Visa crackdown risks stranding Phuket expats in Myanmar

[skiller]

Air Asia need to order new airplanes

[smotherb]

Don't worry, it could be much worse. Just finished a phone call with a Thai friend of mine who is an immigration official. He says the B20,000 max fine for overstay has be re-opened for discussion. There is a good possibility that amount will be increased--after all, at the rate of B500/day, B20k is only 40 days.

[malibukid]

frankly

more needs to done here to keep the bad elements out of Thailand. for starters immigration must link their data base with the FBI, Interpol and other agencies abroad. second. raise the financial requirements for retirement visa. enable the police to do spot checks and of passports anytime anywhere. i am from California and the police are have powers along with the immigration police to to verify a aliens status. why should it not be any different in Thailand. further all applications any long term visa should be subject to a back ground check. this is common procedure at the Thai embassy in Beverly Hills when applying for a retirement visa. these measures sound draconian but they work. get rid of the trash.

[stickylies]

I find it a good thing... If us honest working people have to do all this then those who think they can find a way around the law should be punished. Getting a visa is easy. Just get one for the right reasons... Retirement starts at age of 50, or get and education visa and learn something which is good for a year and renewable up to 3 years. Or GET A JOB or invest in the country... And if you don't make the requirement for a marriage visa which is 400.000 baht then you seriously did something wrong in life if you don't have 9500 euros on your savings account... It just shows you are in Thailand for all the wrong reasons. Wish we were more stricter in Europe. It would keep the scum out that is draining our countries

i'm here as a longterm *tourist* and i'm not pretending/aiming anything else. i already speak 6 languages including much better thai than the average longtermer married to a thai so i'm not much interested in "learning" on a ED visa. i'm here for my own reasons (not the women and definitely not to work!); keywords are hammock, book, sea, peace of mind. i'm as honest as you are. there seems to be a lot of bitterness towards farang in thailand who are still young, DON'T have to work, DON'T have to buy a house in the name of the wife, DON'T have to support inlaws, etc.... and the argument that it will keep scum out is pure nonsense.

[lee b]

Fair enough, why should myself and many others have to keep paying for visas when some people think its fine to just keep doing these visa runs and get stamped back in on arrival again?

Go and get a proper visa like the rest of us !

[RichBKK]

I find it a good thing... If us honest working people have to do all this then those who think they can find a way around the law should be punished. Getting a visa is easy. Just get one for the right reasons... Retirement starts at age of 50, or get and education visa and learn something which is good for a year and renewable up to 3 years. Or GET A JOB or invest in the country... And if you don't make the requirement for a marriage visa which is 400.000 baht then you seriously did something wrong in life if you don't have 9500 euros on your savings account... It just shows you are in Thailand for all the wrong reasons. Wish we were more stricter in Europe. It would keep the scum out that is draining our countries

Alternatively you can be under 50 (check), be married to a thai (check), biological father of a thai national (check) unable to work in full time employment due to health reasons (check) and have not got money to spare due to costs of treatment etc for the visa renewal (have to scrap around every year calling in favours and borrowing for the 400,000)

It could be a bit more flexible and fair, lets face it. Bin the 400,000 would make my life rather simpler to say the least and though being younger than 50 my situation is maybe a bit unusual, there should be a bit more room for these sorts of eventualities. Not everyone is fortunate to stumble into wealth and only suffer ill health in old age (and I have 2 degrees)...

[stevenl]

I find it a good thing... If us honest working people have to do all this then those who think they can find a way around the law should be punished. Getting a visa is easy. Just get one for the right reasons... Retirement starts at age of 50, or get and education visa and learn something which is good for a year and renewable up to 3 years. Or GET A JOB or invest in the country... And if you don't make the requirement for a marriage visa which is 400.000 baht then you seriously did something wrong in life if you don't have 9500 euros on your savings account... It just shows you are in Thailand for all the wrong reasons. Wish we were more stricter in Europe. It would keep the scum out that is draining our countries

i'm here as a longterm *tourist* and i'm not pretending/aiming anything else. i already speak 6 languages including much better thai than the average longtermer married to a thai so i'm not much interested in "learning" on a ED visa. i'm here for my own reasons (not the women and definitely not to work!); keywords are hammock, book, sea, peace of mind. i'm as honest as you are. there seems to be a lot of bitterness towards farang in thailand who are still young, DON'T have to work, DON'T have to buy a house in the name of the wife, DON'T have to support inlaws, etc.... and the argument that it will keep scum out is pure nonsense.

The reason for this is very simple: to make working illegally more difficult.

