Thai Immigration is determined to prevent abuse of visa exceptions

[Banzai99]

You want facts , I'll give you facts .And this is mainly directed at the ones who posted that this is a great system without a hitch.

I'm 55 yrs.old .Never been to thailand in my life but had thought about retiring there. (Yes I am presently retired.)Anyway before making the leap I naturally wanted to see the country . So about four months ago I applied for a double entry visa from my home in the U.S. I received it and off I went. Now from what I understood is that I would enter, and before sixty days were up I would apply for a thirty day extension. Then before the extension ended ,a few days or so ,I would leave the country and reenter because I had a tourist visa. A dble entry tourist visa. That's,,, tourist , visa .

Well I received my extension with no problem.

Now to keep you up to speed I really liked thailand and decided that it would make a good retirement location and was planning to reenter on the dble entry and apply for the ''retirement'' visa.Get my affadavit from the consulate, proof of income, fill out the documents etc.

After three months I had seen enough and felt content.

On this past Tuesday a week before my extension ended I crossed the border to reenter.I had left all my luggage and personal belongings at my room I had been renting and only took the nec. documents along to present to the fine ,honest, intelligent, uncorrupt immigration officials.

(By the way not that it should make a difference, but I 've been staying in Chiang Mai.)

Now what do you think happened??? They refused to let me back in.

I was dressed well, clean shaven , very presentable and polite.My papers were in order . But regardless ,the interrogation began. And it was'nt pleasant .They accused me of working illegally and/or attempting to seek employment. They wanted to see my itinerary. Why I was in thailand to begin with, where I was staying, who did i know there, how much money I had.(I had about 6000 bht with me). ,etc.etc., This #$^% went on for an hour. They ultimately said ...no.Partly because I opted to rent a studio apartment rather than stay at a hotel ! Renting a studio apt. evidently removes one from''tourist'' status!!

Oh they wanted to see money, alot of money! And I got the feeling that a bribe was being suggested, more than once.

Now at that point I was livid. but I 've read enough to know you don't get angry. So I politely asked to speak to someone in charge. Which i finally did. And to tell you the truth I would have said fine and the hel with thailand, but all my belongings were at the room I was renting. The guy finally allowed me to enter ,this took oh about 5 hrs total.

Now I'm in this sewer of a country and will not be staying. I am completely disgusted with the place . I'm not a deadbeat . I am a retired police officer with a very nice pension. But this whole thing transpired because some idiot at immigration ''suspected'' I was working. did you get that..................... ''s u s p e c t e d''. Regardless of my tourist visa that I had been issued, by his Embassy.

And that is the entire problem, all they have to do is suspect someone .And a few intelligent posters get that here. Some jerk at immigration has a bug up his or her behind and that clown decides not to let you enter ,because they use the ''suspect'' card and accuse you to be working illegally or whatever reason..they ''feel''.at the time .It does'nt matter what visa you have. Way too much power to give to immigration ''officers'' with regards to enforcing a very vague rule.

The lunatic asylum has handed the keys over to the patients and it's going to be bad for everyone ,honest and dishonest forieghners alike.

Strange that, I've been in Thailand since 1990 and never had a problem.

[inthepink]

You want facts , I'll give you facts .And this is mainly directed at the ones who posted that this is a great system without a hitch.

I'm 55 yrs.old .Never been to thailand in my life but had thought about retiring there. (Yes I am presently retired.)Anyway before making the leap I naturally wanted to see the country . So about four months ago I applied for a double entry visa from my home in the U.S. I received it and off I went. Now from what I understood is that I would enter, and before sixty days were up I would apply for a thirty day extension. Then before the extension ended ,a few days or so ,I would leave the country and reenter because I had a tourist visa. A dble entry tourist visa. That's,,, tourist , visa .

Well I received my extension with no problem.

Now to keep you up to speed I really liked thailand and decided that it would make a good retirement location and was planning to reenter on the dble entry and apply for the ''retirement'' visa.Get my affadavit from the consulate, proof of income, fill out the documents etc.

