Thai Visa : August 2014

The due date for new rules from Thai immigration has come in this week on the 12 August 2014. The new rules which has gone out to Thai border posts has been called the “Guidelines for inspection of citizens from certain countries that are not required to obtain a visa when entering the Kingdom of Thailand”. This is what is now being looked at.

The new Thai visa rules spoken about over the last few months in Thailand has now come due and Thai immigration at the border posts will now be looking at the following:

1. Information Check

They will check you passport to see how many times you have used a visa on arrival in Thailand. This includes both the airport as well as the land border posts such as the Poi Pet border post. They will check to see if you are entering Thailand with a visa or not. If you don’t have a Thai visa then they will check if you are working in Thailand or a genuine tourist. They will check if you are doing an “in-out” or “visa run” as it is called in Thailand.

2. Purpose Check

They will check if you are a tourist by checking if you have a hotel reservation and an onward airline booking back home. If you do not have this then they will have the option to deny you entry in Thailand.

The rules are new and over the next few weeks the new rules will settle in and we would have a good idea as to what they are looking for and also how much extension they do give you are the border. The problems started with South Koreans who had lived and run businesses in Thailand at times for more than 5 years without a proper visa. The Bangkok Post had a number of articles in this regard. Check again for more updates. If you are married to a Thai then obtain a Thai marriage visa or a Thai retirement visa if you are over the age of 50. The proper visa usually settles everything.

 Update : September 2014 : New Visa Rules