South Thailand border crossings reports problems to enter with 60-days tourist visas "TR60"

[theoldgit]

It's worth remembering that possession of a visa does not guarantee the holder admission to the country, it simply allows the holder to present themselves to an Immigration Officer at the border, and it's the IO who makes the decision as the whether you will be allowed to enter.

This happens in most, if not all, countries in the world where a visa is required. However in most, and again if not all, countries, for a visa holder to be refused entry the IO would need to make a case to their superior officer.

I sincerely hope that Joe is correct in his view, and I suspect he is, that those with re-entry permits would have no problem.

I share the view expressed by others that this is a hair trigger reaction by some IO's who are not fully conversant with the rules or maybe scared of their own shadow, or maybe even demonstrating their power.

[MrWorldwide]

I have not heard any reports of people being denied entry on a non-o visa.

From ubonjoe, "I think that the Ranong crossings could be added to the list. Even those with multiple entry non-o visas were turned away there along with tourist visas."

I stand corrected - please ignore my earlier request.

[Cam Khao]

And now the real kicker. People who have gone and gotten a non-immigrant visa of some type, which says sure, you are right, I am not a tourist, and now I have a visa that reflects that, are also being bounced. Once again, immigration is not stupid, they are the same people that were originally doing the whole 30 day exemption thing.

Please provide a link to a report of someone with a valid Non-O visa actually being bounced - terryp was interviewed and had his passport closely scrutinised but that was as far as it went. Doesnt mean it hasnt happened - I'm just not aware of it happening.

From ubonjoe in the third or fourth post on page one, "I think that the Ranong crossings could be added to the list. Even those with multiple entry non-o visas were turned away there along with tourist visas."

Joe usually knows what he's talking about, so I trust his report.

[apetley]

I have not heard any reports of people being denied entry on a non-o visa.

From ubonjoe, "I think that the Ranong crossings could be added to the list. Even those with multiple entry non-o visas were turned away there along with tourist visas."

I stand to be corrected but wasn't that to do with some problem with Burmese Immigration and because of that border hoppers weren't leaving Thailand?

[Cam Khao]

I have not heard any reports of people being denied entry on a non-o visa.

From ubonjoe, "I think that the Ranong crossings could be added to the list. Even those with multiple entry non-o visas were turned away there along with tourist visas."

I stand to be corrected but wasn't that to do with some problem with Burmese Immigration and because of that border hoppers weren't leaving Thailand?

No idea buddy, it's all a bit hard to follow isn't it?

[ingvar]

So you cant be in Thailand as a Tourist for 10 years? why not?

[LivinLOS]

How many times did so many on here say 'no one with a valid visa was going to have problems' despite the immigration boss being very clear about this included them ??

Lets see how those oil workers do next shall we.. Those who believe they can continue to live in thailand on 30 day stamps simply because they are not back to back are far mreo hopeful than I.

[apetley]

I have not heard any reports of people being denied entry on a non-o visa.

From ubonjoe, "I think that the Ranong crossings could be added to the list. Even those with multiple entry non-o visas were turned away there along with tourist visas."

I stand to be corrected but wasn't that to do with some problem with Burmese Immigration and because of that border hoppers weren't leaving Thailand?

No idea buddy, it's all a bit hard to follow isn't it?

That it is. Time for extension of stay I think when my non-o runs out.

[Cam Khao]

How many times did so many on here say 'no one with a valid visa was going to have problems' despite the immigration boss being very clear about this included them ??

Lets see how those oil workers do next shall we.. Those who believe they can continue to live in thailand on 30 day stamps simply because they are not back to back are far mreo hopeful than I.

Yep, I lost count of the number of times I read "Go and get a proper visa and you will be fine."

And then this.

[LivinLOS]

It's worth remembering that possession of a visa does not guarantee the holder admission to the country, it simply allows the holder to present themselves to an Immigration Officer at the border, and it's the IO who makes the decision as the whether you will be allowed to enter.

