Stricter Requirements For Tourist Visa Applicants

[topthai]

complete guess but i could believe at least half the tourists who come to thailand don't have a clue where they are staying and when. it's one of the reasons the place is so popular as a tourist destination. as if backpackers are going to have guesthouses pre-booked before arriving.

It's most likely the backpackers and people who want to sleep on the beach or sleep 5 to a room in some Baht 100 a night flophouse, et al, that they want to discourage. A few visitors who do pre-book at upscale hotels are probably worth 10 backpackers in terms of their benefit to the economy. Quality over quantity.

you are wrong, backpackers stay longer, give money to a lot of small business and come back more often.

[tommyyoung]

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<br />It\\\'s a very nasty thing to apply the new rules straight away.I own a condo in Thailand and I don\\\'t need to stay in a hotel. But the papers of the condo are inside my condo and I will go to Thailand next month.How can I prove I own a condo if the papers are in Thailand ? Should have imagined they have changed the rules during these weeks ?Thailand is unpredictable, they can change anything at any moment and they create situations.<br />

<br /><br />Okay...we get it already...for the third time <img src=\'http://static.thaivisa.com/forum/public/style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif\' class=\'bbc_emoticon\' alt=\'\' /> Or are you a "bot"?<br />

<br /><br /><br />

I don\'t know what is the matter with me. This is the first and only time i post a message . I am not a bot. I am a human being expressing my opinion, if it\'s forbidden to post in this forum just let me know and i will stop doing that.

[daiwill60]

You forgot one ;-

Get rid of all corruption especially by those who are likely to be enforcing all the proposed clean ups you are suggesting. MMMMM!!!!!!

Theres a tough one . and the main one in my honest opinion.

How unwise to make it more cumbersome for people to apply for a tourist visa just as a global recession is about to take hold.

If you truly want families and quality tourists here, how about these long term measures:

- Police reform to battle corruption. Like in South Korea. If they could do it, so can you. It's 2011 now, time to get real.

- Clean up the prostitution from the major tourist spots. Most tourists in the family category tend not to be impressed by prostitution in their face, and the prostitution business is a magnet for undesirables, both Thais and foreigners.

- Educate Thai electricians properly so fewer tourists are electrocuted in the shower. Parents tend to be quite upset when their children die because of neglect and incompetence.

- Regulate and ENFORCE the use of pesticides and insecticides so you won't have to wring your hands after tourists "inexplicably" drop dead in hotels and from eating poisonous food. Research, educate and encourage organic growth practices, natural and least dangerous pest control measures. Make sure the knowledge gets all the way to the actual farmers by engaging the village networks.

- Arrest ALL beggars on sight, interrogate them about their conditions and mafia networks, gather enough evidence, appropriate the assets of the leaders of the trafficking rings, give harsh punishments (fines and jail time) to everyone else involved or benefitting, use the money/assets collected in fines to rehabilitate and educate the beggars where possible. Keep up these arrests until it simple becomes too much hassle to beg or to benefit from begging.

- Clean up the scamming in tourist areas. That includes jet ski scams, gem scams, card game scams, and all the others.

[david555]

Lot of open questions within that message... but having checked the homepage of the Embassy here in Switzerland, I do not see any change for tourists from Visa excempt countries.

I would therefore also assume that people who need a Visa and stay with friends, will need an invitation letter as they did before...

But then again... typical Thai way... issue new rules with immediate effect.... but don't be precise... and specially do not let the people know who must deal with it (consulates etc)... otherwise all the fun would be gone from issuing unclear rules

I think this will be more to stop residents running to laos or cambodia for tourist visas - bet they won't have any restrictions like that if you fly in from europe or the US

You think so..? last time i took my visa at Antwerp/Belgium consulate , they would not give me a 60 day visa because no departing / return ticket....as i flew in with Bangkok/ Amsterdam open return ticket , so my returning/departing ticket to BKK , no return ...... BUT they provided me a 90 days non O for that no return needed , before NEVER asked for return ticket at several applications by TR visa ....

