So with the advice of friends who have visited Thailand before, as well as friends already visiting, I decided to get my tourist visa when I got in to Thailand, or just do border runs, every 30 days. Whether they were misinformed, or the laws changed (I think the latter) this no longer seems to be the case.
My visa on arrival is good until Feb. 9th. My flight out is on April 7th. Does anyone know the current laws on visa runs, tourist visas, and how many times you can enter the country? So far these are the things I've heard, and don't know which are true:
You can get a 15 day extension as many times as you want, just so long as you can make a border run.
You can still get a tourist visa at any border: Laos, Malaysia, Cambodia, whatever.
You can't get a tourist visa, and if you try and do more than 2 border runs to get your 15 day extensions, you won't be allowed back in the country.
You can just extend your visa on arrival at the consulate in Bangkok, for about 1900 baht a pop.
somebody fill me in. I don't want to make a bunch of useless trips to the borders or Bangkok trying to get this figured out, esspecially if my trip is going to be cut in half. After having my heart set on April, the middle of february doesn't sound so great. Am I just screwed?
-Carter
Reply to this Hello Carter 😊
Your friends were likely not misinformed. The visa rules keep changing. It is difficult to keep up with them. We are trying to keep up with it in this thread.
Mel
Reply to this I just went to the US embassy and talked to a guy about this. You have unlimitted re entries with a 15 day stamp. So if you want to do a border run every 15 days, you're set. Otherwise (and this is what I'm going to do, I think) you can get a train from bangkok to Laos, go to the Thai embassy and apply for a 60 tourist visa (about 2000 baht). after this you can extend another 30 days at the embassy in bangkok. The only rule is that you can't be in thailand for over 90 days. Hope this helps/ is not a repeat.
Reply to this On 14 January the Tourism and Sports Ministry of Thailand submitted proposals to slash fees for all kinds of visas for foreigners visiting the country for three months, effective on January 20. I'm not sure whether these are now in place. That might mean that you can get a six months tourist visa (from your Thai embassy), with the option to renew, probably once. How this is going to be in practice I don't know. Because the Thai embassy in Laos on 20 January didn't know anything about this. My friend still had to pay 1000 baht for single entry tourist visa. Check with your Thai embassy or consulate.
Reply to this Hi All
Sorry I am just picking up on this thread and just wanted some confirmation.. it seems Claire has given most of what I needed but just so I am clear as I only found out about this new 15 day rule yesterday and plan to travel to Thailand from Langkawi in the next 2 days.. so annoying!
If I cross at Satun I get a 15 day visa entry which I understand but what I'm not clear on is if I can
definately get an extention from immigration either in Bangkok or at the crossing for up to 30 days. I understand that if I am able to do this it will cost a fair amount of money
Please can someone confirm???
If this is not possible I think I will just have to re-jig my plans and go to Cambodia first, get a 30/60 day tourist visa then travel back into Thailand. I am not keen to keep having to go backwards and forwards to borders as it costs ££'s both for transport and visas to the neighbouring countries...
Anyway if someone can confirm that it is reasonably easy to get a visa extension while in Thailand that would be great.
Thanks!
Reply to this hi there. I am pretty sure you can get an extension straight away in Satun as they had all the prices up on a board, but you will need to use the extra time all in one go. You can definitely buy a thai visa extension when you're in Cambodia (at the thai embassy in Phnom Penh) and returning back to Thailand. I think this is 2000 baht for 60 days. It's a real pain in the arse. I found an island I loved and wanted to stay longer (Ko Kood.. try it) but had to leave early and spent a day travelling to get over the cambodian border where i got fleeced for 1200 baht when the visa should be 500. Buy your cambodian visa online as it's 500 baht. I am going back into Thailand early March and am buying an extension so will report back to see if it works!! Good Luck and enjoy Thailand.. it's beautiful.
Reply to this If it's easy enough to go to the border every 15 days, then it's not really a problem. I just hope that solution is not too good to be true.
Reply to this hey girls ,guys..im goin to thailand in september but will be starting from scratch so i need a bit of info...im still confused about all this visa stuff?can u actually get a six month visa or do they extend it when ur there?i also been told that there are places to stay for 2 pound a night,not to sure to believe it to be honest..just would like to no anythin to prices out there ,accomadation and how much u think would be a reasonable amount of munit to take?any comments would be gladely accepted...thanks
Reply to this Hi
I have just joined TravelBlog, I live in Chiang Mai, Thailand and will try and assist anyone with queries regarding either Chiang Mai specifically, or Thailand in general.
Regarding the previous post:
* according to the "official" Thai Immigration rules you should have in your possession "if requested" the relevant onward ticket & funds, it is VERY unlikely that you will ever be required to show, but it is always a possibilty!.
* the multi-entry visa is a 12 month visa - a 60 day "Tourist Visa" is a cheaper alternative, and you can still add further time on by "visa runs" or international flights.
Regards
Kevin
Reply to this Please can someone help meee 😞 Just found out about this so bloody annoyed having just read about this after having booked one way flight to Langkawi to go onwards to Southern Thailand by boat grrrr. I was planning on spending a total of 24 days in Thailand without leaving the country, can I just check that I can easily extend my visa when I get to Bangkok??
Reply to this If you arrive by land, you should receive 15 days that you can extend by another 15 days while in Thailand, so you should be safe.
Reply to this It's time to resurrect this thread as there are stories floating around the Internet that there was a tightening of visa restrictions as of last month. Obtaining back-to-back visas with visa runs into Malaysia, Laos or Cambodia are getting harder. Supposedly, travellers on their third or fourth of these in a row are being denied a 60 day Tourist Visa and have to rely on the shorter 15 or 30 day visa-free entry upon arrival instead. It may be that the chance of getting these extended may also be restricted.
For those who require a visa prior to arrival, it now appears that one must have valid air tickets for both arrival and departure. Confirmed hotel reservations are also being required. These rules were not strictly enforced before, but appears to be now.
[Edited: 2011 Oct 02 11:10 - The Travel Camel:11053 ]
Reply to this I need to get a visa this week for Thailand... I think I'll ring the thaiconsulate here in the UK to find out for sure tomorrow.
Reply to this Yes im going for 3 months. Its a shame as i went earlier this year on a 3month visa and the visa was free, but think its ran out now. now its back to £84 for 90 day visas.
[Edited: 2011 Oct 23 21:34 - raweggs:181353 ]
Reply to this Unfortunately Thai Visa's are back to £28 per entry (if bought in the UK). Im so gutted I didnt stay in thailand earlier this year when I acquired a 3 entry (60 days per entry) visa for free from the Thai Consulate in Hull. Now it's going to cost £100.
Can I ask on my situation...
I plan to fly to Koh Samui and stay around those islands for 4 weeks for Xmas/NYE. Then to Cambodia for 4 weeks, then back to Thailand for 4 weeks, then to Kuala Lumpar for a few days, then to Thailand again for 4 weeks, then out to Vietnam, all trips by aeroplane. Will I be granted 30 days on each time I enter Thailand if I go about it this way? Or am I pushing my luck? I really dont want to spend £100 on a visa if I dont really need to. But am thinking it might be cheaper than doing all the flying out/in of Thailand?
Is it worth just getting a visa on arrival, then extending it at a Thai Consulate, can anyone confirm the costs and how long you can extend a 30 day visa by?
Thanks
[Edited: 2011 Nov 01 12:10 - raweggs:181353 ]
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