This happens in most, if not all, countries in the world where a visa is required. However in most, and again if not all, countries, for a visa holder to be refused entry the IO would need to make a case to their superior officer.

This is true, yet there must be precise clear guidelines, especially where international air travel is concerned..

Simply leaving it up to officers whims is not practical..

[smedly]

And now the real kicker. People who have gone and gotten a non-immigrant visa of some type, which says sure, you are right, I am not a tourist, and now I have a visa that reflects that, are also being bounced. Once again, immigration is not stupid, they are the same people that were originally doing the whole 30 day exemption thing.

Please provide a link to a report of someone with a valid Non-O visa actually being bounced - terryp was interviewed and had his passport closely scrutinised but that was as far as it went. Doesnt mean it hasnt happened - I'm just not aware of it happening.

a None Imm Type O is issued for a specific purpose (go look it up) - if you don't fit that profile then you very well could be refused entry

People on torist visa likewise that don't fit the tourist profile are being refused entry

I think it would be safe to say that the days of "border Runs" are ending, if you have to constantly do border runs in order to stay here then you are toast no matter what type of visa you have

I used to do it myself when it was accepted - I switched to a retirement extension a couple of months ago when I saw this coming

[96tehtarp]

I have not heard any reports of people being denied entry on a non-o visa.

I also have not seen any reports of anyone with a NON-IMM visa being denied entry.

[ubonjoe]

I have not heard any reports of people being denied entry on a non-o visa.

From ubonjoe, "I think that the Ranong crossings could be added to the list. Even those with multiple entry non-o visas were turned away there along with tourist visas."

I really meant to write non immigrant visas not only non-o. To early in the morning I guess. But there have been people questioned when entering on non-o visas.

You must remember that non-o visas can be issued for many reasons. Having proof of the reason for having one should end the questions if you are married or have a Thai child. Others may have more problems.

Those with multiple entry non-b's are being asked for a work permit. If no work permit you need to be prepared to show a reason for having one.

[MrWorldwide]

I sincerely hope that Joe is correct in his view, and I suspect he is, that those with re-entry permits would have no problem.

I may be grasping at straws here, and I'm happy to hear if I've got this wrong, but this is my take on it.

Like an extension of stay, a re-entry permit is issued by Thai Immigration. Denying someone with a Tourist Visa entry is effectively saying 'I dont think the Penang Consulate spent enough time checking this passport' but denying someone with a re-entry permit is effectively saying 'I dont believe the people I work with are doing their jobs'. When it gets to that point, you may as well close the borders and put up a sign saying 'Game Over'. It would be the equivalent of Apple support staff telling you your iPhone was a dud because the guys at Cupertino were a bunch of stoners - you just dont do that if you want to keep your job,

(an obvious question here is whether its the responsibility of the Consulate to make that call before you get anywhere near the border. Do Consular staff have the training necessary to act as Immigration officers and if you were running a business, would you want to turn people away when the fees they paid were your primary revenue stream ? Rhetorical questions but it would be interesting to know how many get any direct training from Immigration)

[Cam Khao]

That it is. Time for extension of stay I think when my non-o runs out.

I have 2 years left on my work contract until I can be back on LOS full-time, I'm just hoping 3 months on and 1 month off is seen as a long enough period outside of the country to see me through those 2 years. After that it's extension of stay for me for sure.

[Pralaad]

It's worth remembering that possession of a visa does not guarantee the holder admission to the country, it simply allows the holder to present themselves to an Immigration Officer at the border, and it's the IO who makes the decision as the whether you will be allowed to enter.

This happens in most, if not all, countries in the world where a visa is required. However in most, and again if not all, countries, for a visa holder to be refused entry the IO would need to make a case to their superior officer.

I sincerely hope that Joe is correct in his view, and I suspect he is, that those with re-entry permits would have no problem.

I share the view expressed by others that this is a hair trigger reaction by some IO's who are not fully conversant with the rules or maybe scared of their own shadow, or maybe even demonstrating their power.

But in most if not all countries they have a review and verification and appeal process. At the moment in Thailand you are at mercy of one with no way to review or appeal

[ubonjoe]

That it is. Time for extension of stay I think when my non-o runs out.

