Immigration boss confirms the Out-In visa run is dead

[LivinLOS]

but theres 1000s, possibly 10's of 1000s of these guys..

I actually do work O&G and I am calling BS on your statement.

I am talking real about O&G guys, not the ones who tell you they work or worked O&G, (bit like the Ex SAS/Navy Seals etc)....there are blagger's about

Including diving, ROV, and all the ancillaries ??

I know loads of these guys, in fact they make up the bulk of the professional long stayers.. I knew probably over 100 on Phuket, I know a bunch in Hua Hin and assume the same in Patts.. I can only know a fraction of them.

Yes, mate if you had come back and said at best a couple of thousand at best, I wouldn't have said a word, but 1000's possibly 10's of 1000's...

Although the business is world wide in the scheme of things its quite a "small" business as regards the number of people involved in rotational work

and then factor how many who live or take their hitch breaks in Thailand, its not a very big number...

I just figured.. if I know a couple hundred.. Just me.. You winder how many are hiding out there in more respectable locations

couple of 1000 then.. Each spending a mil a year here.. Some spending multiples of that.. Pretty soon your talking real money. Into the billions of baht per annum.

[ATF]

One Government Department isn't going to be happy with this and that's the Tourism Authority of Thailand. Suddenly Tourist numbers drop by 50%.

[ExpatOilWorker]

One Government Department isn't going to be happy with this and that's the Tourism Authority of Thailand. Suddenly Tourist numbers drop by 50%.

They just need to cook the numbers a little longer.

[brewsterbudgen]

I think a lot of the posters here are panicking and overreacting thinking that they won't be allowed to enter Thailand visa-free more than once, even if they just come for just a few days, which I think will NOT be how the rules will be implemented.

I have seen and read the small inset in Thai but it doesn't give any more details other than specifying that the new rules will attempt to curb visa runners and that they will target certain nationalities (such as Koreans) and according to other reports, Russians, Laotians (not Lao citizens that live in Thailand on guest worker visas, study visas or other visas, but those that come on visa exempt entries and only head back to Laos or Cambodia to stamp in/out and come back to Thailand) and Vietnamese. Brazilians also have border crossing restrictions as do Filipinos. Other foreigners will be targeted too, but there are some target nationalities that will face greater scrutiny, especially these ones as I have pointed out.

If someone has access to any other source (in Thai) please post it here and I'll do an accurate translation. I'm fluent in Thai and will have no problems providing an unambiguous translation. However, it could be that the source won't have many details in it, just like the memo I've seen on the immigration website and therefore will be left open to interpretation.

My understanding is that your friend from the USA won't have any problems at all. He should be prepared to have access to sufficient funds and a place to stay. It doesn't need to be a hotel - perhaps send him a picture of your apartment or your friends apartments. And a return/onward ticket will help too. If he is friendly and has just a few of these documents what conceivable problem do you think he will have? I doubt any. Since he is not doing back-to-back runs, he needn't worry.

Similarly, someone who travels extensively in the region but enters Thailand numerous times (albeit perhaps only for a day or a few days at a time) shouldn't have a problem if he/she spends much more time away from Thailand than inside Thailand. In any case, an itinerary, hotel or apartment bookings (if you have them handy), access to sufficient funds and an onward/return ticket should do plenty to convince officers. Someone who spends 2/3 of his time in Thailand, even with extensive travel in the region might however be better off securing a non-imm B multiple entry visa or similar. It all depends on how much time is being spent in Thailand, not whether you have 12 stamps for 2-3 days each in the last 3 months but more like whether you have spent 25-30 days in country 3-4 times in a row with only a small gap of time spent out of country.

I realize that neither I nor anyone else have the definitive answers, but I highly doubt that Thailand is going to go from a country that let's anyone in, again and again to one which bars everyone except for first time visitors or those that haven't been here for 10 years. If that were the case, mass tourism in Thailand would grind to a halt. And in a country that is constantly going on and on about the importance of tourism, how to increase tourist numbers, tourist number projections etc. to the point of really becoming annoying, do you really think that Thailand is going to turn itself into the next Bhutan?