Don't meet the visa requirements, then you'll have to stay on tourist visa. Until that loophole is closed, it is more difficult than it was in the past already. You know you don't meet the visa requirements as they are intended, so measures like this can not come as a surprise.

[skiller]

I would stop all Visa runs.

Stay in the country for 30 days and leave the country at least for 30 days.

Tourists who like to stay longer can make a proper visa in the home country.

[Hardy99]

Realy some of the best I did read so far about they in some cases want ti reinforce the law. It was always illegal to stay in Thailand and just make the monthly border trips. Those who cant afford stay legaly in a Country should leave it! I wonder what happens to Thai want to stay on 1 month borderruns in US, Australia, GB or so..?? Every Country has some law who, how Long and under what rules can stay. Dont follow the rules is just illegal.. It is loooong time over time that the Thai government should stop this border runs. They started already but because busy with internal affairs (...) it stopped. There are 1, 3, 6 or 12 month Visas available for People who qualify... easy to get!

I know many of those Young like the easy life, work here illegaly, stay with "educational Visa" and dont study and so on.. time to get rid of those stay in foreign countries illegal!

[fatdrunkandstupid]

If they know that there are so many criminals passing through customs at Ranong, why don't they set up a task force at the border (pier) to catch them...

Oh...that's right, that would require actually policing...instead of just making broad xenophobic accusations...

[stickylies]

I find it a good thing... If us honest working people have to do all this then those who think they can find a way around the law should be punished. Getting a visa is easy. Just get one for the right reasons... Retirement starts at age of 50, or get and education visa and learn something which is good for a year and renewable up to 3 years. Or GET A JOB or invest in the country... And if you don't make the requirement for a marriage visa which is 400.000 baht then you seriously did something wrong in life if you don't have 9500 euros on your savings account... It just shows you are in Thailand for all the wrong reasons. Wish we were more stricter in Europe. It would keep the scum out that is draining our countries

i'm here as a longterm *tourist* and i'm not pretending/aiming anything else. i already speak 6 languages including much better thai than the average longtermer married to a thai so i'm not much interested in "learning" on a ED visa. i'm here for my own reasons (not the women and definitely not to work!); keywords are hammock, book, sea, peace of mind. i'm as honest as you are. there seems to be a lot of bitterness towards farang in thailand who are still young, DON'T have to work, DON'T have to buy a house in the name of the wife, DON'T have to support inlaws, etc.... and the argument that it will keep scum out is pure nonsense.

The reason for this is very simple: to make working illegally more difficult.

Don't meet the visa requirements, then you'll have to stay on tourist visa. Until that loophole is closed, it is more difficult than it was in the past already. You know you don't meet the visa requirements as they are intended, so measures like this can not come as a surprise.

in a perfect world your argument works. here, in thailand as we know it, i can pay a certain amount to certain people and i get a certain extension (1-3-6 months) based on being unable to leave the country due to medical reasons... or anything else that is on offer that very day.

this rule is a farce. anyway, it will not affect my stay here (i don't mind flying out and back in again) except that i loved doing these visa runs to kawthoung! seriously.

[Seewolf]

Peoples who may be called " long-term tourist " should be able to get a proper visa and such visa runs are not legal at all.

If there are not able to do a proper visa without visa runs it means there are not honest for me.

[stickylies]

I know many of those Young like the easy life, work here illegaly, stay with "educational Visa" and dont study and so on.. time to get rid of those stay in foreign countries illegal!

that will not change by this ranong rule.... try again.

[wilcopops]

Whether there is a law to cover this or not, this type of sudden change of policy may be in tune with national enforcement inconsistency but it is hardly presents a good image of Thailand as a nation in control of its borders or that has any respect for foreigners.

[stevenl]

I find it a good thing... If us honest working people have to do all this then those who think they can find a way around the law should be punished. Getting a visa is easy. Just get one for the right reasons... Retirement starts at age of 50, or get and education visa and learn something which is good for a year and renewable up to 3 years. Or GET A JOB or invest in the country... And if you don't make the requirement for a marriage visa which is 400.000 baht then you seriously did something wrong in life if you don't have 9500 euros on your savings account... It just shows you are in Thailand for all the wrong reasons. Wish we were more stricter in Europe. It would keep the scum out that is draining our countries

i'm here as a longterm *tourist* and i'm not pretending/aiming anything else. i already speak 6 languages including much better thai than the average longtermer married to a thai so i'm not much interested in "learning" on a ED visa. i'm here for my own reasons (not the women and definitely not to work!); keywords are hammock, book, sea, peace of mind. i'm as honest as you are. there seems to be a lot of bitterness towards farang in thailand who are still young, DON'T have to work, DON'T have to buy a house in the name of the wife, DON'T have to support inlaws, etc.... and the argument that it will keep scum out is pure nonsense.

