Some tourist visa holders being asked to show 20,000 baht in CASH when entering Thailand

[Ian1980]

On 7/17/2017 at 3:50 PM, Godang said:

You show funds when applying for Non O visa.

Totally correct: i show to them my France and Thai bank account when apply for Non O single entry in France

[ozmeldo]

This has been a thing since forever. Just started enforcing it. Im sure they know their mark's well. 

[phuketjock]

4 hours ago, jspill said:

The German guy that got denied and flew to Laos that had 25k, and the US / Afghani that had over 20k and was flown to Manila. There are others who replied to threads but didn't start them. If you really insist I will go back and dig up all the threads and replies to them and yes my numbers are correct. Then the ~100 math is a projection, based on common sense that most people won't bother to write about their awful experience on TVF / FB. 

jspill I just did a brief check on google using the search "denied entry to Thailand " and found less than 10 people 

denied entry going back to 2014. so out of approximately 70,000,000+ visitors in that time and if we double the

number refused just to be sure we didn't miss any that would be a refusal rate of less than .0001% or 1 person

denied entry out of every  3.5 million visitors over the 3 years.

 

[jspill]

Like I said it's meaningless to compare it to the population of visitors, we know this is only happening to people with say >180 days in the Kingdom in the last 365, and under 50s. Most visitors come once or less per year and have nothing to worry about. Average tourist stay is 10 days. 

 

But it's still unfair for this to be happening to people who aren't breaking any set laws on tourist visa use, say they use one METV then leave for 2 months and come back, or have a few SETVs then switch to Ed visas to learn Thai. And both those examples they had 20k on them. Plus if they didn't have it they're not allowed ATM access. 

 

If you're going to be here for years on end then sure, expect questions, but it shouldn't be happening to people who've only been here 9 - 18 months or so, no ATM access, no right of appeal in detention, overpriced last minute flight home, meanwhile consulates issue visas willy nilly and people either show proof of funds when applying or aren't asked. 

 

I know a French guy in early Feb 2017, Hong Kong guy in late Feb, US guy in April, then a German guy in July (the one who had 25k on him), and he met another denied TVF poster while he was in the detention room. Then the US / Afghani guy from yesterday, the muay Thai guy from Facebook, and a guy who commented on a friend's blog, that's 8 people in 2017 off the top of my head, then I do recall people posting in other people's threads saying it happened to them too. 

 

There are a lot from 2014, there were many visa issues that year, then it got better, now it's bad again, these things come and go in cycles. You can't really compare it linearly over time, you get upticks, then next thing Thailand is giving out free tourist visas :) 

Edited July 25, 2017 by jspill

[bberrythailand]

15 hours ago, Ian1980 said:

Totally correct: i show to them my France and Thai bank account when apply for Non O single entry in France

 

Nobody needs to show money to apply for a non o visa.

 

You can show everything you want but it is not required and actually not very smart to show it.

 

 

[phuketjock]

17 hours ago, jspill said:

Like I said it's meaningless to compare it to the population of visitors, we know this is only happening to people with say >180 days in the Kingdom in the last 365, and under 50s. Most visitors come once or less per year and have nothing to worry about. Average tourist stay is 10 days. 

 

But it's still unfair for this to be happening to people who aren't breaking any set laws on tourist visa use, say they use one METV then leave for 2 months and come back, or have a few SETVs then switch to Ed visas to learn Thai. And both those examples they had 20k on them. Plus if they didn't have it they're not allowed ATM access. 

 

jspill.  People staying more than 6 months anywhere, then asking to stay longer, are hardly tourists are they?

I have news for you the world is not fair and METV stands for Multiple Entry Tourist Visa and SETV stands for

Single Entry Tourist Visa, so anyone using either for long stay is abusing the visa system and Thai immigration

is making an effort to stop this abuse of their system by stopping people who are using Tourist visas to stay

long term in Thailand.

Ed visas are another common way that some think they can bypass the system to stay long term in Thailand

but when someone who has been on an Ed visa to learn Thai for more than 2 years and cannot converse with

the IO in the simplest of terms in Thai it is little wonder that the IO becomes suspicious is it. 

I will say it one last time if you wish to stay in Thailand get the correct visa/extension/exempt for your purpose

of stay, it is not rocket science.

It is not Thailands or anyone elses fault if you cannot afford the correct visas, so please stop giving everyone a

hard time because you and you mates cannot get what you/they want, that's life i'm afraid, get on with it.

[Ace of Pop]

Recon most of those who moan about money should have stayed in Slab City.[emoji562]


Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect

[jspill]

4 hours ago, phuketjock said:

jspill.  People staying more than 6 months anywhere, then asking to stay longer, are hardly tourists are they?

I have news for you the world is not fair and METV stands for Multiple Entry Tourist Visa and SETV stands for

Single Entry Tourist Visa, so anyone using either for long stay is abusing the visa system and Thai immigration

is making an effort to stop this abuse of their system by stopping people who are using Tourist visas to stay

long term in Thailand.

