Nearly sent back at airport - IO says after this 60 day stay I can't come back for 6 months

[wallywest]

Wondering if I could get some advice or if anyone has been in a similar situation as mine. 

 

Been out of Thailand for 6 weeks or so and flew in the other day with a tourist visa (I'm American). IO had me up in the system I suppose and called a superior and they took me to the side and said I stay in Thailand too much and tried to make me go back to USA. About 1.5hrs of pleading they're speaking to my GF on the phone and agree to let me in for 60 days but tell me that I can't come back for 6 months after that.

 

Nothing is stamped in my passport saying I can't come back, I would assume they have it in the system. I'm wondering if I get an Elite Visa before I leave late August would that "void" the 6 month ban or would I still need to wait that long before I come back to Thailand?

 

Anyone have any experience with this?

 

Only been doing tourist visas since December, before that I was on ED visa for Muay Thai. I think what played a big part in this was I didn't have any pictures of me doing Muay Thai for the past 1.5 years but that is because my phone was recently stolen and all my pictures didn't back up, my GF corroborated this and that's why I think they let me in.

 

Anyways, I would definitely prefer not to leave Thailand for 6 months and was planning on an Eite Visa anyways, but don't want to get it right now if it goes to waste for 6 months. Anyone has any recommendations that would be great.

 

Thank you.

[DrJack54]

You haven't been banned.

After this current 60 day stay you can get 30 day extension. Then do border runs 30 + 30 Extensiin twice. During that time obtain your Elite visa.

Edited June 22, 2019 by DrJack54

[wallywest]

Well I actually do have to leave Thailand for a work conference in August, if the Elite Visa isn't processed in that time you think flying into Phuket or Koh Samui would be better than BKK?

[ubonjoe]

That was just a verbal warning about not being able to enter the country for 6 months. There is no entry in the immigrations system for it.

There is no written rule to back up that verbal warning.

No problem to stay for 6 months.

[cornishcarlos]

Out of interest, which airport did you arrive at ?

[ubonjoe]

3 minutes ago, wallywest said:

Well I actually do have to leave Thailand for a work conference in August, if the Elite Visa isn't processed in that time you think flying into Phuket or Koh Samui would be better than BKK?

I you applied for the Elite Visa now you would certainly have it by August.

Flying into a different airport would help if needed.

[wallywest]

1 minute ago, cornishcarlos said:

Out of interest, which airport did you arrive at ?

I arrived in BKK.

 

1 minute ago, ubonjoe said:

I you applied for the Elite Visa now you would certainly have it by August.

Flying into a different airport would help if needed.

Okay great, thanks a lot. I assumed it was a verbal warning as well but didn't want to take the chance of a 24 hour flight only to be forced onto another 24 hour flight.

[riclag]

What is your age OP?

[Daryle]

Another Looney Tunes experience brought to you by Thai Immigration.

 

Get the Elite Visa if you can...

 

 

 

 

[BritTim]

5 hours ago, wallywest said:

Well I actually do have to leave Thailand for a work conference in August, if the Elite Visa isn't processed in that time you think flying into Phuket or Koh Samui would be better than BKK?

Apart from the two Bangkok airports, there have been horror stories from Phuket and Koh Samui in the past. If you have a tourist visa (i.e. you are not requesting a visa exempt entry) then flying  direct to Chiang Mai seems to be OK. Safest is to fly somewhere like Vientiane and enter Thailand by land.

[happy chappie]

1 hour ago, Daryle said:

Another Looney Tunes experience brought to you by Thai Immigration.

 

Get the Elite Visa if you can...

 

 

 

 

Even better,save all that money buying the elite visa and take you gf back home.

[amykat]

Yes, or what about spending some time in Malaysia and having your girlfriends visit you there?  Bounce between the two countries.  I think it is nicer, more food selections like Indian, cheaper probably now than Thailand, pretty friendly, etc.

[happy chappie]

49 minutes ago, amykat said:

Yes, or what about spending some time in Malaysia and having your girlfriends visit you there?  Bounce between the two countries.  I think it is nicer, more food selections like Indian, cheaper probably now than Thailand, pretty friendly, etc.

Even better try laos,super cheap,easy to cross borders,looks quite like Thailand and friendly people.

[Maestro]

Removed a troll post and the reply to it.

[ThomasThBKK]

32 minutes ago, happy chappie said:

Even better try laos,super cheap,easy to cross borders,looks quite like Thailand and friendly people.

 

More like thailand without the ammenities, sure if cheap cheap cheap is the most important go there, but it's not comparable to Thailand.

 

OP, elite visa would for sure work out for you but if i was you and you have nothing better planned than staying in thailand often i would get the 20 year one for 1mio instead of the 500k for 5. I regret not doing it.

[happy chappie]

1 hour ago, ThomasThBKK said:

 

More like thailand without the ammenities, sure if cheap cheap cheap is the most important go there, but it's not comparable to Thailand.

 

OP, elite visa would for sure work out for you but if i was you and you have nothing better planned than staying in thailand often i would get the 20 year one for 1mio instead of the 500k for 5. I regret not doing it.

Have to agree that they having not very good amenities.there is a army of laos cars come to udon everyday for the shopping and hospitals.nothing wrong with looking for value though.what with the rocketing baht Thailand is getting like Venezuela for the average retired farang.if I could start over again I would live Lao and weekly shop in udon thani and bank the elite visa money.

i think one of the main reasons why farang end up in Thailand rather than the surrounding countries are they get off the flight in Bkk and the wheels fall off.

