No more Thai visa runs: Immigration will not let visa runners return after Aug 12

[96tehtarp]

Wonder what will happen to all those foreigners that are married, have children, but don't have enough money to get a Non-Imm visa based on marriage.

Will Immigration start splitting up families?

No I don't think so.

A one year NON-IMM Multiple entry visa costs only 5000 baht and is valid for a year. A man who is married and or with children should be able to scratch that together. When in a real financial jam the married foreigner can always get a 60 day extension for the low price of 1900 baht.

What's clear is married people are no longer going to be able to live here using back to back visa exempt/tourist visa extensions.

If you have a NON-IMM Multi you're still could be doing back-to-back visits to stay here long term. That sounds a lot like I/O.

It is in-out. But those doing it on Non immigrant visas are not affected by the new rules.

The crackdown mentioned in the OP applies only to exempt entries and back to back tourist visas.

[kerrysum]

Looks like a lot of foreigners are either leaving or will have to get married, have a child or get a retirement visa.

I agree, maybe it needs to be done... That is why I made a decision not to move back, Thailand has maybe brought in many bad influences to their Country.... But also in such fairness, they need to get their,(you know what together), in my opinion. Money for nothing, life for free.... I watched 8 years ago, as some were dumping their homes, guess that is when it was going bust. Never build your house on a base of sand, somehow it still rings true to me.... Just my thoughts. to the old time expats, they never knew what they had...

Have a great day! You are a great foundation, hopefully they will listen someday....

Kilosierra

[Bigfarang1948]

When I first came here and negotiated the visa rules, while married to a Thai. I never had enough money in the bank for either a marriage visa or a retirement visa, so I did what many other foreigners did and that was ro pay a firm to buy the necessary visa for a year, at a cost of about 40,000 baht. After asking around I was able to find someone who could do the same thing for 17,000 baht while I sat in the comfort of my home, I have done this for 6 years now wwith peace of mind but this is my last hurrah, I am going back home before my next visa ransome note is due. It has been a great experience and I hope these well intended foreighners have good luck obtaining a visa I am truly going to miss the LOS

Looks like a lot of foreigners are either leaving or will have to get married, have a child or get a retirement visa.

[Oziex1]

What I find unbelievable is their statement that stopping the visa run people will reduce crime! Personally, I doubt very much that any of the visa run people are criminals.

Perhaps working illegally is a crime and some folk from a very large cold country may be unwelcome.

[PREM-R]

It is interesting to read the official document from the immigration department regarding visa free entries to Thailand:

Order of RTP No. 778/2551,

dated November 25, 2008

Any holder of a passport or a substitute passport whose nationality falls

under the category for which the Minister permits a temporary stay for tourism purposes, by consent of the Cabinet, shall, according to Clause 13 (3) of the Ministerial Regulation Stipulating the Criteria,

Procedures, and Conditions for Verification, Exemption, and Change of Visas B.E. 2545 (A.D.

2002), dated August 16, 2002, be granted multiple entries. The permitted period of temporary

stay for each entry shall not exceed thirty days from the date of entry into the Kingdom.

However, an exception is made in the case of

traveling into the Kingdom through immigration

checkpoints at borders with neighboring countries, whereby the permitted period of temporary

stay in the Kingdom for each entry shall not exceed fifteen days from the date of entry into the

Kingdom.

So it would appear that all those who say that "visa runners" have been abusing the system are in fact incorrect and the rule allows multiple entries into Thailand. It may be true that some people used theses entries while working, which is illegal, but people who stayed for long periods, not exceeding 30 days at a time, for reasons other than employment, were not breaking the rules.

[AYJAYDEE]

When I first came here and negotiated the visa rules, while married to a Thai. I never had enough money in the bank for either a marriage visa or a retirement visa, so I did what many other foreigners did and that was ro pay a firm to buy the necessary visa for a year, at a cost of about 40,000 baht. After asking around I was able to find someone who could do the same thing for 17,000 baht while I sat in the comfort of my home, I have done this for 6 years now wwith peace of mind but this is my last hurrah, I am going back home before my next visa ransome note is due. It has been a great experience and I hope these well intended foreighners have good luck obtaining a visa I am truly going to miss the LOS

Looks like a lot of foreigners are either leaving or will have to get married, have a child or get a retirement visa.

if u could afford 40,000 for a visa, why not spend it on a ticket home once a year and get new non-o multiple entries ?

[ilocos]

Wonder what will happen to all those foreigners that are married, have children, but don't have enough money to get a Non-Imm visa based on marriage.

