Out-in visa hoppers now being barred from entry to Thailand

[TheAceFace]

For those of us that work offshore, whether we have Thai families or not, I really hope common sense prevails here and we are not classed as a visa "hopper" or working here in Thailand.

Surely if we have contracts, visas for working outside of Thailand for 4 - 6 weeks at a time and a return ticket to go back to our country of work we should be granted entry on tourist visa for 28 days?????

For those who are commenting of where we stay hotel or our own house, this should not even matter. We are all contributing to the economy one way or another.

[moe666]

Now we will here from all the cry babies who been living in Thailand with these tourist visa. Either get a proper visa or go home.

Any advice for someone under 50 that isn't married with no Thai children, that working outside of Thailand on a 6 week on 6 week off rotation, that wishes to spend his time off in Thailand??? Any suggestions???

Alternate with another country,

Thailand, Philippine, Nepal all have a great climate.

What's so special about Thailand?

I really don't understand the desperation foreigners have to stay in Thailand, it ain't that great a place.

There are dozens of countries that offer the same or more, for a similar price.

Most have found a way to make a living I guess no flocks of Russians or divers in the other countries. I have been to the Philippines and it doesn't hold a candle to Thailand and Nepal your joking right

[stgrhe]

Have I understood this correctly?? Thai embassy abroad are issuing tourist-VISAS like there is no tomorrow and debit money for it as well. And than people are being denied entry to Thailand. I mean, can not the thai embassy see the exact same thing as the immigration-personal at the border to Thailand in respective passport they are stamping??????

Can somebody enlighten me plse...

Glegolo

Well, the Thai embassies and consulates are a complete different entety and answer to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, whereas the Immigration Bureau is part of the Thai police force and thus responsible for border controls and permissions to stay in the country.

Furthermore, a visa has never ever guarantee the holder to enter Thailand, merely it is only a right to travel to Thailand and there, at a check-point, 'negotiate' enterance.

[blorg]

i am so excited about the new numbers of arriving tourists in the second half of this year...i predict a huge drop...

Tourist numbers have already fallen off a cliff with the coup, they are only making things even worse for themselves with this "crackdown". I'm highly sceptical that there is a huge problem with farang working here illegally on tourist visas in the first place, to be honest.

[MJCM]

i am so excited about the new numbers of arriving tourists in the second half of this year...i predict a huge drop...

Tourist numbers have already fallen off a cliff with the coup, they are only making things even worse for themselves with this "crackdown". I'm highly sceptical that there is a huge problem with farang working here illegally on tourist visas in the first place, to be honest.

For the last time, sorry but this crackdown was initiated by the previous government and tourist numbers were already way down before that.

Sent from my iPad so Please excuse any typos

[FritsSikkink]

We can see [from their passport stamps] if a foreigner has stayed in Thailand too long [on tourist visas].

But once again they did not say how long is "too long"...

You know yourself if you are a tourist or not.

[Jonathan Fairfield]

Update

Scores of foreigners refused entry to Thailand at Malaysian border

SONGKHLA:-- More than 100 foreign nationals per month are being refused entry to Thailand despite having valid tourist visas, according to a senior Immigration official at the Sadao border checkpoint.

Read the full story here: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/743066-scores-of-foreigners-refused-entry-to-thailand-at-malaysian-border/

[JDGRUEN]

You will lost.

Most tourists arrive from they country and return after their trip.

They will have zero problem with new rules

and Travel Company will be there to confirm them this "no problem"

Tourists and travel companies respond to rumors and fear .,.. you do realize that this is the Internet age and news travels fast and in complete detail ... we will see what the coming High Season brings... My bet if this crackdown continues with inconsistencies, excessiveness and uncertainties is that the coming High Season will just be a continuation of the current Low Season... Uncertainty breeds fear and people who are planning their one big vacation - holiday will spend it where there is low uncertainty ... Girlfriends and wives very often plan vacation holidays and will not book something with risks that all will be spoiled.

[MJCM]

We can see [from their passport stamps] if a foreigner has stayed in Thailand too long [on tourist visas].

But once again they did not say how long is "too long"...

You know yourself if you are a tourist or not.

But even when you think you are a Tourist but the IO doesn't, who loses ?

