Just got kicked out of thai with valid visa

[JohnnyBKK]

Tried again to ask for another destination to someone else. She asked the superior who said only france again. They will catch every ed visa, some of you may not have any problem of they encounter a lazy officer. Word is to check on every ed visa.

[Rooo]

If you are being refused entry, they can / will send you back to your last port of departure.

[Crossy]

Johnny, which airport are you at?

[Rooo]

Trollish , racist post & replies quoting it removed.

[ukrules]

Tell them that you absolutely 100% are not going to fly to France but offer to fly to somewhere local like Phnom Penh and see what they say.

I understand that there's an air side hotel (if you're in Bangkok) which you can use if you're in transit. I think you have all the time you need to make your case and contact others inside Thailand to make enquiries on your behalf.

Has there been a change of shift yet or is the same supervisor / manager who's making this decision ?

[ukrules]

Tried again to ask for another destination to someone else. She asked the superior who said only france again. They will catch every ed visa, some of you may not have any problem of they encounter a lazy officer. Word is to check on every ed visa.

The ministry of education might not be very happy about this development.

[JohnnyBKK]

I already have the ticket to france. What a waste of money and ressources. I will make a new passport and apply for tourist visa to go back and sell my car and recover my stuff. They said because is the immigration who is saying that i cant stay the rule is going back to my home country and not another country.

[ATF]

Johnny why don't you call Walen and get him to sort it out. If he can he'll be a hero.

[JohnnyBKK]

I asked imligration a 7 days visa they said is impossible because everything is already done.

[bkkcanuck8]

They can only deny entry, but any country you are eligible to travel in, such as Malaysia, you have a right to travel to.

I was under the understanding that once you were denied entry, they would require you to fly back to the country of your passport -- using approved airlines. They would not allow you to fly to another ASEAN country since they had agreements in place to not toss their problem back on other countries.

.

Well, what problem are they tossing back? Ok, so I can't speak to other ASEAN countries and their agreements then, but he could certainly fly to Japan, or Hong Kong, or anywhere in the EU, or most South American countries, or for that matter, the USA. Thai immigration has no right to deny him that. It is tantamount to false imprisonment.

They don't want him in Thailand, and there are no outstanding warrants anywhere, he can go wherever he is eligible to go.

Fight the *%#&%.

False imprisonment - you are in Thailand.... and you are here illegally once you are at the airport and don't go through immigration in a timely manner... especially if you have no onward ticket when you arrive.... With no onward ticket they can detain you for deportation and give you access to only what they want ... which is the ability to buy a ticket of their choosing.... I don't remember seeing any checkin counters in the terminal until you actually pass through immigration. If you actually had a ticket you could probably go to the airlines departure gate and pay the penalty and leave immediately on the next flight.

[wayned]

Whether or not I agree with it, right or wrong, I can understand that they can refuse you entry into Thailand. However, since you are not "officially" in Thailand you should be able to choose your alternate destination, not return to your home country.

IMHO I suspect that the only reason that they have not cracked down on multiple back to back tourist visas is the negative impact that it would have on the tourism industry. They are forcing those that are long term residents, possibly working illegally, to go the tourist visa route to stay here! I often wonder why people would go the ED visa route and enroll in an expensive school only stay here when double entry TVs are available in neighboring countries without paying enrollment fees and triples in most home countries.

Two double entry tourist visas, 4000 baht, 4 extensions 7600 baht for a total of 11,600 for 360 days versus the cost of enrollment in a school, plus ED visa and cost of extensions.

Have you been following the threads in this forum for the last 4 months ? There has been a massive crackdown on back-to-back tourist visas and 30-day visa exemptions, but on my last flight in (18 Nov), I was pleasantly surprised to see that the lines were moving quickly and passports were being stamped and handed back very quickly. My extension of stay / re-entry permit meant I didnt need to play 20 questions, but I do feel for the OP if he has made a genuine effort to learn spoken Thai but cant read or write.

