All

I have proved today that there is no need to enter another country to renew another 90 days on a Non O Multi Visa.

I stamped out and 15 minutes later was stamped back into Thailand.

Saves a lot of time money and hassle.

Refer to my previous post for details.

It worked!

Anyone care to explain how as it goes against all advice given here on Thai Visa ???

There are always people who slip through the maze. It doesn't mean it is official policy. Others have reported getting into problem for doing this.

Great, but I cannot find your earlier posts and have no idea how you managed this.

Please advise.

Thanks

He is here illegaly.

Not a good idea to try it yourself.

There are always people who slip through the maze. It doesn't mean it is official policy. Others have reported getting into problem for doing this.

Please show where "others" have posted problems for doing this as you say???

An abusive post has been deleted.

He is here illegaly.

Not a good idea to try it yourself.

Please show all of us here how I am illegally in Thailand????

An Off Topic post has been removed.

thaitwp wrote today:

Refer to my previous post for details.

The previous post mentioned by thaitwp is here in another topic.

I am not aware of any law or other published regulation or rule that requires getting an entry and exit stamp from the next country when leaving Thailand to return using a new entry of a multiple-entry non-immigrant visa or a tourist visa valid for more than one entry, nor does there appear to be any official publication about a fine or other penalty for failing to do so. However, it is a fact, as reported by some members in the past, that Thai immigration officials have refused entry to foreigners who left Thailand on a land border and subsequently attempted to enter Thailand again by land without having an entry and a departure stamp from the other country.

This is what the law says:

Section 81 : Any alien who stay in the Kingdom without permission or with

permission expired or revoked shall be punished with imprisonment not exceeding

two years or a fine not exceeding 20,000 Baht or both.

From the above it follows that the foreigner must depart from Thailand not later than the "until" date stamped in his passport or, if he has an extension of stay, not later than the expiration date of the extension. I do not know who in the Thai government decided when and for what reason that departure from Thailand on a land border can only be considered a departure if the passport shows an entry stamp from the neighbouring country. In some way such reasoning seems logical, but it can just as easily be considered illogical. There is no evidence that any such decision was made at a certain level and communicated to the immigration officials but the fact that reports from members indicated that this rule was applied at several land border crossing points indicates that this was the case.

How is it when a foreigner goes through immigration at the departure level of an airport with a boarding pass for a flight out of Thailand, then turns around without taking the flight and returns through immigration at the arrival level? Based on members' reports in this forum, if the immigration officer notices this on the basis of the short interval between the time of the departing flight (the flight number is generally noted on the departure stamp) and the time of the presentation of the passport at the arrival immigration desk, the officer has refused entry. The situation is a bit different here but in this case the foreigner will obviously have stated false information on the arrival card regarding his incoming flight. On the other hand, if the foreigner does fly out, eg to Singapore, turns around at Singapore airport without going through arrival and departure immigration, ie without getting Singaporean arrival and departure stamps in his passport, this is acceptable to Thai immigration but in some cases the foreigner has been asked to show the boarding pass for his arriving flight. In other words, at an airport, the departure stamp in the passport is not by itself considered a departure from Thailand; there must also be evidence or sufficient reason to assume that he has gone to another country before he can get a new arrival stamp. Perhaps the requirement of the neighbouring country's entry and exit stamp when crossing at a land border is used as an analogy of the requirement used at airports, ie evidence of arrival from abroad, from another country.

It remains to be seen whether thaitwp's experience at the land border crossing at Mukdahan represents a change in procedure being applied at all land border crossing points. The only way to find out, I guess, is for others to try it at other entry points and report their experiences here in this forum.

Maestro, thank you for a thoughtful and reasoned response to thaitwp's interesting and possibly important post. Without intending any disrespect to Litebeer and Mario2008's responses, they did nothing to clarify the situation, not really seeming to grasp the point that thaitwp, far from finessing the system, is now in Thailand with a legally updated visa stamp in his passport. He was actively assisted by the immigration officers after telling them what he wanted to do. The almost kneejerk responses of Mario2008 and Litebeer seem uninformed, although the visa situation here in Thailand is never exactly cut in stone so perhaps they can be forgiven for their confusion! However, many people come to Thaivisa for the kind of clarity not available elsewhere, and perhaps Mario2008 and Litebeer might bear this in mind. As I read it, thaitwp is offering a valuable update to the knowledge bank, and the situation warrants more than off-the-top-of-my-head responses.

For the record, I have used this method myself some time ago, on a quiet day when I had just missed the bus. There was no trouble at all after I made it clear what I wanted to do. It did feel a little "odd", but I have yet to be pulled from my bed and bussed to the Bangkok Hilton!

The fact remains that use of an immigration officer to facilitate such actions does not make it legal in any way. Immigration policy is that a physical crossing is a standard requirement for a new stamp. In years past passports sometimes did this without the person and both travelers and immigration officers have had issues. Some borders will allow such action when the boss is away but it could come back to bite if a later extension of stay request shows this land border exit without the required stamps. Don't take needless shortcuts should be the advise provided on this forum.

It is a true and sad fact, reported many times by members, that if an immigration officer makes a mistake, for example gives an arrival stamp with permission to stay for 60 days to a foreigner who enters visa-exempt and would be entitled to only 30 days, it is always the foreigner who is made to pay when all he does is act in good faith based on the decision made by the immigration officer and leaves only after 60 days.

I just remembered a post in one of the topics about the long immigration queues at Suvarnabhumi airport. A member said that on departure the immigration officer was leafing through his entire, almost full passport and wondered what, if anything, the officer was looking for. Immigration officers don't do this detailed examinaton of a foreigner's passport all the time on departure from Thailand but it is on an occasion like this that they will likely discover an irregularity with a previous entry or departure, if such irregularity exists, and take action on it if they feel so inclined. Who knows, perhaps it shows good on their record if they discover and report mistakes made by colleagues.