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

[phuketjock]

21 minutes ago, Wake Up said:

This is not meant as an attack on you but I am responding to the commentaries about hookers. Why do people berate hookers or others? Jesus washed the feet of a prostitute. He has not washed my feet.   Many prostitutes have given a lot of men great pleasure. Some are great people and wives and some are terrible people and wives just like people with tourist or retirement visas. Will probably never understand how humans rationalize they are better than others based on employment or wealth or citizenship or sexual preference or education or home size or car or ...... But if given the opportunity to spend my last five minutes on earth with whoever I choose I would choose a Thai hooker and go to the afterlife with a thankful smile on my face.  The absolute last person on earth I would want to spend my last five minutes with is a serial TV Thai critic who knows he is better and brighter and holy than others. 

I totally support everything you say and more, I have had many a great time with ladies that many would consider of dubious

character but I have always found them, with the occasional exception, to be good honest fun and enjoyed every minute that 

I have had the good fortune to spend with all of them.

The fact that I did not marry one was purely circumstance rather than choice.

I was unfortunately responding to an unsavoury comment by another poster who implied that being married to a hooker was 

something to be ashamed of which is not something I agree with. There was no offence intended, especially to hookers, in my

post.

[jspill]

16 hours ago, billd766 said:

Where did you see that?

 

Perhaps I missed it.

Fiancée rather, he plans to marry. 

 

"If you have Thai GF and you love her, take her to your home country and stay there, you are not wanted here" an elderly female officer told him. 

 

 

 

[coulson]

I got back into BKK today, I used the 850 baht premium airport pick up service where a rep meets you off the plane and takes you through the priority lane. At immigration the IO said 'you come a lot, what are you doing here', I replied I have a Thai GF and plan to get married. That's the best strategy imo.
 
Next question was how long I'd stay this time, I said 2 weeks (actually I'll extend the visa exemption to 60 days). I had one of those $8 rented onward tickets dated 2 weeks ahead ready to show if asked, and 20k baht, but wasn't asked.
 
After those two questions she stamped me in for another visa exemption, didn't get pulled to the side. There's no other IOs standing around in the priority section so using that may reduce the chance of getting pulled aside for further questioning.
 
My visa history is 2 year overstay followed by 7 visa exempts then an SETV, on this passport, then previous passport even worse dating back to 2009. 
 
I'd been out of Thailand 3 months, visited Macau HK and Philippines. Still well over 180 days in the last calendar year was in Thailand. Originally I planned to come in via land but there hadn't been any new denied entry threads this last week and both airports had those 5 hours delays so I figured they may be a bit embarrassed over that, I'll risk the airport priority lane. Plus being flown back to Manila wouldn't be the worst thing.
 
Hopefully it's all died down, but that priority lane is well worth using, would recommend. The rep was super cute too.

I use the priority lane occasionally when flying business, it can be as bad as the normal lanes as sometimes only one io. But I never heard about this premium service, how do you go about availing of this *special* extra on arrival?

Is there online booking?

[jspill]

Just now, coulson said:

I use the priority lane occasionally when flying business, it can be as bad as the normal lanes as sometimes only one io. But I never heard about this premium service, how do you go about availing of this *special* extra on arrival?

Is there online booking?

 

Yes https://www.bangkokflightservices.com/home/bfs-services/premium-airport-services/

[coulson]

Yes https://www.bangkokflightservices.com/home/bfs-services/premium-airport-services/

Thanks

[billd766]

7 hours ago, jspill said:

Fiancée rather, he plans to marry. 

 

"If you have Thai GF and you love her, take her to your home country and stay there, you are not wanted here" an elderly female officer told him. 

 

 

 

 

I took my wife to the UK back in 2000 to get married but I had no home any more (divorced and gave it to my ex-wife) and I was contract working in France. Wehad our honeymoon in France, Belgium, Holland, as she always wanted to see the tulip fields at Kuekenhof and Germany.

