How does one stay for six months in Thailand as a Tourist ?

[MrMuddle]

A friend has asked me to find out for her, how she can stay in Thailand for six months as a tourist. She is originally a Thai national, but her Thai passport has expired, and she intends traveling here on her British passport. She will be accompanied by her adult son, who is British born, and is also traveling on a British passport. Will they need to get a visa before they come, and if so, what kind ? Will she need to leave the country after 90 days ?

I would appreciate it if replies could be in easy to understand English, as I am going to pass the information on to her by email, and English is not her first language.

Thank you for your help in this matter.

[Crossy]

Leaving aside that they are both Thai for a moment, to stay 6 months on a UK passport they will need at least 2 entry Tourist visas.

Each entry nets 60 days which can be extended at immigration by a further 30 for 1,900 Baht. At the end of that 90 days a border run will activate the second entry which can also be extended by 30 days, total just under 180 days (due to the entry day being counted as day 1 and the day the border run occurs is counted twice).

Since the lady has an expired Thai passport she can enter on that, if she's still registered on a house book and has a valid ID she can renew her passport here in a few days.

If there is time, her son could get his Thai passport from the embassy in London, others will have to post the mechanism (I believe the only requirement is that one parent is Thai).

I believe the mother can now renew her Thai passport in London too (can someone confirm please).

[ubonjoe]

She is still a Thai national. She can travel to and enter on her expired passport. She can then get a new passport while here if she has an ID card and house book registry.

Her son is also Thai by birth. With proof of his mothers Thai nationality and his birth certificate he could get a a single entry non-o visa then apply for a one year extension as a returning Thai national. He could also enter on a visa exempt entry and then apply for the one year extension but he might need a ticket out within 30 days to board his flight.

[MrMuddle]

Can you please specify what exactly is a 2 entry Tourist Visa ? Can it be obtained from the Consulate in Hull ?

Can my friend and her son use this visa to get Thai passports while they are here, for possible future use ?

I believe part of the problem with getting a Thai passport from the embassy in London is that they do not ever answer the telephone, at least that was my wife's experience, when we lived in the UK. It is also too far for my friend to travel, in the UK, from where she lives.

[ubonjoe]

They could get their Thai passports at the embassy it can take as much a 2 months to get them after applying. See: http://www.thaiembassyuk.org.uk/?q=node/6

Their visas or the type of entry does not effect being able to apply for Thai passports here.

The both will need to have Thai ID cards and a house book registry to apply for the passports.

As I said they both can get one year extensions of stay at immigration with any type of entry. That would be better than getting a 2 entry tourist visa because their would be no need for a border run to use the 2nd entry and then a 30 day extension of it.

The could get a a single entry tourist visa and then apply for the one year extension. Visas can be obtained at the embassy in person or by post or at any of the consulates in person only.

[MrMuddle]

They are planning to travel in a month or so, I believe, so they wouldn't be able to get Thai passports that quickly.

Have they changed the visa system? I seem to recall getting a non immigrant O visa from Hull by post, but it was a long time ago.

If they arrive on tourist visas, and then obtain Thai passports here, will they still need to leave the country after 90 days ?

I assume my friend will need to bring a copy of her son's Birth certificate from the UK, in order to prove his mother is Thai, is that correct ? ( He was born before she got her British citizenship).

[ubonjoe]

They are planning to travel in a month or so, I believe, so they wouldn't be able to get Thai passports that quickly.

Have they changed the visa system? I seem to recall getting a non immigrant O visa from Hull by post, but it was a long time ago.

If they arrive on tourist visas, and then obtain Thai passports here, will they still need to leave the country after 90 days ?

I assume my friend will need to bring a copy of her son's Birth certificate from the UK, in order to prove his mother is Thai, is that correct ? ( He was born before she got her British citizenship).

Since January of this year the consulates cannot accept mail applications. Only the embassy does them now.

If they come in on a single entry tourist visa they can go to immigration and easily get one year extensions of stay for being Thai. They would not have to leave the country until the end of their trip.

Unless he has a Thai birth certificate issued by the Thai embassy in London he will not be able to get a Thai passport here.

He can use his UK birth certificate to prove his mother is Thai to get the one year extension.

