When Does 90 Day Clock Start/Reset?

[Khon Baan Nok]

I am in my fifth year of one-year retirement visas.

I had been under the impression that the 90 day reporting clock resets if you go out and come back in within a 90-day period. For example:

Case One: I arrive in Thailand on 1 January. Assuming I do not leave, I have to file my 90-day report before 1 April.

Case Two: I arrive in Thailand on 1 January. I leave for one week and re-enter Thailand on 15 March. In this case, is my 90-day report still due by 1 April, or is the clock reset to 90 days from 15 March, which would be 15 June?

I thought that an exit/re-entry resets the clock, and in 2012 I went to Immigration in Bangkok accordingly before the end of the "extended" 90 day period. I was fined 2,000 baht and gained the entry in my passport for being in violation of the 90-day rule.

I am now back in the same situation, and am uncertain as to what to file, and when. The TM.47 requires that you provide the date of entry, and the number of the Arrival Card (TM.6).

I arrived in Thailand by air on 9 August 2014 and cleared Immigration with the second half of the TM.6. I left Thailand on 12 September - the second half of the TM.6 was collected by Immigration at the airport. I returned to Thailand on 29 September and cleared Immigration with the second half of a new TM.6.

So, following the logic outlined in Case Two above, is my next 90-day report due by 9 November, or by 29 December? If 9 November, which TM.6 number should I use? The one that I presently have, which shows a different date of arrival, or the original one from 9 August, which I no longer have. (Luckily I happen to have the number, though obviously not the document itself...).

I hope the above is explained clearly enough to be intelligible. I don't want to collect a second fine and stamp, but neither do I wish to go down there with the wrong documentation and spend hours only to find that I'm doing the wrong thing, or submitting the wrong docs.

Advice would be appreciated.

Cheers,

S.

[Upnotover]

90 days starts when you enter Thailand. So your next report is in December.

[billd766]

You have answered your own question.

The 90 day period starts on the day you enter the country. If you don't leave the country at all you have to make the 90 report every 90 days.

If you leave the country and return the 90 day report time starts from the day you re-enter.

If you leave the country every time just before the 90 day period is up you never need to file a 90 day report as you have not been in Thailand for the full 90 days.

[ubonjoe]

The 90 day count ends when you leave the country and restarts on the date you enter the country. So your next report will be due on December 27th.

[Khon Baan Nok]

You have answered your own question.

The 90 day period starts on the day you enter the country. If you don't leave the country at all you have to make the 90 report every 90 days.

If you leave the country and return the 90 day report time starts from the day you re-enter.

If you leave the country every time just before the 90 day period is up you never need to file a 90 day report as you have not been in Thailand for the full 90 days.

In which case, why was I fined and had my passport stamped the previous time?

Both responders have confirmed my understanding that the clock resets if you go out and return within a 90-day period. So I do not understand why I was penalized.

Is there an official reference that explains the process (in Thai and/or English) so that if I follow the procedure, I am not again penalized without cause?

S.

[ubonjoe]

Perhaps you miscounted the 90 days or they made a mistake. They should of checked your entry date and counted from then or did you by chance have an old report receipt in your passport.

[Khon Baan Nok]

Perhaps you miscounted the 90 days or they made a mistake. They should of checked your entry date and counted from then or did you by chance have an old report receipt in your passport.

I did not miscount the days.

It is possible that I had an old report receipt in my passport, though I do not normally keep those receipts in my passport. In any case I would have provided the TM.6 which corresponded to the date of most recent arrival.

I recall us having a discussion about this - I did not just passively accept that I was in violation of the rule. I can read Thai and speak well enough to discuss this topic. Though obviously not well enough to have avoided the penalty.

If I take at face value the statements being made in this thread that in this case the clock is reset from the most recent re-entry (in this case, 29 September as opposed to 9 August), then I would wish to go to Immigration next time with official Thai documents that state the rule. Where would I find such a thing?

Tks much for all your help.

S.

[JohnC]

http://www.thaivisa.com/extensions90-day-reporting.html

[ubonjoe]

Perhaps you miscounted the 90 days or they made a mistake. They should of checked your entry date and counted from then or did you by chance have an old report receipt in your passport.

I did not miscount the days.

It is possible that I had an old report receipt in my passport, though I do not normally keep those receipts in my passport. In any case I would have provided the TM.6 which corresponded to the date of most recent arrival.

