Hello,

Thanks for very valuable information here in the past.

Time flies and I now realize that, out of the last 16 months, I have soon spent 12 months in the Kingdom. I have obtained tourist visas in Yangon Aug 2014, Phnom Penh Apr 2015 and Svannakhet Aug 2015 (double entry). (Extending the two months tourist visa to three months every time.)

When my Thai visa runs out, I plan to go to Myanmar for a couple of weeks and then return to Thailand for one last visit (using this passport) on tourist visa before going back to Sweden to get a new passport and restart visiting Thailand again.

Is there any limit to the number of tourist visas in your passport, accepted by Thai consulates? Is there any risk I can be denied tourist visa when I apply next time? I will possibly apply at the Thai embassy in Yangon.

Edited December 20, 201510 yr by thailandsgreat

No limits as far as i know

There is no limit on the number of tourist visas you can have.

The only limit can be the number you can get from one embassy or consulate back to back.

You will have not problem getting another tourist visa..

What you need is a report on Yangoon specifically. Each consulate applies its own rules as to when they think you have "too many." For some, the equation seems to be based on "how many from consulates in this country" more than "how many total."

I got blue-stamped at Vientiene on visa #2 after a 7 month break out of Thailand. Granted, I had several from them earlier - each pair broken up by several months out of country. All was well when I returned with a new passport - which sounds as though is your plan, as well.

Given on what you have now, Penang would be the best bet based on my reading of the recent tea-leaves, but perhaps someone with experience with Yangoon can provide better odds on their policy.

Edited December 20, 201510 yr by JackThompson

Thank you, guys. I get the idea. I may give Yangon the first try.

I remember the Thai Embassy in Yangon asks for air ticket INTO Thailand. So I will prepare that.

If they would refuse my application I would then have an air ticket to Thailand but no visa. What would happen if I still tried to go. (Just wishing to stay a few days in Bangkok to find good/cheap flight to Penang or similar.)

Would Air Asia let me board (in Yangon) for Bangkok without visa?

What period of stay would I likely be given when I arrive by air, without visa, in Bangkok? (I carry Swedish passport.)

Thanks.

Edited December 20, 201510 yr by thailandsgreat

You will not have a problem getting a tourist visa in Yangon with the history you have. And it has been over a year since the last one you got from them.

Thanks ubonjoe. Your advice have been useful to me many times.

Only thing for me now will be be to prepare for Yangon high season hotel prices

Mentioned this before fella I know age 74 was pulled into a room on his last visit,they photo copied his passport and was told unless he got a proper visa,always comes on 30 day entry he would not be allowed to enter next time. He comes every year 3/4 times year and has done for the last 10 years no problem, yes he should have get a visa but he said why should I ? I am doing nothing wrong, only stays 28 days, he said if they don't want my business I will go elsewhere.

Mentioned this before fella I know age 74 was pulled into a room on his last visit,they photo copied his passport and was told unless he got a proper visa,always comes on 30 day entry he would not be allowed to enter next time. He comes every year 3/4 times year and has done for the last 10 years no problem, yes he should have get a visa but he said why should I ? I am doing nothing wrong, only stays 28 days, he said if they don't want my business I will go elsewhere.

Haha. At least he doesn't come from Sweden. I can't imagine that Stockholm airport would let him board without a visa.

I flew Stockholm-Phnom Penh last year. I have arrived in PP many times. The visa on arrival procedure is simple and standardized. But Stockholm check-in held me back and insisted that I buy a "return ticket". Swedish managers from Thai and SAS were called and were very rude and also lied. They said their information came from "authorities".

Furtunately I kept my calm and just said they were wrong. They called others that surfed the Internet for visa regulations.

After about 40 min they let me board. Still rude.

I wrote complaints to both airlines. Just got one meaningless reply from SAS.

They still use erroneous database for visa regulations.

Edited December 21, 201510 yr by thailandsgreat

"Is there any limit to the number of tourist visas in your passport, accepted by Thai consulates?"

I estimate that if your passport has 30 pages, then the maximum number of visas in your passport will be approximately 26, to allow space for the entry/exit stamps....

Is Vientiane strict on back-to-back tourist visas? How many of them are tolerated in one passport during one year?

In the past it was 3 back to back visas when they could still do 2 entry visas. Back to back means getting one and then when it runs out going back to Vientiane for another one.