[ignis]

I would guess that virtually all tourists don't even need a Tourist Visa as they will get 30 days if they arrive on a plane. Which out of the millions of tourists who holiday here do.

How many tourists even need a tourist visa?

Not many at all I'd imagine.

Do people come all this way to Thailand for less then 30 days ?

Friends that come to stay with me come for 6 weeks, before I moved here in 2003 I came a number of times over the years, never less then 5 weeks.... old UK friend in next Village comes for 5 months every year, and another a few Villages away comes for 4 months, in the Village one house old Thai couple, there visitors or maybe there the 'real' owners are German [All are well under 50[ during the year 4 different families come most stay for 6 weeks, the one that comes over Christmas they always stay 7 weeks, the couple here at the moment with there disabled 9 yr old daughter are here for 8 weeks........... There are other I have meet over the years, personally I do not know anyone that come here for less then 30 day holiday..

Even close by Australia 2 different ones come every year for 5 weeks

[Maestro]

An off-topic post about an unspecified toxin has been deleted.

[TechnikaIII]

I have just spoke to the Thai embassay in Hull and they said this is rubbish

Thank you.

[whitejaguar]

I can only advise people who come the first time to Thailand. Try one of the other 160 countries left in the world for visit holiday or retirement. Thailand don't want YOU!! There must be other countries which are nicer more beautiful and respectful to visitors, tourist and ex-pats!! Thailand is on the hunt to take all you brought in and than spit you out if you don't leave quick enough according to them! This is the real reason to sharpen visa regulations.Be warned!! Where in many countries they are fighting to die-out racism, apartheid, violating human right, Thailand are introducing them!

[Maestro]

I have TR Visa but my friend have done this 3 times in a row now . , Fake or not not sure . , its from Bri&Joy group . . .

I hope your friend will get better soon, because his 90-day extensions must have been for medical treatment. From Police Order 777/2551:

2.25 In the case of receiving medical treatment, attending rehabilitation, or taking care of a patient:

Each permission shall be granted for no more than 90 days.

[saroq]

As these requirements stand they are an inconvenience but that's all they are. Who turns up to a foreign country without an outbound ticket or at the very least the funds to buy one? If you do you're irresponsible and you can't blame the Thais for wanting to discourage this or those people from coming to Thailand. Any of our own governments would and do do the same thing. Demonstrating that you have adequate funds to pay for your holiday, again not an unreasonable requirement. The only pain is the hotel booking for those of us who often visit or live here but I expect documents can be provided to satisfy the embassy that you are staying with friends, family or in your own condo etc. There are plenty of people sitting at home in Western countries who expect the same requirements of people coming for "holidays" to their counties.

[Richard4849]

Right, so at the risk of seeming like a whinger: my 70 year old mum comes over each year to spend about six weeks with us here to escape the northern latitudes dark and cold winter doldrums. She does have a return ticket but of course not a hotel reservation. She needs a visa for more than 30 days, and no, I will not put her into a hotel.

Thank you Thai immigration.

If she puts on the form, "staying with my son at XXX address" and based on that is refused a visa -- then come back and whinge. Until then, you are being hysterical and quite silly.

[David Barker]

How unwise to make it more cumbersome for people to apply for a tourist visa just as a global recession is about to take hold.

If you truly want families and quality tourists here, how about these long term measures:

- Police reform to battle corruption. Like in South Korea. If they could do it, so can you. It's 2011 now, time to get real.

- Clean up the prostitution from the major tourist spots. Most tourists in the family category tend not to be impressed by prostitution in their face, and the prostitution business is a magnet for undesirables, both Thais and foreigners.

- Educate Thai electricians properly so fewer tourists are electrocuted in the shower. Parents tend to be quite upset when their children die because of neglect and incompetence.

