Denied entry at airport on ED visa - myth or truth ?

[balo]

My friend had a reentry stamp a few days ago on his ED visa, no problems at suvarnabum this time, they didn't even ask if he speak thai.

[bertty]

My friend had a reentry stamp a few days ago on his ED visa, no problems at suvarnabum this time, they didn't even ask if he speak thai.

Or maybe they did, but he just didn't understand the question!

Sent as a light hearted remark, but expected to be deleted by the oh so serious thai visa forum.

[Mark79]

here is my story of what happened at Immigration today, thankfully written from the comfort of my condo in BKK;

I work 10 weeks on, 10 weeks off on a ship and spend all my time off here in Thailand. I am British and have a 1 year ED extension of stay with re-entry permit. I was a bit worried about re-entry today having been away for 10 weeks and reading a few stories online, so I decided to try and enter with just a visa exempt stamp.

I filled out TM card, ticked holiday and left visa section blank.....walked up to desk, officer asks how are you, sabai dee krup lao khun la? I reply, sabai dee ka she says, smiles and looks at my TM card, scans my passport on computer (not sure if it flagged something up), she then flicks through my passport and asks why I don't use my visa? (extension of stay with re-entry permit). I told her I am not going to school and only on holiday......mai phen rai she says, use visa can stay longer! smiles, stamps my passport and writes entry permitted to Feb 2015, she then asks what is my work? to which I reply phom bhen wit sawagon ubon rua (engineer on a ship) don't know if she was just making conversation or questioning me as she had already stamped and wrote permitted until date in my passport. She hands me my passport back and i'm on my way.

I was flying Business so through the fast track...don't know if it is just my imagination but immigration always seem to treat you a bit better.

[madmonk888]

here is my story of what happened at Immigration today, thankfully written from the comfort of my condo in BKK;

I work 10 weeks on, 10 weeks off on a ship and spend all my time off here in Thailand. I am British and have a 1 year ED extension of stay with re-entry permit. I was a bit worried about re-entry today having been away for 10 weeks and reading a few stories online, so I decided to try and enter with just a visa exempt stamp.

I filled out TM card, ticked holiday and left visa section blank.....walked up to desk, officer asks how are you, sabai dee krup lao khun la? I reply, sabai dee ka she says, smiles and looks at my TM card, scans my passport on computer (not sure if it flagged something up), she then flicks through my passport and asks why I don't use my visa? (extension of stay with re-entry permit). I told her I am not going to school and only on holiday......mai phen rai she says, use visa can stay longer! smiles, stamps my passport and writes entry permitted to Feb 2015, she then asks what is my work? to which I reply phom bhen wit sawagon ubon rua (engineer on a ship) don't know if she was just making conversation or questioning me as she had already stamped and wrote permitted until date in my passport. She hands me my passport back and i'm on my way.

I was flying Business so through the fast track...don't know if it is just my imagination but immigration always seem to treat you a bit better.

well that's encouraging, though here's hoping it wasn't "special" treatment as your flew business. Didn't even know

there was a fast track there :-) I'm flying in 2 weeks and I am quite worried but all of this

[nicolas18]

In my personal experience, the officers at the fast track immigration desks are much, much friendlier than the ones at the "standard" desks.

I'm not sure you would have gotten the same welcome over there. I'm not saying you wouldn't have, though, but I have doubts.

[madmonk888]

In my personal experience, the officers at the fast track immigration desks are much, much friendlier than the ones at the "standard" desks.

I'm not sure you would have gotten the same welcome over there. I'm not saying you wouldn't have, though, but I have doubts.

maybe that's the answer then, use the fast track if it seems they are friendlier and maybe more understanding ... be

interesting to see what gets posted in the next few weeks, hopefully it's not as bad as people are thinking

[nickmanchester2]

I got in yesterday with a new passport (old one had been filed up with many, many thai visas including 1 ED) new ED visa

lady didn't say a word to me, just smiled and stamped me in until november - I was just a lowly economy passenger

[madmonk888]

Just heard someone come through at Suvarnabhumi airport today on a new ED visa from Laos with no problems , no questions and no queue. They were previously on a B visa for a couple of years. No overstays, UK passport.

So, anyone else heard what's going on at the airports/ border. True & genuine stories please, not like the one I

heard yesterday about and IO asking for 60k THB in the dentention centre at the airport to let some Russian in....

[EmmaJane29]

I arrived at suvarnabhumi yesterday, after a 10 day holiday in Vietnam, incredibly nervous having read the scaremongering on this forum!

I have been living here on 90 day extensions of an education visa for over 18 months & after reading various posts on thaivisaforum was prepared to be questioned & refused entry if my thai wasn't good enough (I am a genuine student however put me on the spot in front of an immigration officer who has complete control over my fate & I'm pretty sure I would panic & forget everything I've learnt!)

I walked up to the desk nervous as hell & the IO didn't say a single word to me, flicked through my passport as usual, stamped my re-entry permit as used & stamped me into the country. No issues whatsoever, not one single word was exchanged!

It makes me really angry that people have nothing better to do than make up stories on here just to scare people & cause unnecessary panic. My advice to genuine students would be please do not pay any attention to what these scaremongers write. Based on my experience I would say if you have followed the correct procedures (valid reentry permit & extension) there is no reason why you should have any issues when re-entering the country.

[madmonk888]

I arrived at suvarnabhumi yesterday, after a 10 day holiday in Vietnam, incredibly nervous having read the scaremongering on this forum!

I have been living here on 90 day extensions of an education visa for over 18 months & after reading various posts on thaivisaforum was prepared to be questioned & refused entry if my thai wasn't good enough (I am a genuine student however put me on the spot in front of an immigration officer who has complete control over my fate & I'm pretty sure I would panic & forget everything I've learnt!)

I walked up to the desk nervous as hell & the IO didn't say a single word to me, flicked through my passport as usual, stamped my re-entry permit as used & stamped me into the country. No issues whatsoever, not one single word was exchanged!

It makes me really angry that people have nothing better to do than make up stories on here just to scare people & cause unnecessary panic. My advice to genuine students would be please do not pay any attention to what these scaremongers write. Based on my experience I would say if you have followed the correct procedures (valid reentry permit & extension) there is no reason why you should have any issues when re-entering the country.

Thank you for sharing, I'm off for 10 days on the 31st, 2 days after the new rules come in, but it's great to read

actual, relevant experiences . I too would have been nervous approaching Immigration, We need to hear more from people on here with their REAL experiences at the airport.