Ok, I realize answering this question is probably going to be difficult.

 

Firstly, I am a normal tourist, normally visiting twice a year. I stay in Thailand for about 45-50 days in total.

 

This year I arrived overland from Laos on the 6th of january, hence I received my first overland visa exempt stamp. I will be arriving overland again (from Laos) on the 12th of april. My third arrival will be somehwere in november.

 

Now, that would be three exempt stamps, so to be sure I could opt to get a TV for my third entry in november. But since I will get a new passport today, strictly speaking the entry last january has been made using a different passport and logically a different passport number.

 

I am wondering how immigration matches up those two exempt stamps, if they do it by passport number, I should be good to go and there would be no need to obtain a TV just to be allowed back into the country. If their computer systems are more advanced, they might be able to match on a combination of name, dob and country, in which case I stand a chance of not receiving that third stamp.

 

Oh just to add, I know arriving by air would make this problem go away, but the difference between airfares from Vientiane into Bangkok as opposed to Udon Thani or Nakhom Phanom are such that this is no option (also not I travel with a Lao citizen, so the price difference would be double). Also I might want to arrive via FSB III instead of going to either Savan or Vientiane to get that TV.

 

 

Edited March 10, 20179 yr by sjaak327

When you use your new passport the system will search your name, date of birth etc and will almost certainly link your passports.

 

You, not your passports, are limited to 2 entries, so get a visa for your third entry otherwise you will likely be denied entry.

The new passport and the old passport will be linked the first time you enter the country with the new passport. Getting a new passport does not erase your previous history on immigrations database.

Thanks guys, guess I will go via Vientiane to get that TV and then Udon to get back to Bangkok.

11 minutes ago, sjaak327 said:

Thanks guys, guess I will go via Vientiane to get that TV and then Udon to get back to Bangkok.

You could fly from Vientiane to Bangkok and get a visa exempt by air. Check Air Asia for flights. Buying the tickets in advance they should be available for a low cost.

Edit: Air Asia also flies to Bangkok from Luang Prabang.

39 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

You could fly from Vientiane to Bangkok and get a visa exempt by air. Check Air Asia for flights. Buying the tickets in advance they should be available for a low cost.

Edit: Air Asia also flies to Bangkok from Luang Prabang.

Thanks ubonjoe, didn't know Air Asia flies from VTE, I guess that's a recent addition to their flightschedule ?

 

Anyway, whilst cheaper than Lao Air and Thai Air, I don't really fancy flying with Air Asia, and arriving at DMK :)

 

Since I love Vientiane, and since last trip I could only spend one day there and next trip I will not have the time to go to Vientiane at all, I think I am going to opt for a longer visit this time.

 

So allow me to ask an additional question, I am guessing that friday would be the best day to apply in terms of queues ? simply because one has to wait until monday to collect the passport, is that assumption correct ?

 

In that case, I will go to Vientiane on thursday evening, stay four nights and collect the passport on monday and go via Udon straight to BKK instead of DMK.

7 minutes ago, sjaak327 said:

So allow me to ask an additional question, I am guessing that friday would be the best day to apply in terms of queues ? simply because one has to wait until monday to collect the passport, is that assumption correct ?

You assumption is correct. There will hardly be anybody there on a Friday.

3 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

You assumption is correct. There will hardly be anybody there on a Friday.

Excellent, thanks.

 

That air asia flight arrives in Bkk at 15;40 with the usual delay and getting your bags, that puts me into a cab at 17:00 from DMK, nightmare, I need to be at Thong Lor, much better to fly via Udon into BKK, no traffic except for Ekamai or Thong lor :)

Edited March 10, 20179 yr by sjaak327

4 minutes ago, sjaak327 said:

Excellent, thanks.

 

That air asia flight arrives in Bkk at 15;40 with the usual delay and getting your bags, that puts me into a cab at 17:00 from DMK, nightmare, I need to be at Thong Lor, much better to fly via Udon into BKK, no traffic except for Ekamai or Thong lor :)

When I have to go to Bangkok it is always been to DMK since they moved most of the domestic flights to there. I take the 30 baht airport bus to Morchit and take the BTS or MRT into town.