After three months I had seen enough and felt content.

On this past Tuesday a week before my extension ended I crossed the border to reenter.I had left all my luggage and personal belongings at my room I had been renting and only took the nec. documents along to present to the fine ,honest, intelligent, uncorrupt immigration officials.

(By the way not that it should make a difference, but I 've been staying in Chiang Mai.)

Now what do you think happened??? They refused to let me back in.

I was dressed well, clean shaven , very presentable and polite.My papers were in order . But regardless ,the interrogation began. And it was'nt pleasant .They accused me of working illegally and/or attempting to seek employment. They wanted to see my itinerary. Why I was in thailand to begin with, where I was staying, who did i know there, how much money I had.(I had about 6000 bht with me). ,etc.etc., This #$^% went on for an hour. They ultimately said ...no.Partly because I opted to rent a studio apartment rather than stay at a hotel ! Renting a studio apt. evidently removes one from''tourist'' status!!

Oh they wanted to see money, alot of money! And I got the feeling that a bribe was being suggested, more than once.

Now at that point I was livid. but I 've read enough to know you don't get angry. So I politely asked to speak to someone in charge. Which i finally did. And to tell you the truth I would have said fine and the hel with thailand, but all my belongings were at the room I was renting. The guy finally allowed me to enter ,this took oh about 5 hrs total.

Now I'm in this sewer of a country and will not be staying. I am completely disgusted with the place . I'm not a deadbeat . I am a retired police officer with a very nice pension. But this whole thing transpired because some idiot at immigration ''suspected'' I was working. did you get that..................... ''s u s p e c t e d''. Regardless of my tourist visa that I had been issued, by his Embassy.

And that is the entire problem, all they have to do is suspect someone .And a few intelligent posters get that here. Some jerk at immigration has a bug up his or her behind and that clown decides not to let you enter ,because they use the ''suspect'' card and accuse you to be working illegally or whatever reason..they ''feel''.at the time .It does'nt matter what visa you have. Way too much power to give to immigration ''officers'' with regards to enforcing a very vague rule.

The lunatic asylum has handed the keys over to the patients and it's going to be bad for everyone ,honest and dishonest forieghners alike.

Strange that, I've been in Thailand since 1990 and never had a problem.

I crossed the road once with my eyes closed and didn't get run over. Does that mean everybody else will be so lucky? You're just one person. Hardly reasonable to draw any conclusions from one person's experiences. Edited May 16, 2014 by inthepink

[jspill]

Strange that, I've been in Thailand since 1990 and never had a problem.

Errr... so? The crackdown has just started.

[Timwin]

Now what do you think happened??? They refused to let me back in.

I was dressed well, clean shaven , very presentable and polite.My papers were in order . But regardless ,the interrogation began. And it was'nt pleasant .They accused me of working illegally and/or attempting to seek employment. They wanted to see my itinerary. Why I was in thailand to begin with, where I was staying, who did i know there, how much money I had.(I had about 6000 bht with me). ,etc.etc., This #$^% went on for an hour. They ultimately said ...no.Partly because I opted to rent a studio apartment rather than stay at a hotel ! Renting a studio apt. evidently removes one from''tourist'' status!!

Oh they wanted to see money, alot of money! And I got the feeling that a bribe was being suggested, more than once.

That is unfortunately exactly what I thought this latest crackdown will lead to. Every tourist is now a suspect. Renting a condo is now suspicious behaviour. Travelling more than once into Thailand per year is suspicious. DKNY77 is a retired cop and still was subjected to 5 hour long interrogation on his SECOND entry of his first double tourist visa ever! Jaysus!

Don't think you are "safe" if you have a retirement visa or any other visa. Those visas could be targeted next. Thailand tourism will plummet when these horror stories start spreading. There are plenty of other, more friendly locations around.

[ukrules]

You want facts , I'll give you facts .And this is mainly directed at the ones who posted that this is a great system without a hitch.

