On my NZ passport I can get a 30 day entry at the airport. Can I fly out to a neighbouring country when that time is up say for instance to Vietnam stay for say a couple of weeks, then fly back into Thailand and get another 30 days at the airport? Can this continue over a period of time? Thankyou for all advice and comments.

Yes if flying . Only 15 days visa exempt entries available if travelling by land.

You can fly out and back on same day and get a new 30 day visa exempt entry. You can do this as many times as you want or can afford it.

A better option is to get a tourist visa that gives you a 60 day entry that can be extended at immigration for 30 days. You can get a 2 entry visa in Vientiane Laos that would give you almost 6 months total stay with just one trip out and back.

You can fly out and back on same day and get a new 30 day visa exempt entry. You can do this as many times as you want or can afford it. A better option is to get a tourist visa that gives you a 60 day entry that can be extended at immigration for 30 days. You can get a 2 entry visa in Vientiane Laos that would give you almost 6 months total stay with just one trip out and back.

so Immigration no longer enforce the 180/365 days per year maximum for visa (exemptions) arrivals at the airport - thats good news

i remember a not so polite Immigration Official at Mae Sai spending 10 minutes trying to figure out the number of days I had spent wrt 180/365 days - I could have assisted her (i keep a summary) but she was needlessly impolite towards me

You can fly out and back on same day and get a new 30 day visa exempt entry. You can do this as many times as you want or can afford it. A better option is to get a tourist visa that gives you a 60 day entry that can be extended at immigration for 30 days. You can get a 2 entry visa in Vientiane Laos that would give you almost 6 months total stay with just one trip out and back.

so Immigration no longer enforce the 180/365 days per year maximum for visa (exemptions) arrivals at the airport - thats good news

i remember a not so polite Immigration Official at Mae Sai spending 10 minutes trying to figure out the number of days I had spent wrt 180/365 days - I could have assisted her (i keep a summary) but she was needlessly impolite towards me

As I said there never has been a "180/365" rule it was 90/180 for visa exempt entries. It was eliminated when they changed to 15 day entries at border crossings 5 years ago.

Some countries now get again a 30-day visa-exempt entry at land borders, e.g. Germany, Italy, Japan. Does anyone have the complete list of these countries?

See this topic for info:

You can fly out and back on same day and get a new 30 day visa exempt entry. You can do this as many times as you want or can afford it. A better option is to get a tourist visa that gives you a 60 day entry that can be extended at immigration for 30 days. You can get a 2 entry visa in Vientiane Laos that would give you almost 6 months total stay with just one trip out and back.

so Immigration no longer enforce the 180/365 days per year maximum for visa (exemptions) arrivals at the airport - thats good news

i remember a not so polite Immigration Official at Mae Sai spending 10 minutes trying to figure out the number of days I had spent wrt 180/365 days - I could have assisted her (i keep a summary) but she was needlessly impolite towards me

There is a reason for the 180/365 rule, if you stay in Thailand longer you are liable for tax in Thailand.

You can fly out and back on same day and get a new 30 day visa exempt entry. You can do this as many times as you want or can afford it. A better option is to get a tourist visa that gives you a 60 day entry that can be extended at immigration for 30 days. You can get a 2 entry visa in Vientiane Laos that would give you almost 6 months total stay with just one trip out and back.

so Immigration no longer enforce the 180/365 days per year maximum for visa (exemptions) arrivals at the airport - thats good news

i remember a not so polite Immigration Official at Mae Sai spending 10 minutes trying to figure out the number of days I had spent wrt 180/365 days - I could have assisted her (i keep a summary) but she was needlessly impolite towards me

There is a reason for the 180/365 rule, if you stay in Thailand longer you are liable for tax in Thailand.

There is no 180/365 "rule" !

I have stayed in Thailand for years and quite legally pay no tax!

"An individual is regarded as a tax resident if he/she resides in

Thailand at one or more times for an aggregate period of 180 days or

more in any tax year."

That's from a very good document found at

http://www.pwc.com/en_TH/th/publications/2013/thai-tax-2013-booklet.pdf.

Still, the typical retiree who lives on money periodically transferred in from home country accounts will not end up paying any tax in Thailand.