2 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

When I have to go to Bangkok it is always been to DMK since they moved most of the domestic flights to there. I take the 30 baht airport bus to Morchit and take the BTS or MRT into town.

Yes I know, I don't like to be on the BTS with a big suitcase :) I always use Thai Smile since they still fly into BKK. Oh and never take the ARL with a big suitcase either, last time I tried it from BKK had to get off at Ramkhamhaeng, but we had to start moving toward the doors one station before that and kept apologizing to the other passengers for trying to pass them with those suitcases :)

6 minutes ago, sjaak327 said:

Yes I know, I don't like to be on the BTS with a big suitcase :) I always use Thai Smile since they still fly into BKK. Oh and never take the ARL with a big suitcase either, last time I tried it from BKK had to get off at Ramkhamhaeng, but we had to start moving toward the doors one station before that and kept apologizing to the other passengers for trying to pass them with those suitcases :)

When I make trips it is only hand carry bags so not a problem. Some have even been day trips for a embassy run.

On 10.03.2017 at 1:13 PM, ubonjoe said:

The new passport and the old passport will be linked the first time you enter the country with the new passport. Getting a new passport does not erase your previous history on immigrations database.

What if my both first name and last name are spelt out slightly differently in the new pasport (not exactly the same as they were spelt in the previous one)? Will they still identify me as the same person with history or not?

17 minutes ago, MaksimMislavsky said:

What if my both first name and last name are spelt out slightly differently in the new pasport (not exactly the same as they were spelt in the previous one)? Will they still identify me as the same person with history or not?

They can still link someone by date of birth, nationality and the photos they will have from your past entries.

5 hours ago, MaksimMislavsky said:

What if my both first name and last name are spelt out slightly differently in the new pasport (not exactly the same as they were spelt in the previous one)? Will they still identify me as the same person with history or not?

I would say that is clearly in the "hard-to-say" category. I am sure their system tries to make the connection, but it may fail. Does your country make it easy to change the spelling of your name in official papers such as passports? I know my own country makes it very hard.

Edited March 12, 20179 yr by BritTim

6 hours ago, MaksimMislavsky said:

What if my both first name and last name are spelt out slightly differently in the new pasport (not exactly the same as they were spelt in the previous one)? Will they still identify me as the same person with history or not?

Have a look in your passport, some countries like the Netherlands have the old passport number I the new one. 

Edited March 12, 20179 yr by FritsSikkink

2 hours ago, BritTim said:

I would say that is clearly in the "hard-to-say" category. I am sure their system tries to make the connection, but it may fail. Does your country make it easy to change the spelling of your name in official papers such as passports? I know my own country makes it very hard.

They may change it on their whim every time a new passport is issued due to lack of consistency in romanization patterns (the same can be observed in Thailand with Thai names - like Kaosan Road / Khaw Sarn Road - same spelling in Thai, variable in "English"). My country, like Thailand and many others, uses non-Roman alphabet.

2 hours ago, FritsSikkink said:

Have a look in your passport, some countries like the Netherlands have the old passport number I the new one. 

Interesting, I happen to have a passport from the Netherlands, and my new passport does not visibly refer to the old passport number anywhere.

 

Anyway, this new rule does affect me, and I don't in any way fit the profile of someone that would be working illegaly or otherwise would be abusing the visa exempt system. Luckily there are ways to get around the issue.

 

Having said that, I didn't know they do cross link, the reason why I wasn't sure they do a decent crosslink is a Lao citizen on an overstay of over a year, that successfully crossed the border, without paying a fine, using a laissez passez from the Lao consulate in KK at FSB III. I remember thinking, oh my she is not getting away with this, but she in fact did ! This was just about 15 months ago.

Edited March 12, 20179 yr by sjaak327

9 minutes ago, sjaak327 said:

Interesting, I happen to have a passport from the Netherlands, and my new passport does not visibly refer to the old passport number anywhere.

page before the photo at the top, mine is from 2015

4 minutes ago, FritsSikkink said:

page before the photo at the top, mine is from 2015

Not on that page, that page list the BSN number, not the old passport number.

 

Passport obtained two days ago.

Edited March 12, 20179 yr by sjaak327

18 minutes ago, sjaak327 said:

Not on that page, that page list the BSN number, not the old passport number.

 

Passport obtained two days ago.

you are right, my fault