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Tourist visa holders denied entry to Thailand and left stranded in Malaysia


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As the news of this spreads, more and more people will likely put of trips here as the confusion reigns.

^I seriously doubt this.

What it will do however is stop these people that have exploited a system that was not strictly enforced as it should have been. I support it 100%. I am glad those multi visa runners were displaced. I doubt they will be let back in from the airport

Either you are a tourist occasionally or you live here with a retirement, Marriage or Work visa.

I expect more borders to follow suit soon.

How about u are rich and young and not married?

What kind of visa please?

Cool thing, It doesn't matter, stand in line like the rest of us. There are no special Platinum Visa's. Besides if you are rich and young why would you be here?

If I was either then you can be sure I would not be here anymore.

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Cool thing, It doesn't matter, stand in line like the rest of us. There are no special Platinum Visa's.

Yes, there are:

500k baht - Thailand Easy Access program for 5 year visa

2m baht - Thailand Elite full membership

OR

Invest 10m baht and get investment extensions

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I go over the border to Thailand from Laos most weekends to play golf and do a bit of shopping (NakhonPhanom). Yesterday, I spoke to the very nice Immigration officer about this new ruling and whether it will affect me.

He told me the new regulations are needed to weed out the people who are working in Thailand without working visas, farang mafia (his words, not mine) and foreigners who live in Thailand free!! (again, his words)

Normal tourists will not be affected.

More questions were being asked this time than normal so I guess the Laos/Thai border will also be problematic for the border runners.

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I think I may just skip Thailand all together this time. I have been watching airfares and now it is just as cheap to fly into Cambodia. It use to be significantly more. Is Cambodia the next Thailand?

Cambodia, the next Thailand - good joke !!! cheesy.gifclap2.gifthumbsup.gif

Have you ever been there?

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I have stayed in Thailand for 1 and a half years on tourist visas in the past (an indefinite tourist) without working here. I am now on an education visa as I am studying Thai. My girlfriend is pregnant at the moment and I am worried about when my education visa runs out. I make enough money back home to support us but not to qualify for a non O visa. What can I do? I realize they won't have any sympathy for splitting up a young family and I am worried I am going to have to leave my wife and young child here. Any ideas would be much appreciated.

Option 1) Well, you can MARRY your girlfriend then start doing the paperwork to take her and your child back to your home country.

You may have to move in with family back in your home country - but it can be done. Luckily - as you said, you make enough money back home while sitting here in Thailand. Chances are, there is additional public assistance in your home country to help you get your life together.

Option 2) Get MARRIED, then go back to your home country, save up enough for the non-O requirement (400k baht) then return. Might take up to a year and a couple months (depending on what you claim you already earn) - but staying with family will help minimize your spending while trying to save.

Additionally - taking a year away from your wife and kid might seem like forever - but military folks do this ALL THE TIME. It can be done.

No he does not.

He can get a non-O visa just because he has a Thai kid. Getting married is not required.

He just needs the 400k OR can prove he has 40k per month income.

He can also get a an education visa.

If he is rich, he can get an Elite card.

MANY options.

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NON-Immigrant visas , the next target in the crazy sceme

so you there at a checkpoint with a valid 60 day tourist visa, gotten from an embassy , totally worthless to cross over the boarder and ordered to take a bus and fly into the country

has someone lost their minds ?

28 million tourists they want next year right, or should they send them the money & stay home instead ?

If you have a passport full of back-to-back exemptions / tourist visas, are you actually a 'tourist' ? We've been thrashing that one out for over 2 weeks now and it usually ends up in a lot of finger-pointing, but can you not see why that would raise suspicion on the part of Immigration ?

All it takes is for one Divisional Commander to give his IOs a set of guidelines that say:

- look for past overstay

- look for back-to-back exemptions

- look for back-to-back Tourist Visas

If you were an Immigration Officer who wanted to keep his job, which side of the line do you think you'd fall on - compassionate and caring or 'I have my orders' ?

As far as the 28 million tourists go, we are in the depths of low season - surely the best time for Thailand to try to rid itself of the illegal workers which have sparked this crackdown. My personal fear is that the people in question - allegedly Koreans, Vietnamese and Russians are the top three targets - will only dig themselves in deeper now that the new overstay penalties have been announced. I just cant see what motivation they could possibly have for handing themselves in to anyone in a uniform but that may become clearer in August.

