How long is needed between tourist visas?

[Mondy]

I have been here since taking an TEFL course in the fall and have nearly exhausted my second tourist visa. I have done a bit of traveling and have more that I would like to do. Some beautiful hiking in China is on my bucket list. If I were to leave and then tour for a month, is that adequate to break from the consecutive visas and gain another tourist visa? I may have a job offer in the coming weeks but I have to leave soon. I figured I could handle some of that while traveling too.

[ubonjoe]

Are you asking about tourist visas obtained at an embassy or consulate or visa exempt entries?

[Mario2008]

Much is unknown on at this moment. But it certainly will help if you are away for 1 month.

[Mondy]

I was presuming a tourist visa. I do plan to go to Australia around mid-September so I might only need 1 month back in BKK though.

[Mario2008]

That should not be a problem, especially if you have a ticket out to Australia to show.

30 days you could come in by air and get a visa exempt entry.

[Mondy]

Well that gives me an option then. I didn't want to purchase a ticket to Australia from Bangkok when I didn't know if I could get back into the country.

[Dublin]

I did FIFO for 3 years 2010 -2013, in for 2 weeks out for 4 in for 2 out for 4 & so on once or twice i gave it a 10 week break ,, never had an issue expect for once the Immigration at Swampy asked why i don't get a proper visa,, i said i don't live here don't need one he smiled and handed back my stamped passport.

[hawker9000]

Questions like this are going to come up more & more I think, and they're perfectly sensible questions. But it just doesn't sound like there's any simple formula. The IO who's looking will theoretically have to enumerate your comings & goings, their frequency, their duration, frequency of back-to-backs if any, time out vs time in, visa vs visa-exempt, geez who knows....to make a reasonable determination. And THEN, if all that raises any question, ask to see onward ticketing, hotel reservations, itinerary, cash, bank statements, etc.

I just don't see how all this gets done consistently and objectively.

I saw one guy on one of these threads mention carrying around a mini-spreadsheet in his passport showing all his entries & exits by date and entry type. 'Guess that's a good idea if your stays have been short & not too frequent; not so good if frequent, back-to-back, etc. 'Seems like there must be a vast "grey area" for those who spend a lot, but not all, of their time in Thailand. Most of the smugettes don't realize that it's this large grey area that's got people, who really haven't been abusing anything, spooked.

There's a book called Out of the Loop by one Morgan McFinn, which is just a series of short essays about his daily existence during an indefinitely long "budget" stay in Samui. Some will be more entertained by it than others. But brother are those days gone!

Edited July 14, 2014 by hawker9000

[Mondy]

and what happens if someone pays for the tourist visa but gets turned away at the border such as today in Malaysia? Does it get stamped as such?

[max72]

and what happens if someone pays for the tourist visa but gets turned away at the border such as today in Malaysia? Does it get stamped as such?

I don't think so.

They were not banned, just refused entry.

There should be no stamp at all, because they have not touched Thai territory.

[thaigold]

In our condo we have a Dutch gentleman who has been living in the Kingdom for over a decade. He has no retirement visa, because, in addition to his Bangkok condo, has has property in Holland. He simply travels on a non-Immigrant visa and makes a trip to Amsterdam within every 90-days.

I agree with many others - if you need border runs every 30-days, you are not a tourist - and if you are under 50 and not a student, what are you?

[enuff said]

.

In our condo we have a Dutch gentleman who has been living in the Kingdom for over a decade. He has no retirement visa, because, in addition to his Bangkok condo, has has property in Holland. He simply travels on a non-Immigrant visa and makes a trip to Amsterdam within every 90-days.

I agree with many others - if you need border runs every 30-days, you are not a tourist - and if you are under 50 and not a student, what are you?

Cheese and crackers! How many times does this have to be said? You are someone who is no longer able to stay long term in The Kingdom pretending to be a tourist.

What's wrong with the Philippines? Bali? Seychelles? Mauritius? Costa Rica? Or a thousand other places?

Why aren't those destinations acceptable? Some of them have easy long stay policies. Cambodia: buy a 1 year visa... no questions asked. No leaving the country, no 90 day reporting. Call yourself a tourist. Call yourself a businessman. Anything you want. Next year get another one no prob.

Somebody opens a topic concerning back to back visas being turned away at the border and it gets over 50 THOUSAND views and 500 replies in only 12 hours only illustrates how serious the problem is.

'nuff said

~

Edited July 14, 2014 by 'nuff said

[paz]

What's wrong with the Philippines? Bali? Seychelles? Mauritius? Costa Rica? Or a thousand other places?

Maybe is the same reason why _you_ want to be in Thailand.

Oh! sorry forgot, you and the other guys are in the right, all others aren't.