Thanks for this. Are Laos citizens specified specifically? I know hundreds who make monthly border runs for their 30-day stamp and have been doing so for many years. Admittedly some are working illegally, but many are being supported by boyfriends or husbands. I can see this causing some problems if it's enforced!

[Cnxforever]

This is certainly going to impact the younger folks that work outside of Thailand but live here, and can't get a retirement visa or a mairrage visa. Is there any talk of new visa types?

I would reckon that the few that have enough cash to have retired early are a pretty small minority and since they are retired, the Thai's don't see them as a sufficiently long term 'investment' to afford them any preferential visa status. Sure they may have a chunk of change and 'buy' a house in a gated community in Chiang Mai, Samui or Phuket but apart from their dining out at farang-oriented restaurants and checking the latest imported grub at Villa, they aren't ever going to contribute significant income inside Thailand. They have retired and are not about to invest in any Thailand-based-and-revenue-earning business or the SET.

Those on 28/28 work/rest rotations in the oil and gas or mining industries are another minority that don't really deserve any breaks. However, if they have already committed to living in Thailand while working FIFO and have bought property here or have relationships and children, then they may need to review THEIR commitments in Thailand rather than whine about getting shafted by any new immigration enforcement.

I work in Oil/Gas and FIFO, have lived here with my partner for 13 years but as we are same sex can not get married (in Thai eyes) I am still under 50. should I not be able to live here because of my sexuality? My work means I sometimes have 2-3 months off at a time or have been working somewhere where there is no Embassy or Consulate to obtain a tourist visa. I would be more than happy to jump through any hoops to be allowed a long term visa.

Same situation only twice I was lucky and was able to apply for a visa before traveling the friendly Consulats in Liverpool and Hamburg gave me a visa on short notice after I had contacted them through email beforehand.

Being gay of course makes the situation much worse as your partner is not officially recognized as such in this backward country. So no marriage visa - no retirement visa if under 50.

The immigration says get a visa and the people who are trying to comply with this requirement are turned down. A friend of mine who is in the exact same situation - wanted to stay for 70 days and went to HCMC in Vietnam after 10 days in Thailand to get a single entry tourist visa after he had gotten a 30 day exempt first.

He was turned down although he has been away working for 4 month he is on a 4 month on 2 month off rotation.

The Consulate said he had too many stamps in his passport without even bothering to check the stamps.

He was so upset about this that he never returned to Thailand and now spends his millions in Vietnam where he tells me an agency arranges his visa before he arrives and he just hands over his passport to the agency at the airport 10 minutes later he has his visa!

Maybe a good alternative to Thailand?

[RabC]

This is certainly going to impact the younger folks that work outside of Thailand but live here, and can't get a retirement visa or a mairrage visa. Is there any talk of new visa types?

I would reckon that the few that have enough cash to have retired early are a pretty small minority and since they are retired, the Thai's don't see them as a sufficiently long term 'investment' to afford them any preferential visa status. Sure they may have a chunk of change and 'buy' a house in a gated community in Chiang Mai, Samui or Phuket but apart from their dining out at farang-oriented restaurants and checking the latest imported grub at Villa, they aren't ever going to contribute significant income inside Thailand. They have retired and are not about to invest in any Thailand-based-and-revenue-earning business or the SET.

Those on 28/28 work/rest rotations in the oil and gas or mining industries are another minority that don't really deserve any breaks. However, if they have already committed to living in Thailand while working FIFO and have bought property here or have relationships and children, then they may need to review THEIR commitments in Thailand rather than whine about getting shafted by any new immigration enforcement.

I work in Oil/Gas and FIFO, have lived here with my partner for 13 years but as we are same sex can not get married (in Thai eyes) I am still under 50. should I not be able to live here because of my sexuality? My work means I sometimes have 2-3 months off at a time or have been working somewhere where there is no Embassy or Consulate to obtain a tourist visa. I would be more than happy to jump through any hoops to be allowed a long term visa.

Same situation only twice I was lucky and was able to apply for a visa before traveling the friendly Consulats in Liverpool and Hamburg gave me a visa on short notice after I had contacted them through email beforehand.

