Problems Getting A 60 Day Tourist Visa

[frimu]

Dear all,

This is what happened to me recently:

I applied for a single 60 day tourist visa in the Thai consulate in Zurich, Switzerland.

It was requested, that I provide the passport, two passport fotos, the flight ticket in and out of Thailand and the visa form and fees.

As a ticket I provided the flight from Zurich to Bangkok, then a return ticket to Rangoon, where I plan to go after the 60 days.

The consulate staff told me, they can't issue me the visa, because I would return to Bangkok from Rangoon. I was able to save the situation by booking a single ticket from Rangoon to Kuala Lumpur. After giving them this ticket they told me, it would be ok now and I would get the visa.

My thoughts:

- If all consulates and embassies handle it like that, then Thailand is no longer suitable as a travel hub for South East Asia globetrotters, unless of course the requirements for the 30 day visa on arrival are not that tough.

- The trend goes towards this, I guess: Return ticket tourists are welcome, for everyone else it gets tougher and more bureaucratic all the time.

My questions:

- Did that happen to other people before? Is that now the normal situation or is the Thai consulate in Zurich stricter than others?

- How are the requirements for the standard 30 day visa on arrival. Is the return or single onward ticket to be provided the standard too?

- My original plan was to ask for a double entry 60 tourist visa in Rangoon. Is that wise? Will I get it after having a 60 day visa in my passport already? Is it better to go to Kuala Lumpur and ask for it there? Or should I head for a one year education visa as I have plans to improve my Thai language skills anyway?

Sorry for my questions related to the 30 day visa. Just wanted to give you all my ideas. I guess, that info I can get here already and I will now search for it.

Best regards from frimu

[lopburi3]

Did you have a visa for Myanmar? The requirement for visa exempt entry is onward transportation to a destination you have paperwork to enter. Malaysia allows visa free entry for most - Myanmar does not. Suspect Consulate was using the same criteria for visa issue. Have seen no report of a 2 entry from Rangoon and doubt you will obtain in KL but can not be sure what situation will be a few months from now. As you seem to want to remain suspect the ED may be your best option.

[frimu]

Did you have a visa for Myanmar? The requirement for visa exempt entry is onward transportation to a destination you have paperwork to enter. Malaysia allows visa free entry for most - Myanmar does not. Suspect Consulate was using the same criteria for visa issue. Have seen no report of a 2 entry from Rangoon and doubt you will obtain in KL but can not be sure what situation will be a few months from now. As you seem to want to remain suspect the ED may be your best option.

My plan is to get the Myanmar Visa in Bangkok. And that was not an issue in the consulate, that I don't have that visa yet.

[Maestro]

It was requested, that I provide the passport, two passport fotos, the flight ticket in and out of Thailand and the visa form and fees.

As a ticket I provided the flight from Zurich to Bangkok, then a return ticket to Rangoon, where I plan to go after the 60 days.

The consulate staff told me, they can't issue me the visa, because I would return to Bangkok from Rangoon.

A ticket for a flight out of Thailand is a standard requirement, listed on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA). With your ticket to Rangoon you satisfied this requirement. Using the fact that it was a return ticket that would bring you back to Thailand as a reason to deny you the tourist visa was stretching it a bit far, in my opinion, but I guess this is covered by this sentence on the MFA website: "Consular officers reserve the rights to request additional documents as deemed necessary".

The MFA site is down at the moment, as it so often is, and I attach a PDF file of the web page in question.

20120111 MFA Issuance of Visa.pdf

[bangkokburning]

I think it is also a stretch - but I am in a similar situation coming up in October with RT to SIN. I have contemplated in they will hassle me for a visa. I was already planing to somehow separate out the RT into a single journey.

It's just nonsense really. The criteria becomes - How can we deny the visa rather than how can we provide the visa.