I'm 55 yrs.old .Never been to thailand in my life but had thought about retiring there. (Yes I am presently retired.)Anyway before making the leap I naturally wanted to see the country . So about four months ago I applied for a double entry visa from my home in the U.S. I received it and off I went. Now from what I understood is that I would enter, and before sixty days were up I would apply for a thirty day extension. Then before the extension ended ,a few days or so ,I would leave the country and reenter because I had a tourist visa. A dble entry tourist visa. That's,,, tourist , visa .

Well I received my extension with no problem.

Now to keep you up to speed I really liked thailand and decided that it would make a good retirement location and was planning to reenter on the dble entry and apply for the ''retirement'' visa.Get my affadavit from the consulate, proof of income, fill out the documents etc.

After three months I had seen enough and felt content.

On this past Tuesday a week before my extension ended I crossed the border to reenter.I had left all my luggage and personal belongings at my room I had been renting and only took the nec. documents along to present to the fine ,honest, intelligent, uncorrupt immigration officials.

(By the way not that it should make a difference, but I 've been staying in Chiang Mai.)

Now what do you think happened??? They refused to let me back in.

I was dressed well, clean shaven , very presentable and polite.My papers were in order . But regardless ,the interrogation began. And it was'nt pleasant .They accused me of working illegally and/or attempting to seek employment. They wanted to see my itinerary. Why I was in thailand to begin with, where I was staying, who did i know there, how much money I had.(I had about 6000 bht with me). ,etc.etc., This #$^% went on for an hour. They ultimately said ...no.Partly because I opted to rent a studio apartment rather than stay at a hotel ! Renting a studio apt. evidently removes one from''tourist'' status!!

Oh they wanted to see money, alot of money! And I got the feeling that a bribe was being suggested, more than once.

Now at that point I was livid. but I 've read enough to know you don't get angry. So I politely asked to speak to someone in charge. Which i finally did. And to tell you the truth I would have said fine and the hel with thailand, but all my belongings were at the room I was renting. The guy finally allowed me to enter ,this took oh about 5 hrs total.

Now I'm in this sewer of a country and will not be staying. I am completely disgusted with the place . I'm not a deadbeat . I am a retired police officer with a very nice pension. But this whole thing transpired because some idiot at immigration ''suspected'' I was working. did you get that..................... ''s u s p e c t e d''. Regardless of my tourist visa that I had been issued, by his Embassy.

And that is the entire problem, all they have to do is suspect someone .And a few intelligent posters get that here. Some jerk at immigration has a bug up his or her behind and that clown decides not to let you enter ,because they use the ''suspect'' card and accuse you to be working illegally or whatever reason..they ''feel''.at the time .It does'nt matter what visa you have. Way too much power to give to immigration ''officers'' with regards to enforcing a very vague rule.

The lunatic asylum has handed the keys over to the patients and it's going to be bad for everyone ,honest and dishonest forieghners alike.

Strange that, I've been in Thailand since 1990 and never had a problem.

Not yet but things are changing.

[ukrules]

Strange that, I've been in Thailand since 1990 and never had a problem.

Errr... so? The crackdown has just started.

This was not meant to affect people with visas, something I have never believed.

The above long post by DKNY77 proves the point, the immigration people are hassling everyone who comes to Thailand.

If they manage to drive enough people away I wonder if I can pick up a some cheap property in the next year or two.

[Maestro]

DKNY77, what happened to you on Tuesday this week should clearly not have happened. It makes me wonder whether the officers at the border point where you entered misunderstood the new directive. We have already seen posts about Mae Sai refusing all visa-exempt entries since May 8, I believe, which also must be due to a misunderstanding. I am probably not the only one wondering at what border crossing this happened. Would you please tell us? Until immigration sorts out this communication problem, it will be useful for everybody to know where the problem spots, the entry points where officers do not yet understand the new procedure correctly, are so that travellers can perhaps avoid them.

[a99az]

So today it's got nothing to do with the ill-fated flight of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH 370 By tomorrow it will all be about the forth coming European elections.

They really should sit down and agree on a good excuse before letting go with the mouth.

