Is an entry stamp into another country necessary?

[overherebc]

Going through my passport I obviously have no UK stamps in or out, two trips. I have a six month entry stamp into NZ but no exit stamp never had a problem at the airport here.

Every near by country I have entry and exit stamps even Singapore Sept 2016.

99% of in stamps for Thailand are next to exit stamps, or next page,  from the Asian countries so in my case they were always looked for.

[Wim1954]

4 hours ago, theguyfromanotherforum said:

Discussed to death. Yes you do need it.

Sent from my Lenovo A7020a48 using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app
 

Stupid question how do you proof then that you were in an other country according to the rule that you need to go out  of the country after 90 days ?Save your flight money and don't go better they catch you for overstay.

[jeab1980]

2 hours ago, stevenl said:

"On the other question Thai immigration need to see an entry and exit stamp from the country your leaving before they will stamp you in."

Only if arriving by land. Many countries don't use stamps anymore, so arriving by air a stamp is not required. But after a quick turnaround they may want to see stamps, simply to confirm you have entered another country.

Correct but if you getting of a plane which origionated in UK it will be obvoios to them but i get your point and agree 100%

[jeab1980]

17 minutes ago, Wim1954 said:

Stupid question how do you proof then that you were in an other country according to the rule that you need to go out  of the country after 90 days ?Save your flight money and don't go better they catch you for overstay.

If you leave thailand on a monday and arrive back on the monday or tuesday its pretty obvious. When you arrive in the other country ask them to stamp your passport . You stay on overstay enjoy it and when caught let us know if you enjoy the experiance then my friend

[stevenl]

24 minutes ago, jeab1980 said:

Correct but if you getting of a plane which origionated in UK it will be obvoios to them but i get your point and agree 100%

Many planes arriving at roughly the same time.

 

Quite often the IO's don't know where your plane originated from.

[jeab1980]

4 minutes ago, stevenl said:

Many planes arriving at roughly the same time.

 

Quite often the IO's don't know where your plane originated from.

Every time i come back through immigration from any country always busy (unless with wife then go through thai lane) they always ask if i come back from UK. They never ever look if theres a entry and exit stamp from any other country, just find a spot in passport to stamp me in for 90 days. Where as land crossings they always look for entry andd exit stamp from country ive come out of.

[Lakegeneve]

Of course, it can be done via air, but not at land borders. Think about business mtgs conducted on the airside in airports with a return the same day.

 

The main requirement for Thai immigration is that you departed Thailand. It is indeed rare for Thai immigration officers to explicitly request to see your the previous exit stamp.

However, as with all immigration entry it may depend on the discretion of the immigration officer.

 

Though some years ago, I have personally flown to KL and returned (after 2 hours at KLIA) 3 times without passing through immigration at KLIA. I used to obtain both boarding passes in BKK. I never had any problem upon return to BKK. More recently, I have also done the same at Singapore a couple of times. Again, without a problem upon return to BKK.

 

I also know for a fact that there are expat pilots with one airline that do the same at Singapore when they have to do a visa run while waiting for the CAAT to issue a renewed (usually delayed) Thai ATPL. 

 

However, a couple of factors might assist in avoiding any potential issue with immigration. Flying in and out of BKK as opposed to DMK, and using a Legacy airline.

 

Edited July 24, 2017 by Lakegeneve

[stevenl]

1 hour ago, jeab1980 said:

Every time i come back through immigration from any country always busy (unless with wife then go through thai lane) they always ask if i come back from UK. They never ever look if theres a entry and exit stamp from any other country, just find a spot in passport to stamp me in for 90 days. Where as land crossings they always look for entry andd exit stamp from country ive come out of.

They base that question on your arrival card.

 

Yes, we agree.

[YetAnother]

2 hours ago, jeab1980 said:

Correct but if you getting of a plane which origionated in UK it will be obvoios to them but i get your point and agree 100%

interesting; dont recall, but all the international arrival terminals funnel into immigration, right ? if so,should be pretty obvious that all these travelers left thailand to {somewhere}

[overherebc]

I can't help posting this but I'm going to anyway.

What is it with people that makes them want to find a way around the rules?

For years I've been here on ME O's that mean leaving and coming back to Thailand every 3 months and I've never had a problem with it. My wife and self have some really good breaks every 3 months for years around Asia. I've never understood from a logical point why I have to do it but I just go along with it and accept it as part of being here.

Equally I don't see the thought process behind trying to get around it by asking the question 'why do I have to enter and leave another country and exit before I return to Thailand.

Do the people who want to do so get some kind of buzz from 'getting around the rules'?

Is it bragging rights in the bar to say they did it or what?

A good few years ago I used to thrash around Europe on a 140mph bike and different countries had different speed limits. Telling a French cop that it was ok to do 140 on the autobahn in Germany yesterday didn't do you any good.

Rules are rules whether you like them or not.

Go with the flow and your short time on this planet will be relaxed and easy and you will feel better.

End of rant/lesson.

 

[lopburi3]

I read this thread as asking what the rules are - not how to avoid.  

 

As for taking 3 month breaks that works for some but not for all; and even when it works there will likely come a time when it more of a chore than a break.  

[Mattd]

56 minutes ago, lopburi3 said:

I read this thread as asking what the rules are - not how to avoid.  

Agreed and I think the answer is that you must depart Thailand, whether you must physically enter another country is the debatable part, from past work experience, as I mentioned in a previous post, suggests that it isn't 100% necessary, but, if you have gone to the trouble of flying to somewhere, then the extra time going through immigration there isn't going to make much difference overall.