I have 2 years left on my work contract until I can be back on LOS full-time, I'm just hoping 3 months on and 1 month off is seen as a long enough period outside of the country to see me through those 2 years. After that it's extension of stay for me for sure.

Coming in and out with a 30 day exempt entry with your schedule will not be a problem. You should note I wrote in and out. You are not an out and back in a short period of time. You are spending more time out of the country than in the country.

[Cam Khao]

That it is. Time for extension of stay I think when my non-o runs out.

I have 2 years left on my work contract until I can be back on LOS full-time, I'm just hoping 3 months on and 1 month off is seen as a long enough period outside of the country to see me through those 2 years. After that it's extension of stay for me for sure.

Coming in and out with a 30 day exempt entry with your schedule will not be a problem. You should note I wrote in and out. You are not an out and back in a short period of time. You are spending more time out of the country than in the country.

I'm on a triple entry tourist visa at the moment (I got that in the UK before they extended my work contract for another 2 years) that sees me through my current and my next visit, after that it's visa exempt, and as you say, it should not be a problem.

I also always have an outbound ticket and cash in my pocket when I come through swampy.

Edited July 10, 2014 by Cam Khao

[Suradit69]

i went thro Padang Besar last week and the imm guy was the worst i have ever had there ..i have a non o ret visa (hull) he looked at every visa stamp page at least 3 times and refused to give me the immigration card to enter thailand until he finnished this inspection ...i.ve been on Non O for over 10 years so you can tell it took time for this guy to do his intimidation....sadly it failed

"...i have a non o ret visa (hull) ..."

"...i.ve been on Non O for over 10 years ..."

You mean you've been running back & forth to/from Hull to get a new Non-Imm O-A visa (commonly called a retirement visa) over and over again for 10 years? ... in the same passport? That would be a major load of visas.

I'm guessing you're one of the many, many somewhat confused farang staying in Thailand on extensions of stay (not visas) granted by immigrations. If you got a visa 10 years ago in Hull, it died a long time ago. Your stay in Thailand would be based on Immigration granting you permission or an extension of that permission, not because of the expired visa.

It's always amazed me how many farang stay here for years on end and still can't figure out on what immigration basis they're permitted to stay in Thailand. I doubt the officer was trying to intimidate someone as well versed in the immigration rules & rregulations as you.

Edited July 10, 2014 by Suradit69

[ubonjoe]

It's worth remembering that possession of a visa does not guarantee the holder admission to the country, it simply allows the holder to present themselves to an Immigration Officer at the border, and it's the IO who makes the decision as the whether you will be allowed to enter.

This happens in most, if not all, countries in the world where a visa is required. However in most, and again if not all, countries, for a visa holder to be refused entry the IO would need to make a case to their superior officer.

I sincerely hope that Joe is correct in his view, and I suspect he is, that those with re-entry permits would have no problem.

I share the view expressed by others that this is a hair trigger reaction by some IO's who are not fully conversant with the rules or maybe scared of their own shadow, or maybe even demonstrating their power.

But in most if not all countries they have a review and verification and appeal process. At the moment in Thailand you are at mercy of one with no way to review or appeal

There is certainly a review, verification and even an appeal process here. If writing about being denied entry it would go up a level or possibley two before you were denied, If only two you could ask for it to be taken to a higher level.

[LivinLOS]

That it is. Time for extension of stay I think when my non-o runs out.

I have 2 years left on my work contract until I can be back on LOS full-time, I'm just hoping 3 months on and 1 month off is seen as a long enough period outside of the country to see me through those 2 years. After that it's extension of stay for me for sure.

Coming in and out with a 30 day exempt entry with your schedule will not be a problem. You should note I wrote in and out. You are not an out and back in a short period of time. You are spending more time out of the country than in the country.

Is one way it might be.. However he is clearly using the 30 day visa exempt entry for purposes other than tourism. Something that would concern me.