Will Immigration start splitting up families?

u

I hope so.

These guys should have thought about the correct visa before getting married and having kids.

A little forward planning/saving may have helped them here.

lack of a visa being an incredibly heinous crime rightly denies a father to be with his son under UN charter. I think not.

[Carrerakiss]

I'm on double entry tourist visa spending a week in Vietnam and arriving back to Thailand on 14th for second half of my visa.

Wonder how this will go. I don't have any back to back visas in my passport, and I don't have any visa exemptions. I do have multiple double entry tourist visas over many years. Visa was acquired from home country, not a border country in Asia.

you'll be fine. youre not doing an Out/In

How do you define Out/In though? I'll be in Vietnam for 7 days. Is Out/In about people who cross back the same day? 1 day? 3 days? 1 week?

I wish the immigration rules were clearer.

I'd say the rules are deliberately not clear. Give a specific time frame and the sly farang will think up a way to abuse it. Give a qualitative hurdle, such as, for the purpose of extending a stay in Thailand indefinitely, and the the immigration official can make his/her own decision about whether you are a tourist criss crossing SE Asia, or a person living in Thailand based on tourist visas.

I don't think its hard to tell the difference once a few simple questions are asked.

[LivinginKata]

a number of off topic posts removed.

[Evilbaz]

After 12 pages and 287 posts can I humbly suggest a little clarity in abbreviations?

In the context of this Thread (and the several other related ones) can we:-

1. Use O/I for those back to back exit/entries from/to Thailand

(not I/O which can be used for entries/exits from those based in Laos, Kampuchea etc andwho are not affected by this new ruling)

2. Use "Immi" instead of IO which might be confused with I/O used incorrectly

3. Recognize that there is a Retirement Visa designated "OA" issued by a Thai Embassy/Consulate (outside of Thailand of course) which one can use to travel and present at a Thai border post for entry to the Kingdom resulting (if successful) in a one year "Permission to stay" stamp, without further need to leave the Kingdom within that stamp's validity.

To state "There is no Retirement Visa" is nonsense.

This "Permission to stay" can be extended for a further one year by exiting the Kingdom (with a re-entry permit) just prior to the expiry of the first stamp.

The next year a "Permission to Stay Retirement Extension" for a further year can be obtained at your local Immi office (no need to return "home".)

Rinse and repeat.

4. Clarify that all Visas only allow you to present yourself at a border point to acquire permission to stay in the Kingdom (at Immi's discretion).

This stamp allows you to stay, not your Visa.

Edited July 15, 2014 by Evilbaz

[zakk9]

Problem I see here isnt the new rules so much as the D**K heads that you sometimes can be unfortunate enough to meet at immigration interpreting whatever they want depending on if they got into an argument with the missus before they went to work.

i know far too many people who have run afoul of those from time to time. plenty of people coming in and out of LOS regular to do business apart from anything else, done a few turn around meetings over a border myself then back the same day or next for legit reasons in the past on the way out of Thailand a few days later by plane.

Sometimes tourists cross borders for the day for a look see like mai sai or over the friendship bridge just to come back later and carry on touring about Thailand, they wont be welcome either then. Heck I was in and out of Thailand for a good few months while deciding whether to stick around or not without wasting money on a multiple. Or when a visa has run its course and I dont want another before popping off someplace else ill extend on a tourist for a few weeks if out of town and near a border. This wont make things better for a lot that are just going about their lives and not really trying to stiff the system at all

There is nothing to say how immigration will interpret hub skippers to malaysia or cambodia ankor wat 2 day trippers then back or Vientiene trippers. Or for that matter anyone who trips out to singapore for a days meeting and back or anyhwere else for short meetings ... stamps can build up. There are plenty I know who pop in every few months or even weeks both to do business or for pleasure, these all use the entry visa. If they are in and out in 2 weeks or less then come back the same day are they in the net too ?

Asian nationals are the very worst for this btw.

Thats the problem with making yourself the hub of Asia and you dont have a decent rules defined with well run immigration that all work off the same page.

Its all ok until it isnt and then your screwed. Idiots here need to understand there is more to using tourist visas than trying to stay forever here. Just wait until ASEAN and all the people in and out for family visits and stuff .. its going to be a real mess.

IMO there will be a LOT of mistakes

Many good points here. There are several categories of people who have work in other countries and long periods off every or every second month (offshore industries etc.). Those without a Thai wife and under 50 will probably get problems now if they want to spend their days off in Thailand, and these are people who often spend a lot of money. A lot of those jobs are even in places far away from any Thai embassy/consulate, making it complicated to get a visa in the first place.

