Maesai border

[JT65]

Hi All

Just got back from Maesai two days ago. I thought I would tell of my experience to relieve a few peoples anxiety over some of the posts.  First I went to the office as usual and the only thing that was different was there was a photocopied sign in plain view that if you had been over the border at Maesai more than two times before you need to surrender photocopies of every page of your passport. I have more than two Maesai stamps but they were not consecutive. There were breaks with Singapore etc and my home country. The lady and gentleman at the head office were more than nice to me and extremely polite.  Well after getting my exit stamp it was off to the border bridge.  Went out with no problems of course. Once on the other side I bought some Johnny Walker and a couple of bottles of white from the lovely Thai lady in the duty free on the burmese side. Asked for her telephone number and for a date but was turned down as she already has a boyfriend. Oh well !!

Once back at the Thai side there was a long wait to get to one of the officers. There were not that many people but only two windows and they really took their time. I was worried.  Once my turn the officer inspected my last page and current visa and then gave me a good looking over. He then proceeded to every page. Once finished looked me over again and repeated the whole process another two times. I kept my cool but inside I was shitting myself. Anyway he never asked me one question , just stamped the passport and gave it back to me. I must have been with him more than 5 minutes but it seemed like 20 minutes.

The guy next to me was really getting a hard time. I am not sure but he looked like a long termer as he spoke decent Thai and was asked more than 3 times to clarify the address he as staying at in full details and finally told to write both his handphone and telephone number of guesthouse on the card. I have never seen this before. Maybe he was a 30 day hopper. He was still there when I left.

Now just so you know my last 12 months of stamps are all real with exits to other countries and a couple of border hops in different places. My concern was what I believed was a stamp from a "A" agent over a year ago when the Maesai border was closed. Anyway he didnt question it and Im fine.

One thing I will say , and Im sure I will be blasted for this , is that the attire of the Foreigners at both the Main Immigration Office and on the border left a lot to be desired. I wore a business shirt and some good pants and took a shoulder bag with my business documents, and references from Thai suppliers in it. I personally am off the belief that this type of apprearance helps in Thailand. When I was at the main office a busload of Foreigners turned up in shorts , open shirts and flip flops. Im 37 and these guys could have been my father. They should know better. One guy was wearing a bandana! With all the crackdowns happening I think that people should present themselves a bit better when going to borders and immigration points. Just my opinion

:laugh:

[Mackerel]

One thing I will say , and Im sure I will be blasted for this , is that the attire of the Foreigners at both the Main Immigration Office and on the border left a lot to be desired.

I've seen guys turn up at Pattaya Immigration with no shirt. Every visa run I do, there's the guys in old vests and tattered flipflops. Sure you can wear what you like, all I'd say is use some common sense when dealing with officials here. Looking like a vagrant won't help...

My last visa run, a couple of weeks ago saw one such character getting his passport checked. The rest of us, no problems.

[dr_Pat_Pong]

Immigration have an expectation that their clients will dress and behave appropriately. Turning up like a 70's flower power drop out shows disrespect to the officers. Behave in that fashion at your own peril.

[Maigo6]

I was in Pattaya immigration office once, some guy walked in with a singlet on, he was asked to leave and come back with a proper shirt on. People forget that these guys are Police.

[meadish_sweetball]

That's very interesting reading about your Mae Sai experience JT65, thanks for sharing it.

So, apart from all the rumours and indications, does anyone here have a *clear* picture about what will happen to the border-hopping people? I have also noticed a trend of officials starting to get particular about exact adress details for long-term stayers with tourist visas. The new legislation does not seem to have anything to say about this, or is it just that the information provided in that article is incomplete (i realise it's a draft, but is the English translation a complete lowdown of the then-current Thai version, or just a 'Legislators' greatest hits'?)

[jonwilly]

I went through mai sai to talchek on Tuesday 07th. I have a multi entry non immigrant visa and was just up for a day out and to buy some DVDs (135-150 and Booze. I go up by M/cycle and dress in Tee Shirt and jeans, both clean and in good order.

I have always found all the thai immigration staff polite and efficent.

They have on say the last three border runs paid far more attention to my passport then they did in the past.

I have no doubt that they are under pressure from the top and are just doing their duty as they should.

People who have suspect visas really have them selves to blame. It takes more trouble to obtain a legal visa then rely on locals who will supply a visa of dubious valve for their own profit. It is not too difficult to obtain a Valid visa and certainly does not help sitting around Chiang Mai's bars, complaining about the fact that the immigration are now doing their job.

jon

[ChiangMaiThai]

So, apart from all the rumours and indications, does anyone here have a *clear* picture about what will happen to the border-hopping people?

Unfortunately, this question seems to be unacceptable on this board. God knows I've asked it many many times and instead of receiving a clear and concise answer, I've simply been ignored or insulted. If I do ever come across the answer, I'll PM you.

[george]

So, apart from all the rumours and indications, does anyone here have a *clear* picture about what will happen to the border-hopping people?

Unfortunately, this question seems to be unacceptable on this board. God knows I've asked it many many times and instead of receiving a clear and concise answer, I've simply been ignored or insulted. If I do ever come across the answer, I'll PM you.

It will soon be an end to the 30 day runners. There is ongoing high level discussions that the 30 days "automatic" entry will be only 15 days in the future. So it's about time to have a proper visa.

Don't ask me for my sources of this information, I can't reveal them right now for obvious reasons. The fact is that most *genuine* tourists only stays in Thailand for an average week, have made the need for the 30 day stamp less important.

Be prepared for the 15 days in the near future.

[ChiangMaiThai]

So, apart from all the rumours and indications, does anyone here have a *clear* picture about what will happen to the border-hopping people?

Unfortunately, this question seems to be unacceptable on this board. God knows I've asked it many many times and instead of receiving a clear and concise answer, I've simply been ignored or insulted. If I do ever come across the answer, I'll PM you.

It will soon be an end to the 30 day runners. There is ongoing high level discussions that the 30 days "automatic" entry will be only 15 days in the future. So it's about time to have a proper visa.

Don't ask me for my sources of this information, I can't reveal them right now for obvious reasons. The fact is that most *genuine* tourists only stays in Thailand for an average week, have made the need for the 30 day stamp less important.

Be prepared for the 15 days in the near future.

THANK YOU GEORGE! Finally, a simple and reasonable answer to a  simple and reasonable question.

[JOAQUIN SAVAGE]

Made a visa run to Poipet this week. First one in years. PP full of various muiti entry visas and dozens of stamps some with #s listed as dodgy on this site. Imm ofc looked it over for a few minutes, checked the computer and that was it. Even less time coming back in. In short... no problem

[ovenman]

It will soon be an end to the 30 day runners. There is ongoing high level discussions that the 30 days "automatic" entry will be only 15 days in the future. So it's about time to have a proper visa.

I still feel that a more logical solution to this problem is to limit the number of days that one can stay in Thailand annually as a tourist, on 30-day visa-free entries, or whatever.

For country that purports to be the tourism hub of Southeast Asia, a 15 day entry seems on the thin side.  I realize that Thailand did actually use a 15 day visa-free entry in the not too distant past but moving to a thirty day entry seemed more a step in the direction of what other countries allow. Consider that nearby countries such as Malaysia and Singapore allow citizens of many western countries a three month visa-free entry.