Thailand has a new visa regulation in effect. Due to the fact that Thai Airways is losing money hand over fist because tourists aren't coming anymore, the rule is now that after doing three 15-day visa runs to the border (they used to be 30-days at a time), on the fourth visit, the only way you will be allowed back into the country is through an airport.
Just remember kids: In The Philippines, you only have to renew your tourist visa once every 2 months, and you don't have to leave the country to do it — just go to the nearst Bureau of Immigration. Cost: About 3,000 pisos. Number of times you can go back and renew: At least 9 or 10.
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5 comments:
What a crappy rule; it seems they are doing all they can to keep the tourists out.
No. They are just trying to keep out "tourists" who live long-term in Thailand. I don't know why they think that "tourists" (like I used to be... dumping $5,000 or more per month into the Thai economy) are bad, but that's who they are thinking of with these new rules.
Well, they probably just want Thai Airways to sell more tickets... but of course, everybody flys Air Asia and Cebu Pacific out of Bangkok these days if they aren't going all the way back to Farangland.
Huh, has the 30-day tourist visa been reduced to 15 days? For the usual nationalities that used to get 30 days?
Kris,
Yes. It happened after I left 15 months ago. I'm not sure exactly what the details are.
I did the math, with both Epril and I requiring tourist visas, and with the nearby places like Penang closing their doors, I'd be spending about 15,000 baht per month on keeping our visas current if I were still in Thailand... and that does not include lost wages from work.
I just left last week. Had an initial visa upon arrival for 30 days then a 30 day extension without trouble, same thing last year...maybe somebody is trying to extract a larger visa renewal fee?
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