Thailand Extends Tourist Visa Fee Exemption Scheme Until 31 March 2011

[kevozman1]

As an expat for 15 years I'm happy to see we are more appreciated and welcomed with a free visa fee.

I remember the good old days about 10 years ago,or maybe 8 when I got 3 months "welcome" tourist stamp when entered the kingdom Of Thailand. It went from 100 baht overstay, to 200 overstay, then 500 baht, and then to make it sure it was only 15 days tourist visa crossing the border to Malaysia, where they still give you 3 months visa.

Now Thailand is close to a civil war,,,and do understand that pats and tourist are do needed to make he wheels to go around.

Thailand have always been a country where to find peace, friendly people and smiles,,,,,now this might look like to be a history,,what happens now? Why this stupid violence in this great kingdom??? What is going on??

My kids are born in the motherland Thailand,,is it now time to pull them out from their own country...

I'm confused and do not know the real situation, who does it effect who ever is the prime minister??? It is always the same story,,,very corrupt and not so corrupt.

So many things wrong with this post dude.

For a start, it is not that foriegn people are appreciated by the Thai authorites or public. They just know

that we put food on the table and without us the 'land of smiles' is looking something like Cambodia.

Friendly people.................. sorry mate. If you have been in Thailand for 15 years surely you should be

seeing through this by now. Thai people are not friendly, they are quite devious but for 90% of the

population do not know how to be someones friend.

Great Kingdom????????????????

[eight]

Cannot see why everyone still says Thailand is the ''Land of smiles'' I have lived in Cambodia for over 6 years and have made many trips to Thailand and would say Thailand lost it status as LOS many years ago. The title of Land of smiles really belongs to Cambodia.

[Lite Beer]

Off topic post deleted.

[robertson468]

With the current situation in Thailand even throwing in free hotels and pocket money is unlikely to bring tourists flocking back.

Going to be a huge uphill struggle to regain traveler confidence even after the current troubles are over and a long time after that.

Sorry, I disagree with your long term analysis. Certainly in the short term the Tourist Trade is going to take a B-I-G dive, even more so than when the Yellow Shirts put on their Command Performance. But I believe the Tourist will come back "toot sweet" as soon (if?) the troubles are resolved. I base the rationale on two issues. Many Foreigners love Thailand and the Thai people, not to mention the cost of holidaying here, which is quite exceptional compared to most (not all) places. Also you only need to look at what happened to resorts on the West Coast of Thailand that had been hit by the tsunami. The first year the Tourists stayed away for fear of a re-occurrence, but the following year they flocked back (as I have mentioned before). The "great unwashed" have short and forgiving memories. I have been to Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos and personally I do not think they can hold a candle to Thailand for a holiday (or ex-pat) destination, but as I say, that is very much a personal view.

[robertson468]

Wow, that might work out just right for me!

I will be retiring in the first week of October. Have to take a quick trip back to U.S. to apply for my retirement pension, and take care of some financial stuff at my bank.

Get myself a 60 day tourist visa, then off to Thailand, and later a 30 day extension in Bangkok.

Quick trip after 90 days to Cambodia (I want to check out Sihanoukville, as a possible hidey-hole if Thailand goes sour)

Another 60 day tourist visa in Cambodia, and back to Thailand. By that time my 800,000 Baht should be well "seasoned" in a Thai bank and I can apply for the retirement extension.

It might actually work out well (and no cost for either tourist visa).

I was planning on a multiple entry non O in U.K. at Hull, but maybe I won't need it.

You don't have to deposit 800,000 baht in a Thai Bank for the purpose of an OA Visa. If you can prove to your Consulate that you have a certain level of monthly income (60,000 I think, but don't quote me) and get a letter from your Consul then all you have to do is submit the Consul letter with your application - job done and 800,000 baht saved for the big party.

[AdaminBKK]

This is not news - it has been announced twice before, the first time was several months back, and the second time a few weeks back. The scheme started on 1 April and was already scheduled to end on 30 March 2011. Why repeat stale news?

Because the announcement for April 1st was bunk. Many readers of Thai Visa were in Vinetienne on April 1st and after we got into the gates, 1000bt for 60 days, 2000bt for double entry. On top of that, while I was in the embassy I noted the scrolling message on the tv there saying that it would be exempt from June 25th on. So be careful what you read. From what I gather each embassy kinda does what they want. I will certainly call someone to confirm before I make my next venture.

[JimCA2]

Fix the exchange rates and maybe people will come. 32 to one doesnt make the beer cheap (5 dollars last time in shark club). Neighboring countries only take half of that.

15 days overland also was a step in the wrong direction.

[Nuchanart]

What about free food and lodging too?

[phuketsigel]

arai na

[imafaranggetmeoutofhere]

all i can think of now is

I wanna love you and treat you right;

I wanna love you every day and every night:

We'll be together with a roof right over our heads;

We'll share the shelter of my single bed;

We'll share the same room, yeah! - for Jah provide the bread.

Is this love - is this love - is this love -

Is this love that I'm feelin'?

Is this love - is this love - is this love -

Is this love that I'm feelin'?

