. I assure you, I do know what I'm talking about, and speak from 12 years of experience. DHL, Fedex, and others, operate from almost everywhere.Perhaps you should do a little research. I can't comment on your experience with DHL, Fedex, and others. I'm in the travel business in Thailand for almost two decades. Tourist Visa to Thailand is a big problem for tourists in many countries worldwide. How is it a problem and which countries? All of the visa application forms I've seen, are one page, ask for basic information, such as passport information, an address or two and a couple of photos, sometimes more than one copy is required for certain nationalities. Submit with payment, passport, wait a few days.. done. If that's too difficult, then perhaps it is better they stay home or ask for help from someone more knowledgeble. Edited June 29, 2009 by ubonjoe fixed quotes ubonjoe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubonjoe Posted June 29, 2009 Share Posted June 29, 2009 ubonjoe, Do you seriously think that TAT have a clue in regards to the worldwide tourists arrivals. Such data could be obtained from airlines maybe. But also not easy. How many countries have flights to Thailand? From the bottom of the TAT data that I gave a link to. Source of data : Immigration Bureau, Police Department Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeWill Posted June 29, 2009 Share Posted June 29, 2009 beechguy, Re: Just one form, what's the problem... As I've said. You think that you know the issue, but you don't. And your careless attitude (similar to those that managing the TAT) is not a substitute for knowledge and experience in the travel business. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JR Texas Posted June 29, 2009 Share Posted June 29, 2009 *deleted stuff because too many quotes from JR Texas: Getting a tourist visa to visit Thailand can be a totally insane process. Most of the time you have to ask around to find out which foreign Thai embassy is giving out tourist visas and how many, etc. I remember, maybe six or seven years ago, taking a trip to PP in Cambodia for the precise purpose of getting a tourist visa (wanted a double entry). They would not give me (or anybody else) any visa. Incredible! Total waste of my time. And if you enter without a tourist visa and then want to get one, they force you to leave the country and come back when they could easily give you the visa at any immigration checkpoint within the country. Crazy system.......will they ever learn? I doubt it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beechguy Posted June 29, 2009 Share Posted June 29, 2009 (edited) beechguy,Re: Just one form, what's the problem... As I've said. You think that you know the issue, but you don't. And your careless attitude (similar to those that managing the TAT) is not a substitute for knowledge and experience in the travel business. Well I asked a question, why don't you explain it? The fact is, for many people it is just about as simple as I described it. Other than the application, I have seen some requests for supporting documents, but nothing out of line with other countries. You can't explain the problem, you don't know that nearly every country has a workable postal system, or courier service of some type that people can use to process their applications. Geez, I wonder why you may be having problems with the travel business. I will be happy to backup anything I say with facts. How about you? Apparently, you can't. So, again, which of those many countries or tourist are having problems? Edited June 29, 2009 by beechguy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beechguy Posted June 29, 2009 Share Posted June 29, 2009 (edited) *deleted stuff because too many quotesfrom JR Texas: Getting a tourist visa to visit Thailand can be a totally insane process. Most of the time you have to ask around to find out which foreign Thai embassy is giving out tourist visas and how many, etc. I remember, maybe six or seven years ago, taking a trip to PP in Cambodia for the precise purpose of getting a tourist visa (wanted a double entry). They would not give me (or anybody else) any visa. Incredible! Total waste of my time. And if you enter without a tourist visa and then want to get one, they force you to leave the country and come back when they could easily give you the visa at any immigration checkpoint within the country. Crazy system.......will they ever learn? I doubt it. And how is obtaining a visa for Thailand much different than obtaining one for another country? Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Indonesia come to mind? So they also have a crazy system? Edited June 29, 2009 by beechguy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeWill Posted June 29, 2009 Share Posted June 29, 2009 ubonjoe, I checked the TAT stats you referred to, and didn't find that number (For 2007 about 220,000) you mentioned. They put the total number of tourist's arrivals for 2006 - 1,262,500 and for 2007 - 1,313,677. Does it sounds as correct numbers for you? Furthermore, altogether they have less than 50 countries mentioned. -- beechguy, I don't want to bother any further arguing with you. I see that you're determined to fight to the bitter end, regardless of logic, facts and arguments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubonjoe Posted June 29, 2009 Share Posted June 29, 2009 ubonjoe, I checked the TAT stats you referred to, and didn't find that number (For 2007 about 220,000) you mentioned. They put the total number of tourist's arrivals for 2006 - 1,262,500 and for 2007 - 1,313,677. Does it sounds as correct numbers for you? Furthermore, altogether they have less than 50 countries mentioned. Just add the numbers for China, Taiwan, South Asia, Eastern Europe, Others for Europe, Others for Africa, Others for Middle East, Others for the Americas and all the remaining others and you will get a higher number than 220,000. Use this list for the ones not to add into the total. http://www.mfa.go.th/internet/document/ChartVisa.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beechguy Posted June 29, 2009 Share Posted June 29, 2009 ubonjoe, I checked the TAT stats you referred to, and didn't find that number (For 2007 about 220,000) you mentioned. They put the total number of tourist's arrivals for 2006 - 1,262,500 and for 2007 - 1,313,677. Does it sounds as correct numbers for you? Furthermore, altogether they have less than 50 countries mentioned. -- beechguy, I don't want to bother any further arguing with you. I see that you're determined to fight to the bitter end, regardless of logic, facts and arguments. No need to fight, just if someone makes a statement, I don't think it's unreasonable to ask for details about what they are talking about. So, forget whatever else I said, can you just explain which many people, in which many countries, are having problems processing a tourist visa? Why do you think it's so difficult? Maylasia and some countries are more lenient, but what about the neighboring countries, are Thai requirements that much more strict than them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jingjok Posted June 29, 2009 Share Posted June 29, 2009 LOLZ.born and raised in msia. choose to stay in thailand. Frankly, Thailand = Malaysia. Same same na. That's a pretty amazing conclusion you've come to. Thailand and Malaysia are bordering countries with nothing in common. I agree. Amazing indeed. But then I gave up strident socialism at about the same time I gave up my nappies. Fortuner, if you want an easy and objective way to compare, drive to Malaysia from Thailand, and observe the road system. You must have done this. It's a bit different once you pass the border ... What the other chap said about the benefit of former colonisation is valid. I didn't want to state it myself though, hailing as I do from the former colonial power, so modesty forbids I do admit to blatant bias - I love the colonial echoes I feel in Malaysia. Must go now, it's 4pm so time for afternoon tea at the Governor's residence (ps try it - unfortunately now named Carcosa Seri Negara, but still a jolly good tea, old chap). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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