No More 14-Days, What To Do Next

[jackyboy]

Hello all,

Hopefully some more experienced people can give me some advice what to do.

I entered Thailand by flying into Bangkok and got 30 days visa exempt. After that I did 6 borderruns in Mae Sai and got 14 days each time but the last time the lady of immigration put a 4 with a circle around it next to the stamp in my passport and told me that this was the last time and that I had to leave the country in 2 weeks.

I would like to stay somewhat longer so I came to the following options:

1. Get a tourist visa in Vientiane, I never applied for a tourist visa before, always used visa exempt so far. Does the circled 4 pose a problem for obtaining a tourist visa or is this not an issue?
2. Make a trip via air to Cambodia/Philippines/Singapore/Kuala Lumpur and re-enter Thailand via air, will I receive another 30-days exempt without a problem and can I do the 14-day runs after that again or should I expect an issue with this one?

Thanks for your help!

[Nana Cowboy]

The best thing to do which has been mentioned in this forum several thousand times would be to:

1. get a marriage visa

2. get a retirement visa

3. get a work visa

4. get an education visa

5. get a tourist visa

of course you could just fly in and out every 30 days

[jackyboy]

The best thing to do which has been mentioned in this forum several thousand times would be to:

1. get a marriage visa

2. get a retirement visa

3. get a work visa

4. get an education visa

5. get a tourist visa

of course you could just fly in and out every 30 days

Thanks for the tips, I am just wondering whether the circled 4 that the immigration lady put next to the stamps could cause any issues along the way.

[visarunner]

It appears that this numbering system has been established only in Mae Sae.

I am not aware that any other border is doing this, so I would assume that it is ok to follow up on the various visa option mention here.

[TommoPhysicist]

I have pals with 10 or 20 trips to Mae Sai.

They never get their passports marked.

Wonder why they pick you out?

[espinoza]

If your country have an embassy in Bangkok you could go there and get a new passport.

I think that will give you four more entries without any problems.

[Nana Cowboy]

Scrap the new passport idea. I always hate when people suggest this. It's an unnecessary waste of time and funds. You try your other visa options and concern yourself later if problems arise which imo is doubtful.

[ubonjoe]

You should make a trip to Vientiane and get a 2 entry tourist visa that would give you about 6 months stay without getting another visa by extending each 60 day entry by 30 days immigration and making your 2nd entry just before the visa expires. Your visa exempt entries will have no affect on getting it.

From Chiang Mai you can fly to Udon Thani and then by mini bus to the bridge in Nong Kai.

Or bus to Udon Thani connecting to another bus to Nong Kai.

Edited February 23, 2013 by ubonjoe

[el jefe]

Scrap the new passport idea. I always hate when people suggest this. It's an unnecessary waste of time and funds. You try your other visa options and concern yourself later if problems arise which imo is doubtful.

I hate when people say the new passport idea is a bad one.

Unless you know the OP's nationality, how many years he has left on his current passport, and WHY he doesn't want to get any of the other various visas, it's impossible to know whether it's a good or bad idea. For many, a new passport is cheaper and easier to get than some of those visas.

[jackyboy]

You should make a trip to Vientiane and get a 2 entry tourist visa that would give you about 6 months stay without getting another visa by extending each 60 day entry by 30 days immigration and making your 2nd entry just before the visa expires. Your visa exempt entries will have no affect on getting it.

From Chiang Mai you can fly to Udon Thani and then by mini bus to the bridge in Nong Kai.

Or bus to Udon Thani connecting to another bus to Nong Kai.

Thanks for the information, I have decided to go for this option.

[jackyboy]

I have pals with 10 or 20 trips to Mae Sai.

They never get their passports marked.

Wonder why they pick you out?

Yeah i was wondering the same so i asked around a bit and i found a few more people who had done quite a few of borderruns in a row without any issues and all of a sudden this week they got the message that this was their last crossing for a 14-day extension.

I had 6 back to back borderruns and the immigration lady only counted back 3 times and did not check any previous stamps. Maybe they have change the rules or applying the rules in a different way since this week. Anyone has more information about this?

[ubonjoe]

Scrap the new passport idea. I always hate when people suggest this. It's an unnecessary waste of time and funds. You try your other visa options and concern yourself later if problems arise which imo is doubtful.

I hate when people say the new passport idea is a bad one.

Unless you know the OP's nationality, how many years he has left on his current passport, and WHY he doesn't want to get any of the other various visas, it's impossible to know whether it's a good or bad idea. For many, a new passport is cheaper and easier to get than some of those visas.

It is called computer records that immigration has. All they have to do is enter your name and they will see that you have made numerous 15 day entries and they will check it if you have a new passport.

For many countries the visa run to Vientiane could well be less than a new passport plus the fact that the current 15 day entry you have would run out putting you on overstay before you got the new passport.

Edit: Forgot to mention that if you get new passport here it will be linked to your old passport when you leave the country using both passports at immigration on departure.

Edited February 24, 2013 by ubonjoe

[jackyboy]

Scrap the new passport idea. I always hate when people suggest this. It's an unnecessary waste of time and funds. You try your other visa options and concern yourself later if problems arise which imo is doubtful.

I hate when people say the new passport idea is a bad one.

Unless you know the OP's nationality, how many years he has left on his current passport, and WHY he doesn't want to get any of the other various visas, it's impossible to know whether it's a good or bad idea. For many, a new passport is cheaper and easier to get than some of those visas.

It is called computer records that immigration has. All they have to do is enter your name and they will see that you have made numerous 15 day entries and they will check it if you have a new passport.

For many countries the visa run to Vientiane could well be less than a new passport plus the fact that the current 15 day entry you have would run out putting you on overstay before you got the new passport.

