BREAKING NEWS Thailand announces huge changes to tourist visas in bid to boost tourism

[sanemax]

3 hours ago, jackdd said:

 

And if it really starts tomorrow is not even sure

 

I applied for a tourist visa today in Savanakhet , wonder what I'll get tomorrow ?

[ChiangMaiLightning2143]

They should just open up a new category for under 50 sort of like Malaysia does. Visa requirements are the same except for the money amounts involved which would be more. 

They have it already. It is called Thailand Elite.
A brilliant programme, been a member for several years.

[ChiangMaiLightning2143]

Thank you so much for tarring all we Brits with the same brush as that low-life vandal who spray-painted the wall in CM!
As a Brit, I'm rather ashamed of him as it happens.
And from where do you hail, I wonder? I presume that none of your fellow-countrymen would ever commit any anti-social acts?

American guilty as charged. ANYBODY with a history of social offenses (from UK AUS, AUS, etc.) should be barred from the Kingdom, permanently. Thai Immigration is not up to speed with communicating foreign countries that is why overrun with crims. Do you know Americans with as little as a drink driving charge are barred from Canada??

This would keep out 99 percent of the dross and many serious crimes would be avoided.

[trainman34014]

3 hours ago, Destiny1990 said:

Finally Some common sense!!

Panic measures more like !

[VBF]

Just now, ChiangMaiLightning2143 said:

American guilty as charged. ANYBODY with a history of social offenses (from UK AUS, AUS, etc.) should be barred from the Kingdom, permanently. Thai Immigration is not up to speed with communicating foreign countries that is why overrun with crims. Do you know Americans with as little as a drink driving charge are barred from Canada??

This would keep out 99 percent of the dross and many serious crimes would be avoided.

Well on THAT point I agree with you - people whom you describe just shouldn't be allowed to travel - it's not like you can accidentally spray graffiti, smash up bars / hotels, start fights etc.

Many Brits visited the Spanish Costas and the Greek Islands (me included) in the 1970s/80s and while some just went and enjoyed a fun holiday, regrettably the thug element gave us all a very bad reputation.  I'm not talking about a little "drunken silliness" in which I partook as much as the next (young) man but serious vandalism. It's almost as if in their tiny minds, the laws don't apply to them when they go on holiday.

That's partly why, even to this day, when I go into a bar or wherever and hear English being spoken by strangers, i'm in hurry to engage in conversation until I've sussed out who i'm dealing with. One has one's pride you know! ???? But this is going ....back to the plot!

[sanemax]

21 minutes ago, ChiangMaiLightning2143 said:

They have it already. It is called Thailand Elite.
A brilliant programme, been a member for several years.

I think that ONLY people with Elite visas should be allowed into Thailand , even holiday makers , retirees , students and also airport transfer people , everyone should be jailed for life who hast got an Elite visa  and then shot dead after they finish their life time jail sentence 

[robsamui]

It's all too easy for most people here to unthinkingly compare Thailand with neighbouring nations like Cambodia or Vietnam, which have similar climates and costs of living, and ask - 'why don't the Thais welcome foreigners like XXX does?' or, 'Why don't the Thais have similarly easy-going immigration rules like XXX?'

 

The fact is that these neighbouring nations have previously been conquered and colonised and the people there feel easy and relaxed about foreigners. There is no 'us-and-them' instinct, as there is in Thailand. The ordinary Thai people aren't like this, they swing between vaguely suspicious, to tolerant, to downright graceful and welcoming.

 

But the gov and the admin are at heart frightened by foreigners. They don't understand us or our expectations, find it hard to communicate with us, and are resentful of our confidence, our greater world-knowledge and our higher levels of information and education. They feel threatened and inferior. Just by having us staying here they are losing face

 

This is the reason for so much red tape and paperwork and PAIN if we want to stay here, and also the enthusiasm for generating an easy-entrance for tourists who will be here and gone in a week.

 

Only it's not possible for any nation to remain in a self-contained little tribe any more, proud and self-sustaining, separate from the world outside. But it's still all about pride and nationalistic self-image in Thailand - it's all about keeping face. And this is now starting to erode the viability of the country.

 

Coming up to the end of the 2nd decade of the 21st century, trying to maintain this false superiority is damaging the Thai presence in the worldwide community and also creating huge problems with the internal machinery that governs the country.