Ed visas are another common way that some think they can bypass the system to stay long term in Thailand

but when someone who has been on an Ed visa to learn Thai for more than 2 years and cannot converse with

the IO in the simplest of terms in Thai it is little wonder that the IO becomes suspicious is it. 

I will say it one last time if you wish to stay in Thailand get the correct visa/extension/exempt for your purpose

of stay, it is not rocket science.

It is not Thailands or anyone elses fault if you cannot afford the correct visas, so please stop giving everyone a

hard time because you and you mates cannot get what you/they want, that's life i'm afraid, get on with it.

One is allowed to study on Ed visas for up to approximately 3 years, and an METV can be used for 9 months with three entries. One might say anything longer than 18-36 months is pushing it. Yet we see people getting denied after about 9-12 months, with a valid Ed visa and / or 20k. 

 

No one would complain about denials at around the 3 year point. But 9-12 months with an Ed visa and 20k? I suspect you're attempting to troll but they did in fact have a correct visa for their length of stay at that point. 

[phuketjock]

10 minutes ago, jspill said:

One is allowed to study on Ed visas for up to approximately 3 years, and an METV can be used for 9 months with three entries. One might say anything longer than 18-36 months is pushing it. Yet we see people getting denied after about 9-12 months, with a valid Ed visa and / or 20k. 

 

No one would complain about denials at around the 3 year point. But 9-12 months with an Ed visa and 20k? I suspect you're attempting to troll but they did in fact have a correct visa for their length of stay at that point. 

Let me get this straight you think a 9 month TOURIST visa should be good for 18 to 36 months without any problems

and you are accusing me of trolling, I have no idea where you're from but I know if you apply for a 6 month visa, in my

home country, or in fact in any country, it is good for 6 months and no more.

An Ed visa for learning Thai is for learning Thai and after 1 year, or even less, one would expect one to be able to hold

a short conversation in Thai, or not??

" No one would complain about denials at around the 3 year point."  You appear to be living in cloud cuckoo land mate

I had no idea I was dealing with a sandwich short of a picnic.

All the best to you and your, out of touch with reality, mates.

[JohnLick]

1 hour ago, phuketjock said:

An Ed visa for learning Thai is for learning Thai and after 1 year, or even less, one would expect one to be able to hold

a short conversation in Thai, or not??

" No one would complain about denials at around the 3 year point."  You appear to be living in cloud cuckoo land mate

I had no idea I was dealing with a sandwich short of a picnic.

All the best to you and your, out of touch with reality, mates.

You should go back to Scotland mate,. Nobody wanna live there anyway, which obviously hurts your feelings.

 

For example, in Australia you can easily be student for 5 years, and be able to work for 20 hours a week (not for peanuts) ... all of this with an easy online application

[lkv]

On 7/25/2017 at 7:12 PM, the guest said:

Try doing the same when entering Australia. If your not a tourist, and you do not have proof, they automatically invalidate the visa, and ban you from entering the country. So why should Thailand be any different?

In Cambodia one can get a business visa forever for 300 dollars a year.

 

Why should Thailand be any different?

 

I know, because Thailand is not Cambodia, right?

 

Well it's not Australia either, why the comparisson?

[overherebc]

1 hour ago, JohnLick said:

You should go back to Scotland mate,. Nobody wanna live there anyway, which obviously hurts your feelings.

 

For example, in Australia you can easily be student for 5 years, and be able to work for 20 hours a week (not for peanuts) ... all of this with an easy online application

But, it's not Scotland or Australia.

[phuketjock]

13 hours ago, JohnLick said:

You should go back to Scotland mate,. Nobody wanna live there anyway, which obviously hurts your feelings.

 

For example, in Australia you can easily be student for 5 years, and be able to work for 20 hours a week (not for peanuts) ... all of this with an easy online application

I have no problem as I have the correct extension for my purpose of stay.

 

I don't think anyone including jspill is keen on studying in australia, why would they?

[daiwill]

On 7/21/2017 at 11:56 AM, brewsterbudgen said:

It would be nice but freedom of movement within ASEAN has never been likely.

Think you will find that this was only meant to apply to citizens of fellow ASEAN states, a bit like the freedom of movement, employment and settlement between EU member states.

It still hasn't really happened in the ASEAN states though, as we see with the restrictions of jobs that foreigners can do in Thailand, and trying to transfer money between the ASEAN countries, which can be done, but with difficulty and many restrictions and barriers (stated from my current experience in Vietnam).

[Ian1980]

On 7/26/2017 at 11:31 AM, bberrythailand said:

 

Nobody needs to show money to apply for a non o visa.

 

You can show everything you want but it is not required and actually not very smart to show it.

 

 

When i went to the Thai consulate in French,they asked me to prove 500 euros in my bank account:this was for a Non o 3 months visa

[Frank33]

How does Thai immigration feel about the equivalent of 20,000 baht in the currency of the country a traveler just came from?