Sent from my iPad so Please excuse any typos

[FritsSikkink]

Now we will here from all the cry babies who been living in Thailand with these tourist visa. Either get a proper visa or go home.

If you do not know OR you do not WANT to help, Just dont post.....

FYI I have been living here since 6 years back now on extension of stay as retired,

So excuse me if I am purely interested in stuff like this... Apparently you are NOT

Glegolo

This is not a HELPDESK so anyone can post.

[FritsSikkink]

Now we will here from all the cry babies who been living in Thailand with these tourist visa. Either get a proper visa or go home.

Any advice for someone under 50 that isn't married with no Thai children, that working outside of Thailand on a 6 week on 6 week off rotation, that wishes to spend his time off in Thailand??? Any suggestions???

Setup a business.

[blorg]

For the last time, sorry but this crackdown was initiated by the previous government and tourist numbers were already way down before that.

Em, it was the current junta that made all these announcements about tightening up border runs and restricting subsequent visa-exempt entries. There was no such restriction before the coup.

And tourist numbers have fallen much further off a cliff since the coup, I mean just Google it, or ask any Bangkok bar/restaurant/cafe owner, or just go out and about, the place is empty. Bangkok was the #1 destination in THE WORLD last year... I doubt it is going to hang on to that status.

[MJCM]

For the last time, sorry but this crackdown was initiated by the previous government and tourist numbers were already way down before that.

Em, it was the current junta that made all these announcements about tightening up border runs and restricting subsequent visa-exempt entries. There was no such restriction before the coup.

And tourist numbers have fallen much further off a cliff since the coup, I mean just Google it, or ask any Bangkok bar/restaurant/cafe owner, or just go out and about, the place is empty. Bangkok was the #1 destination in THE WORLD last year... I doubt it is going to hang on to that status.

Just do a search, and you will find a post on TV announced on May 18 about restricting visa, and just to remind you, the take over took place May 22nd.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Thai_coup_d'état

Sent from my iPad so Please excuse any typos

[blorg]

Now we will here from all the cry babies who been living in Thailand with these tourist visa. Either get a proper visa or go home.

Any advice for someone under 50 that isn't married with no Thai children, that working outside of Thailand on a 6 week on 6 week off rotation, that wishes to spend his time off in Thailand??? Any suggestions???

Setup a business.

I'm sorry, that is a completely bloody ridiculous suggestion for someone who is working 6 weeks on somewhere and wants to take their 6 weeks off in Thailand.

You are suggesting that they invest however many million baht in the country, employ four Thai nationals, and instead of chilling on the beach somewhere during their 6 weeks holiday time, actually work? And what about the six weeks they aren't in the country? What do they do then?

The point is there are legitimate tourists who AREN'T working here but for one reason or the other would like to spend a bit longer in the place.

[Yahooka]

For those of us that work offshore, whether we have Thai families or not, I really hope common sense prevails here and we are not classed as a visa "hopper" or working here in Thailand.

Surely if we have contracts, visas for working outside of Thailand for 4 - 6 weeks at a time and a return ticket to go back to our country of work we should be granted entry on tourist visa for 28 days?????

For those who are commenting of where we stay hotel or our own house, this should not even matter. We are all contributing to the economy one way or another.

According to some of the most knowledgeable on TV, offshore workers will most likely not be affected by this.Just be careful not to visit the border countries around Thailand for a few days and then return on a visa excempt.....a friend of mine almost got denied entry doing this last month.

[Yahooka]

Now we will here from all the cry babies who been living in Thailand with these tourist visa. Either get a proper visa or go home.

Any advice for someone under 50 that isn't married with no Thai children, that working outside of Thailand on a 6 week on 6 week off rotation, that wishes to spend his time off in Thailand??? Any suggestions???

Setup a business.

Seriously ??? Starting a business in a country where you never know what kind of visa rules will aply from year to year.

[JDGRUEN]

Now we will here from all the cry babies who been living in Thailand with these tourist visa. Either get a proper visa or go home.

If you do not know OR you do not WANT to help, Just dont post.....

FYI I have been living here since 6 years back now on extension of stay as retired,

So excuse me if I am purely interested in stuff like this... Apparently you are NOT

Glegolo

This is not a HELPDESK so anyone can post.