Edited July 15, 2014 by zakk9

[connda]

By exploiting 60-day tourist visas and 30-day visa exemptions, many foreigners can work illegally in language schools, or restaurants and other businesses. It is easier for some to get jobs this way, as some employers do not want to go through the complicated process of seeking work permits and like to avoid the expense if they can.

Actually, I'm glad the authorities are plugging that hole. Individuals who come here to work should be be offered a clear, legal path to obtaining a job, i.e., visa and work permit. Employers do not care about work permits because the consequences, if they are caught employing without one, are minimal for the employer and potentially devastating for the foreign employee. Personally I'd like to see them crack down on the schools until their is little choice between employing legally or staying in business. (but then there is that tea money issue???) Well, one step at a time.

Edited July 15, 2014 by connda

[Tomtomtom69]

Getting married and having a beautiful son is the best thing i ever did here, no more border runs and sweating on being let back in.

Back on topic i can see laos and Cambodia to start to become crowded as a lot of falang will find after being refused entry back here very hard to return to there own countries.

I'd suggest that Laos isn't all that easy to stay in long-term (communist countries rarely are) and that Cambodia may well change the visa rules next year when the ASEAN community regulations come into effect. It is rumored that Cambodia will insist that you have at least one 1-year visa in your passport that has expired prior to the date of change in order for you to be able to continue renewing your visa here... so that may rule out those fleeing LoS this late in the day. Note, this is pure speculation at the moment but it's coming from connected folks who have a seat at the decision making table - so it's not impossible either.

I do hope that never happens and in Cambodia's case it would be much too soon as they haven't reached the level of development that it's neighbors have. They need the revenue from those 1-year business visas and would be stupid to change the rules. They could increase the cost to US$400-500 (from the current US$280-293) per year for all I care as long as they continue to offer them.

BTW I have not heard of anything in the AEC (BTW please refer to it as AEC as ASEAN has been around since 1967) regulations that specify that visa regulations will be unified amongst member states. With 10 very diverse countries, different visa rules (except for nationals of the 10-member BLOC) and different priorities and levels of development, Singapore can hardly be expected to have the same visa requirements as say Cambodia. If you do have some article proving me wrong, please post it here.

Similarly, I have not heard anything that it will become easier to drive a car registered in one ASEAN country to another, like in say Europe. My belief is the rules will continue to be the same as now - Thai cars can go to Laos, Malaysia and Singapore and maybe Cambodia will offer a proper system with insurance at the border but for Vietnam and Myanmar a tour will probably still be required. Hardly very brotherly, as AEC claims to be and a far cry from Europe where you can just drive across the border without all this nonsense you find here.

As for Laos, visa runs are tolerated there but doing a visa run every 30 days, even if you are living on the Thai border (most major Lao cities including the capital Vientiane are located on the Thai border) would become a bit of a pain after a while, but tolerated it certainly is. I agree that staying there long term is not that easy but if you have the right connections you may be able to get something done under the table. Unlike in Thailand, where there is only one way of getting a visa and extending it the official way (although some Thai expats claim to have connections with "easy" officials who are corrupt and able to extend their visas in an illegal fashion, I suspect that in Laos that may be much more the rule rather than the exception to do things the unofficial way lest one does not mind dealing with a mountain of bureaucracy and paperwork).

Vietnam is actually surprisingly easy to stay a while in, despite also being a communist country, so I wouldn't say what you stated can really be applied to communist countries as a whole. Each country has different levels of development and priorities.

Vietnam still offers a 6-month multiple entry visa, applied for through a travel agency and stamped on arrival or at some consulates/embassies if you ask. Yes, they are quite expensive but worth getting if you need one. For everyone else, 3 month multiple entry visas can be obtained very easily at any Vietnamese embassy/consulate with no supporting documents required for most nationalities. They can then be extended in-country at least twice. So that means, 9 months of living inside Vietnam without the need for a border run. After doing one visa run, a new visa can be obtained and the cycle continues. It does not seem to be a problem to reside long term in Vietnam this way. A few years ago 6 and 12 month multi entry visas were routinely offered but not anymore. I think this is one small way Vietnam has cracked down, but they are still a long way from all the complicated requirements of Thailand.

Not I have mentioned ways of staying in these 3 countries without going down the official work visa/work permit rule. For Cambodia, I believe it simply means attaching a work permit to the 1-year business visa that anyone with the right amount of cash is eligible for. For Vietnam it's a lot more bureaucratic but if you have a resume and a degree, it should be doable.