Being gay of course makes the situation much worse as your partner is not officially recognized as such in this backward country. So no marriage visa - no retirement visa if under 50.

The immigration says get a visa and the people who are trying to comply with this requirement are turned down. A friend of mine who is in the exact same situation - wanted to stay for 70 days and went to HCMC in Vietnam after 10 days in Thailand to get a single entry tourist visa after he had gotten a 30 day exempt first.

He was turned down although he has been away working for 4 month he is on a 4 month on 2 month off rotation.

The Consulate said he had too many stamps in his passport without even bothering to check the stamps.

He was so upset about this that he never returned to Thailand and now spends his millions in Vietnam where he tells me an agency arranges his visa before he arrives and he just hands over his passport to the agency at the airport 10 minutes later he has his visa!

Maybe a good alternative to Thailand?

Vietnam probably wouldn't be an issue to me but my partner wouldn't entertain it. Not long left till I am 50 so will hopefully be hassle free soon.

[jpduggan]

Well there goes the tourism figures because a they are based on people coming through immigration and people checking into hotels. It's also going to knock back the standard of English among Thais if they are stopping targeting people who are teaching.

[ATF]

New slogan for TAT "Retiring Thailand". They can have that for free. Took them ages to come up with Amazing Thailand.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

This is certainly going to impact the younger folks that work outside of Thailand but live here, and can't get a retirement visa or a mairrage visa. Is there any talk of new visa types?

If you mean people that are on a rotation and stay here on their time off it will not change anything for them. They will not be doing an Out-in entry.

The only ones it might effect are the ones that need more than 30 days and have been making border runs for the extra days but I suspect that will not have a problem because of the time they spent out of the country.

Maybe you're right, Joe. But the problem at the moment, AFAICT, is that no one at Immigration has really said how they're going to respond to people doing repeated/consecutive visa-exempt entries - without any intervening tourist visas and such.

They seem to have made it clear that if a tourist wants to stay longer than 30 days per stay in Thailand, they should get a tourist or other appropriate visa.

But AFAIK, nothing they've said publicly about the new visa-exempt enforcement has addressed the issue of people who are going to be showing up every other month, or similar, for visa-exempt after visa-exempt (one example being the O&G offshore folks).

There was a post here just the other day from a member who said he got hassled coming into Suvarnabhumi this week on a visa-exempt entry after having been away from Thailand on work in other countries for something like the past 4 or 7 months.

Yes, these folks aren't doing same-day, out-in border runs. But they are racking up large numbers of consecutive visa-exempt entries. And I don't seem to have your confidence that that's going to fly OK with the latest approach by Immigration -- especially if they don't have things like hotel reservations that are one indicator of a traditional tourist.

Edited May 14, 2014 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[Mario2008]

Nothing has been said about that, but the key word is "In-Out". They are looking for people who coninue to stay (and maybe work) in Thailand on visa exempt entries.

A person who regularly visit Thailand but not stays here continously is probably alright. He is obvious not living here and not working here.

But how it actual works out is anybodies guess.

[DerkMR]

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

One more reason that my next stay in 6 weeks will be my last stay.
Selling off my household goods and the scooter, the rental contract is already cancelled...

Why?
As too young for a retirement visa but living close to 6 month a year in Thailand I don't have a tourists plan which would be sufficient for the immigration. And with only some goods owned it's better to sell off now than to try it from abroad.

Bye,
Derk

Of course obtaining proper tourist visa would really hurt beer drinking allowance ??

Well, after rent, my expensive health insurance and cost of living my drinking allowance is close to 100k.

Anyway I'm having a T3 visa right now, only the very first visit to LOS I was on visa-exempt.

So everything proper on my side, nevertheless it get's too risky for me because I don't want to stay without any of my belongings at the Laos border and be refused the entry.

I'm sure the visa regime is not your issue.

I have no problem using Tourist Visas for that amount of time....as I'm a Tourist.

You will not have a problem if you have a visa. A double or triple entry Tourist visa allows for your kind of stay.

In the past it wasn't hard to get a non-IO retirement if you prroved you are retired but were too young. Now that's over as they look stricter on the letters of law.