 

Is that acceptable to them or do they claim it is not their responsibility to know the exchange rate?

 

Can anyone report any personal experiences in this regard?

 

 

[brewsterbudgen]

How does Thai immigration feel about the equivalent of 20,000 baht in the currency of the country a traveler just came from?
 
Is that acceptable to them or do they claim it is not their responsibility to know the exchange rate?
 
Can anyone report any personal experiences in this regard?
 
 

No personal experience, but it says the money can be in any exchangeable currency.

[jspill]

A friend of a friend got denied entry today and it's his first time ever in Thailand. 

 

He's Romanian, had a computer in hand luggage, and didn't have the 20k, so a bit more suspicious than a normal tourist.

 

Still, it's his first time in the Kingdom so that goes against the idea this is about long stay tourists. He's been in the airport 4 hours so far. Is not being allowed access to an ATM to withdraw money.

[phuketjock]

3 minutes ago, jspill said:

A friend of a friend got denied entry today and it's his first time ever in Thailand. 

 

He's Romanian, had a computer in hand luggage, and didn't have the 20k, so a bit more suspicious than a normal tourist.

 

Still, it's his first time in the Kingdom so that goes against the idea this is about long stay tourists. He's been in the airport 4 hours so far. Is not being allowed access to an ATM to withdraw money.

Already said that the money is not the overriding factor and if you are saying " bit more suspicious than a normal tourist "

then I suspect there is more to his story then you are telling us?

I am not up on things but I would have thought most people travel with a computer/laptop in their hand luggage unless

on an American flight?, I always did, so what makes him more suspicious???

[jspill]

No I just mean him being Romanian, nothing else. 

[phuketjock]

Just now, jspill said:

No I just mean him being Romanian, nothing else. 

You are not making any sense mate now you are implying he was refused entry because he is Romanian?

I very much doubt that, but without any other info who knows??

[jspill]

Common knowledge most of the ATM skimmers in Thailand are Romanian. 

[ravip]

6 minutes ago, jspill said:

Common knowledge most of the ATM skimmers in Thailand are Romanian. 

ATM skimmers comes from the EU too?

[phuketjock]

8 minutes ago, jspill said:

Common knowledge most of the ATM skimmers in Thailand are Romanian. 

That's funny quick google and only turns up Russians Ukranians and Malaysians no

mention of any Romanians as yet, so appears not so common knowledge???

Edited July 27, 2017 by phuketjock

[PeCeDe]

Obviously no point in surmising what has gone wrong, could be one of many, many, reasons. Some guy tried to enter a year or so ago with a forged passport, what tipped the IO off was it had a valid from date of April 31st (which doesn't exist). Then they found the passport was a forgery, apparently he'd been using it for a couple of years and nobody had twigged.

[ChiangMaiLightning2143]

A friend of a friend got denied entry today and it's his first time ever in Thailand.   

He's Romanian, had a computer in hand luggage, and didn't have the 20k, so a bit more suspicious than a normal tourist.

 

Still, it's his first time in the Kingdom so that goes against the idea this is about long stay tourists. He's been in the airport 4 hours so far. Is not being allowed access to an ATM to withdraw money.

 

Most tourists have a computer in hand luggage. Did he have a visa from Bucharest or did he plan on on visa on arrival (15 days)? Did he show return flight and required hotel bookings? Once they decide they are rejecting a traveller sounds like nobody is allowed to go to an ATM. Showing a 4,000,000 Leu bank balance on Mobile banking site won't help either.

 

[lkv]

@jspill Many of your friends and friends of friends are getting rejected nowadays. 

 

It's a worrying situation.

 

 

[The manic]

On 17/07/2017 at 0:20 PM, champers said:

No money no honey.

No cash no gash

 

On 17/07/2017 at 0:20 PM, champers said:

No money no honey.

No cash no gash

[jspill]

5 hours ago, phuketjock said:

That's funny quick google and only turns up Russians Ukranians and Malaysians no

mention of any Romanians as yet, so appears not so common knowledge???

Do you really have to freak out every post lol. Here's three threads then about Romanians - Bangkok link, Phuket link, Pattaya link

[jspill]

3 hours ago, ChiangMaiLightning2143 said:

Most tourists have a computer in hand luggage. Did he have a visa from Bucharest or did he plan on on visa on arrival (15 days)? Did he show return flight and required hotel bookings? Once they decide they are rejecting a traveller sounds like nobody is allowed to go to an ATM. Showing a 4,000,000 Leu bank balance on Mobile banking site won't help either.

Ok I posted too soon. After 5 hours he got let in.

 

He paid 2000 for the visa on arrival that his nationality gets - 15 days, yes. He opened his Skrill wallet online balance and they accepted that. Completely contrary to other reports, weird.

 

He had a flight out for 15 days time, yes. But didn't have hotel bookings. They asked for both, luckily one was enough.

 

Perhaps a supervisor said ok he's never actually been to Thailand before let's not be so ridiculous as to deny this guy entry too. 

Edited July 27, 2017 by jspill