If the Thai Authorities enforce the "rules" for visa exempt entry I suspect there will be many "runners" who will be seriously inconvenienced !

"Under the new provisions of the VISA EXEMPTION RULE effective December 6, 2008, passport holders of 48* countries are entitled to enter Thailand under this rule provided that they meet the following criteria:

1. The visit is strictly for tourism purposes.
2. They must have a confirmed return ticket to show that they are flying out of Thailand within 30 or 15 days of entry, as appropriate. Open tickets do not qualify. Travelling overland out of Thailand by train, bus, etc to Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia (including en route to Singapore), Myanmar, etc is not accepted as proof of exiting Thailand.

   You may be asked to show your flight ticket on entering Thailand. If you do not possess a flight ticket to show you will be exiting Thailand within 30 or 15 days of entry you will be most likely to be refused entry.

3. It will also be necessary to prove that you have funds of at least 20,000 THB per person during your stay in Thailand."

Ref. http://www.thaiembassy.com/thailand/changes-visa-exempt.php

Edited May 20, 201313 yr by jrtmedic

That is not an official web site (in spite if its appearance) but a commercial law firm. The information is also not correct as the financial requirement is 10k (20k for family) and tickets are virtually never checked for by immigration (airlines may check however) and the last time (Cambodia border) that there were such checks bus tickets were accepted.

Foreigners entering Thailand under the Tourist Visa Exemption category must possess adequate finances for the duration of stay in Thailand (i.e., cash 10,000 Baht per person and 20,000 Baht per family).

http://www.mfa.go.th/main/en/services/123/15396-Tourist-Visa-Exemption.html

Thank you ! My error in failing to ensure the link was valid

If you call Philip, the Thai owner of Quick Visa Run, 086 9808953, he can answer your questions..he takes 40 farang a day to the thai-cambodian border for 15 day entries

I can confirm the OP´s report. Yesterday, Monday 20th May 2013, I was told by Thai Immigration on the bridge at Mae Sai that the maximum number of 15 day tourist stamps was now four. In other words, one can enter Thailand four times using 15 day tourist stamps. Since I have quite a few 15 day stamps in my passport, I was told this was the last time I could enter. The Thai Immigration officier told the Japanese women behind me the same thing.

Therefore, I believe that there has been a policy change within the last two weeks to restrict foreigners who engage in multiple 15 days visa runs. The question is, as the OP stated, does this have any effect on the issuance of double entry visa in Vientienne?

It is not a recent policy change. Mae Sai was reported months ago (or longer).

It would have no affect at all on getting a tourist visa at any embassy or consulate.

Just last week i made visa run to Cambodian border by bus and received stamp for 5th time in a row