I have a relative staying in Thailand with a treble-entry tourist visa. He is currently on the 30-day extension of his 2nd entry. He will shortly return to the UK for 1 month and then come back to Thailand activating the 3rd entry.

I was told the 3rd entry has to be activated within 3 months of first entering the country - when he activated the 1st entry. Is this true? If yes, can he still use the 3rd entry as he will attempt to activate it over 6 months after the 1st entry was activated.

If he got the visa in the UK then there will be an 'enter before' date stamped on to the visa itself, that is the last day he can activate his 3rd entry, if it has passed already then he can apply for a new tourist visa while in the UK. That is the expiry date of the actual visa itself, has nothing to do with when he first entered, hope that helps.

Edited September 2, 201411 yr by B1ade

The 3rd entry must be done before the enter before date on the visa. That would be 6 months from the date the visa was issued.

If he's back in the UK it might be worth getting a new triple entry visa anyway, especially if he plans to return to Thailand for more than just a couple of months or maybe travel around within Asia a little.

Even if he doesn't plan on staying more than a couple of months or doing much travel when he returns a triple entry visa can be a very handy thing to have if he decides to change his travel plans while out here because you can't get one in Asia.