In your opinion, do you think the proposed plan to limit people from doing border runs to two land crossings per year is a good idea?

 

Please feel free to leave a comment.  

 

Here's a link to the recent thread on this matter:  

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/959042-only-2-visa-exempt-entries-at-border-crossings-per-calendar-year-effective-dec-31st/?page=14

 

 Sorry Scott,  but there should be one more option asking if "real tourists" should be allowed to do more land crossings.

 

          The whole change was basically because too many people are working on tourist visas.

 

           But people who have a Thai wife/child and enough cash should be allowed to do as many border crossings as they want. But this change will also have a very negative effect on let's call them "genuine tourists." 

 

      And those who do not read about all the changes might get a strange wake-up call while his wife's maybe waiting with the car on the other side of the bridge, and the IO is following his laws. 

 

         And that should be possible without applying for a Non-O. 

 

         

Edited December 24, 20169 yr by lostinisaan

I thought this was stopped years ago.

 

I used to get the bus to Mai Sai every 2 weeks (4 when G7 thing changed) and it would take 6/7 times before they told me to get TV.

 

Even before military took over I was under impression border runs were banned.

 

Turns out I was wrong.

 

I would love if it was still allowed.

1 hour ago, finy said:

I used to get the bus to Mai Sai every 2 weeks (4 when G7 thing changed) and it would take 6/7 times before they told me to get TV.

 

Even before military took over I was under impression border runs were banned.

 

Turns out I was wrong.

 

    Border runs to get VES were indeed banned at Mae Sai . It began in about 2012 when they set a limit of four VES , they then banned them completely in about 2014 at Mae Sai , although you could still get VES at other border crossings

A comment about spelling (grammar police) and several replies that resulted from it have been removed.

7 hours ago, lostinisaan said:

 Sorry Scott,  but there should be one more option asking if "real tourists" should be allowed to do more land crossings.

          The whole change was basically because too many people are working on tourist visas.

 

I don't buy the cover-story.  They could visit schools, bust some administrators and the illegal-teachers, put in on TV, and illegal working would stop in a month.

 

7 hours ago, lostinisaan said:

           But people who have a Thai wife/child and enough cash should be allowed to do as many border crossings as they want.

...

      And those who do not read about all the changes might get a strange wake-up call while his wife's maybe waiting with the car on the other side of the bridge, and the IO is following his laws. 

 

         And that should be possible without applying for a Non-O. 

 

Why would someone with the wife and cash not have a Non-O or marriage extension over the course of 3+ land-border out/ins within a year?

 

7 hours ago, lostinisaan said:

But this change will also have a very negative effect on let's call them "genuine tourists." 

 

Agree on this point.  The Visa Exempt really is specifically for short-term visitors (unlike Tourist Visas).  Previous restrictions on its use, however ill-defined, make this clear. 

 

This appears to be designed to prevent backpacker/explorer types from using Thailand as a hub, unless they can meet the METV requirements in their home-country.  Unfortunately, in some countries, the METV includes a crazy  'employment' requirement, which makes no sense for anyone but "weekenders" from nearby countries. 

7 hours ago, lostinisaan said:

 

 Sorry Scott,  but there should be one more option asking if "real tourists" should be allowed to do more land crossings.

 

          The whole change was basically because too many people are working on tourist visas.

 

           But people who have a Thai wife/child and enough cash should be allowed to do as many border crossings as they want. But this change will also have a very negative effect on let's call them "genuine tourists." 

 

      And those who do not read about all the changes might get a strange wake-up call while his wife's maybe waiting with the car on the other side of the bridge, and the IO is following his laws. 

 

         And that should be possible without applying for a Non-O. 

 

         

It is visa exempt entries that are being limited not crossings if a person has a valid visa for re-entry to the country.

We were in Malaysia when this was announced and our friends there were quite happy to learn that Malaysians are specifically excluded from this restriction.  That makes sense, since residents of neighboring countries often would like to travel back and forth for shopping and entertainment by land.  But, otherwise it doesn't make sense for others.  