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NON-Immigrant visas , the next target in the crazy sceme

so you there at a checkpoint with a valid 60 day tourist visa, gotten from an embassy , totally worthless to cross over the boarder and ordered to take a bus and fly into the country

has someone lost their minds ?

28 million tourists they want next year right, or should they send them the money & stay home instead ?

They are getting rid of the undesirables that do the visa runs - ie those with no money to get a 'real' 1 year visa.

Real tourists fly in or only do one or two tourist visas.

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I go over the border to Thailand from Laos most weekends to play golf and do a bit of shopping (NakhonPhanom). Yesterday, I spoke to the very nice Immigration officer about this new ruling and whether it will affect me.

He told me the new regulations are needed to weed out the people who are working in Thailand without working visas, farang mafia (his words, not mine) and foreigners who live in Thailand free!! (again, his words)

Normal tourists will not be affected.

More questions were being asked this time than normal so I guess the Laos/Thai border will also be problematic for the border runners.

A bit off-topic but how do you manage to stay long-term there LL?

I work here and have a work permit, which I renew yearly.

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I have no problem accepting the new "rules", BUT it is the ludicrous implementation and arbitrary and inconsistent enforcement and interpretation that comes across as insane. I suspect they want to weed out the "poor" foreigners, who is presumed poor because they enter by land. Flying is probably seen as a litmus test for being a desirable individual.

As someone who will work a week in Singapore and then spend 3 weeks in Thailand with my Thai family, I became worried about this due to my many back to back visits. As a resident of Singapore I don't get my passport chopped when entering, and I am therefore left with ONLY Thai stamps in my passport. I decided to get a tourist visa, but at the embassy I was denied before handing in the application and told that this was unnecessary because if I wanted to stay only 30 days I should rely on a visa exemption. When I mentioned I might stay 40 or 50 days, they told me to leave and come back for another 30 day visa exemption, an advice that I followed. However, I am not sure if I want to rely on this in the future and having a Thai wife and child, I guess I will apply for a "proper" visa.

I hope the current situation get fixed, because some immigration officials create a bad image of Thailand when going solo, acting inconsistent and against the rules.

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Don't be surprised in the future if they limit the land crossings to only members of ASEAN community and all others would have to gain entry via air.

They are serious (currently) about getting out the illegal riff-raff.

We, as an EX-PAT community have brought some of this on ourselves by not policing our own. If you know someone who is violating the VISA requirements - TURN THEM IN!!!!!!!!!!!

It's those folks who abuse the system and ruin it for the rest of the legitimate ex-pats!

Funny........... I would think the majority of these people are Myanmar, Laos,Cambodia ETC many have no passports and are often "let in" to Thailand by the border officials for a fee.

I know this is how its done as my staff have told me previously.

How many hundreds of thousands of Cambodians left recently?

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i stop being suprised here years ago....whistling.gif ..buy a legal visa from a THAI consul (WHO HAVE THE POWER TO REFUSE) and then be refused entry at teh border...idiotic to say the least

It's again worth remembering that possession of a visa doesn't guarantee the holder admission to a country, it's the Immigration Officer at the Border that has the final say, this applies to most countries in the World, including the likes of the UK, the Schengen Area and the United States of America.

Perhaps, but how hard is it for consulate staff to perform the same check on a person's passport as an immigration officer to determine whether the applicant has worn out their welcome? No, they sell you the stamp, then let you be refused entry at the border... You can put lipstick on it if you want, but it's not copacetic...

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I have stayed in Thailand for 1 and a half years on tourist visas in the past (an indefinite tourist) without working here. I am now on an education visa as I am studying Thai. My girlfriend is pregnant at the moment and I am worried about when my education visa runs out. I make enough money back home to support us but not to qualify for a non O visa. What can I do? I realize they won't have any sympathy for splitting up a young family and I am worried I am going to have to leave my wife and young child here. Any ideas would be much appreciated.

Option 1) Well, you can MARRY your girlfriend then start doing the paperwork to take her and your child back to your home country.

You may have to move in with family back in your home country - but it can be done. Luckily - as you said, you make enough money back home while sitting here in Thailand. Chances are, there is additional public assistance in your home country to help you get your life together.

Option 2) Get MARRIED, then go back to your home country, save up enough for the non-O requirement (400k baht) then return. Might take up to a year and a couple months (depending on what you claim you already earn) - but staying with family will help minimize your spending while trying to save.

Additionally - taking a year away from your wife and kid might seem like forever - but military folks do this ALL THE TIME. It can be done.

