I have a type 'O' visa which is good for stays of up to 90 days in Thailand, issued by the Boston consulate last month.

I flew in to BKK on March 30th; without watching the immigration officer, I was given a simple ''visa on entry'' 30 day stamp, which I did not notice until the next day; when I was here in Samui.

I will go to immigration on wednesday after the public holiday and try to have this reversed so I can stay my full 90 days with no drama and no exit from the country before April 28th. I have been given mixed signals so far on my chances of getting them to overturn this, from ''you ain't got a snowballs chance, mate'' to ''you better dress nicely and hope for the best'' to ''no problems, it''ll be a breeze''.

Any comments, tips or suggestions to try and make this all work? I really do NOT want to spend a day on a boat and then a bus to Malaysia if I can avoid it.

Thank you one and all, John

If you have a non imm 'O' visa and filled in the immigration card correctly...especially the part stating your visa number then you should have no problems as its obviously their mistake. If you failed to fill it in correctly however it will depend on the mood of the immigration officer on the day I would reckon. Good luck.

You could do a trip across the border if your pleas fail as the 90 day visa will still be valid.

If you have a non imm 'O' visa and filled in the immigration card correctly...especially the part stating your visa number then you should have no problems as its obviously their mistake. If you failed to fill it in correctly however it will depend on the mood of the immigration officer on the day I would reckon. Good luck.

Hi I had the same thing happen to me when I returned to Bangkok on March the 5th , prior to leaving Thailand I paid 1,000baht for re-entry on my existing visa which is valid until 23rd of August but stamped in my passport was 3rd April , my wife noticed this on the 8th of March and I then contacted immigration and they ammended this stamp to the August date, no problems and no hassle , good luck with yours, Mickylonster .

It looks like a string of errors occured during the latter of March.

I arrived on March 28 with a renewed O'-A from the US, like yourself, I didn't observe the entry stamp until the following day

only to find that my stamp given was valid from March 28, 2010 - March 27, 2011 (a one year validation). This is certainly a

error as we only get the 90 days..

It looks like a string of errors occured during the latter of March.

I arrived on March 28 with a renewed O'-A from the US, like yourself, I didn't observe the entry stamp until the following day

only to find that my stamp given was valid from March 28, 2010 - March 27, 2011 (a one year validation). This is certainly a

error as we only get the 90 days..

An O-A visa gets one year not 90 days so the immigration stamp was correct.

The the OP -- this happened to me once quite a few years ago...maybe 10 years??? I went to immigration (which was far less efficient way back then) and they solved the problem quickly and were happy to do so. I guess I was there all of about 30 minutes.

Good luck!

Think it's going to depend on what your local immigration office is like. Same thing happened to me 3 years ago, noticed the mistake when I was already back in Pattaya. Went down to immigration and was told to go to Bangkok as it wasn't their problem. Of course this all changed when I made a donation.

Moved to Visas.

This is certainly a

error as we only get the 90 days..

As said earlier an O-A Visa gets a stay of 12 months.

Thanks one and all ...... it should be noted that the mistake was indeed mine, I have to own up to that {although I won't tell that to immigration on Samui}; it was my first time coming into the country with the special Red visa stamp after a dozen times on tourist visas, so I didn't know I had to fill in that all-important line

Lesson learned for all of us, that's for sure; check the stamp before leaving the booth! My simple mistake at the airport [after a LONG trip from Boston] may cost me 24 hours on a bus and boat next week going to Ranong or Malaysia uggghhhh

Fingers crossed that the people at Immigration are in a good mood!!

These mistakes are usually rectified at Immigration.

Samui may do it or send you to Bangkok. They have their own unique way of doing things.

Let us know how you get on.

I definitely will, and I was given a promising lead already from one of the readers here in the form of a PM.

hoping for the best!

Thanks one and all ...... it should be noted that the mistake was indeed mine, I have to own up to that {although I won't tell that to immigration on Samui}; it was my first time coming into the country with the special Red visa stamp after a dozen times on tourist visas, so I didn't know I had to fill in that all-important line

Lesson learned for all of us, that's for sure; check the stamp before leaving the booth! My simple mistake at the airport [after a LONG trip from Boston] may cost me 24 hours on a bus and boat next week going to Ranong or Malaysia uggghhhh

Fingers crossed that the people at Immigration are in a good mood!!

next time before you live immigration just tak a look on your stamp gl so manny people dont look

Eaxactly same happened to me when I came in to Swampie in Dec 09, only noticed it next day. Not such a problem but it is a ball-ache, (can I say that), to go all the way to immigration in Wattana, BKK to get the stamp amended. Only took about 45 mins waiting when there but it was the time and cost of going there, don't know if that can be done on Samui, I hope for your sake it can. I def thoroughly check my visa stamps now but can totally understand the OP's oversight.

This may be helpful info IF the people on Samui are difficult; IE don't cut me any slack. I could shoot up to BKK and hit immigration there ...... THEN if all else fails do a border run from there...would still be easier and only slightly more expensive than going from here to Malaysia.

so much stuff going through my head now, I guess the only real way to find out is to just hit the office and hope I get someone in a good mood..... TIT and all that, we all know how things work here!!

Immigration HQ at Chaeng Wattana (Bangkok) will rectify the stamp error for you if Samui won't.

If you have a non imm 'O' visa and filled in the immigration card correctly...especially the part stating your visa number then you should have no problems as its obviously their mistake. If you failed to fill it in correctly however it will depend on the mood of the immigration officer on the day I would reckon. Good luck.

Is this on the departure card? If so, if it were left blank it could be filled in retro\actively, right?

If you have a non imm 'O' visa and filled in the immigration card correctly...especially the part stating your visa number then you should have no problems as its obviously their mistake. If you failed to fill it in correctly however it will depend on the mood of the immigration officer on the day I would reckon. Good luck.

Is this on the departure card? If so, if it were left blank it could be filled in retro\actively, right?

Unfortunately (or fortunately) the Visa Number (field) is on the Arrival Card section that's kept by Immigration Having said that... you can always go to the BKK Immigration and show them your Non-O Visa and get the stamp corrected - this happened to our son. They have "Wrong Stamp" counter - no questions asked.

good to know......a quick flight to BKK is much better than a trip to the border

I will know by wednesday and will share it with the crew here.....Tuesday is a holiday and monday the lines will be a madhouse so I will just wait.

Update on this whole situation, as promised;

went to Samui immigration yesterday ...... the girl heard my problem for less than 10 seconds and handed me a form to sign at the bottom, all written in Thai.....she had obviously seen this problem before. I didn't even really have to tell her much, just that my red stamp was good for 90 days and I was only given 30 when I came through the airport desk; she just said "sign here and come back tomorrow''.

I signed, waited 24 hours and picked it up today.....she says ''you have until June 27th now', the best news I had heard in a couple weeks

No money exchanged at all.

Thanks to one and all for your words of encouragement and once again a reminder to one and all to CHECK your stamp before leaving the immigration booth!

cheers, John

It just happened to me recently, but knowing the thai way of work i checked straight away and spotted that in fact i was given just a 30 days visa despite having PAID for a 1 year multi-entry, when questioned he didn't seem to have a solution handy and my passport was given apparently to his superior that just line-crossed the date on the stamp with a normal pen and wrote a few thai words under it, no other stamps applied and the stamp on the departure card was not modified at all, i have no idea why despite having booked a direct return flight to EU from BKK, we had to stop in Pukhet for a few hours and return to the same plane again, what's the conspiracy behind it? i can't wait to see what the next mess up will be at the moment of the renewal...TIT