 

Just try to imagine how many foreign-educated hi-so Thai kids are now saying to their ministerial fathers - 'oh for god's sake dad, you just can't keep coming up with ridiculous laws like this - they don't make any sense, it's all over the world's social media and everyone's laughing at us!'

 

This new turn-about is, I think, the first sign of a despairing administration trying to come to terms with all of this, I don't believe it only all about money and revenue . . . and I really hope it's not the last time we see this kind of awkward attempt at adjustment!

(Assuming, of course, that some sulky gnarly old Nationalist doesn't step in next month and reverse the whole thing!)

 

 

 

 

Edited November 14, 2018 by robsamui

[TaaSaparot]

57 minutes ago, robsamui said:

ONE category of the tourist visas was free. And you re right about unlimited Visas on Arrival. But it had been like that for years. It was the sudden cheap baht that brought the record influx of tourists, not the visas!

Never mentioned Visa on Arrival.

 

From my experience from the winter of 1997-1998, my Double Entry TV was free, along with free unlimited 30 day extensions, which meant it was the only year I did not have to do a border run.

[biggles45]

"I thought that perhaps they might be going the e-visa route but that's not part of the equation yet. It must be time to modernise the whole system"

 

I was sure that with Thailand 4.0 this would happen !! GF and I come from Philippines twice a year fir the kast 6 years on TV. Embassy in Manila takes 2 business days to issue one, so 2 nights accom, travel 100km each way. On-line would be great, but they can't even get OL reporting to work reliably n 

Thailand so not much hope. 

[zaZa9]

Anyone know WHICH Immigration Office may intend to implement any changes , and WHICH offices will just do something else ?

[zyphodb]

1 hour ago, CeeGee said:

Maybe for the first time in history the Thai Government will issue an actual factual statement.

ie This scheme will start on this date

    It will run between these dates

    If successful it will be extended for the following dates

    It covers the following visas

 

it would make a change because it seems that every time they announce anything it prompts pages and pages of debate on what they actually mean.It also left to individual officials to interpret the rules as they see fit.

There is no black or white in Thailand everything is grey

This is deliberate to allow room for all the corruption...

[ubonjoe]

8 minutes ago, zaZa9 said:

Anyone know WHICH Immigration Office may intend to implement any changes , and WHICH offices will just do something else ?

None of these changes would be done at a immigration office.

 The free 15 day visa on arrival at would be done at airports and border crossings on entry to the country. The unlimited visa exempt entries would be at land border crossings.

The tourist visas would be issued at embassies and consulates.

[Naamblar2014]

4 hours ago, BestB said:

Khaosan road dejavu???? first kill it and now try to revive it?

 

 

Kill it and restock so maximum benefit to self. 

[Dorian232]

5 hours ago, Samui Bodoh said:

Wow!

 

Tourism numbers and revenues must be taking one hell of a hit to do this; it is a refutation of everything the Junta has been doing or saying for years.

 

There is a great deal more to this story; I am looking forward to finding it out.

 

 

 

 

4 hours ago, jackdd said:

None, these changes are made to promote tourism

Now its time to help those of us who have been legally here for a few years, married to Thai person. EASE OUR VISAS , relax the 90 day reporting, remove the requirement for a re-entry visa, etc..

Edited November 14, 2018 by Dorian232
Correct spelling

[jackdd]

8 minutes ago, Dorian232 said:

Now its time to help those of us who have been legally here for a few years, married to Thai person. EASE OUR VISAS , relax the 90 day reporting, remove the requirement for a re-entry visa, etc..

You could apply for permanent residency

[chrisinth]

3 hours ago, BigBadGeordie said:

I understand that proposal is already under-consideration.

Expect an announcement on 1 April 2019.

Yep, that date in every year, it is a certain April 1st announcement..................

[dukeandduke]

1 hour ago, Jiggo said:

If they where serious maybe the Thai government should follow Vietnam, 2 weeks free visa, no form filling in and out.  

That's the case for U.K. citizens, and...?  Not for everyone.

[dukeandduke]

After reading the article and my mind's max of posts for now, I'm still confused.  "Immigration checkpoints" include BKK?  I'm not sure, while I'm between visas, if I can leave and return by air as often as I want -- until the election, for which I haven't been holding my breath.

[pontious]

1 hour ago, Kim J said:

Typical knee jerk reaction. Clearly if this is for the next two months only as a trial, they have not considered that the vast majority intending to travel during this period will have already made their arrangements.

It is not for the next two months - there is no start date and the details have not been finalised yet - the government is awaiting the details from TAT. Read the  OP again.

