Thailand Visa Rules

[Name Taken]

The visa laws here in Thailand are insane and an absolute joke.
WTF Does Thailand think that westerners are? Automatons? Walking ATM machines?

[lomuamart]

What's the problem?

[Khundon1975]

Name Taken

Unfortunately, the answer to your two questions are;

Yes and Yes.

[stgrhe]

I totally disagree. On the contrary I find the visa rules for Thailand to be rather generous. Most tourist get 30 days in the country without the need for a visa while others can get a 15 days visa on arrival.

Furthermore, tourists who want to stay longer can easily get a double tourist visa in their home country, which theoretically will enable them to stay in the country nearly six months with just one border crossing. I find that rather generous.

Also, when it comes to stay in the country on non-immigrant visas, Thailand is quite generous to those who qualifies. The ones who complain are usually those who do not qualify but try to circumvent the immigration laws by endless visa runs. Who says everyone has a right to live this country?

[johnnyk]

Get the proper visa before leaving home and there's no problem. Its not quantum physics, folks.
Arrive on a 30-day VOA, expect to stay a year and find you have to jump through some hoops... who's fault is that?
Stay drunk, overstay your visa and wake up to a problem... who's fault is that?
Some people need to wake up then grow up.

[buksida]

Before we all jump on the OP maybe we should give him a chance to explain why he has made the post.

Maybe he has been jumping through those hoops for 20 years and now there are too many of them ... who knows!

[Spitfire]

I don't find the visa laws too bad in general, a bit anal perhaps in some ways, definetly pedantic, but what gets me is the constant moving of the goalposts all the time and the "Which way is the wind blowing today?" crap. Not sure whether it's just the pen-pushers brown-nosing and trying to justify their jobs by suggesting little changes/tweaks all the time or whether it's actually done on purpose to keep everyone paying attention to immigration, could just be the center operating as the personal fiefdom of the officer in charge and he just gets of on the power trip. Strange though with the OP, if he's been here a while then should be cynically aware of it, unless he's been caught out with a change to a visa he's been getting for a long time that has been constant, until now, and it's a petty change. If not, and he's a newish visitor/resident, then I'm afraid this is sometime you'll have to get used to, being fustrated here with officialdom.

However OP, have a rant about it, I'm sure you won't be the only one who's been affected. Sometimes it does seems as if they make the rules/requirements to get rid of as many of us as possible.

[Governor]

I don't think the visa regime in Thailand is too difficult or expensive, especially if you compare it with what a Thai person has to go through if they want to visit or live in a western country. For a Thai person to visit the UK they have to shell out 3484B, supply a wad of information and may not even get a visa in which case they wouldn't get their money back. If they want to apply for long term visas, they can cost up to 26000B, and if they got a 10 year visa, they still wouldn't be allowed to stay in the UK for longer than six months. If a Thai wants to settle in the UK they have to pay 30420B just for the visa, with considerable further costs down the line.

I am fairly content with my extension of leave to remain based on retirement at 1900B, and even with the extra 3800B for a re-entry permit I think it is fairly priced.

[sargeant]

There may be more rants as the £ and $ loose value

maybe thats the problem for the OP

[Name Taken]

Before we all jump on the OP maybe we should give him a chance to explain why he has made the post.

Maybe he has been jumping through those hoops for 20 years and now there are too many of them ... who knows!

Part of the problem is the meticulous day counting that a person has to do to avoid overstaying, another part of the problem is having to rely upon back to back tourist visa's to stay here in Thailand in order to avoid having to leave the country every other week(14 days) by land or every month(30 days) by air.

[lomuamart]

I think you'll find that the day counting will apply to any country you visit where a visa/visa exempt is necessary. Your entry stamp will clearly state how long you're permitted to stay. It's your responsibility to abide by that wherever you are.
I have some sympathy with those who stay here on visa exempt stamps or tourist visas. I did it for years. It dosn't matter if you can prove ample funds from overseas to take care of yourself here without working illegally. You've generally got to be married to a Thai or over 50. That's a bit unfair to me, but it's their rules.

[Super Joe]

Part of the problem is the meticulous day counting that a person has to do to avoid overstaying, another part of the problem is having to rely upon back to back tourist visa's to stay here in Thailand in order to avoid having to leave the country every other week(14 days) by land or every month(30 days) by air.

NT, do you fall under the catagory of being under 50, not working and no Thai family to support ? If so this situation is well known to us all. Or is your situation different ?

SJ

[Name Taken]

Part of the problem is the meticulous day counting that a person has to do to avoid overstaying, another part of the problem is having to rely upon back to back tourist visa's to stay here in Thailand in order to avoid having to leave the country every other week(14 days) by land or every month(30 days) by air.

NT, do you fall under the catagory of being under 50, not working and no Thai family to support ? If so this situation is well known to us all. Or is your situation different ?

SJ

Yes i am one of those that fall under the category of being under the age of 50, not working and no Thai family to support. I do support my (Thai)girlfriend but i don't think i can get a visa just for supporting her because we are not married.

[johnnyk]

I went to school and learned to count beyond 10 without taking off a sock.
I also learned how to use a calendar with dates on it that could be counted. I guess I'm just meticulous.
Later, when I became an adult, I learned to get a visa appropriate to the length of time I planned to visit Thailand.

[Name Taken]

I have been thinking about getting an ED(education) visa from one of those Thai language schools that advertise on that other Thailand internet forum, but i have read that the Thai Immigration is cracking down on people that are enrolled at these Thai language schools because people are not attending the Thai language schools classes and are abusing the ED(education) visa.