The tourist visa also is no option, as when you use them back to back, in my case passing the friendship bridge to Vientiane and just go around the corner after immigration and leave Laos after 3 minutes, they CAN refuse entry, just because the officer has a bad day and I can't proof a normal touristic travel plan as I normally just take my scooter and drive a little around, not using hotels etc. so not a "normal tourist".

If the officer want's I have to stay outside. And my stuff remains in LOS.

No way!

I was thinking either changing to a different country or going more rural because of the traffic and the daily attacs to my life.

Now it's clear that going rural is no option...

From The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kingdom of Thailand:

10. Royal Thai Embassies and Royal Thai Consulates-General have the authority to issue visas to foreigners for travel to Thailand. The authority to permit entry and stay in Thailand, however, is with the immigration officers. In some cases, the immigration officer may not permit foreigner holding a valid visa entry into Thailand should the immigration officer find reason to believe that he or she falls into the category of aliens prohibited from entering Thailand under the Immigration Act B.E. 2522 (1979).

As they seem to enforce this now, a lot of "tourists" or holders of other visas will get into troubles if Somchai had bad sex or no sex the last night and is angry. "You can't proove a tourist plan, no hotel bookings, so you stay out of my country!"

Bye,

Derk

[mikebike]

Being gay of course makes the situation much worse as your partner is not officially recognized as such in this backward country. So no marriage visa - no retirement visa if under 50.

I do not get the statement in bold above. Currently only sixteen countries (Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, France,Iceland, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, South Africa, Sweden, United Kingdom, and Uruguay) allow same-sex marriage nation-wide. The first was the Netherlands ONLY 15 years ago... So every other nation in the world is 'backwards' - even those which are moving towards same-sex marriage? Or are you actually singling out and bashing Thailand for being identical, in this one sense, to 93% of the world's nations?

I, for one, hope that same-sex couples acquire the same rights as hetero couples world-wide, as soon as possible, but I won't bash nations for not being ready yet due to religious and/or cultural barriers and biases. Critical mass will be a few years off yet...

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Nothing has been said about that, but the key word is "In-Out". They are looking for people who coninue to stay (and maybe work) in Thailand on visa exempt entries.

A person who regularly visit Thailand but not stays here continously is probably alright. He is obvious not living here and not working here.

But how it actual works out is anybodies guess.

That's my sense also, so my feeling is it's a bit early in the ball-game to be making predictions about what's going to be OK and what's not in the latest scheme.

The policy Immigration has spoken of publicly seems to leave a lot to the interpretation of the line-level officers. And then, on top of that, you'll likely end up with the traditional variations that have always been present at one border crossing or Immigration office vs another.

Unless Immigration comes out with something to publicly address the issue of repeated visa-exempt entries to clarify that issue, I'm going to be watching these pages very closely for what kinds of reports we get from visa-exempt travelers in the coming weeks and months.

Edited May 14, 2014 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[ovenman]

This is certainly going to impact the younger folks that work outside of Thailand but live here, and can't get a retirement visa or a mairrage visa. Is there any talk of new visa types?

If you mean people that are on a rotation and stay here on their time off it will not change anything for them. They will not be doing an Out-in entry.

The only ones it might effect are the ones that need more than 30 days and have been making border runs for the extra days but I suspect that will not have a problem because of the time they spent out of the country.

Maybe you're right, Joe. But the problem at the moment, AFAICT, is that no one at Immigration has really said how they're going to respond to people doing repeated/consecutive visa-exempt entries - without any intervening tourist visas and such.

They seem to have made it clear that if a tourist wants to stay longer than 30 days per stay in Thailand, they should get a tourist or other appropriate visa.

But AFAIK, nothing they've said publicly about the new visa-exempt enforcement has addressed the issue of people who are going to be showing up every other month, or similar, for visa-exempt after visa-exempt (one example being the O&G offshore folks).

There was a post here just the other day from a member who said he got hassled coming into Suvarnabhumi this week on a visa-exempt entry after having been away from Thailand on work in other countries for something like the past 4 or 7 months.