I assume it will be the same for single entry visas.

I used the proper terminology. Tourist visas were issued as 1, 2 or 3 entries before.

Something has changed here. Can I not get the 2 entry visa (2x60 they called it in Savannakhet) in Vientiane any more? Is it still available in Savannakhet? Do Savannakhet allow back to back visas or must I have a single entry Thai visa from somewhere else in between? Or just stay a month in Cambodia f.ex.?

Thanks

Edited December 22, 201510 yr by thailandsgreat

Something has changed here. Can I not get the 2 entry visa (2x60 they called it in Savannakhet) in Vientiane any more? Is it still available in Savannakhet? Do Savannakhet allow back to back visas or must I have a single entry Thai visa from somewhere else in between? Or just stay a month in Cambodia f.ex.?

Thanks

Since November 13th when the new multiple entry tourist visa (METV became available only it or a single entry tourist visa can be issued anywhere.

To get a METV you would have to apply in your home country.

Something has changed here. Can I not get the 2 entry visa (2x60 they called it in Savannakhet) in Vientiane any more? Is it still available in Savannakhet? Do Savannakhet allow back to back visas or must I have a single entry Thai visa from somewhere else in between? Or just stay a month in Cambodia f.ex.?

Thanks

Since November 13th when the new multiple entry tourist visa (METV became available only it or a single entry tourist visa can be issued anywhere.

To get a METV you would have to apply in your home country.

Thanks. I found the big thread for METV. I'll read up on it. Like you say. Good for getting the first Thai visa in my home country.

Or I may have to try for the non-O visa when I leave my country for Thailand next year. I have no permanent address in Thailand, but the non-O can be extended by 90 day visa runs, as I understand. No need to report permanent address every 90 days with the non-O, I think.

Edited December 22, 201510 yr by thailandsgreat

Mentioned this before fella I know age 74 was pulled into a room on his last visit,they photo copied his passport and was told unless he got a proper visa,always comes on 30 day entry he would not be allowed to enter next time. He comes every year 3/4 times year and has done for the last 10 years no problem, yes he should have get a visa but he said why should I ? I am doing nothing wrong, only stays 28 days, he said if they don't want my business I will go elsewhere.

I can understand his feelings as I did pretty well what he has done for several years to, and until I applied for my extension to stay.

What a lot of people don't realize as many people who come here come here from working overseas. Many work 28 days in row 12 hours shifts, then get 28 days off. Many work in Jungles or Deserts were applying for a Visa from the country they are working in is not always possible. Most will have company that will fly them to wherever they want to go but they are not travel agents either. They will not fly you here for a week, and then there for another 3 weeks. Just one way there and back again.

So for him to get a Visa he would have to fly to another country first, apply for his Visa there, then pay for his trip to Thailand and back, so he could catch his flight back to work. So he would lose a week piddling around plus spend money on a 2 month visa he can only use once. To be quite honest and if I was him and I didn't have roots here, I would go someplace else to.

If I did have roots here, then I would try to set something up on a Retirement Visa, or and Elite Card, and get a Multi-Entry Visa at the Immigration Office. Then problem solved for 5 years or longer.

I got a tourist visa in Yangon, but had to make an interview. The Thai was very polite and spoke perfect English. Except Thai and my home country I have multiple stamps from about 5 countries in the region during the last 2 years. Also stays there for months at a time, not only visa runs.

He mentioned the difficulties to follow the movements of long time stayers and to exclude traffickers. But he was very polite and I got an early impression that it would be OK.

Of course there are no fixed rules and I can't force them to tell. But my impression is that to avoid any questions, one should **return to one's home country once a year**, if one stays on repeated tourist visas. Applying for a tourist visa in my home country would "restart the process".

So since I must go back to my home country this summer the situation will resolve for me. But I may have to skip a short hop to Cambodia and back, that I had planned.

He also naturally recommended retirement visa. I have got the amount requested in a Thai bank, but since I still like to move around in Thailand I don't fulfill the demand to have a fixed address, unfortunately.

We didn't discuss the Non-O in detail. I just mentioned what I had heard about applying abroad for Non-O and renewing it at 90 days intervals by visa runs and not by proving fixed address. But then he mentioned medical treatment and other reasons.