I wanna know - wanna know - wanna know now!

I got to know - got to know - got to know now!

[bhawani]

Is visa on arrival also free of charge for the time period specified?

The announcement doesn't say so, but normally it is.

Needs to be re-checked. As normally, all arrivals at suvarnabhumi international seeking VOA are subject to pay THB 1200 odd..... any one have a confirmed experience on VOA being free also, please update !!

[OzMick]

a quiet word of caution - double entry tourist visa gives you 2 x 60 day entries, each extendable by 30 days, BUT it expires 90 days from the date of purchase.

the logical use, 90 days in Thailand, side trip to Cambodia, Laos or Burma, you arrive back with an expired visa.

Stacey, did you really mean "I had to bed the boss to give me off of work"????

Edited April 29, 2010 by OzMick

[primoz]

Is visa on arrival also free of charge for the time period specified?

The announcement doesn't say so, but normally it is.

Needs to be re-checked. As normally, all arrivals at suvarnabhumi international seeking VOA are subject to pay THB 1200 odd..... any one have a confirmed experience on VOA being free also, please update !!

It was free during last visa fee vaiwer period and according to the link from British Thai embassy

posted at the beginning of the thread, it will be free again.

At this point I would like to dispute all selfish opinions, how this exemption of fees is not important, since nobody needs a Visa for short stay.

I personally come from small Central European country, that is not exempted from Visa requiremement, but qualifies for 15 day VOA.

On the next argument, that will inevitable come, that all major source countries of Thailand visitors could enter without Visa, I would remind you on visitors from China, India, Russia...... And tourists from those countries during recent years represent huge share of all Thailand tourist market.

[Konini]

They certainly don't know anything about it in Saigon - yesterday we were given the forms and showed them a printout stating no fees, but guess what?. No money, no visa.

[alrat]

If they really want more tourists they should devalue the baht by at least 10%.

It will happen anyway once the economy collapses.

Do it now at least it will stop us expats from going home.

[gemini81]

I hope they don't consider something that minimal and trivial to be generous, or an incentive.

Some was misfortune, like the tsunami. But more recently, some of the developments are self inflicted.

They're earning a sour reputation internationally, might take a good number of years to get it back, not just some discount gameplan with waived fees here and a few incentives there.

[Trebelone]

They'd do a lot better by devoting themselves to cleaning up some of the scams that tourism suffers from. Honest cops would be a good start, too. Let's face it, someone planning to spend a few thousand dollars on a vacation are going to be a lot more interested in not getting beaten up by a jet ski rental thug than they will be by the prospect of saving $50 on a visa. Of course, on the good side, it is comforting to know that if you do not shoplift at the airport, you will be locked up in a cheap hotel instead of a nasty jail and the nice policeman will do his very best to make sure you never have to go to prison.

This has to be one of the more sensible responses i have seen on this forum for sometime,unfortunately the thai government doesnt have enough money to pay the police a sensible wage,having said that i see they have found an extra 300 bht extra per day to all the troops and police helping to ...control....the red shirts, no wonder it is taking so long to sort out,extra dosh for doing almost nothing, i just wonder how they have found this extra amount of money,but can only pay the soldiers 208 bht per day to lay down their lives if there should be a war,i expect its more important to protect this corrupt government,at the end of the day when this is all over, i suspect Mr Thaskin and his lot will eventually take back power,and the tables will be turned,and then those that ordered the crack down will explain they were only carrying out orders,brings back memories of the people hung or put up against a wall at the end of the last war...for carrying out orders...

[karlos]

Understanding that the 'free tourist visas' start on the 11th of May 2010, would i be correct in thinking that if i were to over stay for 2 days (9th of may being the day i have to leave the kingdom) would i get away with paying 2 x 500baht for over staying and be given a free Thai tourist visa upon re-entry which would have cost me 2000baht 2 days before?

I know, i know, it's penny pinching, but it's just my luck the free tourist visa offer lands two days outside my last day of stay, if i didn't have bad luck I'd have no luck at all.

[el jefe]

If they really want more tourists they should devalue the baht by at least 10%.

It will happen anyway once the economy collapses.

Do it now at least it will stop us expats from going home.

And Sunjunkie wrote:

"Does anybody think that the exchange rate for the Pound and Euro has had an effect on tourism. Thailand does not represent value for the currencies."

Do you know anything about the Thai economy? It's not going to collapse. And it's not Thailand's fault that the Euro, the Pound and the dollar are all weak currencies. The long term trend is that the baht will continue to rise against the 3 major currencies and there's no reason for that to change. If the Chinese allow the Yuan to float freely, the baht will only get stronger.

I live in Chiang Mai and I think Thailand is an excellent value. Sunjunkie, where can you get better value?

And alrat, where are you from??? Do you really think expats will all go home if they don't devalue the Baht? "Home", for most of us, is still twice as expensive as Thailand.

[Oberkommando]

I live in Chiang Mai and I think Thailand is an excellent value. Sunjunkie, where can you get better value?

