Hi everyone

 

my mate is coming over in July from the UK to stay with me for a month, what i need to know is will he be able to come over the border at Mae Sai with me for some shopping on that visa?

many thanks for your help in advance

 

Kevin

So long as he has multiple entry tourist visa - no problem

A month?  If he is coming for 30 days or less then a visa in not necessary, just enter on a 30 day visa exempt entry.  The airline wont give any grief when boarding in the UK provided his return date is 30 days or less.  Probably a good idea to have £500 in hand in case asked for proof of finances and make sure he knows your address for the arrival card.  A Mae Sai crossing ought not be any issue on a visa exempt (as I read here last month).

30 day visa exempt entry, you are allowed 2 border crossings within a year

 

That's according to the new regulations as of 01/02/17

Are re entry permits issued on TVs?

2 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Are re entry permits issued on TVs?

If you have any type of Thai visa you can get a single or multiple re-entry  from the Immigration ,which is now based at Promenade Mall in Chiang mai ,or where ever you live ..You have to pay for it though . 

If the OP comes to Thailand from the UK just for a month he can get a visa exempt for 30 days at Swampy Airport.No need for a Tourist visa before hand .He may be asked for proof of his return ticket and sometimes not often that he has B20,000 or equivalent in funds .At Maesai there used to be a facility for just going over for a few hours without  getting a stamp ,but that has finished .He will be stamped out and his current 30 period cancelled .He will get another 30 days after visiting the market in Myanmar and coming back to the check point .The new law is that you can only get 2 visa exempt stamps in any calendar year .

10 minutes ago, anto said:

If you have any type of Thai visa you can get a single or multiple re-entry  from the Immigration ,which is now based at Promenade Mall in Chiang mai ,or where ever you live ..You have to pay for it though . 

If the OP comes to Thailand from the UK just for a month he can get a visa exempt for 30 days at Swampy Airport.No need for a Tourist visa before hand .He may be asked for proof of his return ticket and sometimes not often that he has B20,000 or equivalent in funds .At Maesai there used to be a facility for just going over for a few hours without  getting a stamp ,but that has finished .He will be stamped out and his current 30 period cancelled .He will get another 30 days after visiting the market in Myanmar and coming back to the check point .The new law is that you can only get 2 visa exempt stamps in any calendar year .

I read that land borders only give one, and airports 2. Who knows though? They make it up to suit themselves.

1 minute ago, thaibeachlovers said:

I read that land borders only give one, and airports 2. Who knows though? They make it up to suit themselves.

Its 2 also at land borders if you check the visa section of this Forum .

OP asked 'that visa' - meant to me he is coming with a visa in hand

2 minutes ago, canthai55 said:

OP asked 'that visa' - meant to me he is coming with a visa in hand

That's the best thing to do if he has  ,but that will be cancelled when he goes over the border at Myanmar .No worries he gets 30 days visa exempt on return over the Thai border .

1 hour ago, anto said:

That's the best thing to do if he has  ,but that will be cancelled when he goes over the border at Myanmar .No worries he gets 30 days visa exempt on return over the Thai border .

not if he has multiple entry - as I posted above in #2

6 hours ago, canthai55 said:

not if he has multiple entry - as I posted above in #2

Sure but  a multi  is close to B4,000 , a single around B2000 ?

4 hours ago, anto said:

Sure but  a multi  is close to B4,000 , a single around B2000 ?

GBP125 against GBP25 in fact, a complete waste of money in this case.

he is coming over for exactly 18 days and obviously picking up a visa stamp at the airport, so according to the replies here, he should be ok to venture over to do a bit of shopping.

Many thanks guys for your time and input

Very much appreciated

 

Kevin 

5 hours ago, KhunKevin said:

he is coming over for exactly 18 days and obviously picking up a visa stamp at the airport, so according to the replies here, he should be ok to venture over to do a bit of shopping.

Many thanks guys for your time and input

Very much appreciated

 

Kevin 

>> to the replies here, he should be ok to venture over to do a bit of shopping.<<

 

Yes ,if there is going to be a problem they will not let him over to Myanmar in the first place .Everything i have read says that he should be ok  currently .

On 6/4/2017 at 4:48 PM, anto said:

Yes ,if there is going to be a problem they will not let him over to Myanmar in the first place .Everything i have read says that he should be ok  currently .

There has been multiple reports of people being denied crossing the Mae Sai border, and they were told it is only allowed by people with a METV.

 

However, as the OP’s friend is not doing it to extend his stay in Thailand, it seems reasonable to expect that the immigration officers would allow him to pass.

 

I would suggest bringing a copy of your friend’s return ticket (out of Thailand) to the Mae Sai border.

thanks a lot guys, very informative as per usual, we are setting off to the border Sat morning and any problems we encounter i will post here to update the info.

Cheers Kevin