The crackdown on the Ed visa was forecast by many here when it became apparent that many who were being bounced would try that option, and there are numerous reports here of people being given a very hard time when entering with an Ed visa. The better option for some may be the Elite card, but many of the same people who claimed they were 'cashed up' objected vehemently to the idea that they needed to pay just to stay in Thailand - go figure.

If this is indicative of an ongoing willingness to deny entry to people staying here long term for something other than tourism or education, I can see an upside. Bye-bye digital nomads under 50. Either stump up the cash or run your multinational corporation from a Starbucks in Pnomh Penh.

Yes I have been following the threads, have you? I agree that there has been a massive crackdown on back to back visa exempt entries, but there has been little if any crackdown on back to back tourist visa issuance or entries.

[steven100]

The days of entering Thailand on a suspect Ed Visa are finished.

Those entering Thailand for an extended period are required under Thai immigration law to have the correct and appropriate visa to which there intended purpose of stay may be.

All countries require this.

[Samaaw]

Had the same issue about a year ago... also ED visa. I was allowed to travel back to Singapore, where I flew from. I did not have to fly "home"

The stamp they put in my passport was all in Thai. I asked the official to tell me what it said but he ignored it.

I then asked the woman at the Thai Air office when I did the rebooking back to Singapore, what the stamp said - she said "insufficient funds to enter Thailand" - I was amazed as at that time I owned a condo (which I recently sold) - Also I have a bank acc in Thai & Singapore - where I could of showed my funds, probably more than the official earns in a year.

Then the other thing they never asked what I was studying, never spoke to me in Thai - just said visa not valid... I called my visa agent who spoke to the official, still no help. I returned to Thailand the following day, my agent had arranged an official to meet me off the plane.... he then saw me thru immigration, as my visa WAS valid.. and OF COURSE I had to give the official some money... nice !

After that I used the same visa 3 times in and out of Thailand without issues... it then cancelled and I will not renew or apply for another visa. Basically Thai immigration do as they want - when they want and they dont care at all !!

[Samaaw]

Furthermore - there is supposed to be a tourist court or such at the airport - try to see them... ask them what is going on

[Jessi]

Had the same issue about a year ago... also ED visa. I was allowed to travel back to Singapore, where I flew from. I did not have to fly "home"

The stamp they put in my passport was all in Thai. I asked the official to tell me what it said but he ignored it.

I then asked the woman at the Thai Air office when I did the rebooking back to Singapore, what the stamp said - she said "insufficient funds to enter Thailand" - I was amazed as at that time I owned a condo (which I recently sold) - Also I have a bank acc in Thai & Singapore - where I could of showed my funds, probably more than the official earns in a year.

Then the other thing they never asked what I was studying, never spoke to me in Thai - just said visa not valid... I called my visa agent who spoke to the official, still no help. I returned to Thailand the following day, my agent had arranged an official to meet me off the plane.... he then saw me thru immigration, as my visa WAS valid.. and OF COURSE I had to give the official some money... nice !

After that I used the same visa 3 times in and out of Thailand without issues... it then cancelled and I will not renew or apply for another visa. Basically Thai immigration do as they want - when they want and they dont care at all !!

where I could of showed my funds, probably more than the official earns in a year.

I very much doubt that, just look at the corruption in this country and they are only scratching the surface so far.

[NancyL]

He still hasn't answered which airport.

Didn't Mac Whalen used to be very active on this forum? I hope he gets involved in this. I've know people who attend Whalen school and I thought they started them out reading Thai script from the very beginning. I'm surprised the OP can't at least read Thai. Maybe not write Thai after just six months, but I'd think he should be able to read it.

[Johnsy]

The days of entering Thailand on a suspect Ed Visa are finished.

Those entering Thailand for an extended period are required under Thai immigration law to have the correct and appropriate visa to which there intended purpose of stay may be.

All countries require this.

How naive are you....they are cancelling legitimate visa's as well simply because, as it has been pointed out a thousand times, all of these procedures are subject to interpretation and the attitude of whichever official you happen to be lucky or unlucky enough to deal with. I think the OP is lucky to be out of the country and he shouldn't want to come back.

