Strange experience at airport Immigration

[scottyp1980]

Hi I just arrived at bkk today on a 30 day visa exempt. This is the first 30 day exempt I've had for nearly a year, I've been using tourist visas up until today. I normally work away 5 weeks then could be off for 5-8 weeks. At Immigration counter the officer looked thru all my stamps which took nearly 10 mins I then asked what the problem was she said she got a message on her computer when the passport was scanned saying ice spent too much time in thailand. She then enquired what I was doing in thai, who with where I came from for work and on and on. She finally stamped it 30 days but I have another red stamp with H 1020 in the arrival stamp and underneath she wrote in thai has girlfriend. She then pointed out I wont get an extension at border. Can anyone help me with this??

Thanks

Edited March 26, 2015 by ubonjoe
Moved from post to OP

[scottyp1980]

I should point out I'm from UK.

[ubonjoe]

What airport was that at?

I seems she made an error if it is your first exempt entry.

I wouldn't worry about the stamp or what she wrote. It has no legal basis since an immigration offer of her rank certainly has no authority to say you cannot get another entry..

[scottyp1980]

Thanks for the reply. It was Suvarnabhumi airport. Please see the attached pic.

[scottyp1980]

Also I've been doing this rotations for about 12 years and this is the 1st time any problems

[Tessellation]

Same thing happened to me when I came back from Seoul last summer, almost exactly as you describe, but I didn't get a red stamp. In my case, I had arrived the first day of the "crackdown", and the officer was trying to enforce the "new regulations" which came up then. Her superior officer decided that since I had a fresh double entry tourist visa from Seoul, she should just let me through. I had a fairly long overstay prior to that, which was a cause for her scrutiny. She asked me "what are you doing in Thailand" about 15 times in the 20 minutes it all took to get through. They clearly thought that my many tourist entries and the prior overstay looked like I was working illegally.

Its based on the total time you've spent in the country, not how many exemptions you've used (as there is no legal limit on the exemptions). Its part of weeding out the illegal workers and such, and some normal people get caught in the net. I'm not sure how often they actually refuse entry.

Now that I am planning to work here, I've recently gotten a non-b visa, and was passed right through immigration with no hassles.

Its all to do with suspicion that you're working illegally, and stems from changes made last summer (aka "the visa crackdown").

[nzexpat]

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Also I've been doing this rotations for about 12 years and this is the 1st time any problems

As said already do not worry about it !

[ubonjoe]

As I said you should not be concerned about it. They have an alert tied to visa exempt entries. It could be it counted up all your old entries.

Unless you go out after staying for the entire 30 days and going out and then turning around and re-enter the country for another 30 days you will not have a prolem.

You can get a 30 day extension of your exempt entry at immigration now.

[scottyp1980]

Thanks for the info boys.

[Maestro]

The red H 1020 looks like part of the blank page, not something stamped by the immigration officer.

[Gutterboy]

Yup the numbers are already in the passport

[scottyp1980]

Thanks again for the replies. I didn't realise this was already in my passport haha. I'll need get the passport out have a look through it.

[chaawlepcha]

Given several troubles at airport(s) regaeding visa exempt entry, the embassy in BKK of my country has alrted its nationals by saying that they contacted with the immigration authorities and were informed of the fact that they tightened immigration controls at airports with respect to "out-in visa exempt run" since 16 March.

It seems that a better-take-an-appropriate-visa movement, that started as a reason to ban out-in visa exempt runs last August, has been continuing and advanced to a new phase together with the above tightenning, Given several related reports so far, now I understand that frequent visitors to LOS with a steady thai girlfriend, if picked up for a detailed interview, are likely to be hassled in case that immigration officers find some reasons to feel, if not believe, that the visitor in question is potentially eligiblile for a family visa.

In my opinion, responding of having a girlfriend in an interview seems to have become a not good idea if you are trying the visa exempt channel.

[paz]

In my opinion, responding of having a girlfriend in an interview seems to have become a not good idea if you are trying the visa exempt channel.

I don't think it has not been a good idea. The officer have simply asked if you were married, if you were, would have urged you get the related visa and extensions of stay. Since you are not, she noted the most relevant information. At the end of the day what matters is that you are not doing back-to-back visa exempt, not working illegally, and always bringing money to Thailand.

[tonydandelot]

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Same thing happened to me when I came back from Seoul last summer, almost exactly as you describe, but I didn't get a red stamp. In my case, I had arrived the first day of the "crackdown", and the officer was trying to enforce the "new regulations" which came up then. Her superior officer decided that since I had a fresh double entry tourist visa from Seoul, she should just let me through. I had a fairly long overstay prior to that, which was a cause for her scrutiny. She asked me "what are you doing in Thailand" about 15 times in the 20 minutes it all took to get through. They clearly thought that my many tourist entries and the prior overstay looked like I was working illegally.

Its based on the total time you've spent in the country, not how many exemptions you've used (as there is no legal limit on the exemptions). Its part of weeding out the illegal workers and such, and some normal people get caught in the net. I'm not sure how often they actually refuse entry.

Now that I am planning to work here, I've recently gotten a non-b visa, and was passed right through immigration with no hassles.

Its all to do with suspicion that you're working illegally, and stems from changes made last summer (aka "the visa crackdown").

IF they keep asking u what u doing in thailand 15 times !! then u should answer 15 times the same answer " spending all my hard earned money here!