Clampdown coming on multiple tourist visa runs

[BlackJack]

TIT

[Malthus101]

They should just admit that Thailand is a place people like to come and live for longer than a few months and like to bring their money in and spend it.

Thailand - issue 1 year visas with no border or immigration checks needed. Charge 10,000-20,000 baht, whatever, I would have paid it.

"Don't bite the hand that feeds you."

[moe666]

I love it when Thailand decides to enforce there immigration laws mostly because of all the crying and whining about it. Nothing has changed just the names of the whiners: do not they realize how much they will lose from not allowing deadbeats to flaunt the laws, why cannot they be like my country so easy to come and go and stay as long as I like, and this one another nail in the coffin heheheheh that one use to be funny but it is just to old now.

The reason for clamp downs is because of abuse and by the way it is not just falangs they are going after we have become a minority of the tourist in Thailand. I have had my fun get a visa get legal and you will not have a problem and if you cannot handle it get on over to Cambodia and those other countries it is so easy to stay in.

[p_brownstone]

I have lived here doing back to back tourist visa's (not land crossings) for MANY MANY Years.. and I must have spend a good few million baht or more.. and I have not taken one baht from Thailand.

so I can personally vouch that people who are doing this (as I do) can actually PUT a LOT of money into the economy and NOT take from it.

I have absolutely no doubt that there are many individuals in your exact situation - but even so you, and they, are by FAR in the minority.

Immigration Laws - in ANY Country - cannot possibly cater for the minority situations such as yours, they are a broad brush attempt to control and regulate; so yes there will certainly be cases where the Law can appear to be unfair.

However the fact remains that under no interpretation of the word "Tourist" do you qualify as such.

Patrick

[Wuvu2]

Simple Thai Logic: The person in charge of the decision most likely has family in the visa run business. Half as long a visa extension means twice as many visa runs.

[moe666]

Sometimes it would just be nice to be treated as the husband of a Thai citizen.

Not a pseudo criminal that needs to justify wanting to live with his family !!!

ABSOLUTELY CORRECT!!!

GREAT POST AND SO TRUE!!

I love my Thai wife and our son that was born here. Family is everything to me and I thought Thais feel the same, but you have to qualify financially in order to live with your family and that is all that matters to immigration.

It seems love and keeping a family together is not the most important thing to immigration, the only thing that matters is how much a person has or makes is the most important reason (and only reason) for letting a farang stay with his family.

How pathetic.

THANKS cornishcarlos for the post and good luck to you.

Love and family are great but how does one feed there family on make believe.

Who mentioned having no money ??

My point was, we will never just be able to live in peace with our families. There will always be something, be it a change in monetary requirements or reporting every 90 days. Whatever happens and whatever visa you are on, you are never secure for more than 12 months at a time. That is no way to be made to live.

I was not answering your post but the one that answered yours, yes I agree with you that a change for retirees and marrieds would be nice but it is the rules we live by and really what in life is absolute, love, peace, safety all of these things can change at the drop of a hat

[superdome]

what about G7 countries...has that reverted to 15 day,after giving them 30 days....????

[sultan2011]

Is there anyone there who want's to stay?

[THAIPHUKET]

no comment

Edited March 18, 2014 by THAIPHUKET

[JLCrab]

They should just set a bar say 25k baht a month spent in country for continued stay then enforce the work laws. This is mostly directed at teachers abusing the visa system. I am a professional vacationer and have spent loads of money in the almost 4 years I have been here why should I suffer for people working on tourist visas when I can show that I spend above the average middle class Thai family a month?

Great -- go to Immigration Department HQ on Suan Phlu and look for this:

[Tatsujin]

Q: Where does tourist money come from?

A: Outside Thailand.

Q: Where do tourists spend their money?

A: Inside Thailand.

Q: How does money from other counties spent in Thailand, benefit the Thai economy?

A: Countless way... it would seem.

Q: Why then would you want to discourage tourists from staying as long as they want?

A: Hummmmmm.... let me get back to you on that...

I think they are not trying to discourage tourists, even long term ones. Rather they are trying to discourage people from living here more or less permanently on visa runs.

The Thai Government's position has always been that there is no problem with expats living in Thailand provided that they have a visa appropriate to their stay. Nothing wrong with that. Every country is the same.