[woli10]

I also fear what happen next,

I´ll arrive tomorrow in BKK with a 16 month old passport with already 20 visa exemp. stamps inside.

there will be another 2 or 3 the next 4 weeks.

Not work in Thailand, go there for vacation but rent a house, have car,.... and sure "noooo Hotel booooking" so no "Tourist"

[MacWalen]

They ultimately said ...no.Partly because I opted to rent a studio apartment rather than stay at a hotel ! Renting a studio apt. evidently removes one from''tourist'' status!!

Interesting train of thought. Makes sense for the immigration, if someone is a tourist why would they need to rent an apartment if their stay here is only temporary? This must have been their thinking.

Sorry to hear it. Thailand is a great country although you may not feel that way now.

[MacWalen]

I also fear what happen next, I´ll arrive tomorrow in BKK with a 16 month old passport with already 20 visa exemp. stamps inside. there will be another 2 or 3 the next 4 weeks. Not work in Thailand, go there for vacation but rent a house, have car,.... and sure "noooo Hotel booooking" so no "Tourist"

Let us know but I have a feeling you should be ok.

[MeowBundit]

As Russian, I can confirm, a lot of illegal workers here. We, who are really expats, hate our own nationality illegals - they work for rice, not have any responsibility and so on. They ruined quality of services offered to tourists.

But... When I was tourist, I come here then visit countries nearby, sometimes returned to Thailand 2-3 times in 1 month. Do all of this easy, because of visa exempt in Lao, Malaysia, Hong Kong.

I also know, a lot of people just fill gaps between legal jobs with border run.

So, this is a problem for a good people too.

IMO answer is simple. Every border runner - -1000 thb. Every visa holder - +1000 thb. Until you have money, you will never had problems like this.

[moe666]

Fingerprinting, proof of travel plans, proof of income, 90 day check in, crowds at immigration, ability to come and check your place of residence, huge visa sums. Has anyone figured it out yet?

Yes, a lot of us have it really isn't that complicated just be legal

[max72]

Don't panic ? They said if they SUSPECT you are working in Thailand (even if it is not true) they might deport you. Without evidence ?

They SUSPECT. You maybe are coming here to do some scuba diving, training Muay Thai or just enjoying the weather and Thai massage, but you have come too many times, so they suspect you are working and bye bye ....see you again in 5 years ...maybe...

They are going to sc.. it ! You can't deport a people because you suspect or you think he might be working...come on....

everything on the mood of the immigration officier....

[cyborgx]

“Thailand is open to all tourists,” Gen Pharnu said, “but we will not allow illegal workers. If you want to work here please do the right thing. Apply for a business visa and live here legally.”

Not all business are or have 2 million and/or need 4 Thai employees.

How many 1 man businesses are there here, now operating without a workpermit and/or business visa?

Guess most of them have other visa anyway, so therefore will not impact them yet.

Yes, these 1 man-businesses won't make Thailand much richer, but they do no harm also. Just not given the oppertunity to run the business legal.

Your answer is that Thailand does not want foreigners coming in and living here to start small businesses such as bars. I assume because they want those businesses and opportunities to be taken by locals. It may be a policy that foreigners don't like, but it's again not unusual, and also understandable.

[moe666]

You want facts , I'll give you facts .And this is mainly directed at the ones who posted that this is a great system without a hitch.

I'm 55 yrs.old .Never been to thailand in my life but had thought about retiring there. (Yes I am presently retired.)Anyway before making the leap I naturally wanted to see the country . So about four months ago I applied for a double entry visa from my home in the U.S. I received it and off I went. Now from what I understood is that I would enter, and before sixty days were up I would apply for a thirty day extension. Then before the extension ended ,a few days or so ,I would leave the country and reenter because I had a tourist visa. A dble entry tourist visa. That's,,, tourist , visa .

Well I received my extension with no problem.

Now to keep you up to speed I really liked thailand and decided that it would make a good retirement location and was planning to reenter on the dble entry and apply for the ''retirement'' visa.Get my affadavit from the consulate, proof of income, fill out the documents etc.

