Border jump/visa run

[Jofawa]

Hello,

My visa expires on the 16 th of april (ED intership visa) so I need to do a borderjump to extend it for 30 days, but this time just for a tourist visa.

The thing is im gonna help a friend to get to BKK airport on the 15th so my plan is to take a cheap flight then. I have 2 questions.

1: Can I go to any country I want as long as I leave Thailand?

2: Can I fly back to Thailand right away or do I need to stay for a set amount of time to get my stamp?


Thank you in advance

/Johan

[dtaai-maai]

1. yes
2. yes/no - you can return immediately

[lomuamart]

I assume that by a 30 day entry you mean that you're going to get a visa exempt stamp rather than a proper Tourist Visa that will allow you in for 60 days (can extend once for a further 30).
That being the case, yes you can go to any country and return straight away and get the 30 days. The only problem will be that as you don't have a proper visa, you will probably have to show a flight back out of Thailand within the 30 days you'll get on entry or else you may well be not be allowed to board the return flight by the airline. This is a real possibility.
If I were you, I'd be inclined to go overland to a border, cross to Cambodia, Laos, Burma etc turn right back round and re-enter Thailand for your 30 days.
It's the flight that will probably land you in trouble getting back into Thailand.

[Jofawa]

Thank you both the quick answers

I have a flight ticket back to sweden on the 6th of may that I can show them. Do you still think there would be a problem to re enter Thailand ?

[lomuamart]

A flight out of Thailand on May 6th is within 30 days so you shouldn't have any problems getting back in here after your border run.

[Jofawa]

Great Thanks for all the help!

[HHTel]

My daughter has just done this. ED visa expired. Train to Butterworth. Flight back from Penang same day and got a 30 day visa exempt to cover her last 3 weeks here.

It should be noted that you will only get 15 days at a land border. Have to land at an airport to get 30 days.

[Big Boy]

It should be noted that you will only get 15 days at a land border. Have to land at an airport to get 30 days.

Have they changed it to 15 again? When did that happen?

[Pleng]

Still 30 by land as far as I'm aware

[dtaai-maai]

It should be noted that you will only get 15 days at a land border. Have to land at an airport to get 30 days.

No, definitely 30 days for both.

[mudcat]

Depends on your passport. Group of Seven and Malaysian passport holders get 30-days at land borders, others get 15 no matter how wealthy a country, e.g.Sweden =15-days but Italy = 30-days.

[HHTel]

I apologise. It seems the UK 'should' get 30 days at a land border although I've heard that this is not always the case. The countries which only get 15 days are as follows.

"Countries which get 30 days at Airport and 15 day stamp at land border: Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Brunei, Belgium, Czech, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Kuwait, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand, Oman, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Slovak, Slovenia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and UAE. "

I hope that clarifies it. But being Thailand, I'd opt for an airport entry.

[Ralfredo]

Sweden =15-days but Italy = 30-days.

And the logic behind this is? TIT?

[GLCQuantum]

Not relevant to this thread but thought Id mention it.

If you were previously holding a tourist visa in your passport (60 days + 30 day top-up at immigration of your choice) and left the country hoping to extend your stay with another 30 day visa exempt on arrival - think again. Immigration will not offer you an extra 30 days 'visa exempt' once you have already used the tourist route. They will tell you to go to the embassy and get another tourist visa.

In short, once you have used a tourist visa, you are no longer eligible to leave the country (for a couple of hours) and get a 30 day on arrival.

[Pleng]

In short, not true.

On at least 3 occasions in the past I've been to a border consulate meaning to get a tourist visa and situations have prevented me being able to do so. On all occasions, the previous visa in my passport was a single entry tourist visa. Two of those had been extended for 30 days, one had not (or maybe it was the other way around, I can't remember and it's not really relevant). I had no problems getting a 30 day visa exempt stamp on any of those occasions.