Clampdown on Border Runs from 10th May

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Earnest
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Clampdown on Border Runs from 10th May

Post by Earnest » May 11, 2014, 6:07 pm

You are correct, I just checked on the Hull Consulate website.

So I can get a 60 days tourist visa from a UK Consulate. Then I can hop across to Laos to renew but that might only be a 15 day because I cross a land border. However, if I fly out of LOS then I get another 30 days. From a top level perspective, I can only reside on a tourist visa for 90 days total in a six months period.


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papaguido
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Clampdown on Border Runs from 10th May

Post by papaguido » May 11, 2014, 6:17 pm

Earnest wrote:You are correct, I just checked on the Hull Consulate website.

So I can get a 60 days tourist visa from a UK Consulate. Then I can hop across to Laos to renew but that might only be a 15 day because I cross a land border. However, if I fly out of LOS then I get another 30 days. From a top level perspective, I can only reside on a tourist visa for 90 days total in a six months period.
Depending on your intended length of stay. You can apply for a double entry or triple entry tourist visa. Each segment is good for 60 days.

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Clampdown on Border Runs from 10th May

Post by BobHelm » May 11, 2014, 6:17 pm

Earnest NO!! :D
1. UK Passport holders get 30 days without a visa at land, air & sea.
2. You could get a triple entry Tourist visa from Hull & nip across to Laos & back for 180 days stay in Thailand. With a following wind (& the right Immigration Office) you could tack another 30 days to that.
3. You could then take a 2 (in the week) day trip to the Thai Embassy in Vientiane & score a double entry Tourist visa. That is another 120 + 30 day extension.
4. Rinse & repeat 3. Although I think there is a maximum of 6 consecutive Tourist visas from Vientiane, so longer than that might mean a journey to somewhere other than there...

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Earnest
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Clampdown on Border Runs from 10th May

Post by Earnest » May 11, 2014, 6:24 pm

But look at what the Hull Consulate says in the second paragraph of the Va PDF document:

http://www.thaiconsul-uk.com/downloads-and-visas.aspx

Image
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Clampdown on Border Runs from 10th May

Post by BobHelm » May 11, 2014, 6:33 pm

They are wrong Earnest.
I suspect that the PDF has not been altered since the change in November,,,

http://www.udonmap.com/udonthaniforum/f ... 30315.html

How sure am I??..
100%
Seeing as I returned from Laos on Monday 5th of May with no visa in my passport & have a Thai Immigration stamp that allows me to remain in Thailand until 3rd. June... :D

Paragraph 2 is about Tourist Visa Exemptions i.e. not having a visa at all, not Tourist Visas, a very different animal..

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Clampdown on Border Runs from 10th May

Post by Hunter58 » May 11, 2014, 6:55 pm

To get the triple entry tourist visa via Hull I need to supply the following
Completed application form.
2 Photos.
Bank statement.

Do I need anything else ?

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Post by BobHelm » May 11, 2014, 7:39 pm

You didn't use to need a bank statement.
A 'declaration' that you have the necessary funds to support your trip does need to be signed though - it is part of the pack that you download from them...

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Clampdown on Border Runs from 10th May

Post by Hunter58 » May 11, 2014, 8:08 pm

Do I need a police clearance ?

many thanks.

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Clampdown on Border Runs from 10th May

Post by BobHelm » May 11, 2014, 8:16 pm

No...

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Earnest
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Clampdown on Border Runs from 10th May

Post by Earnest » May 11, 2014, 9:05 pm

BobHelm wrote:They are wrong Earnest.
I suspect that the PDF has not been altered since the change in November,,,
OK, many thanks.
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Clampdown on Border Runs from 10th May

Post by Earnest » May 11, 2014, 10:36 pm

So to summarise then, Bob, I can bag a 60 day visa in Blighty then convert it to an extra 30 days after a quick jaunt to Vientiane? But I can go over?

I wouldn't want to do 180 days on a tourist visa, readers, the outlaws would drive me ga ga.
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Post by BobHelm » May 12, 2014, 12:08 am

Yes Earnest, you have a choice if you want to stay about the 90 day mark.

Either go to Udon Immigration as your 60 day visa is expiring & pay them 1,900 baht for an extension which will be UP TO 30 days. Although i understand Udon are fairly good at giving 30 with little hassle.

Or cross over the Friendship bridge. At the Laos side they will give you a 30 day visa for Laos - at a cost of 1,500 baht (or 35ish USD) which will consume a full page of your passport.