After three months I had seen enough and felt content.

On this past Tuesday a week before my extension ended I crossed the border to reenter.I had left all my luggage and personal belongings at my room I had been renting and only took the nec. documents along to present to the fine ,honest, intelligent, uncorrupt immigration officials.

(By the way not that it should make a difference, but I 've been staying in Chiang Mai.)

Now what do you think happened??? They refused to let me back in.

I was dressed well, clean shaven , very presentable and polite.My papers were in order . But regardless ,the interrogation began. And it was'nt pleasant .They accused me of working illegally and/or attempting to seek employment. They wanted to see my itinerary. Why I was in thailand to begin with, where I was staying, who did i know there, how much money I had.(I had about 6000 bht with me). ,etc.etc., This #$^% went on for an hour. They ultimately said ...no.Partly because I opted to rent a studio apartment rather than stay at a hotel ! Renting a studio apt. evidently removes one from''tourist'' status!!

Oh they wanted to see money, alot of money! And I got the feeling that a bribe was being suggested, more than once.

Now at that point I was livid. but I 've read enough to know you don't get angry. So I politely asked to speak to someone in charge. Which i finally did. And to tell you the truth I would have said fine and the hel with thailand, but all my belongings were at the room I was renting. The guy finally allowed me to enter ,this took oh about 5 hrs total.

Now I'm in this sewer of a country and will not be staying. I am completely disgusted with the place . I'm not a deadbeat . I am a retired police officer with a very nice pension. But this whole thing transpired because some idiot at immigration ''suspected'' I was working. did you get that..................... ''s u s p e c t e d''. Regardless of my tourist visa that I had been issued, by his Embassy.

And that is the entire problem, all they have to do is suspect someone .And a few intelligent posters get that here. Some jerk at immigration has a bug up his or her behind and that clown decides not to let you enter ,because they use the ''suspect'' card and accuse you to be working illegally or whatever reason..they ''feel''.at the time .It does'nt matter what visa you have. Way too much power to give to immigration ''officers'' with regards to enforcing a very vague rule.

The lunatic asylum has handed the keys over to the patients and it's going to be bad for everyone ,honest and dishonest forieghners alike.

Lets see you had a great time in Thailand and were prepared to live here but because of a bad experience at immigration, which if true was uncalled for, Thailand is a sewer all because of one guy. Sounds like a anti-Thai rant to me.

[balo]

If you own a condo in Thailand and can show them the blue book , and you explain to them that you own a business in Europe but live in Thailand many months every year , can they still refuse you to enter with tourist visas, and with a passport full of old stamps ?

Edited May 16, 2014 by balo

[Timwin]

Lets see you had a great time in Thailand and were prepared to live here but because of a bad experience at immigration, which if true was uncalled for, Thailand is a sewer all because of one guy. Sounds like a anti-Thai rant to me.

Yeah, sure. Otherwise you old geezers applauding for this new crackdown might start looking like naive fools!

[ukrules]

If you own a condo in Thailand and can show them the blue book , and you explain to them that you own a business in Europe but live in Thailand many months every year , can they still refuse you to enter with tourist visas, and with a passport full of old stamps ?

Yeah it appears to be on a whim. Maybe you get unlucky and deported maybe you don't.

[Sena Dave]

The real frightening part of it is the Immigration official may be forced into attempting to use his/her discretion, anything could happen

[cyborgx]

Seems like they're kinda just robbing themselves of money not selling a longer-stay tourist visa (temporary residents). I'm also curious to what the average amount collected in taxes is per person in Thailand per year, do you think people would pay that for a visa? Unfortunately I think they'll be kicking the people out that spend the most money in Thailand with the leaches.

It does seem there is perhaps a gap for a new "Long Stay - Tourist" Visa category, but sadly I think it could just end up be re-opening the loopholes they are already trying to close with the latest changes.

[cyborgx]

Strange that, I've been in Thailand since 1990 and never had a problem.

Errr... so? The crackdown has just started.