Yes, these folks aren't doing same-day, out-in border runs. But they are racking up large numbers of consecutive visa-exempt entries. And I don't seem to have your confidence that that's going to fly OK with the latest approach by Immigration -- especially if they don't have things like hotel reservations that are one indicator of a traditional tourist.

You may have missed the following post of interest from earlier in this thread: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/725773-immigration-boss-confirms-the-out-in-visa-run-is-dead/?p=7819046

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

You may have missed the following post of interest from earlier in this thread: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/725773-immigration-boss-confirms-the-out-in-visa-run-is-dead/?p=7819046

I had read that post by Brubakertx, but not quite sure what to make of it, especially in the context of visa-exempt entries.

He says he was hassled a bit coming into Swampy, perhaps because of past visa exempt entries. But he seemed to be saying his current entry was on an extension of stay / re-entry permit / work permit. His current status, as he seems to have described it, shouldn't have triggered any problems at all...

[carstenp]

You may have missed the following post of interest from earlier in this thread: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/725773-immigration-boss-confirms-the-out-in-visa-run-is-dead/?p=7819046

I had read that post by Brubakertx, but not quite sure what to make of it, especially in the context of visa-exempt entries.

He says he was hassled a bit coming into Swampy, perhaps because of past visa exempt entries. But he seemed to be saying his current entry was on an extension of stay / re-entry permit / work permit. His current status, as he seems to have described it, shouldn't have triggered any problems at all...

I must admit I'm a bit concerns to.

Being living down here for more than 2 year on non o to retire has to travel back To my country to get new non o every time.I'm 48 years old and early retired by my government in my country because of some sickness. And get monthly payment from my goverment (160000+ every month). I have every 90 days traveled to Laos to get my new stamp to my visa for another new 90 days. In/ out same day. Next month I have to go to Laos again before my visa is fished to get the last 90 days on it. I was hoping for the next 2 year before I can get retirement visa was able to using tourist visa 3 entries, so I don't have to travel back to my country.

Is this possibly, because it seems to be a problem for brubakertx

[Mister Fixit]

going to interesting how they handle the Malays who bounce over the border for bar girl weekends on 30 day stamps...or is that same same BUT different

That's because they are all going to be ASEAN citizens very soon. Don't want to rock the boat ...

[Mister Fixit]

I've read through this thread but didn't find an answer, should it exist.

Yesterday we read that one will be allowed to enter on three consecutive walk in visas until Aug 12th, and after that, depending on the interpretation, one or no re-entries. Does this latest news change this? Or can one hop in and out given they have a valid enough travel plan to present should it be asked? Will something change in August according to the latest? Are there any recent reports from border from those trying to do a visa run?

I have no personal interest in this (I have non-B and WP, family has non-O's) but I'd like to have Thailand's WikiTravel page to contain accurate information. As mentioned by someone backpackers can rarely present travel plans and this could be problematic for them as travel plan may be required also for Tourist Visa.

If a Thai applies for a tourist visa to the UK, they have to present an entire itinerary of exactly where they are going, on what day and why, where they are staying, names of hotels with phone numbers and email addresses etc.

The requirement is VERY strict, and they check your bookings before issuing a visa - if you make a mistake, your visa is refused. You can re-apply, but that's another 4,000+ baht please. Why do you think so many Thais visit the UK on a tour?

[Soutpeel]

He says he was hassled a bit coming into Swampy, perhaps because of past visa exempt entries. But he seemed to be saying his current entry was on an extension of stay / re-entry permit / work permit. His current status, as he seems to have described it, shouldn't have triggered any problems at all...

With all the "publicity" around this "crackdown" immigration may just have been jerking his chain or being over zealous

Many years ago when DM was still the international airport, I got pulled over by immigration and taken to a room for "questioning", even though I had, a re-entry permit, extension of stay and a work permit - all in order, I think they thought I had a fake stamp in my pp and working illegally.

I showed them my original WP, which I have always carried with me when travelling in and out of Thailand and my business card, along with the PP after some scrutiny of the documents, I was sent on my way...

Personally at this stage I wouldn't read too much into what happened there, immigration can be real &lt;deleted&gt; at times if it takes their fancy

[Tomtomtom69]

I think a lot of the posters here are panicking and overreacting thinking that they won't be allowed to enter Thailand visa-free more than once, even if they just come for just a few days, which I think will NOT be how the rules will be implemented.