With that in hand you are in Laos & you have a choice of 3.
1. Turn straight around & come back to Thailand where they will be delighted to give you a 30 day Tourist exemption visa - no cost & just a small (8th or 6th of a passport page) entry stamp.

2. Swan around the duty free at the Laos side & buy cheep booze & Chinese copies of famous telephones.

3. Get a taxi (NOT a tuk tuk) to take you the 30 odd kms to Vientiane. Cost about 300 baht, one way. i usually find that the hotels in Laos are considerably more expensive than Udon. For 500 baht (or less) in Udon it is possible to get a perfectly clean & relatively new room. I have found that many of the places in Vientiane to be barely adequate for twice that. However it is a very different city to Udon (the French influence, I guess) &, in my opinion, well worth a day or two..

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Clampdown on Border Runs from 10th May

Post by Earnest » May 12, 2014, 12:33 am

Thanks.

I like Vientiane but never thought about the hotel rates. We stayed in a Thai friend's hotel when I was there.

I didn't know you could pop down to Immigration to extend your visa, either. That's a good and handy Viz tip, cheers.
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Clampdown on Border Runs from 10th May

Post by Laan Yaa Mo » May 12, 2014, 1:35 am

Viang Chan (Lao: ວຽງຈັນ) if you do not like to use French, n'est-ce pas?
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Clampdown on Border Runs from 10th May

Post by wazza » May 13, 2014, 1:03 am

Im glad I have a got a yellow book !! and can get a 12 month visa ! will soon find out again, as I need to get a new one as soon as I get my new passport which is waiting for me when I arrive home in 10 days or so ??

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Clampdown on Border Runs from 10th May

Post by Khun Paul » May 13, 2014, 6:27 am

I was wrong, judging by the Newspaper reports today they are targeting Foreigners ( probably westerners ) who use the Visa runs to avoid obtaining a full visa . It also says the chatter on internet forums shows them that there are a lot of people who do this.
For those that abide by the rules no problems then, for those that skirt the regulations there will be problems, so those peole i suggest put your houses in order before your entry is stopped and your situation deteriorates further.

Again according to my infrmation it is to see who lives here and where, which the back to back does not give them.

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Post by BobHelm » May 13, 2014, 6:52 am

Khun Paul wrote:I It also says the chatter on internet forums shows them that there are a lot of people who do this.
They (Immigration) have also said that it is in response to the missing Malaysian flight & the fact that 2 passengers were flying on passports stolen in Phuket.
http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/725 ... paign=news

Neither claim makes in sense in a world of logic - but who knows in the world of Thai Immigration.

6 years ago they had a similar clamp down when they moved the Land crossing Visa Exemption period to 15 days. It caused a whole lot of Forum chatter but I never actually heard of anyone it effected.

I suspect the same thing this time.

It beggars belief that anyone would attempt to stay long term in Thailand by crossing the border every 15 days.
Not only would the physical act of doing it becoming draining after a very short period of time, it has no financial saving over obtaining a tourist visa.
It is actually more expensive just on the payment of neighbouring country visa charges without taking into account transport, time & associated costs.

It reminds me, a bit, of Immigrations' reasoning for making the Marriage extension more paperwork heavy to obtain. They suggest that it was due to fraudulent marriage arrangements. However in the 10 years I have been in Thailand I cannot recall 1 single newspaper report of a foreigner being prosecuted for that...

This current clamp down has little to do with any of the reported reasons.
It could well have an aim of frightening those who have difficulties obtaining visas via the rules towards 'fixers' who will ensure that bribes are obtained & paid...

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Post by FrazeeDK » May 13, 2014, 7:42 am

note the article.. "at the discretion of the immigration officer" http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/4 ... sa-runners

care to contribute to our "coffee fund" or would you prefer being refused re-entry?

earlier posters are correct.. This has been done before although a few years ago it was rather convoluted with those who'd entered/re-exited the Kingdom xxxx times in a specified period of time subject to not being allowed to re-enter. Living in Vientiane at the time and coming over every weekend meant I had dozens of entry stamps in my passport. Never had any real problem except one time when I flew into BKK and the immigration folks tried to count up the stamps, shaking their heads.. When I said I lived and worked in Vientiane and came to shop every weekend, they laughed and stamped me in.... I seem to remember it went on for perhaps 90-120 days and then faded away..
Dave

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Clampdown on Border Runs from 10th May

Post by socksy » May 13, 2014, 7:50 am

Thailand visa: Missing MH370 ‘behind visa run crackdown’. Fingerprints next?

