Hi, I was told by immigration at nong khai on April 30th that I was not able to return to Thailand due to too many 30 day exemptions in the past. As others have reported, I was told that the computer had flagged me. The immigration official even brought me around the counter to see the yellow pop up for my immigration record. He allowed me to enter, this time only, as I told him I needed to fly back to Japan from chiang mai. He was very apologetic, as I produced my work documents and letters from JICA and Laos MPWT, but said there was nothing he could do about this as the computer system had now changed to show these "do not allow entry" warnings. I had driven to vientiane from chiang mai, to work on a JICA project with the LAOS MPWT there. I returned to chiang mai and then flew home to Japan on may 3rd. On exiting through immigration at CNX airport, the immigration official again told me that I would need a visa to return to Thailand, that a 30 day exemption was not an option.

History: I am a US citizen with permanent residency in Japan for last 20 years, where I work as a consultant in transportation. I have visited Thailand regularly over the last 20 years, sometimes on business mostly on leisure. The last five years I have been spending 4 months a year in Chiang Mai. Two and a half years ago I started working on a JICA project in vientiane. I have flown directly there and also driven there from Chiang Mai during this period. As a result, I have many Laos visas plastered in my passport. I also have visited mae sai and crossed into Myanmar twice over the last four years.

I flew into Vientiane on July 1st from NRT, and will be here until the 18th then return to Japan. I will fly to Chiang Mai on August 13th and return to japan 30 days later. I will then fly from Japan to CNX in beginning of November for Loy khatrong, and stay for 30 days as well.

For 2015, I flew NRT VTE in January, 10 day stay, NRT CNX February, 28 day stay, NRT VTE March 12 day stay, NRT CNX April stayed 18 days then drove to VTE by car exited by land stayed VTE for 7 days, crossed back by land border and had my problem, departed CNX NRT 3 days later, flew to USA NRT ORD for 18 days in June, and now NRT VTE for 18 days.

Sorry long windup, but my question, will I indeed have difficulty for my planned returns to CNX in August and November? If so, is a single entry visa my only option here in Vientiane? (I read udon joe saying this was 90 day limited) or should I just show up as i usually do, with return ticket and $2000 cash? My passport has only 4 pages left, and I will not have an opportunity to add more until after November due to time constraints, so I am worried about that as well, lol.

Thank you for any advise, I have read everything here, but just need some handholding, lol.

Finally, I work in Japan and am not (nor wish to be) retired or married and live rather far from a royal Thai embassy (would require two days off work and over 70,000 yen) so please spare me the 'get the right visa' litany, 30 day exemptions are precisely for people like me. I just wish they would allow Visa on arrival for US passport holders, as that would solve my problem.

Thanks again.

Entering at a border crossing can be a problem because there is less pressure on them to allow you entry than at an airport. There have been reports of people being denied entry without any formal procedures being done.

At an airport they would have to follow procedures to deny you entry under section 12 of the immigration act because there is no legal basis for them denying entry for to many visa exempt entries.. That is when having the equivalent of 20k baht cash comes in to provide financial proof required under section 12.

Since you have permanent residency in Japan you should check with the embassy in Tokyo about getting a 2 entry tourist visa there which might have 6 months validity.

Doing a couple of tourist visa entries will look better in your history of entries.

If you are going to be Chiang Mai for a month in August you will have time to get a new passport at the US consulate there. It normally only takes about 10 day to get it (website say 14 days).

An IO is in their right to interview anyone, flag or not, but there is no legal reason allowing an IO to deny you entry for having x amount of previous visa exempt entries which is why he let you in. If what the IO said was true he would have had to deny entry. The flag is meant as a mechanism for IO's to catch illegal workers. As long as you are not working illegally and as long as you can meet any entry conditions you can enter forevermore on visa exemption unless, or until, they change the rules.

Many illegal workers use land borders and so you are likely to get more grief at one of them than at the airport. As an American you can enter Thailand under the Visa Exempt Scheme and there is, currently, no law limiting the frequency.

I have a friend that works in Cambodia Mon to Fri and fly's in to Bkk every Friday night. He's been doing this for years and has 20+ Visa Exempt entries already this year. I think that because he only stays here at weekends and the occasional week immigration leave him alone. The point being that if a law/rule existed he would have been denied entry along time ago.

Hi, I was told by immigration at nong khai on April 30th that I was not able to return to Thailand due to too many 30 day exemptions in the past. As others have reported, I was told that the computer had flagged me. The immigration official even brought me around the counter to see the yellow pop up for my immigration record. He allowed me to enter, this time only, as I told him I needed to fly back to Japan from chiang mai. He was very apologetic, as I produced my work documents and letters from JICA and Laos MPWT, but said there was nothing he could do about this as the computer system had now changed to show these "do not allow entry" warnings. I had driven to vientiane from chiang mai, to work on a JICA project with the LAOS MPWT there. I returned to chiang mai and then flew home to Japan on may 3rd. On exiting through immigration at CNX airport, the immigration official again told me that I would need a visa to return to Thailand, that a 30 day exemption was not an option.