This was not meant to affect people with visas, something I have never believed.

The above long post by DKNY77 proves the point, the immigration people are hassling everyone who comes to Thailand.

If they manage to drive enough people away I wonder if I can pick up a some cheap property in the next year or two.

If they hassled everyone re-entering on a proper multiple entry Visa like this every time, the place would be filled to the roof with people waiting and we'd have a lot more similar stories. Perhaps the renting a condo was a contributing factor, but there are always 2 sides to each story, and I get the feeling the immigration official might have a bit more to say about our irate but polite ex-Policeman's application.

Yes, its a lot of responsibility to put in someone's hands, but its their job, and I expect a rather stressful one at that. Someone has to make these decisions all day long, would you prefer it be the police? or the army?

Yes there will always be the occasional idiot and/or corrupt official that's just to be expected TIT.

Perhaps I'm being harsh here, and maybe Immigration have an unwritten rule that says "if a tourist rents an apartment he is automatically no longer a tourist". That sounds silly, but at the same time plausable..... Perhaps someone else has had the same experience when mentioning they are renting with a tourist visa?

[dimok]

Well, border and visa runs was stupid thing - because it was burning time and gasoline for free. Stamp and visa extensions better to make in immigration office in any town. But this idea sounds even more ridiculous. What is the difference between border and visa run? Why they decide that it is some kind of filter for illegal workers? Price of 3 border-runs aproximately the same as price of 1 visa run to the neighbour countrys, why at least they decided that illegal workers cant get tourist visa instead of stamp? Or point is that problem with visas in Kuala Lumpur is already started, and finally you willn't be able to get visa in any neighbour country?

What is the next?

And about investment visa - good idea to purchase property in country which massively kicking out tenants.Because genuine tourists mainly lives in hotels. Btw is there any hotel for 10 million baht? In condo lives ppl who stay for a long time and their quantity of course will decrease if things will go this way.

[Squeegee]

I originally came to Thailand to work and that's what I did, 100% legally. After doing nothing BUT work in a country most people have holidays in I decided to take time out and explore a bit, basing myself in BKK by renting a small studio. I have a motorscooter from my time working in the village and I have a THB5000 plasma TV. That is the extent of my investment in this country as I never did trust the place.

That's as opposed to the people, of whom some say "Never trust a Thai" but this is just mindless crap. I know Thais who I could trust my life with.

Still, I now have even less trust in this country. Next week I hope to get a tourist visa so I have time to process a new passport. A double-whammy of Hell on Earth seems to be what I'm in for. The plans was to find another legal job once the new passport came.

Now I'm seriously thinking of taking my most important papers and sentimental artifacts plus my laptop with me on the visa run and leaving my door key and security card with the accommodation manager with instructions to pass on that 5k TV and trusty old Honda to a couple of Thai friends if he doesn't hear from me by the day after I (was supposed, now simply...) hope to return.

Thank you Thai Immigration for letting this happen. For taking a blind eye (or whatever else) for so long to something you are now viewing as suspicious, when all along it was you that was facilitating it.

Thank you also Ministry of Labor for being equally inept.

But thank you Thai people for some of the best years of my life, I really hope it doesn't have to end this way.

[deepcell]

They have got this all wrong.

They are doing it to stop illegal workers but from my experience most of the illegal workers are retired expats who are a bit short on pension funds and as such are helping their income with a small profit from a restaurant or bar.

A lot of guys work offshore and fly into Thailand spending big on their break between shifts. These people do not have the ability to get visas and they are true frequent holidaymakers.

Immigration says these people will not be affected but my gut feeling is they will.

When tourism authority realize that volume of tourists decrease, the immigration will suffer a huge pressure, in my opinion they will draw back.

[Sena Dave]

I'm worried about this myself , I work in Malaysia and my family live in Thailand , I suppose I'm in and out of Thailand 7 or 8 times a year. Never stay much more than 10 days at a time. I have full legal custody of my kids and could get a visa reasonable easily but have just not needed one or had the time to go through the motions . Looks like I may have to start thinking about doing so

[SantiSuk]

So they have to look out in particular for Vietnamese (among others)? Are these the same Vietnamese who in 2015 when the AEC opens up, will have the right of abode and right to work in Thailand anyway?