 

After a couple of weeks we said goodbye and she came back to Thailand and I went back to France. I started work to get her a permit to come to France than I changed jobs to Germany and started that visa thing again for Germany.

 

She lived with her ex-boss on and off and with me 2 or 3 times then I got a contract to work in Thailand and she found a 3 bed house in Sukhumvit 93 where we lived until we built this place in rural Khampaeng Phet.

[phuketjock]

8 hours ago, jspill said:

Fiancée rather, he plans to marry. 

 

"If you have Thai GF and you love her, take her to your home country and stay there, you are not wanted here" an elderly female officer told him. 

 

 

 

This is the guy you already quoted, no money no onward ticket and multiple tourist,

exempt entries for 3-4 years, what did he expect?

Another case of abusing tourist/exempt entries nothing more.

[CHRISTIANa9]

6 years ago I was asked to show 20.000 baht in an non o visa at the sadao border. At that time they only asked it to certain nationals. Now it's everyone. Stop whining and get 20k. Remember Farang are WALKING ATMS in Thailand

Everyone?

[billd766]

1 hour ago, CHRISTIANa9 said:

Everyone?

 

1 hour ago, CHRISTIANa9 said:

  On 17/07/2017 at 1:08 PM, Raymonddiaz said:

6 years ago I was asked to show 20.000 baht in an non o visa at the sadao border. At that time they only asked it to certain nationals. Now it's everyone. Stop whining and get 20k. Remember Farang are WALKING ATMS in Thailand

 

Certainly not me, and not that many of my friends who are also married, have children etc and have made our homes in Thailand

[JohnLick]

I'm tourist in Thailand for almost 3 years ... never asked to show money, or even questioned

[Ace of Pop]

Take a look at the ones they Stop.[emoji232]


Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect

[Raymonddiaz]

2 hours ago, JohnLick said:

I'm tourist in Thailand for almost 3 years ... never asked to show money, or even questioned

how old are you?

[watcharacters]

On 7/17/2017 at 0:20 PM, champers said:

No money no honey.

 

 

Gosh,  your post is so original and to  think you are  just the first replier sitting on the forum waiting for the feed from the Nation News Feed.

 

Impressive.

[JohnLick]

1 hour ago, Raymonddiaz said:

how old are you?

30

[balo]

If you look like a dope head you will probably be asked.   

 

[Ace of Pop]

If you look like a dope head you will probably be asked.   
 

Your spot on..Border Run Minibus drivers like to avoid em. One E Beggar ferangy thing or a Scrufpacker n the Bus gets held up.?

[jimster]

On 7/17/2017 at 12:22 PM, rkidlad said:

Shouldn't be showing proof of funds when applying for the actual visa be enough? Instead of cluttering up immigration queues with baffled tourists wondering why they should have 20k in cash on them.

 

Every time me and my missus fly back to England, they never ask her to show them cash. That's because that's ridiculous, she's already shown her money when applying for the visa, and this is 2017 where people use debit and credit cards and don't usually carry round large amounts of loseable cash. 

Right.

 

Also, how will Thai immigration deal with this issue once cash becomes obsolete? There is a global push to ban cash and this includes Thailand. MBK shopping center was cited, a couple months back, as the first location where they plan to eliminate the use of cash. They plan to do this by having all vendors accept only debit/credit cards and of course the latest craze, online payment systems using your phone. Already now an increasing number of stores are accepting mobile payment systems, although I have never seen a Thai using them, but it's probably only a matter of time. In China, alipay and WeChat pay are so ubiquitous now that many people simply don't use cash anymore.

[reenatinnakor]

Right.
 
Also, how will Thai immigration deal with this issue once cash becomes obsolete? There is a global push to ban cash and this includes Thailand. MBK shopping center was cited, a couple months back, as the first location where they plan to eliminate the use of cash. They plan to do this by having all vendors accept only debit/credit cards and of course the latest craze, online payment systems using your phone. Already now an increasing number of stores are accepting mobile payment systems, although I have never seen a Thai using them, but it's probably only a matter of time. In China, alipay and WeChat pay are so ubiquitous now that many people simply don't use cash anymore.