It most certainly is not a good idea, any sensible person knows the reasons why, so I am not going to go through why it is so wrong.

It is their country so they can do what they like, but it is time they showed some respect for all  majority of decent people who want to come to Thailand whether long term or not.

Edited December 25, 20169 yr by possum1931
typo

2 hours ago, NancyL said:

We were in Malaysia when this was announced and our friends there were quite happy to learn that Malaysians are specifically excluded from this restriction.  That makes sense, since residents of neighboring countries often would like to travel back and forth for shopping and entertainment by land.  But, otherwise it doesn't make sense for others.  

Thailand is a poor country with gobs of housing available.   Many made Thailand their second home while working elsewhere.   Why does Thailand not want these people ?  Cambodia wants them.  Also, if you are non Malaysian and you are visa exempt working in Penang, you now can only pass a land border twice in one year ?   What is the Thai government protecting its people from ?  It is another shakedown by the current government, nothing more.

Yes of course they should -- but where is the thought, do this to stop ( illegal workers? Skint backpackers? ) then offer free visas at the embassy.

 

But we should be careful - Like Nienmöller wrote

 

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.

...

The authorities never seem to look at the bigger picture. Reminds me of a time before marriage, doing a monthly border run - free - 45 mins to the border. I was questioned, why didn't I have a 2 month tourist visa? Well, that's 1900B + 2 days in Penang .. Why don't I just come here for 100B in a van twice and spend the 4000B odd on myself.

 

Why don't they take a step back and look at the whole picture instead of this pin the donkey, blindfolded approach.

Edited December 25, 20169 yr by recom273

33 minutes ago, yellowboat said:

Thailand is a poor country with gobs of housing available.   Many made Thailand their second home while working elsewhere.   Why does Thailand not want these people ?  Cambodia wants them.  Also, if you are non Malaysian and you are visa exempt working in Penang, you now can only pass a land border twice in one year ?   What is the Thai government protecting its people from ?  It is another shakedown by the current government, nothing more.

 

 

 

Just a tighter net?

a single entry tourist visa with a 30 day extension  as well as two visa exempt entries in one year seems quite  a lot for a bonafide tourist. thats 150 days for a G7 resident. 

I think that 2 crossings is enough for a REAL TOURIST -  MANY people use "" visa"" runs to stay in Th for extended stays, or to work.  I have heard of a person who spends 11 months a year here, only 1 month a year IN his country, this is a total abuse of the system - why immigration has not caught him is a mystery, he supposedly uses different entry points.

A better system might be an additional 2 entries allowed after a person  has been out of Th 6 or more months.. Just am opinion

Edited December 25, 20169 yr by edwardflory
spelling corrected

Mine and everybody else's opinion will change nothing, so i tend to ignore meaningless surveys.

3 minutes ago, edwardflory said:

I have heard of a person who spends 11 months a year here, only 1 month a year IN his country, this is a total abuse of the system - why immigration has not caught him is a mystery

 

   The reason why immigration hasnt caught him, is because he has done nothing wrong .

   Many people have stayed in Thailand on VES ,tourist visa  for years and never leaving the Country, apart from going to get new visas in neighboring countries

Just now, yellowboat said:

Thailand is a poor country with gobs of housing available.   Many made Thailand their second home while working elsewhere.   Why does Thailand not want these people ?  Cambodia wants them.  Also, if you are non Malaysian and you are visa exempt working in Penang, you now can only pass a land border twice in one year ?   What is the Thai government protecting its people from ?  It is another shakedown by the current government, nothing more.

A shakedown usually involves money and i see no money gain here,in fact the opposite.A better choice of word would have been cleanout.

Just now, recom273 said:

Yes of course they should -- but where is the thought, do this to stop ( illegal workers? Skint backpackers? ) then offer free visas at the embassy.

 

But we should be careful - Like Nienmöller wrote

 

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.

...

