My wife and I have planned a trip from the US to Thailand. We have made plane reservations in which the time duration between our first arrival at Chiang Mai and our final departure from Chiang Mai is about 3 months and 5 days. We are planning to make Chiang Mai our base of operations, and we'll make frequent side trips to neighboring countries for tourism purposes. So our schedule will be something like 10 days in CM, 12 days in Malaysia/Singapore, 8 days in CM, 18 days in southern China, 14 days in CM, and so on. We haven't made flight reservations for our side trips yet, or even determined the order in which we will visit the countries.

It seems to me, from all my reading here, that the best way for us to proceed is to get a 3-entry tourist visa from the Thai Embassy in Washington, DC. I've gotten the application and instructions from their website (thaiembdc.org).

But there is one thing I have a question about. The instructions from the embassy, for applying for a "TR" tourist visa, say that the applicant must provide the "itinerary (specific date and month) for person who apply more than 1 entry." I'm not sure what they're looking for here. I certainly don't know the dates or even the destinations of our side trips. I do know the dates of our initial arrival in Thailand and our final departure from Thailand, but I don't think that's what they want to know here.

Does anyone have any knowledge of how to answer this question about our itinerary?

Thank you very much.

John

if your flying in an out of Thailand, use the 30 day visa exempt entry you can get for free

as long as ur time in Thailand is less than 30 days /trip

I would get only 1 entry tourist visa, so you do not have trouble boarding for your flight out of the states

Edited September 13, 201510 yr by phuketrichard

Thank you for your reply, Phuketrichard. I've thought about doing just that - using the 30-day visa exempt entry. But it is my understanding that when I arrive at Thailand without a visa, then I may have to show proof of departure out of Thailand within 30 days (like outbound plane reservations). I've read that some of the airlines that carry people into Thailand also require that. Now I absolutely plan to depart Thailand within 30 days of each arrival there, but I may be arriving in Thailand without having bought our tickets out of Thailand yet.

they want to know the dates of your travel because there is an expiry date for the TV (use before date) some people like to plan ahead and you could order your TV months before you planned travel date so it is important for them to know when you wich to actually use the visas so they can date them correctly

Thank you, Smedly. Perhaps I should enter estimated dates for my side trips out of Thailand, to show the Thai Embassy people that I will indeed be re-entering Thailand 3 times within the 3-month validity period of the visa? I just don't want to be held strictly to the dates of travel which I enter in my visa application, when I am in Thailand. Everything I read about visiting Thailand shows that the visitors in Thailand do have flexibility about their travel plans, as long as they observe the general rules about visas. So I am hoping that I will have that same flexibility when I am in Thailand.

Thank you, Smedly. Perhaps I should enter estimated dates for my side trips out of Thailand, to show the Thai Embassy people that I will indeed be re-entering Thailand 3 times within the 3-month validity period of the visa? I just don't want to be held strictly to the dates of travel which I enter in my visa application, when I am in Thailand. Everything I read about visiting Thailand shows that the visitors in Thailand do have flexibility about their travel plans, as long as they observe the general rules about visas. So I am hoping that I will have that same flexibility when I am in Thailand.

A 3 entry tourist visa usually has a validity of 6 months.

All you need do is provide an indicative itinerary ...............you will not be required to adhere to it.

Thank you, Oncearugge. I like the idea that it just needs to be an indicative itinerary. That way I don't have to worry about being bound by the itinerary I present. That puts my mind at ease.

want they want is a letter explaining what you are going to do in thailand that simple

where are you staying what are your plans while in thailand

No, they want a travel itinerary, which in my opinion is a list of a least all planned dates for arrival in and departure from Thailand. With an application for a triple-entry tourist visa, I would give something like this:

Itinerary

(subject to timely receipt of visa)

[date] arrival in Thailand

[date] departure from Thailand

[date] arrival in Thailand

[date] departure from Thailand

[date] arrival in Thailand

[date] departure from Thailand

Subject to change depending on circumstances as they may arise.

Details of transport will be decided upon later, after receipt of the visa.

Thank you for your reply, Phuketrichard. I've thought about doing just that - using the 30-day visa exempt entry. But it is my understanding that when I arrive at Thailand without a visa, then I may have to show proof of departure out of Thailand within 30 days (like outbound plane reservations). I've read that some of the airlines that carry people into Thailand also require that. Now I absolutely plan to depart Thailand within 30 days of each arrival there, but I may be arriving in Thailand without having bought our tickets out of Thailand yet.

flying in and around asia they never ever ask as they know u can either get a voa or visa exempt ( except Myanmar)

hence reason i said get a single entry,

you dont need pay all that $$ for a triple entry that you wont need

Whenever necessary I made a reservation to fly out on a certain date, printed it and then cancelled the reservation. Normally you can hold a reservation for a week or so. Never cost me anything. Enough time to print out the itinerary and have one in case the immigration demanded one.

Thank you, everybody, for your comments and advice.