Start Counting From Oct 1st? Can We Trust This?

[mallmagician]

Hi,

I apologise if this has already been covered, but do we know the truth and absolute judgement on when they start counting on this Visa issue?

I have just done a Visa run, and am now in the position where I have three in the past six months in my passport. Is my next run gonna cause issues? Or is it confirmed that I have 90 days from 1st October?

Please help, I need to plan other options if I need to leave before Christmas.

(I am English, 27, Single, Not working, tourist!)

Thanks

Phil

[mallmagician]

I'm suprised this has been on here without a response for a couple of hours. Not that I'm impatient, but, perhaps it paints a picture of the uncertainty of everyone as to the true picture with this new crackdown.

Have people merely read the quote that they want to read stating that this all starts counting FROM the 1st October? Have people latched onto this quote, and trusted it implicitly because it suits their cause? Will this be the downfall of many who are no longer looking for alternative solutions for the next few months? Or is it from a trusted source that speaks not only the truth, but that that truth will reach the neccesary borders come October 1st?

I know I am maybe being a tad dramatic, but it is important to all those who do Visa Runs. I know I'm not the only one affected by this, and look to all you TV-ers for any insight or answers you may have.

Sunbelt Asia - What is your understanding?

Kind Regards, and thanks to all,

Phil

[Maizefarmer]

The 90 day rule starts from the 1st Oct - total days spent in Thailand before the 1st are a non-issue, it is only from 1st October onbwards that they will be counting the days i.e. the rule is NOT retroactive.

Tim

[mallmagician]

Hi Maizefarmer,

This is my understanding too from the last quote on TV from some Chief. However, we have had a lot of contradictory, and blurry "facts" from these powers that be. How certain can we be?

Have you (or anyone) had any official confirmation of this from a Thai Consulate, or a border?

Thanks

Phil

[jdinasia]

Ranong confirmed it ..... as did the Phuket Imm office

[geoffphuket]

From the Thai consulate in Birmingham Uk

http://www.thailand-visa.com/

Welcome to the Royal Thai Consulate Birmingham.

The Thai authorities have recently announced changes to the way in which they will deal with tourists entering Thailand for up to 30 days without a valid visa and as there is some confusion as to the exact meaning of this announcement we hope that this explanation will help clarify the situation.

The most important point to understand is that this only affects people who do not have a valid visa. If you have a valid visa there is no change at all to the way your travel arrangements will be dealt with and you need read no further.

If you are entering the Kingdom of Thailand without a valid visa there is a concession which allows you to do so providing that the following conditions are ALL fulfilled.

1. Your Passport is on a list of passports approved for this purpose. It is likely to be but please check if you are in doubt.

2. Your visit to the Kingdom of Thailand is for tourism purposes only.

3. You hold a confirmed air ticket to leave the Kingdom within 30 days direct from a Thai airport. Please note that you must travel by air and travel from an an airport outside of Thailand does not count.

This has been the rule for many years and nothing has changed in this regard. The only thing that has changed is that these rules are going to be applied more strictly than in the past. This means that you will not be allowed into the Kingdom of Thailand without a valid visa unless you can fulfil all of the above conditions. In addition to this anyone who has entered the three times in succession without a valid visa will be automatically barred from entering the Kingdom under any circumstances for 90 days from the date of the last exit.

Note that this enforcement of the current rules are intended to end the practice of a person without a valid visa going to the border every 30 days.

Please also be aware that Airlines often check if passengers have either a valid visa or a return ticket within 30 days and will exclude you from boarding a flight to Thailand if you have neither. The Thai authorities have asked Airlines to be more vigilant in this respect.

The last point is that this 30 days only applies if your total stay is up to 30 days. It is not a free 30 days which can be added to the length of your visa as some people seem to think.

All Visa application forms are now available in Acrobat Reader Version 5 or above and Microsoft Word. If you have an old version of Acrobat Reader, you can download a free version from http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html.

Kind Regards

Geoff Howard, Hon Consul for Thailand.

[PeaceBlondie]

GeoffPhuket, I just read the consul's statement, and I can't see that it answers mallmagician's question. And I can't help but sympathize with mall. Anybody who's sitting with a passport full of recent 30 day stamps has his present and future tenses being very tense right now.

mall, the US Embassy in Thailand issued a statement this week that some folks really didn't like, because it was vague. Well, American bureaucracies, like most of them in Europe and the UK, are pedantic. They don't issue official statements based upon rumours. "Rumors" was an album by Fleetwood Mac.

Nothing is even half ertain in Thailand. The "rule of law" here is a nebulous haze wrapped in an enigma, enclosed within a taco. I finally gave up trying to work in Thailand, after being illegal for two years, because it was too darned hard to be legal and work, too. So now I'm legal and don't even try to work.

Good luck, mallmagician.