Yes anyone can post ... but should they - if on a very serious subject all the person can add is wise-assed B.S. Such comments are totally unhelpful and totally off the mark ... Proper Visa... is this guy reading who has been turned away and is this guy reading the bulletins reported from Thai Immigration about who is to be targeted? I doubt it ... TVF is filled with members who are useless jackanapes...

[SoFarAndNear]

Just as an side information. When I came to this country first time about 6-7 years ago. I also lived a good 2 years here with tourist visa. If I couldn't do that before I would have never been here longer then the 2 months which I was planned to stay.

Now after many years I recommended this country to many friends. People who would never traveled so far for a holiday. And at least 15 people which I know came already the 3th or 4th time for holiday just because of visting me. Everyone spent at least 120.000 thb on every trip. One guy is coming every year now spent a good 200k on every trip. Honestly most of them would have never came here if I wouldn't invited them to come

I dont know if someone had similar experiences. But I just can say this country profited a lot because of a farang which was able to STAY longer with his tourist visa.

[brewsterbudgen]

For the last time, sorry but this crackdown was initiated by the previous government and tourist numbers were already way down before that.

Em, it was the current junta that made all these announcements about tightening up border runs and restricting subsequent visa-exempt entries. There was no such restriction before the coup.

And tourist numbers have fallen much further off a cliff since the coup, I mean just Google it, or ask any Bangkok bar/restaurant/cafe owner, or just go out and about, the place is empty. Bangkok was the #1 destination in THE WORLD last year... I doubt it is going to hang on to that status.

Just do a search, and you will find a post on TV announced on May 18 about restricting visa, and just to remind you, the take over took place May 22nd.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Thai_coup_d'état

Sent from my iPad so Please excuse any typos

Yes; this crackdown is not coup related.

[jpinx]

Now we will here from all the cry babies who been living in Thailand with these tourist visa. Either get a proper visa or go home.

Any advice for someone under 50 that isn't married with no Thai children, that working outside of Thailand on a 6 week on 6 week off rotation, that wishes to spend his time off in Thailand??? Any suggestions???

Setup a business.

Seriously ??? Starting a business in a country where you never know what kind of visa rules will aply from year to year.

Starting a business is probably no greater an investment than buying property -- which you may or may not own in reality,,,,

Follow the old rule -- don't invest more than you can afford to walk away from......

[mataleo]

Is it ED visa still ok?

[thaibreaker]

I would wager that embassy and consulates are processing higher a than average number of lost passport requests in light of the visa crackdown... A clean passport gives you a clean start at the borders...

No,a new passport will NOT give you a clean start at the borders Thai immigration entered the digital world a decade ago.

You are right, AND wrong.

According to my country`s embassy today, I approached them with that "what if"-question.

They answered that they recently have had many examples that getting new passports are giving them clean sheets.

In their opinion, they do NOT have a working and good system in their data bases, so getting a new passport could be sufficient.

According to them.

They also said that they are not even fully coordinated with each other, the immigration offices, so the system is definitely not good enough and up to 2014 date.

The manually looking at one and each passport, is still the most important "tool" they have.

Some people also do a small change of names in their home country, to get a clean, new passport too. Seems a little desperate though.

Edited July 15, 2014 by thaibreaker

[thaibreaker]

Is it ED visa still ok?

Yes, and it will probably be the most common visa the next few months.

I guess many people who want to stay legally in Thailand, will use that option now. Overstayers, who want to become legal, visa runners and people with too many back to back TVs.

[Yahooka]

I would wager that embassy and consulates are processing higher a than average number of lost passport requests in light of the visa crackdown... A clean passport gives you a clean start at the borders...

No,a new passport will NOT give you a clean start at the borders Thai immigration entered the digital world a decade ago.

You are right, AND wrong.

According to my country`s embassy today, I approached them with that "what if"-question.

They answered that they recently have had many examples that getting new passports are giving them clean sheets.

In their opinion, they do NOT have a working and good system in their data bases, so getting a new passport should be sufficient.

According to them.

They also said that they are not even fully coordinated with each other, the immigration offices, so the system is definitely not good enough and up to 2014 date.

The manually looking at one and each passport, is still the most important "tool" they have.

That`s right.Not all the immigration checkpoints are up to date and not all entries to Thailand are being punched in to the system at some border points.

