I noticed that Laos and Bali allegedly offer double and triple entry tourist visa's, while almost all other embassies/consulates only offer single-entry TR visas.

Now my question is :

If you do get such a double or triple entry TR visa, is there any guarantee that the immigration officer at the border will actually honor your second, let alone third entry ?

Apparently the officer at the border has the final word anyway, so if he -for whatever reason- suspects that you might be working illegally, or are not a "real tourist" in some way, then he might just refuse you right there at the border and you'd be stuck in Malaysia/Laos/Myanmar/.... or get thrown in a detention cell until you pay a flight back to your home country (in case you tried activating your second or third entry by flying in) ... ?

This would make such TR visa's a highly uncertain and risky proposition - you pay for multiple entries at the embassy, but then get refused when you try to "activate" your additional entries ... ?

Does anyone have experience with this ?

Immigration officers granting the second/third entry without making issues - or terrible problems/outright refusal when trying to use the second/third entry ?

Thanks for the feedback!

Immigration Officers will not refuse entry to someone using a double or triple entry tourist visa providing the visa is valid.

There are only a very limited number of reasons that would cause an IO to refuse an entry. Refusal would involve a Senior Officer , paperwork etc. Not something undertaken on a whim.

Anybody refused entry has a right of appeal

You are worrying unnecessarily and possibly confusing problems some people have when entering under visa exemption (not holding a visa).

One common problem people cause themselves, that you may read about, is trying to enter/activate the 2nd or 3rd entry after the 'enter before' date has expired. 2 or 3 entry TR's are valid for 6 months from the issue date and all entries must be made within that 6 month window. If you don't use your 2nd or 3rd entry before this date they will be lost and the IO will not honour them.

To my knowledge entries denied at land borders are only applied to those without a visa that want to enter multiple times under visa exemption. Illegal workers mostly use land borders and IO's get away with bending the rules, in their pursuit of illegal workers, because there is little consequence. If denied entry the worst that could happen is the foreigner would be sent back in to the neighbouring country. No one gets thrown in jail or made to fly back to their home country. Those denied are being told to go and get a visa before trying to re-enter. As you would have a visa you won't have a problem.

IO's have the right to interview anyone, regardless of the visa they are holding, about the purpose of their stay, but if you're holding a valid TR then you should be granted entry without any problem, and as long as your visa hasn't expired the 2nd and 3rd entry will always be honoured.

As was pointed out a double or entry tourist visa starts the day it is issued.... NOT on the day you enter Thailand.

Some consulates in South East Asia issue double or triple entry visa with a 90 day valid period.

As you MUST use ALL your entries before the visa expiration date, trying to use all three entries in 90 days is a almost useless exercise.

If you know what you are doing and you understand he limitations of a double or triple entry tourist visa and use it properly a triple entry tourist visa with a 180 day "must enter before" date when issued at the issuing Thai consulate can be "stretched" by the intelligent use of 30 day extensions at 1900 Baht per extension for at least 240 days or even more.

Do you realize that even after a triple entry visa is actually expired and you are on your 3rd entry you can still extend that 3rd entry at y our local immigration for another 30 days for the standard 1900 Baht per extension?

Yes it is legal, and can be done.

But if you are off by one day over the "must enter before" date and still have one entry left on a triple entry visa...... you last entry is voided.

And I have never had a problem using a double entry or triple entry tourist visa intelligently....even if that required flying into Thailand and not doing a land crossing of a border for that 3rd entry.

The clue is to LOOK like a newbie tourist..... but don't ACT like one.... and don't fall for the newbie tourist scams.

As the OP correctly surmised, there is no absolute guarantee that the holder of a tourist visa will be given the duration of permission to stay based on that visa.

What does the visa expiration date mean?

That said, I can remember no report on Thaivisa where a traveller with a tourist visa was denied entry.

If they did not (work), there would be absolutely no point for all these hordes of visa runners to go all the way to Vientiane to get bored to death for 3 days/ spend 24h in a smelly van or bus / pay for accommodation / get scammed by touts or agents/ queue at Embassy / face stroppy embassy officers and moody immigration officers.