Except they are making it even harder to get an appropriate visa, as evidenced by the recent clamp down on issuing Non Imm O marriage visas !!!

Every country is definitely not the same...

I agree every country has different visa rules. I do not know of any country where you can just walk in and live full time. You have to go through hoops. How many hoops and how big they will depend on each countries own circumstances.

Of couse when people bend the rules or takes advantage of loop holes you can expect a tightening of the rules. This in turn causes problems for other people. The 30 day visa exempt entry was never intended for full time living in Thailand. If a tourist wants to stay longer than 30 days there are tourist visas. Those who live here on visa runs might not be breaking the letter of the law, but they are breaking the spirit of the law.

The answer is very simple - if you cannot get a visa to live in one country go and live in another. I have often thought of going to Cambodia or Vietnam, but canot because of visa issues. So I stay in Thailand where, at my age, visa is very very easy. Of course single people under 50 will not see it that way ( I sympathise as I was in that position once), but what country can they live in without bending the rules?

Not sure where you are getting your info from, but obtaining ANY visa in Cambodia is FAR easier than here in Thailand, and FAR cheaper. 1 year visa is simple and cheap, no reporting, no leaving the country etc.

[candyman123]

Sometimes it would just be nice to be treated as the husband of a Thai citizen.

Not a pseudo criminal that needs to justify wanting to live with his family !!!

I second this statement and just arrived back from Saudi for a 6 week holiday to spend time with family. Do I need to go through the paperwork for staying this long? yes. So why can't I just go over the border and extend my visa stamp for a few more days before heading back to work in Saudi. I NEED AN EASIER SYSTEM FOR RETURNING AND LEAVING THE COUNTRY EVERY SO OFTEN...!

[rexall]

Tue 18 Mar 2014, 3:56 pm

In many countries including Thailand, relaxed attitudes toward immigration and the movement-of-peoples-across-borders is vulgar and repulsive to conservatives. Conservatives are deeply offended in a personal way with people "flaunt" immigration policy. It is highly emotional for them. I don't understand it, quite honestly, but I do recognize it as an essential mindset, and that people of a more progressive philosophy simply do not inflame themselves over this issue.

The Thai gov has been "schizophrenic" over "visa runners" ever since I came here 15 years ago when I was one of those visa runners for a time until I sorted out my visa status. On a couple of other occasions, I did visa runs for awhile while I was in between visas. After the first few--which have some mild interest--they become a seriously boring pain in the ass. Anyone that can do them for a year obviously has a lot of character and a deep motivation to be in Thailand. Just the sort of person a country would want, no?

Anyway, I'll just stop digressing from my digression and point out that getting tough on the evil visa runners is a perennial topic, sure to generate lots of discussion on forums such as this one, but it never comes to anything lasting or significant. If the gov wanted to stop or severely limit visa running, they could. But for whatever reasons--and you are welcome to speculate--they seem to prefer to create the appearance of doing something about it, without ever actually doing anything about it.

[phuketrichard]

Q: Where does tourist money come from?

A: Outside Thailand.

Q: Where do tourists spend their money?

A: Inside Thailand.

Q: How does money from other counties spent in Thailand, benefit the Thai economy?

A: Countless way... it would seem.

Q: Why then would you want to discourage tourists from staying as long as they want?

A: Hummmmmm.... let me get back to you on that...

I think they are not trying to discourage tourists, even long term ones. Rather they are trying to discourage people from living here more or less permanently on visa runs.

The Thai Government's position has always been that there is no problem with expats living in Thailand provided that they have a visa appropriate to their stay. Nothing wrong with that. Every country is the same.

Except they are making it even harder to get an appropriate visa, as evidenced by the recent clamp down on issuing Non Imm O marriage visas !!!

Every country is definitely not the same...

I agree every country has different visa rules. I do not know of any country where you can just walk in and live full time. You have to go through hoops. How many hoops and how big they will depend on each countries own circumstances.

Of couse when people bend the rules or takes advantage of loop holes you can expect a tightening of the rules. This in turn causes problems for other people. The 30 day visa exempt entry was never intended for full time living in Thailand. If a tourist wants to stay longer than 30 days there are tourist visas. Those who live here on visa runs might not be breaking the letter of the law, but they are breaking the spirit of the law.