The authorities never seem to look at the bigger picture. Reminds me of a time before marriage, doing a monthly border run - free - 45 mins to the border. I was questioned, why didn't I have a 2 month tourist visa? Well, that's 1900B + 2 days in Penang .. Why don't I just come here for 100B in a van twice and spend the 4000B odd on myself.

 

Why don't they take a step back and look at the whole picture instead of this pin the donkey, blindfolded approach.

Typical,looking at the issue from your point of view and thinking they should look at your big picture.Why not look at it from Thai govts view point and the reasons why.

12 hours ago, lostinisaan said:

 

 Sorry Scott,  but there should be one more option asking if "real tourists" should be allowed to do more land crossings.

 

          The whole change was basically because too many people are working on tourist visas.

 

           But people who have a Thai wife/child and enough cash should be allowed to do as many border crossings as they want. But this change will also have a very negative effect on let's call them "genuine tourists." 

 

      And those who do not read about all the changes might get a strange wake-up call while his wife's maybe waiting with the car on the other side of the bridge, and the IO is following his laws. 

 

         And that should be possible without applying for a Non-O. 

 

         

Yes I agree with lostinisaan as I have used it a couple of times for convenience 

5 minutes ago, louse1953 said:

This is quite easily done with the right visa for the circumstances,gay folk excluded.Visa exempt is for tourists,not long stay cheap charlies.

"This is quite easily done with the right visa for the circumstances"

Really? What about the under fifties who do not want to get married? Elite visa?? Pay 500.000Bt, keep reporting every 90 days, get nothing in return while still contributing to the Thai economy.

Homosexuals? What have they got to do with it? Long stay Cheap Charlies? Please explain.

20 minutes ago, edwardflory said:

I think that 2 crossings is enough for a REAL TOURIST -  MANY people use "" visa"" runs to stay in Th for extended stays, or to work.  I have heard of a person who spends 11 months a year here, only 1 month a year IN his country, this is a total abuse of the system - why immigration has not caught him is a mystery, he supposedly uses different entry points.

A better system might be an additional 2 entries allowed after a person  has been out of Th 6 or more months.. Just am opinion

 

Fly to Thailand and tour around a bit.  Go to Myanmar and tour around a bit.  Re-enter Thailand (strike 1) and visit another region of the country, and head down to Malaysia.  Re-enter Thailand (strike 2) explore some more, then head to Cambodia. 

 

Now you cannot come back to Thailand by land, even if you only spent 30 days total in Thailand during all that time. 

 

The workaround is to get Tourist Visas every time and/or break up your travels with scheduled-flights, and/or use re-entry permits.  Reasonable rules for the METV could also solve this - at any Thai consulate, show us you have 200K Baht right now to spend = here you go, have fun.

 
 Sorry Scott,  but there should be one more option asking if "real tourists" should be allowed to do more land crossings.
 
          The whole change was basically because too many people are working on tourist visas.
 
           But people who have a Thai wife/child and enough cash should be allowed to do as many border crossings as they want. But this change will also have a very negative effect on let's call them "genuine tourists." 
 
      And those who do not read about all the changes might get a strange wake-up call while his wife's maybe waiting with the car on the other side of the bridge, and the IO is following his laws. 
 
         And that should be possible without applying for a Non-O. 
 
         

Lostinisaan.
You being a teacher, I would have expected you to know the difference between limiting the visa exempt entry at a land border and a tourist visa.
I don't see how someone working illegally on a tourist visa would have any bearing on Thailand limiting 2 visa exempt entries per calendar year. If that was the case I think they would be more inclined to crack down on tourist visas. I am willing to bet that more people are working illegally using a tourist visa than there are using the visa exempt method.

2 hours ago, possum1931 said:

It most certainly is not a good idea, any sensible person knows the reasons why, so I am not going to go through why it is so wrong.

It is their country so they can do what they like, but it is time they showed some respect for all  majority of decent people who want to come to Thailand whether long term or not.

Long Termers, (removed ) get the Visa and be done with it, thevisa exempt policy was meant for tourists.