Or does Thailand only see the opening of the AEC as the ability for its citizens to go and work in Singapore/Malaysia?

Dunno where you got the idea that the AEC is about free movement of peoples. It isn't.

Yes - the Asians aren't so stupid as to let a bunch of overpaid bureaucrats completely run off message and set up a free movement of labour area while the voting populations of member states weren't watching.

[slipperylobster]

They have got this all wrong.

They are doing it to stop illegal workers but from my experience most of the illegal workers are retired expats who are a bit short on pension funds and as such are helping their income with a small profit from a restaurant or bar.

Correct. You, of course, mean these shady guys who hook up with shady gals, then run out and get a small bar in her name. The farang sits on the customer side and monitors the situation...but oftentimes you see him arguing with the Thai manager, cashier and staff. Quite a few of those, especially up in Isaan.

The smarter ones put computers behind the bar and do the inventory early in the morning...behind closed doors. Problems is, the Thai gal who is the inferred owner ends up skimming a bit too much, the farang gets upset, she sells the business and runs away with the investment captial. Sometimes the farang owner gets caught behind the bar...eh? Also his gal can blackmail him (for illegal working).

Well, those days are over too...looks like the crackdown might extend even further, boys.

Edited May 16, 2014 by slipperylobster

[Thai at Heart]

You want facts , I'll give you facts .And this is mainly directed at the ones who posted that this is a great system without a hitch.

I'm 55 yrs.old .Never been to thailand in my life but had thought about retiring there. (Yes I am presently retired.)Anyway before making the leap I naturally wanted to see the country . So about four months ago I applied for a double entry visa from my home in the U.S. I received it and off I went. Now from what I understood is that I would enter, and before sixty days were up I would apply for a thirty day extension. Then before the extension ended ,a few days or so ,I would leave the country and reenter because I had a tourist visa. A dble entry tourist visa. That's,,, tourist , visa .

Well I received my extension with no problem.

Now to keep you up to speed I really liked thailand and decided that it would make a good retirement location and was planning to reenter on the dble entry and apply for the ''retirement'' visa.Get my affadavit from the consulate, proof of income, fill out the documents etc.

After three months I had seen enough and felt content.

On this past Tuesday a week before my extension ended I crossed the border to reenter.I had left all my luggage and personal belongings at my room I had been renting and only took the nec. documents along to present to the fine ,honest, intelligent, uncorrupt immigration officials.

(By the way not that it should make a difference, but I 've been staying in Chiang Mai.)

Now what do you think happened??? They refused to let me back in.

I was dressed well, clean shaven , very presentable and polite.My papers were in order . But regardless ,the interrogation began. And it was'nt pleasant .They accused me of working illegally and/or attempting to seek employment. They wanted to see my itinerary. Why I was in thailand to begin with, where I was staying, who did i know there, how much money I had.(I had about 6000 bht with me). ,etc.etc., This #$^% went on for an hour. They ultimately said ...no.Partly because I opted to rent a studio apartment rather than stay at a hotel ! Renting a studio apt. evidently removes one from''tourist'' status!!

Oh they wanted to see money, alot of money! And I got the feeling that a bribe was being suggested, more than once.

Now at that point I was livid. but I 've read enough to know you don't get angry. So I politely asked to speak to someone in charge. Which i finally did. And to tell you the truth I would have said fine and the hel with thailand, but all my belongings were at the room I was renting. The guy finally allowed me to enter ,this took oh about 5 hrs total.

Now I'm in this sewer of a country and will not be staying. I am completely disgusted with the place . I'm not a deadbeat . I am a retired police officer with a very nice pension. But this whole thing transpired because some idiot at immigration ''suspected'' I was working. did you get that..................... ''s u s p e c t e d''. Regardless of my tourist visa that I had been issued, by his Embassy.