I recall us having a discussion about this - I did not just passively accept that I was in violation of the rule. I can read Thai and speak well enough to discuss this topic. Though obviously not well enough to have avoided the penalty.

If I take at face value the statements being made in this thread that in this case the clock is reset from the most recent re-entry (in this case, 29 September as opposed to 9 August), then I would wish to go to Immigration next time with official Thai documents that state the rule. Where would I find such a thing?

Tks much for all your help.

S.

There is nothing official other than the immigration act that simply states if you stay in the country longer than 90 days you need to do a report.

Even the title of the TM47 form states that.

I don't know why you were fined. If you were within the 90 days or was not more 7 days late you should not of been fined.

[Khon Baan Nok]

Thanks to the link quietly put forward by JohnC, I am in fact now able to answer my own question. Or, more accurately, I am in a position to substantiate, with more or less official documentation, the fact that the 90 day clock does indeed reset when you return to the country. That is what I had believed before, and I now understand that I was unfairly fined and penalized by BKK Immigration when I acted in accordance with that belief. That will not happen a second time.

Next time I go to Immigration, I will be carrying the following, which is extracted directly from the Immigration web site - English version first, then Thai:

• If a foreigner leaves the country and re-enters, the day count starts at 1 in every case.
• เมื่อคนต่างด้าวเดินทางออกนอกราชอาณาจักร เมื่อเดินทางกลับมาให้เริ่มนับเวลา 90 วันใหม่ทุกกรณี

In case you speak but don't read Thai, here is a transliteration of the Thai:

Meua khon thaang daao deun tang awk nawk raat anajak, meua deun tang glap ma hai reum nub wela 90 wan hmai tuk karani.

​The link from which the above was extracted is here:

http://www.immigration.go.th/nov2004/en/base.php?page=90days

This is exactly what I was looking for, and I offer my thanks to all of you who helped me to understand and substantiate this issue.

Regards to all.

S.

[billd766]

You have answered your own question.

The 90 day period starts on the day you enter the country. If you don't leave the country at all you have to make the 90 report every 90 days.

If you leave the country and return the 90 day report time starts from the day you re-enter.

If you leave the country every time just before the 90 day period is up you never need to file a 90 day report as you have not been in Thailand for the full 90 days.

In which case, why was I fined and had my passport stamped the previous time?

Both responders have confirmed my understanding that the clock resets if you go out and return within a 90-day period. So I do not understand why I was penalized.

Is there an official reference that explains the process (in Thai and/or English) so that if I follow the procedure, I am not again penalized without cause?

S.

I have no idea why you were fined and had your passport stamped.

The main reason that I have no idea is because I don't work for the immigration police neither does Ubonjoe.

I defer to him as he has far more experience and knowledge than I do though we are both of the similar opinion in our replies to you.

[JohnC]

Found my link from Immigration :

§

§http://bangkok.immigration.go.th/en/base.php?page=90days

§Note

§The notification of staying in the Kingdom over 90 days is in no way equivalent to a visa extension.

§If a foreigner staying in the kingdom over 90 days without notifying the Immigration Bureau or notifying the Immigration Bureau later than the set period, a fine of 2,000.- Baht will be collected. If a foreigner who did not make the notification of staying over 90 days is arrested, he will be fined 4,000.- Baht.

§If a foreigner leaves the country and re-enters, the day count starts at 1 in every case.

§

[culicine]

Perhaps you miscounted the 90 days or they made a mistake. They should of checked your entry date and counted from then or did you by chance have an old report receipt in your passport.

Hi there, I just returned from overseas. My original 90-day form is dated for reporting mid December. Should I remove this old form and have them just look at the new departure card date? My new date will be mid January or thereabouts.

[ubonjoe]

Perhaps you miscounted the 90 days or they made a mistake. They should of checked your entry date and counted from then or did you by chance have an old report receipt in your passport.

Hi there, I just returned from overseas. My original 90-day form is dated for reporting mid December. Should I remove this old form and have them just look at the new departure card date? My new date will be mid January or thereabouts.

I would take it out. But have it handy if they ask for proof you did your last one.

Your new entry date will be on your TM47 form. Plus the entry stamp and TM6 card.

Just count the 90 days including the day you enter.