Phuket to Myanmar Visa Run Tomorrow (Sunday)

[philipinphuket]

Have just been told by Visa Run Company there is a problem with Myanmar immigration and have to go to Satun instead of Ranong or Andaman. Anyone know what the problem is?

[ubonjoe]

Did they ask how many visa exempt entries you had already. If they did it may be problem with Thai immigration limiting the number of entries you can do not Myanmar immigration.

I have not seen anything in the news about problems entering Myanmar.

[philipinphuket]

No, they just said "there is a problem with Myanmar immigration" and we have to change (the whole van, not me) to Satun, I didn't think to ask why until after I put the phone down .!

[falkan]

friend got back yesterday no problem! maybe just problem with that company try another company..

[stickylies]

was there too some days ago. business as usual. no problemo then............................

[digitalchromakey]

There are reports coming in today on a Phuket Visa Ride share site of people being refused entry back into to Thailand with more than three consecutive Visa Exempt entry stamps in their passports.

Apparently there are currently border runners stuck on the Burmese side at Ranong.

Also visa run vans are being turned around if there are border runners in them with more than 3x consecutive stamps in their passports.

[philipinphuket]

Today I was booked to go to Ranong for a 30 day tourist visa extension, I said in my post yesterday the visa run company phoned to say we have to go to Satun as there is a problem with Thai immigration at Myanmar.

A big thanks to the company informing in advance and changing today's route, so sorry if people stuck yesterday on the Ranong side and cannot return, that must be hell, what on earth do they do?

The Thai driver of the company confirmed above posts re more than 3 entries visa exemption but blaming it on the local mafia (he was there himself with a van load of clients turned around) but surely his comment re "mafia" is surely out of place unless some money has to change hands somewhere (don't understand as the Thai immigration makes no charge, only the Myanmar side with the crispy 10 US$ bill) ...?

Other than that,happy to say Satun went fine, a longer road journey but no "boat" transfer stress. But how about next month for the the so called "30 day tourist visa runners" ... what do they/ we do then?

[digitalchromakey]

Today I was booked to go to Ranong for a 30 day tourist visa extension, I said in my post yesterday the visa run company phoned to say we have to go to Satun as there is a problem with Thai immigration at Myanmar.

A big thanks to the company informing in advance and changing today's route, so sorry if people stuck yesterday on the Ranong side and cannot return, that must be hell, what on earth do they do?

The Thai driver of the company confirmed above posts re more than 3 entries visa exemption but blaming it on the local mafia (he was there himself with a van load of clients turned around) but surely his comment re "mafia" is surely out of place unless some money has to change hands somewhere (don't understand as the Thai immigration makes no charge, only the Myanmar side with the crispy 10 US$ bill) ...?

Other than that,happy to say Satun went fine, a longer road journey but no "boat" transfer stress. But how about next month for the the so called "30 day tourist visa runners" ... what do they/ we do then?

Thanks for the update.

Small detail, you didn't have a tourist visa and it wasn't extended.

In fact you have/had a Visa Exempt Entry which you got at a Thai Border.

Depending on your nationality, arrive at a land border with no visa and you can get 15 days Visa Exempt, or 30 days if you come from a G7 country.

Tourist visas give you a 60 day entry and are obtained from Thai Consulates - normally Single , can be Double or Triple Entry.

It's not clear yet what, if anything, has changed, as I just have a third hand hand report from some one returning from a border run to Ranong, saying they had met another border runner there who claimed that they were 'stranded' in Burma.

Edited May 4, 2014 by digitalchromakey

[philipinphuket]

Apologies for my lack of knowledge re correct terminology .... "in fact you have/had a Visa Exempt Entry which you got at a Thai Border, you get 15 days or 30 days, Visa Exempt, if you come from a G7 country".

Yes I come from a G7 country (UK), thank you for asking, please excuse my terminology, I came here last year on a multiple entry marriage to a Thai lady, 4+1x re-entry every 90 days but then the troubles started in Bkk & HKT with offices closed so I thought I couldn't apply for a retirement visa as planned (yes, I am over 50 years old) so though easiest to just come and go every 30 days until things settle down then can apply retirement visa.