[crazykopite]

Things must be getting absolutely desperate to introduce these new visa extensions problem is it’s a year to late . The islands such as Samui and Koh Phangan have really seen a hit of tourists .

[ubonjoe]

1 minute ago, dukeandduke said:

After reading the article and my mind's max of posts for now, I'm still confused.  "Immigration checkpoints" include BKK? 

That is all entry points at airports, seaports and land border crossings.

The 30 day visa exempt entries by air have have been unlimited since 2008. At land border crossings they have been limited to 2 per calendar year since January of 2017.

[pontious]

1 hour ago, sanemax said:

I applied for a tourist visa today in Savanakhet , wonder what I'll get tomorrow ?

A tourist visa - same as before - there is no change yet.

[ESCAPIS]

Big Joke will have a fit, hit the roof then get considerably more photo ops.

[Pedrogaz]

Smacks of desperation

[The traveler]

10 minutes ago, Pedrogaz said:

Smacks of desperation

No, it’s to make it easier for everyone to be here longer/or those who frequently are in and out, good news, why so pessimistic??? 

[The traveler]

Just now, The traveler said:

No, it’s to make it easier for everyone to be here longer/or those who frequently are in and out, good news, why so pessimistic??? 

What visa do you got ? Marriage visa, retirement visa ? if so easy for you, but not those that are under age of 50/ not married..

[sanemax]

1 hour ago, pontious said:

A tourist visa - same as before - there is no change yet.

It was stated that people who apply for a SETV can now apply for a DETV for the same price and I just ticked the SETV , unaware that the rules will change tomorrow

[sanemax]

IF I get a SETV tomorrow , could I also apply for the new DETV on Friday ?

[pontious]

6 minutes ago, sanemax said:

It was stated that people who apply for a SETV can now apply for a DETV for the same price and I just ticked the SETV , unaware that the rules will change tomorrow

Nothing changes tomorrow - do not read the OP Headline. Read the whole statement. Nothing has been agreed yet.

[JackThompson]

 

5 hours ago, chrisinth said:

And yes, I know these border hops only affect a small number of visa runners in the overall picture, but considering you were getting roughly the same number of actual tourists (as well as the runners), for it to increase by 3% is amazing.

I think I know one reason why border-crossings are up.  It's because the airports have now become a nightmare of potential/arbitrary rough-treatment for anyone who spends even a few weeks per year here. 

 

Unlike what many airport-immigration-apologists (aka: "self hating expats") claimed on this forum, the ongoing pattern makes clear that this wasn't just about cracking down on "people living here as tourists," after all.  The goal of the clique running the agenda was to drive out Western expats, one subgroup at a time, with those paying agent/elite forms of tribute being saved until last.

 

5 hours ago, Easy Come Easy Go said:

I keep saying this, because my Thai gf works in tourism here, yet when I bring it up I get donks linking me to government online statistics that paint a picture that everything is hunky-dory 

Yes.  Anyone talking to those who working in jobs that benefit from Western tourism will tell you what a huge train-wreck immigration has created in their industry.  Only those bamboozled by "official statistics" or who have a vested-interest in staving-off a tourist-related industry bear-market, would tell you any differently.

 

4 hours ago, 727Sky said:

I guess sucking up to the Chinese and there self contained tours are not panning out like once thought..?

It only ever "panned-out" for the few beneficiaries of the tour money.  The Thai people were left to subsidize in infrastructure costs of supporting the tour-group masses.

 

6 hours ago, realenglish1 said:

Its clear that limiting visa waivers is hurting big time. I know of lots of people that just stopped coming because of the old rule

I met many as well - several years ago in Latin America, and more recently in the PI and Cambodia - who had been here before, but left due to never knowing when they could be arbitrarily denied-entry.  Who knows how many tens of thousands of Thai jobs immigration systematically-destroyed this way. 

 

5 hours ago, jvs said:

Bad guys out,bad guys back in?

Bad guys never left - they just went to agents.  Maybe some of the now-gone good-guys could come back - but not if this will only go on for 2 mo.

 

The expats who left generally have very sour attitudes about the place, due to the way they were treated by immigration.  They do not hesitate to warn/ward-off anyone who brings up coming to SE Asia.  It would take a vocal apology-campaign, plus consistent, welcoming-rules demonstrated for years, to undo the PR-damage which was done to the large, growing, and relatively high-spending (by world-standards) Western expat population.

Edited November 14, 2018 by JackThompson