- Regulate and ENFORCE the use of pesticides and insecticides so you won't have to wring your hands after tourists "inexplicably" drop dead in hotels and from eating poisonous food. Research, educate and encourage organic growth practices, natural and least dangerous pest control measures. Make sure the knowledge gets all the way to the actual farmers by engaging the village networks.

- Arrest ALL beggars on sight, interrogate them about their conditions and mafia networks, gather enough evidence, appropriate the assets of the leaders of the trafficking rings, give harsh punishments (fines and jail time) to everyone else involved or benefitting, use the money/assets collected in fines to rehabilitate and educate the beggars where possible. Keep up these arrests until it simple becomes too much hassle to beg or to benefit from begging.

- Clean up the scamming in tourist areas. That includes jet ski scams, gem scams, card game scams, and all the others.

^ THIS!

I have an O for now, but if I ever leave and need a tourist visa and I own my own condo should I bring all the paper work? Original or copy?

Do I get extra credit for doing my own electric work?

Don´t tell them about the electric your not allowed to do it yourself Ha Ha. We were told by a man in brown in Hua Hin that strictly speaking we are not allowed to do our own garden we are depriving a Thai person of a job ye, ye, ye.

[moe666]

And why to change the rules at least once or twice a week? Because they want to make you criminal to charge you with a big penalty. And yes, you will lose the case - it´s entirely your fault if you didn´t contact the Thai government to check out today´s rules. Today the rule is this and tomorrow it´s something else. What is something else? Well it´s always twice worse than yesterday´s rules - that´s the rule of big finger. Needles to say that such kind of Anti-Farang attitude cause tourists to feel pissed off and then they go elsewhere - like pure, safe and beautiful Singapore, where is never any problem for tourists or any one, except for criminals.

Well go on and run on over to safe, pure, and beautiful Singapore and be bored out of your mind. post like this only shows the ignorace of many of the key board warriors posting here as they donot really know there have been no change in visa rules for a number of years.

These changes appear to be directed at a lot of people breaking the rules by working on a tourist visa. Since it is Thailand they have no rights to enforce their immigration laws if it will inconvience a few, who I say good ridance too.

[moe666]

The Thais are diabolic I think they like to do these shakeups of the visa rules on occassion to have some funny stuff to read on Thaivisa.

[InseeDaeng]

Xenophobic.

[Richard4849]

Xenophobic.

It is not "xenophobic" to want to make sure that only tourists are issued tourist visas.

If Thai visa rules are xenophobic, what are those of your home country?

Such whining I have never seen in my life.

[moe666]

Maybe there is a diease that some falangs catch upon arrival in Thailand. They are bitten by the whining mosquito and infected by the whiner virus which cause them to complain about all things Thai especially visa and immigration rules.

[david555]

Xenophobic.

It is not "xenophobic" to want to make sure that only tourists are issued tourist visas.

If Thai visa rules are xenophobic, what are those of your home country?

Such whining I have never seen in my life.

No whining from me,.... they want tickets ...;so they get tickets (airasia ones), same for hotel... ,no , they get condo lease contract ,(that is probably what they mean about the letter for clarification if some doc . not delivered....;, they only let us look for escape routes , and by searching those you find sometimes more efficient sollutions

[Richard4849]

Maybe there is a diease that some falangs catch upon arrival in Thailand. They are bitten by the whining mosquito and infected by the whiner virus which cause them to complain about all things Thai especially visa and immigration rules.

I think that in the deep recesses of their mind, they harbor deep-seated feelings of superiority and entitlement, such that they become indignant and incensed by anything they see as the inferior little brown people attempting to restrict their god-given right to do whatever-the-heck they feel like doing.