Wish I hadn't started this now, only trying to help / advise others.I tried once before re being scammed, should have learned my lesson then. Deleting myself form thiswebsite. Good luck to all of you negatives whingers and whiners, be happy in your misery of having the privilege of living n this beautiful country as I do. If you don't like it here then go home.

[simon43]

I am due to do a visa-run at Ranong in 2 days from now. I alreadty have several back-to-back VoA stamps from Ranong because I am waiting on paperwork to register a Thai limited compoany and then to apply for a B visa in Penang.

I hope I don't have any problems in Ranong....

If these border-runners were stuck on the Burmese side at Ranong, then either they were being denied entry at Ranong Immigration, or at the Andaman Club jetty immigration, (which was it?).

So they are already on Thai soil, but simply stuck at the ferry port and camped out at Ranong Immigration.

I hope we can get some more factual details on this thread soon.

Simon

[ubonjoe]

Apologies for my lack of knowledge re correct terminology .... "in fact you have/had a Visa Exempt Entry which you got at a Thai Border, you get 15 days or 30 days, Visa Exempt, if you come from a G7 country".

Yes I come from a G7 country (UK), thank you for asking, please excuse my terminology, I came here last year on a multiple entry marriage to a Thai lady, 4+1x re-entry every 90 days but then the troubles started in Bkk & HKT with offices closed so I thought I couldn't apply for a retirement visa as planned (yes, I am over 50 years old) so though easiest to just come and go every 30 days until things settle down then can apply retirement visa.

Wish I hadn't started this now, only trying to help / advise others.I tried once before re being scammed, should have learned my lesson then. Deleting myself form thiswebsite. Good luck to all of you negatives whingers and whiners, be happy in your misery of having the privilege of living n this beautiful country as I do. If you don't like it here then go home.

If you are Phuket the demonstrations in Bangkok would not affect you getting an extension of stay. You could of applied at immigration in Phuket. In Bangkok there have been temporary immigration offices offices open for months now.

Since you are married to a Thai you can go to immigration and get a 60 day extension to visit. her. Then you could apply for a conversion to a 90 day non immigrant visa entry that would allow you to do the extension based upon retirement or marriage after about 60 days.

[CiaranO]

yes just read in a online paper that if you have three Ranong visas in a row you will be turned away - whatever that means. I guess they are clamping down on all these visa runs.

These visa run companies are going to loose a lot of money - i wonder how long this will last.

[khwaibah]

Phucket Wan front page.

[digitalchromakey]

I am due to do a visa-run at Ranong in 2 days from now. I alreadty have several back-to-back VoA stamps from Ranong because I am waiting on paperwork to register a Thai limited compoany and then to apply for a B visa in Penang.

I hope I don't have any problems in Ranong....

If these border-runners were stuck on the Burmese side at Ranong, then either they were being denied entry at Ranong Immigration, or at the Andaman Club jetty immigration, (which was it?).

So they are already on Thai soil, but simply stuck at the ferry port and camped out at Ranong Immigration.

I hope we can get some more factual details on this thread soon.

Simon

According to a Phuket on-line journal, Thai Immigration both at Ranong and Andaman Pier are having a crack down on border runners with an original entry plus 3x back to back 15/30 day land entries.

These people are being stamped out of Thailand, but refused re-entry.

Apparently started at the end of April.

"Senior Thai police have imposed the new rule to reduce the number of international criminals operating in Phuket."

''Many of these people are here for no good reason,'' the Ranong Immigration officer said. ''Some of them are heavily involved in criminal activities.''

This will also affect many Philippine nationals who are employed illegally in the service industry, often on low salaries, who do back to back 15 day border runs to stay legally.

[digitalchromakey]

Looks like we have a 'crackdown' on our hands again.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/723785-visa-crackdown-risks-stranding-phuket-expats-in-myanmar/

[ubonjoe]

There are other border crossings that have been limiting the number of crossings for some time now.