The answer is very simple - if you cannot get a visa to live in one country go and live in another. I have often thought of going to Cambodia or Vietnam, but canot because of visa issues. So I stay in Thailand where, at my age, visa is very very easy. Of course single people under 50 will not see it that way ( I sympathise as I was in that position once), but what country can they live in without bending the rules?

?? visa for cambodia $280/year available to everyone, multi entry, no requirements/$$ needed, Cant get much easier than that<<<

[JLCrab]

Sometimes it would just be nice to be treated as the husband of a Thai citizen.

Not a pseudo criminal that needs to justify wanting to live with his family !!!

The Thai Police Order 777/2551 2.18 states that marriages for extension must be de facto and de jure. My guess is that Immigration has just run into too many requests for extension of stay where the marriage may have been de jure but was not de facto.

[Wordworx]

Like these cats don't have bigger issues to worry about. What is the point? To discourage a few deadbeats from... what, exactly? Despoiling the culture and exploiting the welfare system? Meanwhile hassling a bunch of off-the-books teachers and journalist types, pensioners and other guys (like me) who make their money via the Internet in other nations, bring it here and spend it.

[whiteman]

The sky is falling look out runners

[timmuhonen]

Sometimes it would just be nice to be treated as the husband of a Thai citizen.

Not a pseudo criminal that needs to justify wanting to live with his family !!!

ABSOLUTELY CORRECT!!!

GREAT POST AND SO TRUE!!

I love my Thai wife and our son that was born here. Family is everything to me and I thought Thais feel the same, but you have to qualify financially in order to live with your family and that is all that matters to immigration.

It seems love and keeping a family together is not the most important thing to immigration, the only thing that matters is how much a person has or makes is the most important reason (and only reason) for letting a farang stay with his family.

How pathetic.

THANKS cornishcarlos for the post and good luck to you.

a bit off...well..

i have a family

(dauhgter and almost married wife, nice relatives as a fluent thaispeaker )

in here t-land, and immi has been good to us,

so no need to visit to outside very often with tourist-visa.

family is the best thing u ever know,

even it has some other sidethings as well.

so, who wants to throw the first stone ?

my opinion for tr-visarunners, when they are single

and try

to spend time in here, is, keeping that way in plan,

because it will keep some

side-effects away.

15 days and then do something for that staying.

my opinion.

if more than that, travel agencies must take care of those things.

am i wrong ?

tim

Edited March 18, 2014 by timmuhonen

[LynnElizabethBlackmore]

Why don't they want us here ? We spend money !

[notmyself]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

In all seriousness a clampdown if properly enforced is a good thing. There shouldn't be a reason to do multiple tourist visa runs - if you prolong your stay in the country you are no longer a tourist - it's milking the system.

I suspect most of the people going on these visa runs are working here illegally anyway. Go and jump through all the hoops and go back and forth to the employment office with the reams and reams of paperwork and copies of passporst and marriage certificates, kids birth certificates and everything else like the rest of us did to be able to work and stay here legally.

This "probem" is easily resolved. If there are 3 30 day visa exempt stamps in a passport then only a 7 day permission to stay should be given !

Lets make the "runners" run !

Fair enough if you mean 3 x back to back entries.

[JLCrab]

Like these cats don't have bigger issues to worry about. What is the point? To discourage a few deadbeats from... what, exactly? Despoiling the culture and exploiting the welfare system? Meanwhile hassling a bunch of off-the-books teachers and journalist types, pensioners and other guys (like me) who make their money via the Internet in other nations, bring it here and spend it.

This is the Thai Immigration Act of 2522 -- http://www.immigration.go.th/nov2004/en/doc/Immigration_Act.pdf

Regulations as per Police Order 777/2551 are promulgated according to and in compliance with the above Act. I suggest that you hire someone to lobby the Thai Parliament to amend or repeal & replace the said Act.

[thepool]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

Sometimes it would just be nice to be treated as the husband of a Thai citizen.

Not a pseudo criminal that needs to justify wanting to live with his family !!!

I second this statement and just arrived back from Saudi for a 6 week holiday to spend time with family. Do I need to go through the paperwork for staying this long? yes. So why can't I just go over the border and extend my visa stamp for a few more days before heading back to work in Saudi. I NEED AN EASIER SYSTEM FOR RETURNING AND LEAVING THE COUNTRY EVERY SO OFTEN...!