[WithMarco]

i'm actually living in Cambodia and the number of tourists is booming despite the heavy rains, slow transportations, third world standards and the horrible roads.

frankly i'm more and more surprised reading so many farangs defending thailand for introducing stricter rules.

here i can buy a 12 months visa with no questions asked from any tour operator or guesthouse and renewing it without ever having to leave the country.

i wonder what exactly cambodia is missing compared to thailand, some of you guys should seriously wake up and realize thailand is just hellbent

on booting farangs out.

why staying in a place that clearly stated once again they hate us ?

we're not welcome in Thailand, get over it.

and there's no reason to counter reply saying these rules are the norm elsewhere, we farangs are not Thais and if they want farang money

they better make it easy for us to get in their country or there are so many better and cheaper and easier alternatives already.

we're the ones fueling Thai tourism and therefore we should have special visa laws, as simple as that.

too many guys here are scared about facing the hard truth.

[Richard4849]

Maybe they just don't want "you". They want me.

[WithMarco]

I think that in the deep recesses of their mind, they harbor deep-seated feelings of superiority and entitlement, such that they become indignant and incensed by anything they see as the inferior little brown people attempting to restrict their god-given right to do whatever-the-heck they feel like doing.

considering the average literacy standards in Thailand this is not surprising.

how come this doesn't happens in Malaysia, HK, Singapore, Japan, etc ?

i'm so sick of comments like these from deluded farangs who think to be "thai"

just because they bought a condo or married a girl from Isaan.

sorry but none of you will ever be fully accepted as one of them and you know

very well even your half-thai kids will be always called farangs from their pals.

apart rare cases, farangs feel to be superior for very good reasons and it has

nothing to do with having bigger pockets

there are plenty of countries spitting on our faces, thailand is just now doing its best

to top the list.

while i've seen plenty of empty hotels and restaurants in my lasts vivits to thailand

i see a touristic boom anywhere in laos, cambodia, vietnam, and even Burma,

it's clear that tourists are spending their money where they're more appreciated

and they're voting with their feet.

touristically speaking, thailand has nothing at the level of Burma or Angkor Wat,

the party will soon be over one day once the thais neighbours wake up and build

decent infrastructures.

[Richard4849]

You have never actually compared the tourist arrival statistics of Laos, Cambodia, Burma, and Thailand, have you? No...didn't think so.

[WithMarco]

Maybe they just don't want "you". They want me.

talking about numbers i'm responsible for having told at least 50 people i know to avoid thailand and to travel elsewhere

and i'm certainly not the only one.

it's time to be more vocal about all this anti-farang sentiment in thailand.

a tourist has been electrocuted in Phuket for god's sake, and nobody gives a rat's shit because a dead farang isn't

even news for the thai medias and once again the international medias are scared about ruining the reputation

of thailand while having no problems with headline about sharks eating europeans in Seychelles.

it's not our fault if thailand is becoming a dangerous cesspool and we're blamed for their failures.

i just hope the new government launches new draconian laws against tourists so that people will finally realize

the grass is a lot greener in the nearby countries and leave thailand to the thais.

[InseeDaeng]

Maybe you´re a thai in farang disguise, wandering around thaivisa, defending yourself. I don´t hate thais or thailand by any means but if you´re resonably aware of things u clearly see they often have a "we" and "them" thinking more extreme than any other i have ever seen and i´ve been to 40+ countries, and "they" are the higher ones, if u haven´t noticed u´r blind. Or u havent been in ur western home for centuries, forgotten how it was, not to mention the way it is now. we live in days of globalization and while EU and the rest of western civilization is opening up, even giving, at least equal opportunities to millions of foreigners every year u see asian countries and thai not the least doing the opposit. One of the reasons of the deep south conflict between muslims and "thais" is just due to that; not beeing able to give equal opportunities for "others" because thais are so best.

Not that i expect tourists to get equal opportunities just like that, it´s a totally different subject, but still this is a reminder of the general attitude and the harder and harder restricions to the "other" people that does´nt even put an economic pressure on the country but on the contrary boosting it!