China is a bit more difficult to stay long term, but they do offer 1-year multiple entry tourist visas depending on your nationality and are becoming friendlier towards foreigners that have married Chinese. Unlike Thailand, they generally require everyone to obtain a visa even for short stays in the country with a couple of exceptions. However, over time I suspect they are going to be more like western countries in attracting top talent and those married to locals to stay in the country while scrutinizing tourists to make sure they can afford their vacations. Interestingly though, if you want to work in China, getting the paperwork together for a work visa, although difficult for employers that have never employed a foreigner before doesn't seem as challenging as in Thailand - getting an extension does not require showing how much you've been paid and all this other nonsense like in Thailand - merely that you are still employed and the company still exists seems to be good enough. I had a work visa and work permit for China and don't even spend that much time there - my job was more part time than full time so if I were employed in Thailand under those terms, my extension of stay would not have been renewed due to not getting paid every month. In China's case it is OK though - no proof of employers paying you or anything required.

So in a sense it seems that communist countries may not be that bad after all if you want to stay long term. Thailand actually sounds harder based on my own experiences, believe it or not.

Thailand on the other hand, just seems to want short term holidaymakers and is not really interested in long term expats, though it does offer some pathways for them to stay and certainly rewards foreigners married to Thais with easier access to work permits and even citizenship without requiring permanent residency first. Problem is the latter still takes an awful long time to get.

Edited July 15, 2014 by Tomtomtom69

[mikosan]

can someone assure me that I can use my triple entry visa that was issued in Britain on 5th may!, I am about to do my 1st ever visa run on a clean passport (.i.e. no border stamps) . Have never done a visa run in the past?.

you'll be welcome with open arms and legs. No worries for you mate.

No one can assure you of anything at the moment, but I'd say it's a fair bet you'll be fine. It seems, from what I've been reading, that those who are abusing the system and have passports full of 28 day stamps are the ones they're gunning for. Good, they're abusing the system, make it difficult for them, even if, according to an earlier post, they're actually legal. Well were!

Edited July 15, 2014 by mikosan

[PREM-R]

The OP states "Meanwhile, the Immigration Bureau website says: "Leniency will be granted until August 12, but only for passengers arriving by air. Foreigners who come to Thailand must seek a proper visa in line with the purpose of their intended stay here.""

I have had a look at http://www.immigration.go.th/ and cannot find any mention of this, the latest news item being uploaded in June. I can find no reference to any change in the visa rules for Thailand, if someone can find a link to the OP statement, on the immigration website please post it on TV.

[davidmann]

Will this affect Lao freelancers ,who work in Pattaya and do 30 day visa runs at Vientienne. A work permit for hookers r us lol

and the ones that just come across by boat ,i live on the mekong ,people come across all day ,some to work ,some just to seek medical treatment ,

[dao16]

I'm on double entry tourist visa spending a week in Vietnam and arriving back to Thailand on 14th for second half of my visa.

Wonder how this will go. I don't have any back to back visas in my passport, and I don't have any visa exemptions. I do have multiple double entry tourist visas over many years. Visa was acquired from home country, not a border country in Asia.

you'll be fine. youre not doing an Out/In

Nobody knows including the guy at immigration.

Good luck with that.

My answer:

care to show ONE example where a double entry tourist visa has been refused after a 7 day trip out?

are you claiming that someone was refused entry in narathiwat when trying to enter on the second entry of a double entry tourist visa after being absent from thailand for a number of days? I have seen no such post!

There was another thread about 8 people who were refused entry at that checkpoint and told to go back to KL and fly to BKK.

[phirho]

Have you ever noticed the thousands of Russian "ladies of the night" plying theit trade in Pattaya, Phuket and up and up and down Sukhumvit? They are criminals in the eyes of Thai law. If they are stopped from entering Thailand, they have achieved their goal.

I highly doubt that thousands of women from Russia (a country with 3x higher average salary and 3x GDP per capita plus one of the lowest unemployment rates in the world) are coming to Thailand to work as street prostitutes.

[sz1a]

Maybe I'll migrate to Shanghai, I always had a feeling I'd end up there. On ED in Thailand studying Thai but I have a feeling our days are numbered too.

[Pattaya46]

To state "There is no Retirement Visa" is nonsense.

You can use an O-A visa when you live and work abroad

but decide to take a long (6 month-1 year) break/holidays in Thailand.

0-A is "Long Stay" and not reserved to Retired people.