Most cars are three times the price than in the UK, not to mention electronics are almost all more expensive across the board in Thailand, high end electronics up to three and four times the price of elsewhere.

Thailand can be cheap for certain things but you get what you pay for and quality is low.

I'm not sure what you would be doing at home that would be twice as expensive.

[MRDave]

It says free from the 11th of May on the London website, 1 week and £54 too late for me.

I had a conversation with a member of staff from the birmingham embassy last week. I asked about the free visa, the reply was intill they get the word from the bossman

at the consulate no free visa.

[jacknorman]

This is not news - it has been announced twice before, the first time was several months back, and the second time a few weeks back. The scheme started on 1 April and was already scheduled to end on 30 March 2011. Why repeat stale news?

That isn't true it was a april foul thing i got new double entry the other day and had to pay, like any from the 5th of mars

Jack

[Enjibenji]

does this count for double entry tourist visas too?

[marquis22]

Gee whiz! Why did they charge me 2000 baht for my 2-month Tourist Visa at Viantiene on April 5, 2010? Could scheme and implementation be not one and the same?

Sawasdee Khrup,

Yes, why did Vientiane charge me 2k baht on the 20th. of April for a double-entry ?

The day I was there, the consul himself was down among the mob with a bunch of angry farangs, most British (judging from their accents), demanding to know why they had to pay.

The consul kept saying : "The cabinet has not notified me."

I was amazed the consul even put in an appearance. Needless to say, I did not join in the conversation, wanting not to ruin my already bedraggled "jai yen."

best, ~o:37

Hmm same same. I was there on April 24, and the jolly Consul was trying to keep his cool again with the Brits.

(I won't repeat the worn out quote about the poms).

After sitting around for 90mins, why get hotter under the collar, well T-shirt then?

Talking of shirts, why do Thai's wear jackets when it is 38c?

[nickjam]

I've just got back from the Vientianne embassy and it was a bit of a scrum with everyone questioning why they were paying for their visas. I must admit that there was some pretty poor behaviour from foreigners but most of it was caused by complete confusion with the system. The number system wasn't working again but there was no explanation or notice detailing what needs to be done

Why can't borders/embassies post a quick 1 2 3 step of what you need to do. Most of the stress in Vientianne is people coming to the window without all the necessaries then hanging around arguing and looking baffled. The staff were being <deleted> demanding hotel, number and contact name which is an impossibility if you've had to run straight from the train to the embassy due to earlier incompetence by train staff. What a great time to start charging for visas!!!

[hhiser]

Why it's the infamous Cart before the Horse Syndrome, what good will free tourist visas do if no-one wants to visit Thailand. Unless they are for the people already here.

[jamesrat1947]

They'd do a lot better by devoting themselves to cleaning up some of the scams that tourism suffers from. Honest cops would be a good start, too. Let's face it, someone planning to spend a few thousand dollars on a vacation are going to be a lot more interested in not getting beaten up by a jet ski rental thug than they will be by the prospect of saving $50 on a visa. Of course, on the good side, it is comforting to know that if you do not shoplift at the airport, you will be locked up in a cheap hotel instead of a nasty jail and the nice policeman will do his very best to make sure you never have to go to prison.

I don't understand why anybody buys duty free in BKK.. I come through BKK Airport 6 to 8 times a year ..After reading about ongoing scams I have not been in a duty free shop at BKK Airport for 18 months.. On principle I will NEVER shop at BKK Airport EVER even if the scam is guaranteed to be fixed.. The truth is they don't deserve our business and in the future I still will never shop at BKK Airport. I can always get duty free goods somewhere else... For the people who have no choice have a good think because usually we don't need what we buy !!!! Yes that right we want some duty free whiskey but WE DON"T NEED IT!!!!

[Otis]

This is not news - it has been announced twice before, the first time was several months back, and the second time a few weeks back. The scheme started on 1 April and was already scheduled to end on 30 March 2011. Why repeat stale news?

Gee whiz! Why did they charge me 2000 baht for my 2-month Tourist Visa at Viantiene on April 5, 2010? Could scheme and implementation be not one and the same?

I would like to see an automatic 60 day visa stamped at Suv. when I arrive. It would be pretty easy to implement by just changing the number 3 to a 6. That would surely help Falangs to leave a little more money in Thailand with no added cost to Thailand.

In the meantime, say a prayer for Thailand. If you don't believe in prayer, then make a wish for Thailand. OC

[MAC10]

Why it's the infamous Cart before the Horse Syndrome, what good will free tourist visas do if no-one wants to visit Thailand. Unless they are for the people already here.

Just had to quote this one just to say I did,

Let me ask, has anyone received a free Thai Tourist Visa anywhere?

[MisterBeetle]

All I know id I miss out by 4 days!!

Have to travel to Cambodia to do 60 day Visa tomorrow!! As I have to be back on Monday to start new job.

Go figure! Oh well. Only 1,000 Baht Better luck next time hey.

By the way , has anyone here used the 3 day bus trip to Cambodian border to do Visa?

Just wondering what there is to do there for 3 days. ie coffee shops, supermarkets, should I take food, are there rip off merchants blah blah...