Edited December 8, 201312 yr by mahjongguy

Thankyou everyone for taking the time to reply to my post. I knew about the multiple tourist visa plus the 30 day extension on each 60 days....just not sure of the cost but I'll check with the Thai embassy in NZ. Just one more little query....can I then apply for another multiple entry tourist visa at a Thai embassy in a neighbouring country and keep repeating this every 180 days......thankyou have a happy day!

A tourist visa costs the equivalent of 1000 baht per entry. You can only get 2 entry visas in Laos others are single entry. Laos normally limits them to 3 back to back visas.

AloisAmrein It is now 30-days at ALL points of entry (land and air) for citizens of G7 countries.

Thankyou everyone for taking the time to reply to my post. I knew about the multiple tourist visa plus the 30 day extension on each 60 days....just not sure of the cost but I'll check with the Thai embassy in NZ. Just one more little query....can I then apply for another multiple entry tourist visa at a Thai embassy in a neighbouring country and keep repeating this every 180 days......thankyou have a happy day!

MM,

as a fellow kiwi I have not had any problems with getting visas done in Vientainne (Lao) or a visa exempt stamp up in Mae Sai (Myanmar). Ive been in Thailand for about 18 months now and perhaps on the next visa run to Lao I may be told 3rd and final. In which case I can/will get a flight to another country for a weeks 'change of scenery' and then come back in with a 30 day visa exempt stamp.

As has been correctly stated, each visa entry costs 1000 baht (About NZ$37.66) and Vientainne will only 'give' out single or double entry visas. The extension after the 1st entry is good for 1 month and costs 1900 baht (NZ$71.57), you repeat this 'system' after 3 months in order to use the second entry. So.... the real cost for the double entry is more like 2000+1900+500+1900=6300 baht (NZ$237.31)

The 500 baht in the equation is the cost of a visa for Myanmar as you need to leave Thailand in order to use the 2nd entry of the Thai visa, you also need to add the cost of transport etc to get to the border and back, which varies as to the mode you may take.

As I said earlier, Ive never had a problem with visas or at the borders. I dress conservatively and remain polite to all immigration officials. I am always polite/respectful to any law enforcement official and in turn are treated the same. It is a great country, Im living in Chiang Mai and prefer the area over many places in the South. One day I may even get around to applying for the retirement visa but at this stage I intend to get another job overseas somewhere...so the RV can wait!

Good luck on your endeavours

CMKiwi

2000+1900+500+1900=6300 bah

actually the Myanmar visa cost is $10 - Its a small game played on the border where they'll try for 500baht and pocket the difference

if u pay 500baht, Immigration records it as $10 and keeps the difference

also the double entry is only valid for 3 months so be careful

Is it possible to get triple-entry tourist visas ANYWHERE any more? (Just wondering.)

Yes many embassies and consulates do them.

AloisAmrein It is now 30-days at ALL points of entry (land and air) for citizens of G7 countries.

Yes it is, but how many Immigration points of entry will let you do it indefinitely? This being Thailand, it will probably be that some will, and some may allow you only so many.

For those of us who live close to Nong Khai.

Three thirty day border crossings costs 3X36 USD ($108 dollars) or about 3500 baht

versus

Single entry Visa plus Extension total costs are over 5000 baht

Cross Border ...............$36 USD

Visa..............................1000 baht

Extension......................1900 baht

Hotel/Food one night....1000 baht

Note...I do realize you can get a double entry... but I thought this info would be interesting as the 30 day land border allowance makes it a viable choice.

Is there any minimum time that you need to be out of the country before crossing the border back into Thailand?

No, you can come back the same hour but must enter another country first before returning to Thailand.

Thanx to everyone for their comments and info. We were last in Thailand way back around '98 - '99 so there's been a few changes for NZers. At that time we didn't need any visa's for Thailand but had to leave and get stamped back in again every 90 days and depending which land border we crossed the amount paid varied. We did 2 day only exits, one at Mai Sai and one down on the Malaysian border and the third into Laos which we had to get a visa for so stayed a few days. Now it appears we need to get visa for Thailand regardless of which one we choose and we can't do a monthly land border crosing as NZ isn't among the G7 countries. Popping out of the country across the border every two weeks would be a pain unless we chose to stay near a border town.....anyway obviously we need to give some thought to our plans as we would like to stay this time as permanent as we can but dont have the money to qualify for a retirement visa......so thanx again and I wish you all a very Merry Xmas and Happy New Year, MM