History: I am a US citizen with permanent residency in Japan for last 20 years, where I work as a consultant in transportation. I have visited Thailand regularly over the last 20 years, sometimes on business mostly on leisure. The last five years I have been spending 4 months a year in Chiang Mai. Two and a half years ago I started working on a JICA project in vientiane. I have flown directly there and also driven there from Chiang Mai during this period. As a result, I have many Laos visas plastered in my passport. I also have visited mae sai and crossed into Myanmar twice over the last four years.

I flew into Vientiane on July 1st from NRT, and will be here until the 18th then return to Japan. I will fly to Chiang Mai on August 13th and return to japan 30 days later. I will then fly from Japan to CNX in beginning of November for Loy khatrong, and stay for 30 days as well.

For 2015, I flew NRT VTE in January, 10 day stay, NRT CNX February, 28 day stay, NRT VTE March 12 day stay, NRT CNX April stayed 18 days then drove to VTE by car exited by land stayed VTE for 7 days, crossed back by land border and had my problem, departed CNX NRT 3 days later, flew to USA NRT ORD for 18 days in June, and now NRT VTE for 18 days.

Sorry long windup, but my question, will I indeed have difficulty for my planned returns to CNX in August and November? If so, is a single entry visa my only option here in Vientiane? (I read udon joe saying this was 90 day limited) or should I just show up as i usually do, with return ticket and $2000 cash? My passport has only 4 pages left, and I will not have an opportunity to add more until after November due to time constraints, so I am worried about that as well, lol.

Thank you for any advise, I have read everything here, but just need some handholding, lol.

Finally, I work in Japan and am not (nor wish to be) retired or married and live rather far from a royal Thai embassy (would require two days off work and over 70,000 yen) so please spare me the 'get the right visa' litany, 30 day exemptions are precisely for people like me. I just wish they would allow Visa on arrival for US passport holders, as that would solve my problem.

Thanks again.

Regarding extra pages. If you have time in when returning in August I made an online appointment at US consulate Chiang Mai to get extra pages morning of July 2. They gave me two sets of extra pages for $84 and I was done by noon. The last time I got pages in Akasaka the best I could get was next day service.

- get the extra pages done @ US embassy in Bangkok or Chiang Mai..... You can also get an emergency passport if needed. You need to do this before Jan 1, 2016 because that's when USA will stop allowing extra pages in your passport. So get as many as possible.

- if you go back to the USA, consider obtaining a non-imm B multiple entry visa from an honorary consulate. Can you get a Thai company to issue you an invite letter of some kind? Maybe you could even use some existing documentation and show that you have to pass through Thailand as a normal course of business; worth a shot. You can still do it by [express] mail also, although you may need an affidavit that you are actually located in the USA at the time of application.

IMO, I think that Thai Immigration should clarify exactly who the Visa Exempt is for or is NOT for.

...

IMO, I think that Thai Immigration should clarify exactly who the Visa Exempt is for or is NOT for.

From the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs:

General Information

1. Generally, a foreign citizen who wishes to enter the Kingdom of Thailand is required to obtain a visa from a Royal Thai Embassy or a Royal Thai Consulate-General. However, nationals of certain countries do not require a visa if they meet visa exemption requirements as follows:

(1) they are nationals of countries which are exempted from visa requirements when entering Thailand for tourism purposes. Such nationals will be permitted to stay in the Kingdom for a period of not exceeding 30 days. For more information, please see Summary of Countries and Territories entitled for Visa Exemption and Visa on Arrival to Thailand .

Source:http://www.mfa.go.th/main/en/services/4908/15405-General-information.html

Additional information can be found in the Immigration Bureau guideline 0029.1712076 - visa-exempt out-in checklist

An IO is in their right to interview anyone, flag or not, but there is no legal reason allowing an IO to deny you entry for having x amount of previous visa exempt entries which is why he let you in. If what the IO said was true he would have had to deny entry. The flag is meant as a mechanism for IO's to catch illegal workers. As long as you are not working illegally and as long as you can meet any entry conditions you can enter forevermore on visa exemption unless, or until, they change the rules.

Many illegal workers use land borders and so you are likely to get more grief at one of them than at the airport. As an American you can enter Thailand under the Visa Exempt Scheme and there is, currently, no law limiting the frequency.