The reason for this is very simple: to make working illegally more difficult.

Don't meet the visa requirements, then you'll have to stay on tourist visa. Until that loophole is closed, it is more difficult than it was in the past already. You know you don't meet the visa requirements as they are intended, so measures like this can not come as a surprise.

in a perfect world your argument works. here, in thailand as we know it, i can pay a certain amount to certain people and i get a certain extension (1-3-6 months) based on being unable to leave the country due to medical reasons... or anything else that is on offer that very day.

this rule is a farce. anyway, it will not affect my stay here (i don't mind flying out and back in again) except that i loved doing these visa runs to kawthoung! seriously.

It won't affect you so the rule is a farce? I would say far from that, since it will working illegally much, much more difficult. Which is IMO a very good thing.

[stickylies]

Peoples who may be called " long-term tourist " should be able to get a proper visa and such visa runs are not legal at all.

If there are not able to do a proper visa without visa runs it means there are not honest for me.

i come here with triple TR visa that allows me to stay up to 9 months including 3 extensions at 1900 thb (5700THB) and then add several ranong-runs in order to stretch my stay with a 1,5 months till i fly back to home for a quick state of affairs ? what exactly is dishonest about that ?

[stevenl]

Whether there is a law to cover this or not, this type of sudden change of policy may be in tune with national enforcement inconsistency but it is hardly presents a good image of Thailand as a nation in control of its borders or that has any respect for foreigners.

Not sudden, was announced some time ago already. But people like to stick their heads in the sand as long as the time is not near.

[JSixpack]

i'm here for my own reasons (not the women and definitely not to work!); keywords are hammock, book, sea, peace of mind.

Mexico makes the very best hamacas! You'd be quite happy living in one above the nude beach of Zipolite.

No lack of countries to fit your requirements w/ easy visa. Key West, Florida, has lots of used bookstores.

4. i'm not interested in abusing the ED visa thing

Don't abuse it, then. Use it.

[wilcopops]

If they know that there are so many criminals passing through customs at Ranong, why don't they set up a task force at the border (pier) to catch them...

Oh...that's right, that would require actually policing...instead of just making broad xenophobic accusations...

Nice of you to air your prejudices, - (are you jealous?) - quite apart from hardly representing a significant risk to national security, it has no bearing on this visa-less re-entry ruling............somehow I get the feeling you still won't understand though.

[stickylies]

It won't affect you so the rule is a farce? I would say far from that, since it will working illegally much, much more difficult. Which is IMO a very good thing.

oh really and how exactly? those working illegally will simply FLY out. what's that gonna change? upon arrival they get another 1 month and continue to work illegally. go fool someone else.

[stevenl]

Peoples who may be called " long-term tourist " should be able to get a proper visa and such visa runs are not legal at all.

If there are not able to do a proper visa without visa runs it means there are not honest for me.

i come here with triple TR visa that allows me to stay up to 9 months including 3 extensions at 1900 thb (5700THB) and then add several ranong-runs in order to stretch my stay with a 1,5 months till i fly back to home for a quick state of affairs ? what exactly is dishonest about that ?

This means you're living here on a tourist visa, which is not hoe they were meant to be used. Which is why triple entry tourist visa are already much more difficult to get.

[stickylies]

i'm here for my own reasons (not the women and definitely not to work!); keywords are hammock, book, sea, peace of mind.

Mexico makes the very best hamacas! You'd be quite happy living in one above the nude beach of Zipolite.

No lack of countries to fit your requirements w/ easy visa. Key West, Florida, has lots of used bookstores.

4. i'm not interested in abusing the ED visa thing

Don't abuse it, then. Use it.

thx for the mexico tip i'm not worried about finding another place if it gets too anal here; i've stayed in many foreign countries before. i go with the flow.

usa however is not my thing and def not florida... NOT my cup of tea whatsoever!

[Sortapundit]

I find it a good thing... If us honest working people have to do all this then those who think they can find a way around the law should be punished. Getting a visa is easy. Just get one for the right reasons... Retirement starts at age of 50, or get and education visa and learn something which is good for a year and renewable up to 3 years. Or GET A JOB or invest in the country... And if you don't make the requirement for a marriage visa which is 400.000 baht then you seriously did something wrong in life if you don't have 9500 euros on your savings account... It just shows you are in Thailand for all the wrong reasons. Wish we were more stricter in Europe. It would keep the scum out that is draining our countries

i'm here as a longterm *tourist* and i'm not pretending/aiming anything else. i already speak 6 languages including much better thai than the average longtermer married to a thai so i'm not much interested in "learning" on a ED visa. i'm here for my own reasons (not the women and definitely not to work!); keywords are hammock, book, sea, peace of mind. i'm as honest as you are. there seems to be a lot of bitterness towards farang in thailand who are still young, DON'T have to work, DON'T have to buy a house in the name of the wife, DON'T have to support inlaws, etc.... and the argument that it will keep scum out is pure nonsense.