[PatrickHames]

I was in the UK during August and travelled to the Thai Consulate in Hull and got my 6 month tourist visa. It has a date of issue stamp of August 29 but is activated on landing here which I did on September 12th, It entitles you to 60 days on arrival, you must then leave and re enter a further 2 times, getting 60 days upon each re entry, thus giving you 6 months. The 3rd re entry must be done before the expiry of 6 months from when the visa was issued, in my case September 29 ( must do 3rd entry before Jan 29 ). The cost is £75 plus a £10 personal visit fee and takes 10 minutes, no appointment is necessary. The Consulate is located on a retail park and is surrounded by car dealerships. Just look for the Thai flag flying on a post. Very straight forward but obviously has a stamp on the visa that says " not permitted to work "

[flyingdoc]

No more postal applications to Consulates in the U.K.

Must be in person to the embassy in London, which can be incredibly inconvenient for those living far away.

Why must the Thai Visa system be made so complicated?

Why not charge 1000 baht on entry, giving Thailand a vast hike in revenue, and only then falling in line with many neighbouring countries?

[ubonjoe]

No more postal applications to Consulates in the U.K.

Must be in person to the embassy in London, which can be incredibly inconvenient for those living far away.

Why must the Thai Visa system be made so complicated?

Why not charge 1000 baht on entry, giving Thailand a vast hike in revenue, and only then falling in line with many neighbouring countries?

You can apply by post to the embassy. See: http://www.thaiembassyuk.org.uk/?q=node/401

[oldthaihand99]

I was in the UK during August and travelled to the Thai Consulate in Hull and got my 6 month tourist visa. It has a date of issue stamp of August 29 but is activated on landing here which I did on September 12th, It entitles you to 60 days on arrival, you must then leave and re enter a further 2 times, getting 60 days upon each re entry, thus giving you 6 months. The 3rd re entry must be done before the expiry of 6 months from when the visa was issued, in my case September 29 ( must do 3rd entry before Jan 29 ). The cost is £75 plus a £10 personal visit fee and takes 10 minutes, no appointment is necessary. The Consulate is located on a retail park and is surrounded by car dealerships. Just look for the Thai flag flying on a post. Very straight forward but obviously has a stamp on the visa that says " not permitted to work "

That is known as a tourist visa with 3 entries rather than a 6 month tourist visa. It can get you up to 9 months in LOS with extensions. A 2 entry TV with extensions may get you up to 6 months.

Edited September 27, 2014 by oldthaihand99

[PatrickHames]

I was in the UK during August and travelled to the Thai Consulate in Hull and got my 6 month tourist visa. It has a date of issue stamp of August 29 but is activated on landing here which I did on September 12th, It entitles you to 60 days on arrival, you must then leave and re enter a further 2 times, getting 60 days upon each re entry, thus giving you 6 months. The 3rd re entry must be done before the expiry of 6 months from when the visa was issued, in my case September 29 ( must do 3rd entry before Jan 29 ). The cost is £75 plus a £10 personal visit fee and takes 10 minutes, no appointment is necessary. The Consulate is located on a retail park and is surrounded by car dealerships. Just look for the Thai flag flying on a post. Very straight forward but obviously has a stamp on the visa that says " not permitted to work "

To add to my earlier post, the visa takes a whole page on your passport so make sure you have enough room in your current passport for not only the Thai visa but the location that you visit after each 60 days may also require a whole page. Laos , Cambodia and Vietnam all definitely require a full page, Hong Kong, Philippines and Malaysia do not. Also be careful with postal applications to either Hull or Thai embassy London. My buddy from Chang Mai was in the UK at the same time as me, he tried to do his by post and it got lost in their system after it was sent by recorded delivery. Hull received it, forwarded it to London and then into a black hole - huge problem for him.

[sustento]

How old is her son? He needs to be a little careful about entering on a Thai passport as he may be eligible for military service.

[sustento]

Getting a visa by post from the Embassy in London is simple and quick. I posted my application off on a Thursday afternoon and got it back on Saturday morning.

[mick01827]

You can go to your local thai consulate (because you have to collect in person), I went to Birmingham branch, I was in and out in less than 45minutes holding a multi entry tourist visa.

You need to download the appropriate form off consulate website and take photos and cheque/money

Google search thai consulates in England.