Maybe less of a risk on 90 day rotations, but those on lesser ones its an issue that is very possible.

[Cam Khao]

That it is. Time for extension of stay I think when my non-o runs out.

I have 2 years left on my work contract until I can be back on LOS full-time, I'm just hoping 3 months on and 1 month off is seen as a long enough period outside of the country to see me through those 2 years. After that it's extension of stay for me for sure.

Coming in and out with a 30 day exempt entry with your schedule will not be a problem. You should note I wrote in and out. You are not an out and back in a short period of time. You are spending more time out of the country than in the country.

Is one way it might be.. However he is clearly using the 30 day visa exempt entry for purposes other than tourism. Something that would concern me.

Maybe less of a risk on 90 day rotations, but those on lesser ones its an issue that is very possible.

Actually I am a tourist for the 1 month in 4 that I am here, but I can also see why immigration might raise their eyebrows. It's a little grey.

[Bubblefunk]

I've just got back from a Penang border trip and felt obliged to share my experience of the past few days regarding this topic, so hopefully it'll help people. I've highlighted bits in bold for those who don't want to read the whole thing:

What I thought was going to be a standard border run, ended up being an absolute nightmare, however the story does have a happy ending. I was trying to activate the second half of a double entry visa, however I also have 3 back to back tourist visas from the same embassy in Vientiane, plus the dreaded red stamp. I was working legally in Bangkok from 2010-2013 and have saved my money for time out in Thailand for 2014. Later this year I'll be off to Jakarta & Manila for work. So yes I am a tourist and yes I do also work.

I flew to Hat Yai & took a mini bus to the Pedang Baser border crossing. Once there (over the border and back) the immigration officer said I could not enter the country and I had to spend two nights in Malaysia. I pointed out to him that if I spent two nights in Malaysia I would not be able to activate the visa in time, he then said 'ok one night is ok then'. So after a lot of hassle (with the invaluable help of my Thai girlfriend) we managed to find a minibus that would take us to Penang (minibus takes 4hrs at least - more like 6 in reality). I had to pass back to the Thai side to do this as there was no way to get to Penang on the Malaysia side, unless you wanted to take an old taxi to somewhere in the sticks on the Malaysia side which is probably not that advisable.

Having stayed one night in Penang and taken the minibus back to the border again (another 4 hrs on a bumpy minibus at 200kmph) the driver half way through the journey says he is going to a different border crossing: Pra-Kob, which is a brand new, (which may have a different name I'm not sure) which he said was more strict (oh great, I thought). He said he had to go this way as at the Pedang Baser they were not letting Thai minibus drivers back in as the Malay taxi drivers thought they were taking their money.

Anyway, this border was even worse. The immigration officer was in his early twenties and completely refused me entry, even though I had a vaild double entry visa. He said 'you no tourist' with a big smile. So there we were stuck at the border again, in the baking sun, this time with no where to go as there are no minibuses, only local taxis that want to charge 500 baht even to go to a cashpoint... Again my Thai girlfriend called the minibus company and we arranged to go back to Penang again on the next bus through, and decided to fly back to Bangkok.

Having arrived back again in Penang (another 6 hrs on a bouncy minibus) and booked another hotel, we booked two flights back to Bangkok. On arrival at Bangkok I really thought: sheet, this it man, now I'm going to get a grilling from bkk immigration as to why I've tried to cross the border so many times, why I have so many tourist visas, and maybe even end up being deported with no warning if I cannot show them 20,000 baht in cash etc?? But no, nothing, they gave me a 30 day stamp no questions, not even an eyebrow raised (30 day stamp as by this time I had missed the visa re-entry date).

So now I'm thinking: Is this what you now have to do? Just leave the country by whichever way but always fly back in?? Am I ALWAYS going to get grief each time I enter thailand from now on just because I have so many visas??

A trip that was going to cost me a few thousand baht plus a few days chilling with my girlfriend, ended up costing me nearly 15000 baht all in, plus a huge amount of stress and nearly 4 days of my time. IF I had known it was going to be like this I would have just booked a flight in and out, SO much more simple.