I'm in a similar situation. My partner and I (she's not Thai) have been visiting Thailand regularly for several years on tourist visas, spending maybe six months out of every 12 in Thailand and the rest of our time travelling in the region. Now, after a seven month tour of Europe, we'd like to settle for a while (and my partner would like to attend university in Bangkok, so we'd be looking at a four year spell).

Neither of us can live in the other's home country long term due to cost and visa reasons, and we chose Thailand as our loose base of operations because of the relaxed visa requirements, along with all its other charms. She'll be able to obtain a legitimate ED visa when she enrols in school, but I'll be forced into the uncomfortable (and legally questionable) limbo of multiple back-to-back tourist visas. I'm self employed (income sourced in the US) and more or less retired, so I'm not interested in finding a job in Thailand (and to do so would take away from the time I need to maintain my overseas income, so it would defeat the purpose). I'm too young for a retirement visa and obviously not interested in marrying a local, which doesn't leave me with many options to stay long term within the law. I am, however, a model citizen in all other respects, law abiding and with a clean criminal record, and since I spend every penny of my considerable earnings in Thailand I'm unquestionably an asset to the country (economically, at least).

It's a common complaint of people who earn their money online that visas can be a pain in the ass, since immigration law hasn't really caught up with the idea that it's possible to earn a living in a country other than the one in which you live. I'd like to spend the next few years relaxing in a hammock, enjoying the beautiful weather and bringing a decent sum of money into the Thai economy while my partner studies, but I'd love to be able to do so legally and without wondering when the other shoe will drop.

[Seewolf]

Peoples who may be called " long-term tourist " should be able to get a proper visa and such visa runs are not legal at all.

If there are not able to do a proper visa without visa runs it means there are not honest for me.

i come here with triple TR visa that allows me to stay up to 9 months including 3 extensions at 1900 thb (5700THB) and then add several ranong-runs in order to stretch my stay with a 1,5 months till i fly back to home for a quick state of affairs ? what exactly is dishonest about that ?

If you got your visa from the embassy as I guess and it looks like, you are not concerned, as I am focused on "long term tourist " which came here with 4 weeks tourist visa and than making border runs.................and included as I read already before peoples on ED visas and haven't seen any school.........

[stickylies]

Peoples who may be called " long-term tourist " should be able to get a proper visa and such visa runs are not legal at all.

If there are not able to do a proper visa without visa runs it means there are not honest for me.

i come here with triple TR visa that allows me to stay up to 9 months including 3 extensions at 1900 thb (5700THB) and then add several ranong-runs in order to stretch my stay with a 1,5 months till i fly back to home for a quick state of affairs ? what exactly is dishonest about that ?

This means you're living here on a tourist visa, which is not hoe they were meant to be used. Which is why triple entry tourist visa are already much more difficult to get.

jup and until i get 50 i reckon i will be granted triple entry visas (or maybe 1 year non-imm o before which i have received before). i never had problems with triple entry.

[cooked]

Every time people invent clever ways of getting around the visa regulations, things get more difficult for those of us that try to keep within the law. May I remind people of the second line of the Thai national anthem? "Nation of the people; belonging to the Thais in every respect". I wish that the Uk and even Switzerland had something like this in their constitution. In my experience, multiculturalism = BIG problems

[pjmansions]

Targeting criminals hmmmm these are the guys who don't bother doing visa runs surely the way is to target the criminals directly with the help on interpol instead of making everyone's life more difficult

[stevenl]

I find it a good thing... If us honest working people have to do all this then those who think they can find a way around the law should be punished. Getting a visa is easy. Just get one for the right reasons... Retirement starts at age of 50, or get and education visa and learn something which is good for a year and renewable up to 3 years. Or GET A JOB or invest in the country... And if you don't make the requirement for a marriage visa which is 400.000 baht then you seriously did something wrong in life if you don't have 9500 euros on your savings account... It just shows you are in Thailand for all the wrong reasons. Wish we were more stricter in Europe. It would keep the scum out that is draining our countries

i'm here as a longterm *tourist* and i'm not pretending/aiming anything else. i already speak 6 languages including much better thai than the average longtermer married to a thai so i'm not much interested in "learning" on a ED visa. i'm here for my own reasons (not the women and definitely not to work!); keywords are hammock, book, sea, peace of mind. i'm as honest as you are. there seems to be a lot of bitterness towards farang in thailand who are still young, DON'T have to work, DON'T have to buy a house in the name of the wife, DON'T have to support inlaws, etc.... and the argument that it will keep scum out is pure nonsense.