I have a friend that works in Cambodia Mon to Fri and fly's in to Bkk every Friday night. He's been doing this for years and has 20+ Visa Exempt entries already this year. I think that because he only stays here at weekends and the occasional week immigration leave him alone. The point being that if a law/rule existed he would have been denied entry along time ago.

I have a friend that works in Cambodia Mon to Fri and fly's in to Bkk every Friday night. He's been doing this for years and has 20+ Visa Exempt entries already this year. I think that because he only stays here at weekends and the occasional week immigration leave him alone. The point being that if a law/rule existed he would have been denied entry along time ago.

Just thinking out loud. Might there be a guideline including both days and number of entries. That is, maybe IOs will allow many entries of cumulatively less than 90 days before investigating more fully. I do have a feeling that, whatever the law may state, the IOs have been advised to crack down on those using visa exempt entries to stay in Thailand a significant proportion of the time. Ubon Joe is no doubt correct that they should have a reason apart from just many visa exempt entries to refuse entry, but I think they can find a reason if they want. This seems like a genuine concern.

You should have adequate time to get a visa by mail from the Thai embassy in Tokyo. They're pretty speedy. In principle you should not be denied a visa-exempt 30-day entry (not a visa on arrival) but if you want to play it safe then getting the visa would be good. With a multiple-entry tourist visa your proposed entries would be no problem. I've found the embassy in Tokyo easy to deal with. Good luck. You have my admiration for being a JAICA volunteer.

...

Just thinking out loud. Might there be a guideline including both days and number of entries...

Yes, there is a guideline. See post #6.

...

Just thinking out loud. Might there be a guideline including both days and number of entries...

Yes, there is a guideline. See post #6.

Sure, I appreciate the written rules. What I am wondering about is instructions given to immigration officers not explicitly specified in writing. We know that back-to-back visa exempt entries are seriously frowned upon. Maybe, there are other iffy areas.

Section 12 has the only reasons for denial of entry they can use. Perhaps you should have a look at it in the Immigration Act B.E. 2522 English translation

They cannot make up a reason as you implied in a post.

Thank you everyone for your considered and informed replies. Sorry for the late reply, but we are just returning from Luang Prabang and an inspection of the JICA funded E-Ride electric vehicle program.

I am still not sure how to proceed; part of me wants to just continue with the visa exempt scheme, as my use of which has and will continue to be, as has been stated and documented here, completely within the letter and intent of the visa exempt provision.

The other half wants to just belly up and get a tourist visa while still here in Vientiane to, as udonjoe has so well advised in other posts, sanitize my passport and entry history into Thailand and make it in some way more acceptable in the eyes of the presenting IO.

But having said that, it just seems so wrong, so galling, as I have not done anything unsanitary regarding my travels to Thailand.

Oh well, as I said to begin with, a conundrum.

One new question: can I have my staff take my passport and application to the embassy here in Vientiane and pick it up the following day? Or must I go in person? Thank you in advance for the answer.

Some additional points and thanks: I had 24 pages added to my passport in 2012, it expires in 2018; which is better option, second 24 pages or just get new passport? Thank you everyone for the CM consulate passport suggestion, I had not considered that at all and it could really work out well, as there is a 90 day window to the process, so even missing the new passport in August, I could claim it in November.

Visa in Tokyo: new and onerous visa rules have emerged from the Thai Embassy in Japan.

http://www.thaiembassy.jp/rte2/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=618&Itemid=61

and the deal breaker for me

http://www.thaiembassy.jp/rte2/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=607%3Atourist-visa&catid=51%3Avisa&Itemid=61

specifically: 7. For non-Japanese applicant, an original guarantee letter must be presented together with a copy of guarantor’s passport or driving license duly signed by the guarantor.

lol,

Thanks again, wonderful community here, I will try to participate more in the future, but I humbly fear neither my opinion nor expertise are of sufficient merit.

You will have to do the application for the visa in person. They allow somebody to pick up your passport. Just don't do the application on Monday or Thursday those are very busy days because that is when the visa run vans arrive.

I would think a new passport would be better. Plus you will get a 52 page passport if you apply here.

You could though get the pages added to at the embassy in Vientiane. It should not take more than a couple of hours. It would probably be the last page you could get added. Starting in January you cannot get pages added anymore.

The guarantor should not be that big a problem. Perhaps your employer. From 7.

""**A guarantor must be twenty (20) years of age or older, legally residing in Japan, must be able to confirm aspects of applicant’s personal attributes such as name, age, physical description and some personal information and must be available to be contacted by the Embassy".

Since you are working a Japanese agency you might be able to get a multiple entry non-b visa for your trips to Thailand. Just some documents from your employer should make it easy especially it they have some projects here you might visit.