Very Confused - Ed Visa/tourist Visa/re-entry..

[katieapple]

Hey there, hope I'm posting in the right place!

Hope you can help

I'll be landing in Bangkok from London on Wednesday 26th May, then travelling down to Phuket to do a TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) course for 4 weeks. I rang the Thai consulate in Hull and they said my only option was a 90-day or 1-year Education visa. However, I've definitely read in places that the ED visa is intended for prolonged study (degree courses and such) and as my course is so short, I should be able to get by on a Tourist Visa, then visa-run down to Malaysia and back in again. My main aim is to do this as cheap as possible, therefore the visa-run would be my choice. If I did this overland however, I'm aware that I can only obtain a 15-day visa. This would suffice as I would then proceed with my travelling onwards to Cambodia, although I wouldn't mind a few more weeks. My main issue is that once I've been through Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos, how easy will it be for me to return to Thailand, to see Chiang Mai etc, then come back south to the islands? My entire duration is 6 months (25th May - 23rd Nov), and I'm a 20 year old British national.

Many thanks!!

Katie

P.S. An after-thought: If I obtained the 90-day Education Visa, would I still be able to return after my travelling through the other countries I mentioned?

EDIT: Sorry if this is already mentioned elsewhere, I did try searching, but all the terms are so alien to me, it just confused me even more!!! Links to good websites are welcome, thanks again!

[beechguy]

How many entries into Thailand do you need to make? A Tourist Visa allows a 60 day upon each entry, with a possible 30 day extension for 1900 Baht. Why not apply for a double entry Tourist Visa. The 30 day entry at the airport, and the land entries of 15 days are "Visa Exempt" entries.

[cacruden]

You cannot work on a tourist visa - but you can take courses on a tourist visa.

On a tourist visa you are allowed 60 days with a 30 day extension.

You may enter for 30 days (29 nights) on a visa waiver (western countries) at a time - or a maximum of 90 days in any six months. If you are not in Thailand, you should be able to reenter no problems. It is best to fly in though - since if they get you confused with a visa run person they might only give you 14 days after re-entry.

Basically - you just have to plan and then fit the visa's in where you need them.

[NADTATIDA1]

Are you allowed to take courses on a tourist visa?

[katieapple]

How many entries into Thailand do you need to make? A Tourist Visa allows a 60 day upon each entry, with a possible 30 day extension for 1900 Baht. Why not apply for a double entry Tourist Visa. The 30 day entry at the airport, and the land entries of 15 days are "Visa Exempt" entries.

I will be making the initial entry from London, then want to travel through Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos, then will enter Thailand again from the North. However this is all subject to change, and perhaps to keep the options open, I'll say one more time as a friend of mine is flying out at some point, so may come back to see her. So that would be a total of 3 entries. The 30-day visa-exempt one - can that be acquired more than once in a certain amount of time? basically, can I arrive on one, visa-run for another and then re-enter on another after the other countries?

Thanks so much!

[beechguy]

No limit on the visa exempt entries, so it shouldn't be a problem if you can make the 30 day or 15 day entries work for you.

Also, if you decided to apply for a 90 day visa, you would be stamped in one time, and would have to apply for a re-entry permit to re-enter Thailand to use the remaining 90 days permission to stay. I think a single entry is 1000 Baht, and a multi is 3800 Baht.

[cacruden]

Are you allowed to take courses on a tourist visa?

Yes of course - no problem with that - cooking course, language courses, scuba lessons - whatever you want to take - as long as you are not working, and are staying the amount of time specified for that tourist visa. Education visas are only available for Ministry of Education authorized schools - and typically only needed for longer stays.

[lopburi3]

As said there is no need for a non immigrant visa for your travel plans. A tourist visa for initial entry (visa exempt could require onward ticket by airline which you likely would not have). You can enter for 15 days by land border or 30 days by air. You can obtain another tourist visa in Cambodia/Laos/Vietnam if you plan to stay in Thailand longer than than - or just return to border/cross/return for another 15 days.

[katieapple]

Thanks for advice everyone, this is now sorted xxxxxx