[PatrickHames]

I was in the UK during August and travelled to the Thai Consulate in Hull and got my 6 month tourist visa. It has a date of issue stamp of August 29 but is activated on landing here which I did on September 12th, It entitles you to 60 days on arrival, you must then leave and re enter a further 2 times, getting 60 days upon each re entry, thus giving you 6 months. The 3rd re entry must be done before the expiry of 6 months from when the visa was issued, in my case September 29 ( must do 3rd entry before Jan 29 ). The cost is £75 plus a £10 personal visit fee and takes 10 minutes, no appointment is necessary. The Consulate is located on a retail park and is surrounded by car dealerships. Just look for the Thai flag flying on a post. Very straight forward but obviously has a stamp on the visa that says " not permitted to work "

That is known as a tourist visa with 3 entries rather than a 6 month tourist visa. It can get you up to 9 months in LOS with extensions. A 2 entry TV with extensions may get you up to 6 months.

I was more interested in answering the request for helpful information than getting the name of the visa right.

[paz]

I was more interested in answering the request for helpful information than getting the name of the visa right.

The right name must be used otherwise confusion is generated.

[PatrickHames]

I was more interested in answering the request for helpful information than getting the name of the visa right.

The right name must be used otherwise confusion is generated.

I've been living in Asia since 1989 and generally stay off forums like this as they seem to be populated by people that have nothing better to do than wait for a post to come in and pounce on any slight errors and then offer everybody the benefit of their wisdom. They usually give themselves Father Time like names or monikers and it seems important to them that the world can see that they've made over 3000 posts ( most of them worthless) and have by default generated a "rank' of Expert, Platinum etc. Hua Hin, Phuket, Philippines, Malaysia, HK - these people are everywhere. The information that I provide was fine for answering the question or request and wouldn't have caused any confusion whatsoever on visiting the Thai Consulate, and if it did then the Consulate staff would have clarified things easy enough because guess what - Thats what Consulate staff do. This is my 4 th post, perhaps one day I'll be a 3000 + post expert and get a forum black belt.

[Suradit69]

They are planning to travel in a month or so, I believe, so they wouldn't be able to get Thai passports that quickly.

As two people have already told you, she can enter Thailand using the old, expired passport. An expired passport does not cancel her citizenship.

The son could enter on a visa exempt entry (no visa required with British passport) get the one year extension at immigrations in Thailand and then have time to get new Thai passports for the lady and the son. If they have booked return tickets, then the son entering without a visa won't be a problem when boarding the flight.

If he gets the non-imm O visa, so much the better, but there is a fairly simple option as stated above and suggested by others in the first few posts.

Since the lady has an expired Thai passport she can enter on that, if she's still registered on a house book and has a valid ID she can renew her passport here in a few days.

She is still a Thai national. She can travel to and enter on her expired passport.

Edited September 27, 2014 by Suradit69

[Strangebrew]

Look you best bet here Is listen to what Ubonjoe posted as reply He from my time here has the best information around you can also send him message in private to keep what you need to know personal. Enough said next

[oldthaihand99]

I was in the UK during August and travelled to the Thai Consulate in Hull and got my 6 month tourist visa. It has a date of issue stamp of August 29 but is activated on landing here which I did on September 12th, It entitles you to 60 days on arrival, you must then leave and re enter a further 2 times, getting 60 days upon each re entry, thus giving you 6 months. The 3rd re entry must be done before the expiry of 6 months from when the visa was issued, in my case September 29 ( must do 3rd entry before Jan 29 ). The cost is £75 plus a £10 personal visit fee and takes 10 minutes, no appointment is necessary. The Consulate is located on a retail park and is surrounded by car dealerships. Just look for the Thai flag flying on a post. Very straight forward but obviously has a stamp on the visa that says " not permitted to work "

That is known as a tourist visa with 3 entries rather than a 6 month tourist visa. It can get you up to 9 months in LOS with extensions. A 2 entry TV with extensions may get you up to 6 months.

I was more interested in answering the request for helpful information than getting the name of the visa right.

I added helpful info to yours & also got the name right in order to avoid confusing people. Additionally, to get 6 months in Thailand with a tourist visa, it is not necessary that one "must...leave and re enter a further 2 times". With a double entry TV one need only leave the country one time. I hope you found that helpful.