You won't have to leave them here. There are many ways to get around the 400k law for an visa.

You cannot be refused entry under the 1997 constitution(if it still exists?) if you have dependents who have Thai citizenship unless you have committed a criminal offence.

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Don't be surprised in the future if they limit the land crossings to only members of ASEAN community and all others would have to gain entry via air.

They are serious (currently) about getting out the illegal riff-raff.

We, as an EX-PAT community have brought some of this on ourselves by not policing our own. If you know someone who is violating the VISA requirements - TURN THEM IN!!!!!!!!!!!

It's those folks who abuse the system and ruin it for the rest of the legitimate ex-pats!

you related to Bertie Smalls?

Edited by beenhere2long
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i stop being suprised here years ago....whistling.gif ..buy a legal visa from a THAI consul (WHO HAVE THE POWER TO REFUSE) and then be refused entry at teh border...idiotic to say the least

It's again worth remembering that possession of a visa doesn't guarantee the holder admission to a country, it's the Immigration Officer at the Border that has the final say, this applies to most countries in the World, including the likes of the UK, the Schengen Area and the United States of America.

Perhaps, but how hard is it for consulate staff to perform the same check on a person's passport as an immigration officer to determine whether the applicant has worn out their welcome? No, they sell you the stamp, then let you be refused entry at the border... You can put lipstick on it if you want, but it's not copacetic...

When was the last time anyone at a Consulate asked you if you would be re-entering Thailand via a land border or an airport ? I've never been asked anything even remotely similar. When they start bouncing people in large numbers at the airports I'll revisit my stance - from the OP, those denied entry were specifically told to get on a plane. None of this changes the fact that people who are living in Thailand for the majority of the year really need to explore options beyond exemptions and tourist visas - as extensively discussed here for over a week.

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i stop being suprised here years ago....whistling.gif ..buy a legal visa from a THAI consul (WHO HAVE THE POWER TO REFUSE) and then be refused entry at teh border...idiotic to say the least

When you apply for a visa at the embassy and pay money. You have to pay even if you don't get the visa. So for the money/pay part it will be the same.

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So what if im under 50 but have the 800,000 or more in my bank account but I will be discriminated against because of my age.

Tourist visas are my only option right?

No. You would not be a tourist.

Sent from my GT-I9500 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

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I do not understand why immigration doesn't have one set of rules and regulations, requirements and forms for every immigration officer, consulate and embassy.

Because Thai government organisation is very very very far behind western standards.

Perhaps, but how hard is it for consulate staff to perform the same check on a person's passport as an immigration officer to determine whether the applicant has worn out their welcome? No, they sell you the stamp, then let you be refused entry at the border... You can put lipstick on it if you want, but it's not copacetic...

Immigrations at borders and within Thailand are under the Immigrations bureau.

Consulates and embassy are supervised by MFA (Ministry of Foreign Affairs).

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As the news of this spreads, more and more people will likely put of trips here as the confusion reigns.

Only the dodgy people won't come.

If you have the proper visa or none of this back to back "Tourist Visa", not a problem

Good to see the IB cracking down on the riff raff

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I was stranded in no mans land in 1997 for about 3 days as neither Malaysia nor Thailand would take me in.

Yes, I was riff raff and drunk.

Can't everyone see what Immigration are trying to do really?

I have 5 friends i Khon Kaen who buy their yearly visa from the Immigration.

I know of many other who buy their visa from other immigrations. They want to keep the money!

Myself, I was told I needn't do the 90 day reporting if I gave them a small fee.

Corruption but the good news is that, or maybe bad, is that the undesirables can stay but just giver their money to another place.

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As the news of this spreads, more and more people will likely put of trips here as the confusion reigns.

I don't think so. People visiting here as "real" tourists are unlikely to be affected, particularly as they invariably arrive by air. As clearly stated in the OP, the eight people who were refused entry all had a history of border crossings and numerous Tourist Visas, so the official was clearly following orders not to allow bogus "tourists" into Thailand.

There are numerous ways that a person can arrange legal status in Thailand, and I certainly have no sympathy for anyone who uses tourist visas to carry out unlawful work in Thailand. I am of the opinion that once Thailand has rid itself of such bogus tourists, they may start to make things slightly easier for those of us who stay here legally - such as disposing of the pointless 90 day reporting ...!!

Yes i agree the 90 day report is a joke,no need for it really,yes it does not take long,sometimes in and out in 10 minutes........but....

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