PHUKET: A senior Immigration officer has given a clue as to the reasons for the current crackdown on tourists doing “out-in visa hops” from Ranong to Myanmar and back, and across all other land borders with Thailand’s neighbours: MH370.

Pol Lt Col Tauthong Thitchai of Surin Immigration, in whose territory is the busy Chong Jom crossing into Cambodia, told The Phuket News today, “Bangkok Immigration published an order to be more strict. All immigration officers have to do the same.

“The main reason is the lost Malaysian Airlines flight MH370.” Two people on that flight were carrying passports reported lost or stolen in Phuket.

“So Thailand is being watched by other countries because the passports went missing in Thailand. And Immigration [in Bangkok] felt they had to do something about this. Yes, we have to do it.”

Another officer contacted by The Phuket News warned that border crossings may now involve the taking of fingerprints.

The Deputy Superintendent of Immigration Police in Mukhdahan Province, which is linked to Laos by the Second Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge, said, “We will be strict in our checking of [tourists] and we will add a fingerprinting process for checking people.”

He explained that this was because the current blacklist of people barred from Thailand comprises only names “and we can’t check if someone changes their name.

“But with fingerprints we can check and identify people. All the information will be linked through a central Immigration database.”

Technically, the full weight of the rules is due to be applied from August 12, but reports from Mae Sai in the north of Thailand, where there is a crossing point into Myanmar, indicate the new rules are being rigidly applied there already. A would-be visa runner reported on the Thai Visa website that Immigration officers were turning everyone back on Saturday (May 10), and were apparently feeling the pressure themselves. “So every westerner that had approached the Thai exit border to Myanmar they have refused to let leave no matter how many stamps you have and what country,” he wrote.

“All they said is that you now have to fly out only. No more exit by land via a new regulation passed.

“When we asked for more information they got aggressive and angry, even though we are being nice and just confused. I have evidence of money and address if need be but no matter who you are they aren’t allowing it.

“They keep saying ‘Talk to my boss in Bangkok’ and shoo us off and when we ask for the phone number they say ‘No, no number!’ And when we asked where the Immigration office is they refused to tell us where.”

Pol Col Sit Siriwankul, Superintendent of the Chiang Rai Immigration Office, whose responsibility includes the Mae Sai crossing said, “We are following the same action because I really want the foreigners to get the right visa according to their purpose [in coming into Thailand].”

In Yala Province – which includes the Su’ngai Golok crossing into Malaysia, Pol Col Preemadet Sarakul seemed to be taking a different tack. “Actually, Yala Immigration is checking and doing the same action [as other crossings], such as checking the blacklist.

“But we are being strict with just four nationalities: Lao, Korean, Vietnamese and Russian.” So far at Ranong, the closest border crossing to Phuket, the big crackdown has yet to arrive, though tourists who have done multiple “out-in” trips to Myanmar are being given just seven days when they come back in.

They also get a warning that they must fly out of the country before that time expires and “get a proper visa from a Thai consulate” if they want to come back in.

The reaction from visa run companies, who shuttle mostly tourists to the border and back so that they can do visa runs, has been equally mixed.

Vijaree Makjan, owner of Phuket Visa Run, told the Phuket News, “I already knew about the Ranong action – tourists can still renew three times.

“This concerns tourists directly. It will affect my company, but not much because the company is also set up to take people to Penang [in Malaysia] as well as for out-ins at Ranong.

“It will have an effect on our company and others but this is the Immigration rule. I have to respect it.” Hareuthai Keninn, owner of KBB Visa Run said, “It is good for people who live here. The rule is being applied because of problems that have happened [with tourists working illegally or committing crimes].

“The staff will ask tourists for information about the timings of their visas. So far we have not been affected by this [tightened] rule.”

But Benjama Mansa, proprietor of Penphet Visa Run said, “ Yes! It has certainly affected me. I hope that Immigration will discuss their concerns with the Tourist Authority of Thailand and the Office of the National Security Council before they decide to apply this rule. In the long term it will affect tourism.

“After this rule was published on the Immigration website most customer asked us, ‘Doesn’t Thailand have visa runs anymore?’ I had to spend days explaining the situation to them.

“I feel really sorry for the Filipinos. They have a harder time than any other nationality because they can get only a 15-day tourist visa, and their employers don’t help to get them work permits.

“But in the end, I have to follow the law and adapt my business the best I can.”

-- Phuket News 2014-05-12
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Clampdown on Border Runs from 10th May

Post by bumper » May 13, 2014, 9:15 am

I just get the n biggest lick out of this. You can't police your own people, then do something where there is no resistance.

I comply with the law, so it doesn't effect me. The timing is interesting

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