[mataleo]

But they put pasport through scaner don t they

[Suradit69]

Have I understood this correctly?? Thai embassy abroad are issuing tourist-VISAS like there is no tomorrow and debit money for it as well. And than people are being denied entry to Thailand. I mean, can not the thai embassy see the exact same thing as the immigration-personal at the border to Thailand in respective passport they are stamping??????

Can somebody enlighten me plse...

Glegolo

30 euro, 30 euro , 30 euro, 30 euro....millions of them....

Than, good luck with that...

They milk farangs money without letting farangs touching Thai soil.

And of course these people who keep applying for back-to-back tourist visas and while staying in the country for months, if not years on end, are totally clueless that what they are doing has been under increased scrutiny and that they are in fact not tourists.

"They milk farangs money without letting farangs touching Thai soil"

You can go into a shop and buy shampoo even if you're bald. Is it the fault of the shopkeeper if you haven't figured out you won't have a use for the shampoo? Nanny state mentality as always.

Looking at one visa application form just where you need to sign it, it states :

Attention for Tourist and Transit Visa Applicants :

I hereby declare that the purpose of my visit to Thailand is for pleasure or transit

only and that in no case shall I engage myself in any profession or occupation

while in the country.

Seems like they are providing you with a suitable warning and that by signing that you are certifying that you are not taking up long-term residence

Edited July 15, 2014 by Suradit69

[ILOOKFORWORK]

i am so excited about the new numbers of arriving tourists in the second half of this year...i predict a huge drop...

Tourist numbers have already fallen off a cliff with the coup, they are only making things even worse for themselves with this "crackdown". I'm highly sceptical that there is a huge problem with farang working here illegally on tourist visas in the first place, to be honest.

For the last time, sorry but this crackdown was initiated by the previous government and tourist numbers were already way down before that.

Sent from my iPad so Please excuse any typos

It was not initiated directly by the previous caretaker government.

[BlueEasySleep]

Attention for Tourist and Transit Visa Applicants :

I hereby declare that the purpose of my visit to Thailand is for pleasure or transit

only and that in no case shall I engage myself in any profession or occupation

while in the country.

Seems like they are providing you with a suitable warning and that by signing that you are certifying that you are not taking up long-term residence

No, you're certifying that you can't get a job with a tourist visa.

It doesn't say anything about long term residence.

[blorg]

Congratulations to the junta for trying to take out the trash.

Troll

Why…for an expressing an opinion that u obviously don't agree with?

For expressing a ridiculous opinion. Everyone visiting here frequently (say who wants to spend half the year here) who is under 50 and doesn't qualify for an existing long-term visa category is "trash", now? I'm not wedded particularly to Thailand myself, it's just probably the overall nicest/easiest country in the region and a good base for exploring all the rest of it, and certainly where I want to go for medical treatment, and it looks like that is going to get more problematic going forward.

I honestly would be greatly amused if the junta decided tomorrow to jack the retirement visa up to 65 and quadruple or quintuple the income requirement, given some of the attitudes on here. It's too low as it is, get some of those cheap retirees out of here I say, Thailand should be looking at attracting only well heeled ones. Or abolish it entirely, why should over-50s think they have a right to stay in this country exactly more than younger people? I can understand supporting visas for people actually connected to the country, if they have a Thai spouse or Thai children, but surely other Thaivisa members would support getting rid of all the old single retiree sexpats?

And any of them who has property here under a slightly dodgy arrangement, how I would guffaw when they lose their lifes savings.

It is a complete and utter lack of empathy with other people, honestly not to overdo it here but there is a bit of a "they came for X, and I..." Martin Niemöller style here. I'm amazed how many people on here are jumping on board with a military government that has usurped democracy in this country. You're not even bloody Thai people, where do you get off with this stuff? It could be you next, I hope they start making you feckers report every 30 days rather than 90.

I honestly severely doubt that there is a major problem with "trash" on visa-exempt stamps and frequent tourist visas. What evidence do you have of it exactly?

[ILOOKFORWORK]

Is it ED visa still ok?

Non-Immigrant Visas are apparently still okay, but I believe they may change something in terms of the ED-Visas (or perhaps other Non-Imm visas) that are being used for extended stays - especially if they decide there is a problem with people working without permits. The system should have been organized a long time ago, but as many know nothing is stable in Thailand. Just keep yourself within the law and you'll likely have few problems.