 

Edited December 25, 20169 yr by TunnelRat69
poor choice of words, they are legal.

1 minute ago, TunnelRat69 said:

Long Termers, get legal, 

 

 

  We are here legally, not sure what you mean by "get legal"

6 minutes ago, TunnelRat69 said:

Long Termers, get legal, get the Visa and be done with it, thevisa exempt policy was meant for tourists.

 

You make it all sound so simple, and some people have to risk there lives on mini buses for in and out visa stamps.

1 hour ago, edwardflory said:

I have heard of a person who spends 11 months a year here, only 1 month a year IN his country, this is a total abuse of the system - why immigration has not caught him is a mystery, he supposedly uses different entry points.

 

not sure how long he has been doing this, and i agree 11 months is pushing it a bit, but he may have been stopped already, questioned, and allowed to proceed.  you say he hasn't been 'caught' but that may be different than stopped and questioned.  more and more people are being 'interviewed' by immigration at airports and land borders.  i had my interview several years ago and have had no problems staying in thailand on a combo of tourist visas and visa exempt entries (8-9 months a year).

 

on to the main topic:

i don't have a big issue with the 2 crossing limit but i'm not sure it is really going to do a whole lot.  the days of the regular visa runners are long gone.  you used to see 'visa run' signs on every block of pattaya, phuket, and tourist areas of bangkok.  and every guy you talked to complained about having to do another visa run to get 30 more days.  now i don't see those signs at all (although i haven't been to pattaya in 8 years) and no one i know on the beer drinking circuit around sukhumvit are doing border runs to get another 30 days.  they also seemed to have cracked down on the ED visas so that approach doesn't work all that well anymore (fewer people here doing it that way).

 

i am also not sure this new plan will help weed out the good guys versus the bad guys.  i'm not exactly sure what defines the two but it isn't real difficult to find a thai woman to settle down with if you are a 'bad guy'.  then stay based on marriage.  maybe you are a 'good guy' if you have 400,000thb in the bank (which qualifies you for the marriage stay). 

 

i think the system that has been used over the last couple of years has done alot to get rid of the 'bad guys' and really see no reason to make further changes.  just keep interviewing people at checkpoints.  in some cases you can be interviewed on a street corner !!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

5 minutes ago, sanemax said:

 

  We are here legally, not sure what you mean by "get legal"

BTW  I voted NO...............think it should be limited to 3...........very few true tourists enter/exit/re-enter/exit more than a couple times on one vacation...........its the others then want to limit, I stand by my comment 'long termers, get the visa'  The subject is visa at the border, not choice of transportation.   Merry Christmas

First they took away the triple entry visa which was great for me as I could spend 60 days at a time in Thailand and visit nearby countries without a problem. Now they implement a restrictive measure for land crossings which will certainly affect travellers like myself who like to roam around by train and bus and boat so I can see stuff. I use planes as a last resort. Bangkok is an awesome hub for visiting neighbouring countries and I would like to see it kept that way.

Perhaps if they tried to find the bad guys and just kick them out (after all they supposedly know where everyone is staying), they wouldn't have to ruin it for us travellers.

Merry Christmas to all.

1 minute ago, TunnelRat69 said:

BTW  I voted NO...............think it should be limited to 3...........very few true tourists enter/exit/re-enter/exit more than a couple times on one vacation...........its the others then want to limit, I stand by my comment 'long termers, get the visa'  The subject is visa at the border, not choice of transportation.   Merry Christmas

 

Most of us "long termers" have already got the appropriate non-imm visa plus subsequent legitimate annual extensions of stay, thank you very much!!

I get the distinct impression that you guys who live in Thailand and are married to a Thai girl, look down on guys who stay in Thailand on tourist visas, like a form of snobbery. You go on about 'real tourists' like anyone else is  second class. 

Unless of course you can tell me why you don't like people staying on tourist visas. I was coming there but the stupid laws 90 day visa runs out me off. 

 Now I know a few of you will say good, we don't want your type here any way, but I am interested to know why.