I have seen and read the small inset in Thai but it doesn't give any more details other than specifying that the new rules will attempt to curb visa runners and that they will target certain nationalities (such as Koreans) and according to other reports, Russians, Laotians (not Lao citizens that live in Thailand on guest worker visas, study visas or other visas, but those that come on visa exempt entries and only head back to Laos or Cambodia to stamp in/out and come back to Thailand) and Vietnamese. Brazilians also have border crossing restrictions as do Filipinos. Other foreigners will be targeted too, but there are some target nationalities that will face greater scrutiny, especially these ones as I have pointed out.

If someone has access to any other source (in Thai) please post it here and I'll do an accurate translation. I'm fluent in Thai and will have no problems providing an unambiguous translation. However, it could be that the source won't have many details in it, just like the memo I've seen on the immigration website and therefore will be left open to interpretation.

My understanding is that your friend from the USA won't have any problems at all. He should be prepared to have access to sufficient funds and a place to stay. It doesn't need to be a hotel - perhaps send him a picture of your apartment or your friends apartments. And a return/onward ticket will help too. If he is friendly and has just a few of these documents what conceivable problem do you think he will have? I doubt any. Since he is not doing back-to-back runs, he needn't worry.

Similarly, someone who travels extensively in the region but enters Thailand numerous times (albeit perhaps only for a day or a few days at a time) shouldn't have a problem if he/she spends much more time away from Thailand than inside Thailand. In any case, an itinerary, hotel or apartment bookings (if you have them handy), access to sufficient funds and an onward/return ticket should do plenty to convince officers. Someone who spends 2/3 of his time in Thailand, even with extensive travel in the region might however be better off securing a non-imm B multiple entry visa or similar. It all depends on how much time is being spent in Thailand, not whether you have 12 stamps for 2-3 days each in the last 3 months but more like whether you have spent 25-30 days in country 3-4 times in a row with only a small gap of time spent out of country.

I realize that neither I nor anyone else have the definitive answers, but I highly doubt that Thailand is going to go from a country that let's anyone in, again and again to one which bars everyone except for first time visitors or those that haven't been here for 10 years. If that were the case, mass tourism in Thailand would grind to a halt. And in a country that is constantly going on and on about the importance of tourism, how to increase tourist numbers, tourist number projections etc. to the point of really becoming annoying, do you really think that Thailand is going to turn itself into the next Bhutan?

Thanks for this. Are Laos citizens specified specifically? I know hundreds who make monthly border runs for their 30-day stamp and have been doing so for many years. Admittedly some are working illegally, but many are being supported by boyfriends or husbands. I can see this causing some problems if it's enforced!

Lao citizens are indeed mentioned - there was a link I saw somewhere yesterday that confirmed this. However, the only Lao citizens likely to be targeted are those that haven't bothered to be registered as migrant workers and are just living on back-to-back 30 day stamps, like the ones you have mentioned. Those Lao citizens that regularly enter Thailand and commute to Udon for shopping, or a night or two of fun driving their Lao registered cars and trucks into Thailand, even on a weekly basis aren't likely to be affected as they are considered to be legitimate tourists or in some cases, business people.

[ATF]

When I first came to Thailand there was no visa on arrival. Burma was closed. Laos was just transitioning from communist rule and the Khmer Rouge were running Cambodia. Your only option was to get a business visa and go to Penang to do that and present a tax receipt on exit, but we got by. Then Penang stopped issuing one year visas and we had to go to other Embassies or Consulates, but we still got by.

Just go to a Visa Consultant and get sorted out instead of whining. Pay the money and get a one year visa or spend days going back an fore to Immigration trying to save 15k or whatever. Anyone who's been here for some time will tell you who can be relied on. Please don't PM me.

[Tomtomtom69]

I agree. However, I find that it helps if you speak Thai (fluently or almost fluently) in which case you could explain yourself better,

That would be funny - speaking fluent Thai to an immigration officer trying to convince him or her that you are a tourist.

