I was wondering with the army in power now how does this affect immigration for Thai nationals. I read on a post in a different forum that Thai nationals can not leave the country under martial law, is this true? I hope not as my wife has submitted the application for a settlement visa last week Friday.

Whatever the politics I hope there is no blood spilt.

Peace. D

Does anyone know how this will affect people crossing the border for visa purposes from today onwards? I am due to go Friday. Will there be any problems re-entering Thailand?

2 Thais who are traveling today have confirmed the following for me (I need to know for my gf):

If your last name is Thaksin or you're in government or military and "on his side", you're probably out of luck.

However, regular Thai people are able to leave the country without a problem.

I know there are bigger issues and concerns both for Thai nationals and expats living in Thiland right now, but I have to believe without a democratically elected PM the US and maybe other countries will take a wait and see attitude before ussuing new visa's. I believe they will not issue visa's until this settles down, and settling down may mean a new election.

Comments???

I wish the Thai people all the best!

i crossed the border on the 19th without issue at saodao (INto thailand). there were koreans. 'pilapeenos' and thais as well as a russian and some odd guy of slavic orgin not russian. no issues.

cmon' this is like the 18th coup, life goes on.

there were LOTS of military millling about.

Edited September 21, 200620 yr by h5n1

Thanks for clearing that up for me. Wife got visa today and shall be coming to the UK next month. Apparently there is a lot of army boys outside Thaksin’s house 20k outside chiang mai where my wife’s family are from. Look Thaksin’s house!

2 Thais who are traveling today have confirmed the following for me (I need to know for my gf):

If your last name is Thaksin or you're in government or military and "on his side", you're probably out of luck.

However, regular Thai people are able to leave the country without a problem.

Well, Thaksin is the first name, but if your family name ist "Shinawatra", you better watch out...

I know there are bigger issues and concerns both for Thai nationals and expats living in Thiland right now, but I have to believe without a democratically elected PM the US and maybe other countries will take a wait and see attitude before ussuing new visa's. I believe they will not issue visa's until this settles down, and settling down may mean a new election.

Comments???

I wish the Thai people all the best!

Well, I was at the US embassy this morning and it was business as usual...

My impression of the coverage by the foreign press is they are trying really hard to find and sensationalize any negative about the current situation, which in fact, is hugely popular in Thailand. Both Thais and expats are going about their day to day lives and as far as most are concerned this has actually quieted down what was on it way to being a very ugly situation.

TH