[undholly]

Give me some advice please. Soon I need activate second part tourist visa. I never have visa (tourist or student) before, have few visa run from Cambodia (2013). Planing go to Cambodia or Laos for activate second part, Laos I think better. Also I ready show, 20k THB, Eticket to my home if immigration ask me. Also I cannot leave Kingdom because here have everything, girlfriend, bike, condo. etc...
So I can have any problem on border or not ? I think take my thai girlfriend with me for guarantee (I not work here) but if officer start make problem I think this not help. Very worried : (

[AYJAYDEE]

In our condo we have a Dutch gentleman who has been living in the Kingdom for over a decade. He has no retirement visa, because, in addition to his Bangkok condo, has has property in Holland. He simply travels on a non-Immigrant visa and makes a trip to Amsterdam within every 90-days.

I agree with many others - if you need border runs every 30-days, you are not a tourist - and if you are under 50 and not a student, what are you?

not wanted

[charmonman]

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

In our condo we have a Dutch gentleman who has been living in the Kingdom for over a decade. He has no retirement visa, because, in addition to his Bangkok condo, has has property in Holland. He simply travels on a non-Immigrant visa and makes a trip to Amsterdam within every 90-days.

I agree with many others - if you need border runs every 30-days, you are not a tourist - and if you are under 50 and not a student, what are you?

You could be many things, among them someone who does not work or need to work, who likes to spend a lot of time but not the entire year in Thailand, "stealing" no one's job, spending money in the local economy and doing no harm to anyone. I myself was in this position for much of the 2000's.

Now that I am over 50, I may go for a retirement visa, even though I only spend 4 months a year in Thailand, divided into three trips. But the sheer arbitrary and unclear manner in which this immigration crackdown is being implemented makes me nervous.

[roxnadz]

Cheese and crackers! How many times does this have to be said? You are someone who is no longer able to stay long term in The Kingdom pretending to be a tourist.

What's wrong with the Philippines? Bali? Seychelles? Mauritius? Costa Rica? Or a thousand other places?

Why aren't those destinations acceptable? Some of them have easy long stay policies. Cambodia: buy a 1 year visa... no questions asked. No leaving the country, no 90 day reporting. Call yourself a tourist. Call yourself a businessman. Anything you want. Next year get another one no prob.

Somebody opens a topic concerning back to back visas being turned away at the border and it gets over 50 THOUSAND views and 500 replies in only 12 hours only illustrates how serious the problem is.

'nuff said

~

It doesn't illustrate a damn thing when half of those views and responses are from finger-waggers like you who, for some unknown reason, feel like they need to always be present to tell people that are concerned about all these changes how much of a ne'er-do-well they are.

It's real funny that, all the times I've entered Thailand, I've never faced anyone on the other side of that podium who wasn't Thai. So why do you and all the other farangs in the Som Nam Na Cabal feel the need to sit here and act like you get to let people in? Frankly? Nobody asked you. And posts like this add absolutely nothing to the discussion. People want to be in Thailand for their reasons, and while they are looking for any information on what has changed, they don't need you telling them what alternative countries they should go to. Especially when you, too, could be on the business end of a turnback if you encounter the wrong officer in the wrong mood on the wrong day.

We get it already - you think this will make Thailand a better place. But that's yet to be seen by any stretch of the imagination. And your continued moaning about it doesn't help things. At all.

[banglassie]

In our condo we have a Dutch gentleman who has been living in the Kingdom for over a decade. He has no retirement visa, because, in addition to his Bangkok condo, has has property in Holland. He simply travels on a non-Immigrant visa and makes a trip to Amsterdam within every 90-days.

I agree with many others - if you need border runs every 30-days, you are not a tourist - and if you are under 50 and not a student, what are you?

Well, what am I then?

I am staying here most of the year. I have yet to get married officially, I am only 29 years old. I have no job at the moment but I'm living on savings.

I will soon get money for studying from Sweden, that will be about 45,000/month, but not entirely for a year. There will be gaps when I get nothing.

I live on a budget between 17,000 to 30,000 a month depending on if I'm just hanging around or if I travel/get new visas or similar.

I haven't succeeded to open a Thai bank account, so not sure how I would be able to transfer the 400,000 needed (I think that was the amount?) for the non-imm O based on marriage. Else I could solve that problem by sending over money from credit cards and pay back them later.

I am not working illegally, I have followed all Thai rules I know of the past 4-5 years at least.

I used to work in Norway, and get about 4 to 5 months off/year. All that time I would spend here. So my entries are much like one in june, visa run in july, one in December, one in march, until February this year when I quit my job and decided to come over here.

At the moment ED visa seems like the only option for me.

I got a double entry tourist visa. The first entry ends 24th august. I was planing to go to Sweden for 2-3 weeks then and sort things out regarding online studies and state-funds+loans. However, now I hesitate about this since I'm not sure Thailand will let me back in on my second entry when I come back. At the moment it seems the airports are ok, specially if you arrive from Europe or US or similar. But who knows what's waiting after the 12th August?