I'm in a similar situation. My partner and I (she's not Thai) have been visiting Thailand regularly for several years on tourist visas, spending maybe six months out of every 12 in Thailand and the rest of our time travelling in the region. Now, after a seven month tour of Europe, we'd like to settle for a while (and my partner would like to attend university in Bangkok, so we'd be looking at a four year spell).

Neither of us can live in the other's home country long term due to cost and visa reasons, and we chose Thailand as our loose base of operations because of the relaxed visa requirements, along with all its other charms. She'll be able to obtain a legitimate ED visa when she enrols in school, but I'll be forced into the uncomfortable (and legally questionable) limbo of multiple back-to-back tourist visas. I'm self employed (income sourced in the US) and more or less retired, so I'm not interested in finding a job in Thailand (and to do so would take away from the time I need to maintain my overseas income, so it would defeat the purpose). I'm too young for a retirement visa and obviously not interested in marrying a local, which doesn't leave me with many options to stay long term within the law. I am, however, a model citizen in all other respects, law abiding and with a clean criminal record, and since I spend every penny of my considerable earnings in Thailand I'm unquestionably an asset to the country (economically, at least).

It's a common complaint of people who earn their money online that visas can be a pain in the ass, since immigration law hasn't really caught up with the idea that it's possible to earn a living in a country other than the one in which you live. I'd like to spend the next few years relaxing in a hammock, enjoying the beautiful weather and bringing a decent sum of money into the Thai economy while my partner studies, but I'd love to be able to do so legally and without wondering when the other shoe will drop.

Unfortunately it is always the case that some of the good suffer under rules to prevent the unwanted from entering/working.

[Mango Bob]

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stickylies, on 05 May 2014 - 17:55, said:

stevenl, on 05 May 2014 - 17:37, said:

stickylies, on 05 May 2014 - 17:33, said:

dezeure, on 05 May 2014 - 17:07, said:

I find it a good thing... If us honest working people have to do all this then those who think they can find a way around the law should be punished. Getting a visa is easy. Just get one for the right reasons... Retirement starts at age of 50, or get and education visa and learn something which is good for a year and renewable up to 3 years. Or GET A JOB or invest in the country... And if you don't make the requirement for a marriage visa which is 400.000 baht then you seriously did something wrong in life if you don't have 9500 euros on your savings account... It just shows you are in Thailand for all the wrong reasons. Wish we were more stricter in Europe. It would keep the scum out that is draining our countries

i'm here as a longterm *tourist* and i'm not pretending/aiming anything else. i already speak 6 languages including much better thai than the average longtermer married to a thai so i'm not much interested in "learning" on a ED visa. i'm here for my own reasons (not the women and definitely not to work!); keywords are hammock, book, sea, peace of mind. i'm as honest as you are. there seems to be a lot of bitterness towards farang in thailand who are still young, DON'T have to work, DON'T have to buy a house in the name of the wife, DON'T have to support inlaws, etc.... and the argument that it will keep scum out is pure nonsense.

The reason for this is very simple: to make working illegally more difficult.

Don't meet the visa requirements, then you'll have to stay on tourist visa. Until that loophole is closed, it is more difficult than it was in the past already. You know you don't meet the visa requirements as they are intended, so measures like this can not come as a surprise.

in a perfect world your argument works. here, in thailand as we know it, i can pay a certain amount to certain people and i get a certain extension (1-3-6 months) based on being unable to leave the country due to medical reasons... or anything else that is on offer that very day. alt=whistling.gif>

this rule is a farce. anyway, it will not affect my stay here (i don't mind flying out and back in again) except that i loved doing these visa runs to kawthoung! seriously.

Look like we need reforms in this area too. Let see now, paying off the right people. Suthep and Abhisit should be interested in this.

[stevenl]

It won't affect you so the rule is a farce? I would say far from that, since it will working illegally much, much more difficult. Which is IMO a very good thing.

oh really and how exactly? those working illegally will simply FLY out. what's that gonna change? upon arrival they get another 1 month and continue to work illegally. go fool someone else.

They'll close that loophole as well. Want to bet on it. On top of that, teachers, diveinstructors and others working illegally don't have the money to fly out every month.