Give it another 20 years then maybe thailand will start using mobile payment systems. Lol. This is thailand... Not the first world.

They've only just discovered the Amway and multi level marketing scams here. 20 years later.

[YetAnother]

9 minutes ago, reenatinnakor said:

 

Give it another 20 years then maybe thailand will start using mobile payment systems. Lol. This is thailand... Not the first world.

They've only just discovered the Amway and multi level marketing scams here. 20 years later.

 

bashing thai intelligence , as i also do, is just too easy

[The manic]

I have asked this before but will ask again - Does it have to be Thai currency or will the equivalent in other currencies be OK?

[lindlake]

2 hours ago, The manic said:

I have asked this before but will ask again - Does it have to be Thai currency or will the equivalent in other currencies be OK?

every time i come to thailand 4 time a year i never have thai  money they accept all money i give it all to my thai wife hahah

[hobz]

2 hours ago, The manic said:

I have asked this before but will ask again - Does it have to be Thai currency or will the equivalent in other currencies be OK?

As usual it doesn't matter what the official rule is because it will be interpreted and enforced completely randomly.

[jspill]

2 hours ago, The manic said:

I have asked this before but will ask again - Does it have to be Thai currency or will the equivalent in other currencies be OK?

There is an exchange booth before immigration (but no ATMs). So even if it wasn't ok you could say ok I'll go exchange it then queue up again. 

 

But the 'official rule' is that it can be any other major currency that is generally accepted for conversion to Baht. 

[gk10002000]

3 hours ago, The manic said:

I have asked this before but will ask again - Does it have to be Thai currency or will the equivalent in other currencies be OK?

I have never been asked but  you can carry in USD equivalent ,  so use USD, Euros, Chinese Yuan, etc.  I wouldn't try Mexican Pesos, Philippine Pesos, Brazilian Reals, etc.  the odds of an official not being familiar with the currency goes up, regardless of whether the currency is valid and exchangeable within Thailand.  And of course some country currencies would be useless in Thailand as you would have great trouble exchanging the currency.

[Here It Is]

Since I've been visiting LOS the rules have always been show, or have access to, 20k baht.  Never been asked but that's the rules.

[The manic]

Thanks for the relevant replies. In 30 years I too have never been asked but always have 1k of mixed hard currencies for emergencies when my British banks cancels my cards even thought I have informed them I will be in Thailand.

[The manic]

On 12/1/2017 at 8:27 PM, YetAnother said:

bashing thai intelligence , as i also do, is just too easy

Bashing your racist rubbish is easy. Please leave and take your hate elsewhere.

[observer90210]

Do they accept bitcoin$ ?!! 

[BudRight]

On 7/16/2017 at 11:14 PM, impulse said:

 

Who hops on an international flight with less than 20,000 baht in hard currency hidden away in case their ATM card gets eaten, their wallet gets stolen, or any one of a hundred other scenarios where USD, GBP, or Euro's are the only solution?

 

Then I go to my Thai bank and get a new ATM card. In the meantime I use one of the spare ones.

[impulse]

1 hour ago, BudRight said:

Then I go to my Thai bank and get a new ATM card. In the meantime I use one of the spare ones.

 

Travelers to Thailand are spoiled by ATM's every 50 meters.  Lots of us go places where you have to look for the one international ATM in the town. 

 

And even in Thailand, what happens if your ID goes missing along with your ATM card?  Or your ATM card gets skimmed and your bank locks down your accounts while they figure it out?  You can get mighty hungry waiting for your embassy to confirm your identity and issue new ID (which the bank will probably need to replace your card).  Not to mention half a holiday shot in the butt by lack of funds.  Unless, of course, you carry some backup cash.

 

And I'm not even going to go into the disaster scenario where you're accused of a heinous crime and need to keep a low profile and cross a border- even if you didn't do it.  

Edited December 4, 2017 by impulse