Thai Visa Exempt 30-Day Border Arrivals to be Limited to Two Per Year!

[mactbkk]

This upcoming rule may screw up some travel plans.

Mac

New Rule: Only 2 Visa Exempt Entries At Border Crossings Per Calendar Year Effective Dec 31st

Unofficial translation posted here, plus five pages of TV comments!

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic...ossings-per-calendar-year-effective-dec-31st/




Change to Ministerial Regulation published in the royal gazette on December 1st. Page 1, Book 133/100A Royal Gazette, 1 December 2016
From this unofficial translation.done by ThaiVisa moderator Arcady. Visa Exempt Rules Dec 2016.pdf

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Article 1. These ministerial regulations shall come into effect 30 days after publication in the Royal Gazette.

Article 2. The following is added to Article 13, Paragraph 3, of the ministerial regulations setting out the rules, procedures and conditions for inspection, visa exemptions and a change in the type of visa stamp of 2002.

"Those who enter the Kingdom temporarily for tourism in accordance with Paragraphs 3 by crossing Immigration check points at land borders are entitled to enter the Kingdom in this way no more than two times per calendar year, except for Malaysian citizens or citizens of other countries, as specified by the minister.”


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Reason for it in this note.

Quote
Notes: - The reason for this announcement of ministerial regulations is that it has been found that, on examining the time spent in the Kingdom by aliens receiving visa exemptions to enter the Kingdom temporarily for purposes of tourism by crossing Immigration check points at land borders, such aliens have tended to spend more time in the Kingdom than is consistent with the purpose of granting visa exemptions to enter the Kingdom temporarily for the purpose of tourism. Thus, in order to make these land border crossings conform to the stated purpose of tourism, it is necessary to issue these ministerial regulations to limit the number of annual border crossings by individual aliens using visa exemptions for the purpose of tourism.

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[Lone Rider]

This upcoming rule may screw up some travel plans.

"Those who enter the Kingdom temporarily for tourism in accordance with Paragraphs 3 by crossing Immigration check points at land borders are entitled to enter the Kingdom in this way no more than two times per calendar year, except for Malaysian citizens or citizens of other countries, as specified by the minister.”

It looks like that the people who fly in and out often (offshore workers, etc.) may have no problems with this rule. However, as it up to the immigration people to admit people at the border, even those people may have problems entering Thailand by air depending on how Immigration interpretes the rule or in what mood they are.

 

[blackwolf]

It looks like that the people who fly in and out often (offshore workers, etc.) may have no problems with this rule. However, as it up to the immigration people to admit people at the border, even those people may have problems entering Thailand by air depending on how Immigration interpretes the rule or in what mood they are.

Since at least 2014, both land and airport borders have been instructed to flag travelers who have entered under the visa exemption scheme 6 or more times. This would affect FIFO workers and there have been plenty of stories of their agony over on Thaivisa.com, which I have been reading since 2014, though I rarely visit that forum anymore these days. The flagging is especially common at certain airports such as Don Muang and Phuket, but can occur at any border checkpoint or airport, including Suvarnabhumi. It is more common amongst those who spend all or most of their visa free allowance in Thailand, whereas those that travel to Thailand regularly but only spend a couple of days on each trip are unlikely to be flagged. FIFO workers typically belong to the earlier category, so I would advise applying for a marriage or business visa, or if not eligible for any of these a METV to cover such cases; even an occasional SETV is better than using the visa exemption scheme on a regular basis.

 

[KTMphil]

I know several offshore workers that have been pulled aside entering Thailand at airport immigration and questioned and told no more visa exempt entries for you. It seems to be a discretionary caution from a red flag on the computer screen and if they can be bothered.