I speak Thai so I do that all the time. However, as is often the case with people who have worked in Thailand before and are awaiting paperwork for new work visas, you'll be on a tourist visa or visa exemption in the meantime. So it's not strange in that sense. Similarly, there are actually people out there, some of whom have rarely been to Thailand who have learned Thai abroad. Yes, as amazing as this sounds it exists - people who are actually interested in learning Thai even though it's not a major language spoken by large numbers of people outside of it's homeland. I know a German linguist who is quite good at Thai (self-studied for the most part) and while my fluent Thai is still much better than his, he speaks (and reads/writes) more decent Thai than the majority of expats in Thailand despite having spent only about 10 days of his life in Thailand.

[Tomtomtom69]

I agree. However, I find that it helps if you speak Thai (fluently or almost fluently) in which case you could explain yourself better, but of course not many would be in such a situation (however, it has always worked for me, but I've never had to explain myself and certainly never had a letter or anything with me). The reception I get (being able to speak Thai) compared to others who only speak English is quite different from my own observations. It's partly a language issue too...having a letter of guarantee from a non-Thai company printed in English would probably only confuse immigration officials and cause them to become suspicious as to your intentions.

FYI I speak fluent Thai.

And it does not make any difference at all - some immigration officers are very accommodating and friendly some are miserable and unfriendly - not much to do with language really - I am always up for a friendly chat - some respond - some just pull a grumpy face and go on with their business.

I even understand that very well too - it must be boring to carry out the same task of putting a stamp into a passport, registering passport details into a database day in day out!

Try speaking Bangkok Thai whilst sporting a gold Rolex and flying business or first class. They will hang onto your every word.

@cnxforever, actually sometimes it can work the other way round too - if you speak Thai then the officers will explain to you in detail the law and they can express themselves fully any way they see fit. When I recently got an extension done the officer was quite unfriendly to everyone, Thai, Burmese etc. - me included, nevermind that I spoke Thai with him. When at first he didn't know I could speak Thai, he actually seemed friendlier...lol.

[ATF]

@cnxforever, actually sometimes it can work the other way round too - if you speak Thai then the officers will explain to you in detail the law and they can express themselves fully any way they see fit. When I recently got an extension done the officer was quite unfriendly to everyone, Thai, Burmese etc. - me included, nevermind that I spoke Thai with him. When at first he didn't know I could speak Thai, he actually seemed friendlier...lol.

Why would Thais be getting an extension done? He seemed friendlier when you didn't speak Thai because even though your Thai may be excellent your accent and expression could be provincial. That's why I said speak Bangkok Thai.

[samran]

@cnxforever, actually sometimes it can work the other way round too - if you speak Thai then the officers will explain to you in detail the law and they can express themselves fully any way they see fit. When I recently got an extension done the officer was quite unfriendly to everyone, Thai, Burmese etc. - me included, nevermind that I spoke Thai with him. When at first he didn't know I could speak Thai, he actually seemed friendlier...lol.

Why would Thais be getting an extension done? He seemed friendlier when you didn't speak Thai because even though your Thai may be excellent your accent and expression could be provincial. That's why I said speak Bangkok Thai.

I have to go every year to get an extension for my wife. Even though I am the Thai citizen, I still have to go for that one. I often also do the 90 dayers for her as we've got young ones who we don't want to drag along to immigration.

[ATF]

I have to go every year to get an extension for my wife. Even though I am the Thai citizen, I still have to go for that one. I often also do the 90 dayers for her as we've got young ones who we don't want to drag along to immigration.

So are you Thai by birth or naturalized? Why would your wife need extensions if you are married and Thai? At the minimum she could get a one year visa. I assume your wife isn't Thai. Do you mean reporting every 90 days?

[larsjohnsson]

This is certainly going to impact the younger folks that work outside of Thailand but live here, and can't get a retirement visa or a mairrage visa. Is there any talk of new visa types?