[AYJAYDEE]

here was another thread about 8 people who were refused entry at that checkpoint and told to go back to KL and fly to BKK.

and there was no indication that they were on 2nd entries of existing visas.

[JLCrab]

It is interesting to read the official document from the immigration department regarding visa free entries to Thailand:

Order of RTP No. 778/2551,

dated November 25, 2008

Any holder of a passport or a substitute passport whose nationality falls

under the category for which the Minister permits a temporary stay for tourism purposes, by consent of the Cabinet, shall, according to Clause 13 (3) of the Ministerial Regulation Stipulating the Criteria,

Procedures, and Conditions for Verification, Exemption, and Change of Visas B.E. 2545 (A.D.

2002), dated August 16, 2002, be granted multiple entries. The permitted period of temporary

stay for each entry shall not exceed thirty days from the date of entry into the Kingdom.

However, an exception is made in the case of

traveling into the Kingdom through immigration

checkpoints at borders with neighboring countries, whereby the permitted period of temporary

stay in the Kingdom for each entry shall not exceed fifteen days from the date of entry into the

Kingdom.

So it would appear that all those who say that "visa runners" have been abusing the system are in fact incorrect and the rule allows multiple entries into Thailand. It may be true that some people used theses entries while working, which is illegal, but people who stayed for long periods, not exceeding 30 days at a time, for reasons other than employment, were not breaking the rules.

Just to be argumentative multiple does not necessarily mean unlimited and can also equal two.

[catweazle]

As much as I appreciate law and order, these measures are applied too hastily without providing legal options in the now all apparent aimless activism and nationalist stance against anything and everyone non-Thai.

I fear that this one will be remembered in history as the most effective and final nail in Thailand's coffin as a retirement haven for foreigners.

Thais obviously are unfit to see the larger picture and understand the negative impact this will have. Instead of creating a solid legal foundation for foreigners to live and work here without all the obstacles for employees, such as so and so many Thais HAVE to be employed per foreign worker, etc. they simply kick and scream now like a 3 year old child whose favorite toy is broken, and push not only the small percentage of freeloaders but the money spending early retirees and selfmade men away, who manage to live here on less than the required funds to obtain a retirement visa, most of them having rented houses from Thai people for long term, leased or even bought condos...

Isn't it all typical Thai? First take their money, make promises or (mostly used and more effective) tell everyone "No plomplem, mitteeeur!" - to then later #$$ck them big time and send them home penniless.

While I often was one of those trying to stop Thailand bashing in forums in the past, I - by now - am not willing to do this any longer. The true colors of nationalism and racism are shining through right now to an extend that makes me wanna puke.

The tsunami of a sure to follow collapsing condo market will pull many Thai project owners into the abbyss. Several other markets targeting foreign investors and/or foreign expats will follow. This - if not reversed in time providing legal alternatives - will result in a financial and economic desaster for Thailand beyond imagination.

Then, when the money is gone, crime rates, burglaries, etc. will skyrocket. In the end, Thais will blame the foreigners for their self-inflicted misery and the non-Thais who remain (due to sufficient funds and legal visas) will be the target of their hatred. So far for "this will also reduce crime"...

Honestly, I am looking for better alternatives now and might start to sell assets.

This is a f#$!ng mess! Respectively it will be...

If there are any influential Thai poeple with brains reading this, you should please wake up and get into gear to stop this madness and request the government / junta to provide legal alternatives instead of blindly taking swings on foreigners NOW!!!!

Edited July 15, 2014 by catweazle

[thaimat]

Looks like a lot of foreigners are either leaving or will have to get married, have a child or get a retirement visa.

condos will be selling for peanuts soon

Given the huge glut of them, at least in Pattaya/Jomtien, am so surprised not already a massive fire sale

[thairay]

i just see it as the game being over.All followed the old rules with different tactics and stayed here.Now you have to make the change and keep up with the times, if you want to stay here you just follow the new rules as the sheriff means business.When they change again you do the same..end of problem.too much for anyone, the door remains where it was, me included

[AYJAYDEE]

As much as I appreciate law and order, these measures are applied too hastily without providing legal options in the now all apparent aimless activism and nationalist stance against anything and everyone non-Thai.

I fear that this one will be remembered in history as the most effective and final nail in Thailand's coffin as a retirement haven for foreigners.