[simon43]

I've decided that a possible-wasted journey to Ranong is not desired... I've booked a day-return flight to KL instead.

[4evermaat]

If you go to an alternative border, does that reset the count for the previous border which you got rejected?

In other words, what are the different methods to reset the VoA count?

[ubonjoe]

No reports yet for southern Thailand. But in the north between Mai Sai and Mai Sot it does not work to switch crossings because they count the stamps for the other crossing.

The only sure way to reset the count is to get tourist visa or some other class of visa if you qualify. Doing a flight out and back should work also but if you are flying out you could spend the night and get a visa.

[4evermaat]

No reports yet for southern Thailand. But in the north between Mai Sai and Mai Sot it does not work to switch crossings because they count the stamps for the other crossing.

The only sure way to reset the count is to get tourist visa or some other class of visa if you qualify. Doing a flight out and back should work also but if you are flying out you could spend the night and get a visa.

As I was attempting to shuffle the visa run from Ranong to Sadao, I was told by the tour company that people doing that were starting to experience problems getting rejected at Sadao also as of today; merely switching borders may not be enough. The best approach is to just reset with a new visa. This is a very recent thing that has caught many people off guard even at the tour company, but I guess we gotta do what we gotta do. Not sure when things will settle down again.

They refunded the Ranong visa run package and suggested to go Hat Yai to Penang to get a new visa. Oh dear.

[Tomtomtom69]

No reports yet for southern Thailand. But in the north between Mai Sai and Mai Sot it does not work to switch crossings because they count the stamps for the other crossing.

The only sure way to reset the count is to get tourist visa or some other class of visa if you qualify. Doing a flight out and back should work also but if you are flying out you could spend the night and get a visa.

As I was attempting to shuffle the visa run from Ranong to Sadao, I was told by the tour company that people doing that were starting to experience problems getting rejected at Sadao also as of today; merely switching borders may not be enough. The best approach is to just reset with a new visa. This is a very recent thing that has caught many people off guard even at the tour company, but I guess we gotta do what we gotta do. Not sure when things will settle down again.

They refunded the Ranong visa run package and suggested to go Hat Yai to Penang to get a new visa. Oh dear.

How about perhaps suggesting they try a smaller crossing with few people crossing (especially third party foreigners)? For example, the Satun crossing inside the National Park I think it's Wang Krachan or something to Perlis, or Satun to Langkawi (by boat) or Padang Besar (although the latter is fairly popular too, especially for those coming by train as it's where the train line passes through).

Major crossing points with all 4 countries are starting to crack down: out of the 4 crossings between Thailand and Myanmar now 3 are making things a bit difficult, only Phu Nam Ron is not fussy. Of the Lao crossings, the Nong Khai/Tha Deua (Vientiane) crossing is cracking down as is Mukdaharn/Savannakhet. The smaller crossings such as Beung Kan to Paksan and Tha Li to Nam Heuang etc. are probably OK. For Cambodia, Aranyaprathet/Poipet has started limiting border crossers to no more than 4 consecutive back-to-back visa exempt stamps, whilst the 2 Chantaburi crossings have not (so far).

A new visa or flying out may be the best advice, but if you have to do a few back-to-back runs, do choose a quieter crossing. There are plenty to choose from. It might also help to spend a night or two away from Thailand rather than just getting stamped in and out.

[4evermaat]

The distance, time commitment, and expense required to travel to an alternate makes getting a new visa and reset the count more feasible. Especially with the train, you have to either time your exit perfectly or layover in hat yai anyway to wait for the train that will go to Padang Besar. So going to a quieter border makes sense only if it is a reasonable distance.

Fame was initially willing to let me chance the 4th stamp at Ranong, but after getting 3 more rejections that day for the 4th stamp, they called back and refunded the ticket. Yeap...that serious.

So evening bus to Hat Yai arrive in the early morning 4-5am. Take mini bus to Penang and hopefully get a chance to run the passport in the morning early enough to receive it in the evening. Otherwise I am caught over the weekend unless the embassy is open on Saturday also.

[ubonjoe]

The consulate is not open on Saturday.