Why not tell us all about the hassle of obtaining an exit visa from Saudi ?

Why not inform everyone about the Igama which must be carried at all times ?

Why not tell us about where your passport is kept whilst in Saudi ?

Maybe its is the Saudi system which needs adjustment !

Edit

format

Edited March 18, 2014 by thepool

[Moo2cm]

Great move Thailand! It will be year zero before you know it.....

[Wordworx]

Like these cats don't have bigger issues to worry about. What is the point? To discourage a few deadbeats from... what, exactly? Despoiling the culture and exploiting the welfare system? Meanwhile hassling a bunch of off-the-books teachers and journalist types, pensioners and other guys (like me) who make their money via the Internet in other nations, bring it here and spend it.

This is the Thai Immigration Act of 2522 -- http://www.immigration.go.th/nov2004/en/doc/Immigration_Act.pdf

Regulations as per Police Order 777/2551 are promulgated according to and in compliance with the above Act. I suggest that you hire someone to lobby the Thai Parliament to amend or repeal & replace the said Act.

Thanks F. Lee Bailey. Your allegiance to strict societal order and regulatory principles are duly noted. The world needs more government-obedient types like you. Keep up the solid work.

[timmuhonen]

Why don't they want us here ? We spend money !

have u ever heard saying ''u give me too much money ''

[Keoni]

FYI...

I just did border run this morning to Poipet.

Last month I flew in from the US, so I had a 30 day tourist visa on arrival at the airport. Did the border run this morning and coming back into Thailand the immigration officer gave me a hard time about it.

He said "next month no visa at the border! Too many foreigners go out and in the same day!"

So I would guess the immigration officers are being told something about this. I was surprised he said anything considering I came in through the airport last month, and haven't done a border run in over a year. Last year when I did a border run to Poipet they didn't even bat an eye.

[JLCrab]

Like these cats don't have bigger issues to worry about. What is the point? To discourage a few deadbeats from... what, exactly? Despoiling the culture and exploiting the welfare system? Meanwhile hassling a bunch of off-the-books teachers and journalist types, pensioners and other guys (like me) who make their money via the Internet in other nations, bring it here and spend it.

This is the Thai Immigration Act of 2522 -- http://www.immigration.go.th/nov2004/en/doc/Immigration_Act.pdf

Regulations as per Police Order 777/2551 are promulgated according to and in compliance with the above Act. I suggest that you hire someone to lobby the Thai Parliament to amend or repeal & replace the said Act.

Thanks F. Lee Bailey. Your allegiance to strict societal order and regulatory principles are duly noted. The world needs more government-obedient types like you. Keep up the solid work.

Thank you -- it certainly already has plenty of whiners.

Edited March 18, 2014 by JLCrab

[stevenl]

They should just set a bar say 25k baht a month spent in country for continued stay then enforce the work laws. This is mostly directed at teachers abusing the visa system. I am a professional vacationer and have spent loads of money in the almost 4 years I have been here why should I suffer for people working on tourist visas when I can show that I spend above the average middle class Thai family a month?

Because this is not about individuals but about the system.

[humqdpf]

It always amazes me that Thailand chooses to devote a lot of time and effort in curtailing visa privileges for law-abiding foreigners who just want to stay in Thailand and yet we hear nothing about what they are going to do about the many criminal activities that go on in the Kingdom, such as the production of false passports by criminals, for instance

[Thai Travel Bug]

The fact is, we are not wanted here. For every bad thing that a foreigner does or is purported to have done in Thailand, ten good things that foreigners have done is overlooked or forgotten.

We are the minority of the population, we are the visitor, our true nationality will never be Thai, and that is the way it will forever be. If the government just had a better way of sifting through

the chaff, and realise that some of us want to contribute to the country, to our family, and the general wealth and wellbeing of the Thai society, things may change, but I fear this may never happen

in my, or my wife's time, nor my children's time.

It is very sad for those of us that consider Thailand home, or for those that wish to be with their families, or for those who want to, and can contribute to the greater good of Thailand.

Thailand....Attract good people, of wealth, ability, or good heart, and you may well progress from the state of mind that you always seem to trust....That is a state of upheaval, lack of trust, and the lack of a vision for a good future of your people. Wake up before it is too late. Your inability to trust only invites and harbours those that cant be trusted.