Thais obviously are unfit to see the larger picture and understand the negative impact this will have. Instead of creating a solid legal foundation for foreigners to live and work here without all the obstacles for employees, such as so and so many Thais HAVE to be employed per foreign worker, etc. they simply kick and scream now like a 3 year old child whose favorite toy is broken, and push not only the small percentage of freeloaders but the money spending early retirees and selfmade men away, who manage to live here on less than the required funds to obtain a retirement visa, most of them having rented houses from Thai people for long term, leased or even bought condos...

Isn't it all typical Thai? First take their money, make promises or (mostly used and more effective) tell everyone "No plomplem, mitteeeur!" - to then later #$$ them big time and send them home penniless.

While I often was one of those trying to stop Thailand bashing in forums in the past, I - by now - am not willing to do this any longer. The true colors of nationalism and racism are shining through right now to an extend that makes me wanna puke.

The tsunami of a sure to follow collapsing condo market will pull many Thai project owners into the abbyss. Several other markets targeting foreign investors and/or foreign expats will follow. This - if not reversed in time providing legal alternatives - will result in a financial and economic desaster for Thailand beyond imagination.

Then, when the money is gone, crime rates, burglaries, etc. will skyrocket. In the end, Thais will blame the foreigners for their self-inflicted misery and the ones who remain due to sufficient funds and legal visas, will be the target of their hatred. So far for "this will also reduce crime"...

Honestly, I am looking for better alternatives now and might start to sell assets.

This is a f#$!ng mess! Respectively it will be...

If there are any influential Thai poeple with brains reading this, you should please wake up and get into gear to stop this madness and request the government / junta to provide legal alternatives instead of blindly taking swings on foreigners NOW!!!!

at 65,000 baht per month, I still consider it a retirement haven.

[MartinBKK]

i have no problems with not allowing back to back tourist visas and VOA's if that's what they choose to do but my issue is with people being denied at borders. This is what creates the unecessary confusion. The decision on whether someone is a visa runner should be made by the embassy when they apply for a visa and not at a border.

I have just got back from London with a new triple entry tourist visa (GBP 75). I have a passport full of tourist visas/VOAs and non-immigrant visas. I have purchased future tickets from Thailand etc based on my being able to stay during the time printed on my visa and also made various plans for trips with friends in Thailand. Now i am in a situation where i don't know if i will be able to return for my second or third entry. If they had denied my visa application at the embassy then i would simply not have travelled to Thailand in the first place.

[PREM-R]

It is interesting to read the official document from the immigration department regarding visa free entries to Thailand:

Order of RTP No. 778/2551,

dated November 25, 2008

Any holder of a passport or a substitute passport whose nationality falls

under the category for which the Minister permits a temporary stay for tourism purposes, by consent of the Cabinet, shall, according to Clause 13 (3) of the Ministerial Regulation Stipulating the Criteria,

Procedures, and Conditions for Verification, Exemption, and Change of Visas B.E. 2545 (A.D.

2002), dated August 16, 2002, be granted multiple entries. The permitted period of temporary

stay for each entry shall not exceed thirty days from the date of entry into the Kingdom.

However, an exception is made in the case of

traveling into the Kingdom through immigration

checkpoints at borders with neighboring countries, whereby the permitted period of temporary

stay in the Kingdom for each entry shall not exceed fifteen days from the date of entry into the

Kingdom.

So it would appear that all those who say that "visa runners" have been abusing the system are in fact incorrect and the rule allows multiple entries into Thailand. It may be true that some people used theses entries while working, which is illegal, but people who stayed for long periods, not exceeding 30 days at a time, for reasons other than employment, were not breaking the rules.

Just to be argumentative multiple does not necessarily mean unlimited and can also equal two.

"Just to be argumentative multiple does not necessarily mean unlimited and can also equal two."

Or twenty or two hundred... maybe that is the problem, there is no definitive answers coming from immigration as to what is allowed and for how long.

[ilocos]

here was another thread about 8 people who were refused entry at that checkpoint and told to go back to KL and fly to BKK.

and there was no indication that they were on 2nd entries of existing visas.

for those trying to work out rules. The golden rule is allowing someone into any country is discretionary. We are seeing the beginnings of severe turbulence. But this will not affect people who come to Thailand for a two month holiday every year. Time to stop being so complacent to think you can rely on rules. If you're trying to work out the application of rules you've been here to long and not welcome is my guess. That's why I have chosen other ASEAN counties that allow residence on tourist visas.

[thaimat]

Gawd forbid foreigners should be allowed to stay and spend more money, because the stamp on the passport is much more important than Thai businesses making money to support their families. "Right or wrong, the law is the law and it must be obeyed to the letter."...Victor Hugo