Am I correct in assuming it's best to re-enter Thailand a day or so before the enter before date on your visa? I'm worried that if I entered on the actual date, I'd run into problems.

Most people do it the day before, yes?

If you delay anything until the last moment things may go haywire !

I suppose strictly speaking if it says ENTER BEFORE 20th August. Then you cannot enter on the 20th, as it's not BEFORE. So the last date you could enter would be the 19th.

That's purely my interpretation. I'm sure one of the forum experts will be able to clarify fully.

For example, my visa says enter before Sept. 1, so I will go and do a border run on Aug. 31.

If it says "enter before", it probably means "enter before".

For example, my visa says enter before Sept. 1, so I will go and do a border run on Aug. 31.

"Enter before" means "enter before midnight on ..", so you would be OK if entering on the 1st of September.

Sophon

One of the frequently asked questions

Confusion by "not so clear wording" (never use the word "wrong" in Thailand ),

Other nations have found better phrases.

Wish I could tell from own experience instead of theory,

But I am quite sure: you can use it on the "ENTER BEFORE" date.

If you look at the "DATE OF ISSUE" and "ENTER BEFORE", you will see that is a difference of three calendar months MINUS ONE DAY,

E.g. ISSUE DATE=5 FEB 2013, ENTER BEFORE=4 MAY 2013

(tons of pictures in the internet to compare)

That is what Thai immigration understands as a "three month validity".

So no need to go on minus two days.

@DanceAllNight: could you write down your specific dates to confirm?

Special case for the 3 months minus one day rule:

visa issued on the first of a month (April 1, valid until June 30, not a joke):

http://weltreise-fotos.woanderssein.com/vn-saigon/vietnam-saigon-thai-visa.jpg

Edited August 28, 201510 yr by KhunBENQ