[chrisinth]

If what the OP has written is true (and there is no reason for me to doubt it) then this really is a game changer for not only those on Ed-visas (studying Thai language) but for the language schools as well.

If I have read the OP correctly, the reason for refusal was that he couldn't speak, read and write Thai within a six month period. Given (until recently) that some schools only required 2-4 hours attendance a week, that is not a great deal of time to learn the three disciplines and I am pretty sure that the schools are not setup to achieve this within that time period.

I do hope for the people on Ed-visas, and the schools that this is a one-off. Sorry for your troubles Johnny, I can only imagine the nightmare you are going through at the minute, especially if everything is legit and the reason for refusal is only because you can't read and write Thai.

I was going to suggest contacting Wallen before committing to the ticket home, but see you have already purchased it.

[yellowboat]

They can only deny entry, but any country you are eligible to travel in, such as Malaysia, you have a right to travel to.

I was under the understanding that once you were denied entry, they would require you to fly back to the country of your passport -- using approved airlines. They would not allow you to fly to another ASEAN country since they had agreements in place to not toss their problem back on other countries.

Thai immagration is now so different (vague) from its neighbors that the ASEAN agreement makes little sense. Just to think we were considering expanding in Thailand. Now we do not even like thinking about doing business in Thailand.

[moe666]

Due to the original Visa crack down they may be seeing an increase in ED visa's coming through and decided to challenge those carrying them. Totally self destructive as what ever figures TAT publish you would have to be blind not to realise the tourist industry is in melt down

In a melt down is it I guess that is why all of the hotels and guest rooms in my neighborhood are full, do a bit of research before writing nonsense

[Tchooptip]

''He told me 6 month is enough to read and write''

Pffff ...Why not 3 months by the way!

What's hard to understand, you said you can talk Thai!

No Thai at all, OK it would have been understandable, but If you were capable to talk to him in Thai, even not perfectly, it's even more scary, really!

I believe I would have asked to see his boss with a constant smile of course... really sorry for you man.

[Jip99]

They can only deny entry, but any country you are eligible to travel in, such as Malaysia, you have a right to travel to.

I was under the understanding that once you were denied entry, they would require you to fly back to the country of your passport -- using approved airlines. They would not allow you to fly to another ASEAN country since they had agreements in place to not toss their problem back on other countries.

That sounds like BS to me.

Surely, if you are traveling on a French passport you are entitled to the courtesies afforded by an individual country's immigration rules i.e. fly to Phnom Penh and get 30 days ?

[falang07]

Well, as for me, I do not believe this story at all.

[moe666]

He says studing Thai for 6months but has a car to sale I have to wonder what popped up on that computer when his name was run thru the scanner. I suspect he has been here longer than a few months.

[StevenWayneSimpson]

Guess everyone will be doing cooking courses from now on

[glasswort]

I wonder just how many of these education visas are real; I suspect not that many. I know of several "seniors" with such visas who are only required to attend one, half hour lesson per week and have never been tested for knowledge of the Thai language or whatever. If such people have to resort to education visas because they do not have the funds available to obtain a retirement visa, then Thailand is quite right in not wanting them here.

[mrtoad]

Where is Walen? he's normally quick to promote himself

[JohnnyBKK]

Someone read the reason for me it says insufficient funds. But the officer really got angry when i couldnt read thai. I had 9k baht on me a business world mastercard fully loaded and a kasikorn atm. I believe only cash counts. If i had enough cash i believe he would have said something else.

[TheFishman1]

Unbelievable This is Thailand

[ATF]

I wonder just how many of these education visas are real; I suspect not that many. I know of several "seniors" with such visas who are only required to attend one, half hour lesson per week and have never been tested for knowledge of the Thai language or whatever. If such people have to resort to education visas because they do not have the funds available to obtain a retirement visa, then Thailand is quite right in not wanting them here.

The ED Visa has been totally abused and it's a pity because it was a legitimate and easy way to enjoy Thailand.

I have expected for some time that it's going to be severely restricted.

How can any school call themselves legit if they allow let the students to study only a couple of hours per week?