Thread: Visa for regular visits

Hi All,
Hoping someone might be able to shed some light for me.
I work offshore for 3 weeks at a time and have a 4 week break and I will be travelling to Ubon Ratchathani every time off to stay with my GF. I will only be in Thailand for a max of around 20 days each time and was wondering if there is a requirement to obtain a different visa than the standard 30 day stamp you get each time as a tourist.
Im just hoping I dont get refused entry for coming over too often so I'd like to have the right documents.
Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers

Thanks baldrick, yeah its a norwegian roster but I work on a platform in the timor sea.
I only fly from perth direct to bangkok then change flights to ubon.

Given the amount of time between entries I think you're highly unlikely to be suspected as living here on back-2-back 30 day visa exempt stamp entries.

Be advised the officers who stamp you in at passport control can always ask for the "3-proof-of's" (as it's been a real rule since 2010);

• proof of onward travel

-within 30 days entering on a visa exempt entry
-within 60 days entering on a tourist visa

• proof of lodging

-hotel booking or copies of your g/f's thai house book & i/d

• proof of adequate finances

-10K baht entering on a visa exempt entry
-20K baht entering on a tourist visa or a Non-Immigrant visa

They have not enforced those requirements for a while, but more and more people are getting asked and there are even reports of people (from some countries) being denied entry when they were unable to meet those requirements.

Good luck

They will let you know at the airport if youre making too many trips and tell you to get a proper visa next time.

Many thanks for the info. I will make sure I have the 3 proof-ofs and hopefully there'll be no issues.
Much appreciated

An acquaintance of mine, a wealthy retiree married to a Thai wealthy in her own right who live in Europe but visit their properties here in Thailand on an average of four times a year, was stopped with his wife at Don Muang and given the third degree. He doesn't bother with visas because they never stay for more than three weeks at any one time and generally weave trips to Singapore and VN into their itineraries.

The problem is that the desk staff are not very bright and cannot distinguish easily the difference between folk who pose no immigration problem and those intent on a de facto residence sans visa.

My acquaintance spent over an hour remonstrating with staff before they finally saw sense. The guy's a fucking millionaire and his wife a former MFA civil servant.

I told him he should get a MEVV so as to avoid future hassles and I think the OP would do well to follow suit. Thai have no common sense and one should always allow for that.

toddaniels ... hope you don't mind me jumping in here with a question ...

What visa strategy would you recommend for somebody who wants to live in Thailand from November - April?

Originally Posted by Storekeeper

What visa strategy would you recommend for somebody who wants to live in Thailand from November - April?

Get a 6 month METV <-multi-entry tourist visa in your country before you wash up here. You can pull almost 270 days out of that visa if you time the border-bounces right and extend the last entry by 30 days at the immigration office. Plus it's good for unlimited entries/exits to thailand too.

The real problem is the computer program they implemented last year at all border points. It's set to flag visa exempt entry stamps after 4 or 5 entries.

In their "finite wisdom" the people who designed the program didn't bother to put in a way to track days between visa exempt entries. It flags you whether you've done four back-2-back visa exempts or only entered on a visa exempt entry four times in a whole year. I give them credit for tryin' to stop people from living here on back-2-back visa exempt entry stamps, BUT they could have designed it to target that demographic NOT everyone.

Also, while the immigration officers at passport control can "tell" or "strongly suggest" you get a proper visa, what they can't do is deny you entry on a visa exempt stamp, especially if you meet those "3-proof-of's".

Don't take the word of some half-wit, low level passport stamper, push it up the ladder. At this time there is NO rule that limits the number of visa exempt entries you can get in xxx amount of time entering by air, period.

Good Luck...

Originally Posted by toddaniels

Originally Posted by Storekeeper

What visa strategy would you recommend for somebody who wants to live in Thailand from November - April?

Get a 6 month METV <-multi-entry tourist visa in your country before you wash up here. You can pull almost 270 days out of that visa if you time the border-bounces right and extend the last entry by 30 days at the immigration office. Plus it's good for unlimited entries/exits to thailand too.

One thing I've never understood about that visa is you need to show proof of employment, self-employment or pension. What about someone who wants to take six months off work?

work an 8 and 3 rotation and always got a tourist visa 16yrs of traveling to thailand , january this year got pulled at immigration, into a side office female officer basically said there was nothing wrong with what i was doing but i should get either a retirement or marriage visa.
a few mates have had the same happen to them one was refused entry.

Originally Posted by gold digger

work an 8 and 3 rotation and always got a tourist visa 16yrs of traveling to thailand , january this year got pulled at immigration, into a side office female officer basically said there was nothing wrong with what i was doing but i should get either a retirement or marriage visa.
a few mates have had the same happen to them one was refused entry.

No matter what a low level, power tripping, passport stamping officer tells you if you disagree ALWAYS push it up the bamboo ladder of command.

There is NO rule on the number of tourist visa entries OR 30 day visa exempt entries a person can or can't have.

Now they can most certainly ask you to meet those "3-proof-ofz" which are;

• proof of onward travel

within 30 days entering visa exempt
within 60 days entering on a tourist visa

• proof of adequate finances

10K baht entering visa exempt
20K baht entering on a tourist or Non-Immigrant visa

• proof of hotel booking or lodging.

If you meet those though, I've never found a reported case where someone was denied entry.

Actually, I have but they were people from those 21 countries that enter on a 15 day "visa-on-arrival" which they buy when they show up here.

Sometimes people are so shit scared of a thai in a uniform that they won't bother asking and just accept what ever comes out of Somchai the thai's mouth.