And that is the entire problem, all they have to do is suspect someone .And a few intelligent posters get that here. Some jerk at immigration has a bug up his or her behind and that clown decides not to let you enter ,because they use the ''suspect'' card and accuse you to be working illegally or whatever reason..they ''feel''.at the time .It does'nt matter what visa you have. Way too much power to give to immigration ''officers'' with regards to enforcing a very vague rule.

The lunatic asylum has handed the keys over to the patients and it's going to be bad for everyone ,honest and dishonest forieghners alike.

Strange that, I've been in Thailand since 1990 and never had a problem.

Well either you are Thai or have an amazing overstay.

This type.of idiotic random crackdown with cause huge problems.

[Thai at Heart]

You want facts , I'll give you facts .And this is mainly directed at the ones who posted that this is a great system without a hitch.

I'm 55 yrs.old .Never been to thailand in my life but had thought about retiring there. (Yes I am presently retired.)Anyway before making the leap I naturally wanted to see the country . So about four months ago I applied for a double entry visa from my home in the U.S. I received it and off I went. Now from what I understood is that I would enter, and before sixty days were up I would apply for a thirty day extension. Then before the extension ended ,a few days or so ,I would leave the country and reenter because I had a tourist visa. A dble entry tourist visa. That's,,, tourist , visa .

Well I received my extension with no problem.

Now to keep you up to speed I really liked thailand and decided that it would make a good retirement location and was planning to reenter on the dble entry and apply for the ''retirement'' visa.Get my affadavit from the consulate, proof of income, fill out the documents etc.

After three months I had seen enough and felt content.

On this past Tuesday a week before my extension ended I crossed the border to reenter.I had left all my luggage and personal belongings at my room I had been renting and only took the nec. documents along to present to the fine ,honest, intelligent, uncorrupt immigration officials.

(By the way not that it should make a difference, but I 've been staying in Chiang Mai.)

Now what do you think happened??? They refused to let me back in.

I was dressed well, clean shaven , very presentable and polite.My papers were in order . But regardless ,the interrogation began. And it was'nt pleasant .They accused me of working illegally and/or attempting to seek employment. They wanted to see my itinerary. Why I was in thailand to begin with, where I was staying, who did i know there, how much money I had.(I had about 6000 bht with me). ,etc.etc., This #$^% went on for an hour. They ultimately said ...no.Partly because I opted to rent a studio apartment rather than stay at a hotel ! Renting a studio apt. evidently removes one from''tourist'' status!!

Oh they wanted to see money, alot of money! And I got the feeling that a bribe was being suggested, more than once.

Now at that point I was livid. but I 've read enough to know you don't get angry. So I politely asked to speak to someone in charge. Which i finally did. And to tell you the truth I would have said fine and the hel with thailand, but all my belongings were at the room I was renting. The guy finally allowed me to enter ,this took oh about 5 hrs total.

Now I'm in this sewer of a country and will not be staying. I am completely disgusted with the place . I'm not a deadbeat . I am a retired police officer with a very nice pension. But this whole thing transpired because some idiot at immigration ''suspected'' I was working. did you get that..................... ''s u s p e c t e d''. Regardless of my tourist visa that I had been issued, by his Embassy.

And that is the entire problem, all they have to do is suspect someone .And a few intelligent posters get that here. Some jerk at immigration has a bug up his or her behind and that clown decides not to let you enter ,because they use the ''suspect'' card and accuse you to be working illegally or whatever reason..they ''feel''.at the time .It does'nt matter what visa you have. Way too much power to give to immigration ''officers'' with regards to enforcing a very vague rule.

The lunatic asylum has handed the keys over to the patients and it's going to be bad for everyone ,honest and dishonest forieghners alike.

Lets see you had a great time in Thailand and were prepared to live here but because of a bad experience at immigration, which if true was uncalled for, Thailand is a sewer all because of one guy. Sounds like a anti-Thai rant to me.

You have obviously never fallen foul of a dumb person, implementing dumb rules with a rubber stamp.in their hand.