Good day, I am arriving in Thailand on Dec 1, and wil leave on January 31. I will apply for a 90-day tourist visa thru the Thai Embassy in Ottawa,CA as the country where i live does not have an embassy(Bermuda). I am applying in CA as even though Bermuda is an British overseas territory i could not get any information out of the Embassy in Hull as to where to send my passport. The embassy in Ottawa instructed me to send my passport to them and they would take care of the visa application.

My question is at what date does the tourist visa go into effect? I have read that the visa starts the day that the passport is stamped. I have also read that once the passport is stamped you have 90 days in which to start your trip.

Could someone please clarify this. This will be the first time to apply for a tourist visa and i want to do it correctly.

thanks very much

The visa is valid for 90 days from day of issue at Consulate - when you enter you get a 60 day stay with day of entry being day 1 and that stay can be extended for an additional 30 days at any immigration office inside Thailand for 1,900 baht. The visa only has to be valid on day of entry.

A Tourist visa can be single entry or multi-entry. A single entry allows you to seek entry to Thailand within 90 days from the time it is issued (stamped in passport). A Multi-entry allows you to seek entry to Thailand multiple times with the 6 months from issue. See Toronto web site for exact details. Never request a visa until near your travel date to ensure the longest usage.

http://thaiconsulatetoronto.com/visas.php

There is no multi entry classification for tourist visas - it is single entry or two or three or four entry and each is treated the same as any single entry and can be extended 30 days. The validity may be longer than 3 months but that is not always true (almost never true in Asia). Your visa only need to be valid on date of entry as I stated above - once used for entry it is immaterial. The only time that comes into plan is when using two or three entry and poster has no need for such.

Thanks very much for the very specific answers.

Thanks very much for your replies. I am very clear now on the visa procedures.

As a fellow Canadian may I suggest the Consulate in Toronto, the link has been posted. Smaller office, better service.Three years ago with the papers for a 6 month Ed. Visa, knowing my future plans were to retire in Thailand they gave me a one year Ed.Visa. Consulates work on comission. One employee does it all. More personal service.

Sorry, i was not clear on my Nationality. I am Bermudian and therefore have a EC - UK passport. I had sent several requests to various Embassies and then called the embassy in Hull England, but they were not sure how to handle a request from Bermuda even though i have a UK passport. The embassy in Ottawa replied right away saying send all info there with return fedex and they would take care of the application. I am only going for 2 months this visit. I will certainly try and take advantage of the Education visa when the time arrives. Thanks