Thanks

[moe666]

Maybe they just don't want "you". They want me.

talking about numbers i'm responsible for having told at least 50 people i know to avoid thailand and to travel elsewhere

and i'm certainly not the only one.

it's time to be more vocal about all this anti-farang sentiment in thailand.

a tourist has been electrocuted in Phuket for god's sake, and nobody gives a rat's shit because a dead farang isn't

even news for the thai medias and once again the international medias are scared about ruining the reputation

of thailand while having no problems with headline about sharks eating europeans in Seychelles.

it's not our fault if thailand is becoming a dangerous cesspool and we're blamed for their failures.

i just hope the new government launches new draconian laws against tourists so that people will finally realize

the grass is a lot greener in the nearby countries and leave thailand to the thais.

Well at least we know about the dead falangs in Thailand,while the other countries you seem to champion have very few falang friendly ways to get the news out about dead falangs. I think burma has one english language paper and is heavily censored by the military junta. I have been to the countries you mention many times I will put my safety and well being into the hands of corrupt Thais before the communist and military dictatorships of your favorites.

[Burgernev]

i just hope the new government launches new draconian laws against tourists so that people will finally realize the grass is a lot greener in the nearby countries and leave thailand to the thais.

Quote recent report on Cambodia:

"Ho Vandy, Cambodian Minister for Tourism is quoted as saying 'We still lack flights carrying tourists from one area to another area. We need diversity in tourism.' Currently most visitors fly to Siem Reap in Cambodia and may choose to fly back out to Bangkok. Only 7% of tourists arriving in Cambodia go to the south coast."

Quote recent report on Thailand:

"The highest number ever of arrivals is in the most recent period: the first quarter of 2011 (at 5.33 million visitors). Total arrivals for 2010 where the highest on record, despite the actually very serious political disturbances in the second quarter of the year. It looks like 2011 is going to be the best year for tourism on record, and we may be heading for close to 20 million arrivals."

Harp on all you like Marco, tell as many people as you like how you couldn't hack Thailand, it's not going to change reality though, is it.

Cheers.

[astor]

This is a bullshit I'm travelling in Thailand since 20 years and I never booked the hotel in advance. I'm like to choose my accomodation upon my arrival.

Well, we felt the absence of Shinawatra family, isn't it?

[tropo]

What's all the fuss about?

For people living here full time on tourist visas, this new requirement will be easy to get past. There will soon be a side-industry providing bogus airline bookings and bogus hotel bookings. Any visa agent can get by this with ease.

Certain consulates will just ignore the requirements as they do right now.

[khaowong1]

How unwise to make it more cumbersome for people to apply for a tourist visa just as a global recession is about to take hold.

If you truly want families and quality tourists here, how about these long term measures:

- Police reform to battle corruption. Like in South Korea. If they could do it, so can you. It's 2011 now, time to get real.

- Clean up the prostitution from the major tourist spots. Most tourists in the family category tend not to be impressed by prostitution in their face, and the prostitution business is a magnet for undesirables, both Thais and foreigners.

- Educate Thai electricians properly so fewer tourists are electrocuted in the shower. Parents tend to be quite upset when their children die because of neglect and incompetence.

- Regulate and ENFORCE the use of pesticides and insecticides so you won't have to wring your hands after tourists "inexplicably" drop dead in hotels and from eating poisonous food. Research, educate and encourage organic growth practices, natural and least dangerous pest control measures. Make sure the knowledge gets all the way to the actual farmers by engaging the village networks.

- Arrest ALL beggars on sight, interrogate them about their conditions and mafia networks, gather enough evidence, appropriate the assets of the leaders of the trafficking rings, give harsh punishments (fines and jail time) to everyone else involved or benefitting, use the money/assets collected in fines to rehabilitate and educate the beggars where possible. Keep up these arrests until it simple becomes too much hassle to beg or to benefit from begging.

- Clean up the scamming in tourist areas. That includes jet ski scams, gem scams, card game scams, and all the others.

Dream on.. you do know it's agains't the law to smoke that wacky tabaky in Thailand, right?