Anyway, this is just to hopefully help a few people that are maybe thinking to do a border run any time soon.

Best of Luck to people!

[Fullstop]

Why are Thai Embassies issuing and charging for useless Tourist visas? Shouldn't the screening process start with them? Or they just too lazy and incompetent.

I guess refunds are out of the question...thieving ********.

[Deacon Bell]

It's clear - to me anyway - that Thai Immigration is aware that some Consulates are basically visa factories (sadly Penang must be near the top of that list) - in any case, the Immigration Officer has the power to admit or deny people as they see fit,

Yes, although not directly related to this topic, as it is about Tourist Visa holders being denied entry, it is connected as it is about Visa holders being denied entry.

I have 3 non-imm O multi-entry visas based on marriage (from a friendly place beginning with S). When I was at immigration in BKK yesterday for an unrelated reason the officer had an attitude about them and told me to get an extension, she wasn't happy with me having 'a lot' of marriage visas.

With the current crack-down and visa holders now being denied entry at some entry points, I would not be surprised if a 3 M.E. rule is brought in, or even 2. Two Multi-Entry Visas in a row and one needs to get an extension, or something like that.

This is pure speculation by me, but I would not be surprised if it happens within the next 6 months.

[MrWorldwide]

@Bubblefunk, sorry to hear about the problems but its becoming clear that Immigration are focussing their efforts on land crossings. If I had to nominate an obvious villain in all of this it would be your minibus driver, but having been there and done it on the Cambo run I'm sure you were so happy just to get out of that bus that you saw no point in telling him that he'd just plopped you right in a deep pile of kaka. Happy to hear that you had no issues at the airport.

[MrWorldwide]

Why are Thai Embassies issuing and charging for useless Tourist visas? Shouldn't the screening process start with them? Or they just too lazy and incompetent.

I guess refunds are out of the question...thieving ********.

As I posted earlier, the Consulates are businesses and businesses need to make money - turn people away and they go elsewhere. Would you be happy to be denied a visa by someone who isnt even an Immigration Officer and would you accept that or simply go to another Consulate and try again ? In some cases they may well be too lazy and incompetent, but to me it comes back to training and the resources needed to make that training a reality. We also dont know if the 'useless' tourist visas in question would be accepted at an airport instead of the land crossings where the current problems seem to be centred - is it the Consulate's call to insist that you return to Thailand by plane ?

[spacebass]

I am about to get into the car and drive to Korat immigration for my third year of non imm 'o' visa. i am married to a Thai and I have sufficient funds...

Do you think I will have a problem? Because it seems the immigration officials are not trained properly and seem to be labouring under the impression that they have to make it super hard for all farang to stay here now.

I suppose I will find out in the next hours.... Seems as though reading through these comments it is looking like each immigration officer is a law unto himself.

Wish me luck.

As in the UK.

[ubonjoe]

Coming in and out with a 30 day exempt entry with your schedule will not be a problem. You should note I wrote in and out. You are not an out and back in a short period of time. You are spending more time out of the country than in the country.

Is one way it might be.. However he is clearly using the 30 day visa exempt entry for purposes other than tourism. Something that would concern me.

Maybe less of a risk on 90 day rotations, but those on lesser ones its an issue that is very possible.

That is your opinion because you know what he doing.

It would certainly not appear that way to an immigration officer. He is somebody that can travel around for a few months and then come to Thailand and spend a month.

There are people from within the region that make regular trips here just for the weekend and accumulate a lot of exempt. entries. Tourist or not?

They just don't want people living here full time on exempt entries.

[larsjohnsson]

How many times did so many on here say 'no one with a valid visa was going to have problems' despite the immigration boss being very clear about this included them ??

Lets see how those oil workers do next shall we.. Those who believe they can continue to live in thailand on 30 day stamps simply because they are not back to back are far mreo hopeful than I.

Yep, I lost count of the number of times I read "Go and get a proper visa and you will be fine."

And then this.

A tourist visa is not the proper visa for people that live here