My Thai is fairly ok. I can make myself understood in all situations and understand most of what people say if they speak clearly. But I do want to become more proficient in the language, so I have good reasons to study.

Of course what I wish most of all is a job. And I'm doing all I can to land one ASAP. But being young without a Bachelor doesn't make things easy.

I attended text and talk for 3 weeks. but I had to jump off due to my other studies. I realized that I needed to prioritize a bachelor ATM and after that I could finish the TEFL if I so wish, and since there is no additional fee to do it again it seemed like the better choice at that crossroad.

I'm still confused about statements saying that you can work on a marriage visa, but you must earn more than 40,000. Many teacher positions don't offer more than 30,000/month. So I'm not sure how that adds up(?)

I'm seriously wondering what's the best thing to do... Right now I have sent my "brother-in-law" to pick up the "blue book" at the families house so we can get married officially. But I'm still a bit uncertain what is needed from me. Specially regarding funds. I don't need to support my to-be-wife. She has a good job and earn decent salary. In fact as I write this she supports me more than I support her. Not that I think that's ideal, but I need to wait for money to arrive before I can cross my tight budget of 300/day (which I can live quite decently on in my age and standards, but being 29 and the girl 32 we are both at a crossroad regarding family-life as well, and need to get a more stable living for a decent future.)

"Why not choose one of the thousand other alternatives?"

-Because here is where I feel home, and here is where my family lives. If I would still be in my backpacker years I would simply move on, get a life in Phnom Penh or similar. But that's not the case now.

Since I am studying online from Sweden and my "income" is based on state-loan, I'm not sure what kind of paper I can get from the embassy regarding that I get enough funds to be able to apply. I sure have enough to live here, but question is if I have enough in their eyes.

So far I've been lucky and only met nice officials. But one only get lucky that many times...

And regarding ED-visa, shouldn't there be something to show how much cash you have in that case as well? I mean when it's all boiled down this is all a crackdown on illegal workers. I'm not sure what the immigration in Narathiwat is up to, but to me it seems they are just trying to be extra hardcore.

I see people write "Wow, Thailand is actually enforcing their laws, amazing".

But what laws really?

Which law says that I can't enter on my double entry visa in Narathiwat?

Which law says that one can only be a tourist for 30 days, when the visa is 60 days?

Would it make a difference to bring cash to narathiwat and show them including where the money came from? I hardly think so, since it seems they just want to make a point. Because to them, "you can not be a tourist more than 30 days". But why not?

If you don't work within the country, if you are not married, if you don't have the funds on a thai bank as required for non imm "o" (as far as I have understood it), or if you just get 35,000/month from abroad/month, which many easily could live on, then why can you not be a tourist?

And if you can't, then what are you??

I do realize that it stands between Non-imm "o" or ED visa in my case. IF I'm lucky I will get one of the jobs that I applied for, but I'm far from alone with 80 more candidates or so. So can't rely on that until I know for sure...

Until then, I will continue to feel rather confused about what I should do and how I should do it to please all officials and the law of Thailand....

Edited July 14, 2014 by banglassie

[enuff said]

.

What's wrong with the Philippines? Bali? Seychelles? Mauritius? Costa Rica? Or a thousand other places?

Maybe is the same reason why _you_ want to be in Thailand.

Oh! sorry forgot, you and the other guys are in the right, all others aren't.

For once, you are correct.

Get right or get banned. Up to you.

'nuff said

~

[callaway]

"nuff said" has "said nuff". Dont try to be bigger, smarter and faster than all others. People are only trying to get information, as the true story with all this immigration crap, is very hard to come by. If they cannot ask on this forumn, without sarcastic, snide, smartass responses, then where do you suppose they will get the information from. Thai immigration? They havent a clue from day to day on the rules they should be enforcing. Just sit back and relax and allow others to try and find what they are looking for.

[Mondy]

OK, to out of the Dutch oven example and back on topic: I do appreciate those who give genuine advice.

When I came last fall, I was to use Thailand as a jumping off point to travel around but made friends here and got lazy. Teaching at a school would have tied my hands. Hopping from place to place wears me out a bit but this visa crackdown might have lit a fire underneath me to tour more. From the information at hand, would ya'll say trying to get a 3rd tourist visa is foolhardy? I could go to Vientiane and try to come back in and just keep traveling if I cannot., I could travel around a month and then TRY to come in with a tourist visa OR the 30 exemption-which would give me good timing for my trip to Aus/NZ. Or I could just start working my way down through countries to get to NZ now.

What I don't want is to risk getting some kind of scarlet letter stamped on the passport that hurts my chances to return this year. I know that if I go back to the US I will abandon travels and just go back to working. And a college here may be hiring me in early 2015 which would give me 6 months of enjoyable work before I go home(the lethargy with which that developed has brought me to this stage).

[Mondy]

As an aside, if I were to tour around Indonesia for 5 weeks, could I get a visa there to return to the kingdom?