Edit: Forgot to mention that if you get new passport here it will be linked to your old passport when you leave the country using both passports at immigration on departure.

I always wonder what kind of records they keep and are directly available to the immigration official. The lady that handled my last extension spend some time checking the stamps in my passport but did not really studied information on the computer screen in a similar way.

The thing I would like to have more information about is the number of back-to-back 14-day visa exempt runs you can do according to the immigration law and whether a high number of these runs makes it likely that a tourist visa, for example in Vientiane, will be denied.

[Mario2008]

There is no restriction that I know of, but that doesn't mean that there isn't an official policy limiting the number of visa exempt entries.

[TommoPhysicist]

I have pals with 10 or 20 trips to Mae Sai.

They never get their passports marked.

Wonder why they pick you out?

Yeah i was wondering the same so i asked around a bit and i found a few more people who had done quite a few of borderruns in a row without any issues and all of a sudden this week they got the message that this was their last crossing for a 14-day extension.

I had 6 back to back borderruns and the immigration lady only counted back 3 times and did not check any previous stamps. Maybe they have change the rules or applying the rules in a different way since this week. Anyone has more information about this?

Vary your boarder runs with a few entries at Mae Sot.

They don't count anything for anyone there.

[bobl]

I have pals with 10 or 20 trips to Mae Sai.

They never get their passports marked.

Wonder why they pick you out?

They've only been applying this policy since 1/1/2013, is why. Maximum 3 back-to-back 14 day stamps which is why he got a red "4" for his fourth. I'm surprised they didn't tell him this when they gave him his third.

It seems to be only Mae Sai that's a problem. A new boss with yet another interpretation of the rules would be my guess, they seem to enjoy marking their territory by shaking things up.

And for the OP - yes, the problem seems unique to Mae Sai. Why, is anybody's guess. But the red 4 won't give you any problems when you leave/come back - so just go to Laos (or somewhere) and get yourself a tv.

[Jaakko]

But the red 4 won't give you any problems when you leave/come back - so just go to Laos (or somewhere) and get yourself a tv.

Hi, where do you base this information? Have you heard someone getting a tourist visa after having several 14-day stamps from mae sai? I got many of these too, but no tourist visas. I got atleast 7 pages full of only mae sai stamps in my passport.

Aren't tourist visas denied because they suspect your not a tourist? Someone with back to back stamps from same border looks nothing like tourist to me. More like someone whose living with his girlfriend near border.

Quote from a member "chiangrai" in a another topic. He said he got nothing from Vientiane, but i've heard Savannekhet is better place to go so I guess i try it instead.

"I live near Mae Sai,Chiang Rai.

I have been getting 15 day visa extensions for longer than I care to admit.

I just got another one today but the guy told me "next time please make a visa"

and he marked a 4 with a circle round it on my stamp.

This happened to me before so I went to Vientiane,they told me no more Tourist visas from here for you."

I hope someone's got more info on this

[bobl]

But the red 4 won't give you any problems when you leave/come back - so just go to Laos (or somewhere) and get yourself a tv.

Hi, where do you base this information? Have you heard someone getting a tourist visa after having several 14-day stamps from mae sai? I got many of these too, but no tourist visas. I got atleast 7 pages full of only mae sai stamps in my passport.

It's first hand info... Although I live in Chiang Mai I have friends who live about halfway between CM and CR so going to Mae Sai wasn't at all inconvenient for me. I lost count of the number of gardens, temples and other tourist attractions I visited as well as visiting our friend, going back and forward twice a month.

All this ended in Jan, when they told me at Mae Sai I couldn't do it any more. So I went to Vientiane and got a new double entry, no questions asked.

Since then we haven't been up to visit our friends - next time will be once the first 90 days is up. Since they never said anything last time I don't expect any hassle in Vientiane next time either but if somebody gets out the wrong side of the bed that day, who knows. In any case my next visa run will more likely be to Bali for a triple.

In 'chiangrai' case - in addition to many 15 day stamps I wonder how many visas he had previously (from Vientiane)? General concensus seems to be that getting more than 3 (without any significant breaks) from a single consulate is iffy, and that more than 5 is difficult even if you vary your consulates.

In my case I have a few 30 day voa's, two double entries from VTE (using the 2nd one now), and several pages of 15 days at Mae Sai.

[ubonjoe]

But the red 4 won't give you any problems when you leave/come back - so just go to Laos (or somewhere) and get yourself a tv.

Hi, where do you base this information? Have you heard someone getting a tourist visa after having several 14-day stamps from mae sai? I got many of these too, but no tourist visas. I got atleast 7 pages full of only mae sai stamps in my passport.

Aren't tourist visas denied because they suspect your not a tourist? Someone with back to back stamps from same border looks nothing like tourist to me. More like someone whose living with his girlfriend near border.

Quote from a member "chiangrai" in a another topic. He said he got nothing from Vientiane, but i've heard Savannekhet is better place to go so I guess i try it instead.

"I live near Mae Sai,Chiang Rai.

I have been getting 15 day visa extensions for longer than I care to admit.

I just got another one today but the guy told me "next time please make a visa"

and he marked a 4 with a circle round it on my stamp.

This happened to me before so I went to Vientiane,they told me no more Tourist visas from here for you."

I hope someone's got more info on this

I don't think they really concerned about somebody staying here for a long time on tourist visas or even 15 day entries.

What they don't want is people working here illegally on tourist visas and 30/15 day entries. They have posted notices on many of the embassy websites about this.

I suggest anybody going for several tourist visas have some proof of funds from outside Thailand to attach to the visa application. A Thai bank book showing international fund transfers coming into the account would probably be the best.

Edited February 27, 2013 by ubonjoe