I would reckon that the few that have enough cash to have retired early are a pretty small minority and since they are retired, the Thai's don't see them as a sufficiently long term 'investment' to afford them any preferential visa status. Sure they may have a chunk of change and 'buy' a house in a gated community in Chiang Mai, Samui or Phuket but apart from their dining out at farang-oriented restaurants and checking the latest imported grub at Villa, they aren't ever going to contribute significant income inside Thailand. They have retired and are not about to invest in any Thailand-based-and-revenue-earning business or the SET.

Those on 28/28 work/rest rotations in the oil and gas or mining industries are another minority that don't really deserve any breaks. However, if they have already committed to living in Thailand while working FIFO and have bought property here or have relationships and children, then they may need to review THEIR commitments in Thailand rather than whine about getting shafted by any new immigration enforcement.

Maybe you dont come into contact with them, but theres 1000s, possibly 10's of 1000s of these guys..

And they are among the highest spenders and contributors far outweighing the kind of penny pinching retirement guys. I know guys who routinely drop 3 mil a year incountry.. Thats a lot of backpackers or pension allowances every month.

It doesn't matter how much you can spend, if you don't qualify for the visa. And you don't have a clue what all other people spend here either.

[larsjohnsson]

When I first came to Thailand there was no visa on arrival. Burma was closed. Laos was just transitioning from communist rule and the Khmer Rouge were running Cambodia. Your only option was to get a business visa and go to Penang to do that and present a tax receipt on exit, but we got by. Then Penang stopped issuing one year visas and we had to go to other Embassies or Consulates, but we still got by.

Just go to a Visa Consultant and get sorted out instead of whining. Pay the money and get a one year visa or spend days going back an fore to Immigration trying to save 15k or whatever. Anyone who's been here for some time will tell you who can be relied on. Please don't PM me.

I'm from Sweden. When I started to come here I didn't need any visa. The first 8-10 years I got 90 days every time I came to Thailand. Could cross the border legaly and get 90 more days if I liked that. Then we joined EU and all the visa rules changed

[DrTuner]

When I first came to Thailand there was no visa on arrival. Burma was closed. Laos was just transitioning from communist rule and the Khmer Rouge were running Cambodia. Your only option was to get a business visa and go to Penang to do that and present a tax receipt on exit, but we got by. Then Penang stopped issuing one year visas and we had to go to other Embassies or Consulates, but we still got by.

Just go to a Visa Consultant and get sorted out instead of whining. Pay the money and get a one year visa or spend days going back an fore to Immigration trying to save 15k or whatever. Anyone who's been here for some time will tell you who can be relied on. Please don't PM me.

I'm from Sweden. When I started to come here I didn't need any visa. The first 8-10 years I got 90 days every time I came to Thailand. Could cross the border legaly and get 90 more days if I liked that. Then we joined EU and all the visa rules changed

Bilateral agreement ? Finland had the same between -94 and -95, Thais could enter for 90 days and vise versa without a visa. Then came the EU.

Seems the Koreans have this now, but are targeted for back to back entries. If I were the Korean foreign minister, I'd immediately make sure it's the same for Thais trying to get into Korea. Or simply cancel the agreement.

[larsjohnsson]

When I first came to Thailand there was no visa on arrival. Burma was closed. Laos was just transitioning from communist rule and the Khmer Rouge were running Cambodia. Your only option was to get a business visa and go to Penang to do that and present a tax receipt on exit, but we got by. Then Penang stopped issuing one year visas and we had to go to other Embassies or Consulates, but we still got by.

Just go to a Visa Consultant and get sorted out instead of whining. Pay the money and get a one year visa or spend days going back an fore to Immigration trying to save 15k or whatever. Anyone who's been here for some time will tell you who can be relied on. Please don't PM me.

I'm from Sweden. When I started to come here I didn't need any visa. The first 8-10 years I got 90 days every time I came to Thailand. Could cross the border legaly and get 90 more days if I liked that. Then we joined EU and all the visa rules changed

Bilateral agreement ? Finland had the same between -94 and -95, Thais could enter for 90 days and vise versa without a visa. Then came the EU.

Seems the Koreans have this now, but are targeted for back to back entries. If I were the Korean foreign minister, I'd immediately make sure it's the same for Thais trying to get into Korea. Or simply cancel the agreement.

Yes bilateral agrement until Sweden joined the EU