[gk10002000]

How did they know about you having a girl friend?  why did that come up?

[1RDN]

11 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

You haven't been banned.

After this current 60 day stay you can get 30 day extension. Then do border runs 30 + 30 Extensiin twice. During that time obtain your Elite visa.

My experience, doing border runs and coming in from a neighboring country puts up more red flags. I did 2 border runs in 2 years. The 2nd border run was the one that got me tagged. I found myself back at SFO 25 hours later. My suggestion, get the visa you need and come in that way. Eventually, find other living options for the day Thailand becomes too difficult to enter. 

[arithai12]

4 hours ago, RobboR said:

Can't understand why people are paying to be treated like animals in a third world country. Makes no sense

How was he treated like an animal? We don't know the details from the OP story, but it seems he was more or less continuously in Thailand for a couple of years on Muay Thai/ED visa (1.5 years) and several tourist visas since December. Enough to raise a flag and get a warning - just verbal it seems.

 

Elite seems a good option for him (provided he doesn't intend to work here), end of story, no dramas.

[MBFC1960]

I had similar experience but i didnt had any verbal warning for 6 months no entry. The thing was in 2018 i stayed in and out Thailand for 8 months i went out on 20th january 2019 with my GF to travel to Europe, in meanwhile i made new passport and in 20th february i was back in Suvarnabhumi... after i gave my passport to IO she was checking and checking around 15 mins probably she was new and didnt knew how to link two passports so i was sent to superior. I had return ticket with me and i had also papers (certificate of single and some other documents) my gf was waiting on other side and he asked me last year many times in and out why why... i said to him i made TV and i went with my GF to Europe so she can meet my parents he checked my return ticket and stamped me in after that i made one extension 30 day and another TV. My advice never use 30 day exemptions for enter, not land not air always have visa. And ofcourse the law is you can stay maximum 180 day with TV thats why he said about that because before that i was blacklisted for 1 year and i came after 1 and half year that was in 2018 without problem stamped in. Just people dont aware that they are not stupid and you cannot play system all the time sooner or later must prepare for reject. Good luck and i hope you will solve your problem soon. 

[BritTim]

5 hours ago, MBFC1960 said:

And ofcourse the law is you can stay maximum 180 day with TV

Most of your post is useful experience, but it needs stressing for the umpteenth time that there is no law or official rule setting a maximum number of days per year on tourist visas. It is just an arbitrary guideline used by some immigration officials when deciding if you are a "genuine tourist".

[ericthai]

22 hours ago, 1RDN said:

My experience, doing border runs and coming in from a neighboring country puts up more red flags. I did 2 border runs in 2 years. The 2nd border run was the one that got me tagged. I found myself back at SFO 25 hours later. My suggestion, get the visa you need and come in that way. Eventually, find other living options for the day Thailand becomes too difficult to enter. 

There has to be more to your history than 2 boarder runs in a two year time frame, as that would not cause an issue.

[BritTim]

10 hours ago, ericthai said:

There has to be more to your history than 2 boarder runs in a two year time frame, as that would not cause an issue.

I suspect that was an attempted visa exempt entry after one previous visa exempt, plus maybe a year in Thailand on tourist visas and/or Non Ed visas. I believe immigration officials are within their rights to assess whether a visa exempt entry is appropriate. What annoys me is when they abrogate properly acquired visas for bogus reasons.

[richjom]

On 6/23/2019 at 3:02 AM, happy chappie said:

Have to agree that they having not very good amenities.there is a army of laos cars come to udon everyday for the shopping and hospitals.nothing wrong with looking for value though.what with the rocketing baht Thailand is getting like Venezuela for the average retired farang.if I could start over again I would live Lao and weekly shop in udon thani and bank the elite visa money.

i think one of the main reasons why farang end up in Thailand rather than the surrounding countries are they get off the flight in Bkk and the wheels fall off.

How does that work with visa's from Laos to Thailand weekly for Farangs if they wanted to live in Laos and shop etc in Udon Thani? Is it a big hassle?

[Tayaout]

Instead of paying the visa mafia you should marry your girlfriend if the relation is serious. You can then get non-o visa and do visa run every 90-150 days or keep 400K in the bank and apply for 1 year extension of stay. Keep the extra money to buy her land or house. If the relation is not that serious then consider moving in a neighborhood country. I was in the same situation but was denied entry. My girlfriend was pregnant and we are now married but I would have switched country if it wasn't the case. After being denied entry I almost paid for elite but concluded its a scam for what you get in return. It's only usefull if you are lazy or really don't care about burning money. Hint your girlfriend/wife/future family could probably make better use of this money. 

Edited June 24, 2019 by Tayaout

[KhaoYai]

I asked this question on another thread but got no reply. Is there any right of appeal if you are denied entry? Having spent a lot of money on a ticket and having property and belongings in Thailand - some the aftermath of a previous marriage and some as preparation for a permanent move, it would be a major problem for me if I was denied entry.

 

Despite assurances from immigration officers that I'm fine, the seemingly increasing number of denial stories worries me every time I approach the immigration booth. So, having complied with all the requirements, if you are simply denied, is there anything you can do?

[ubonjoe]

10 minutes ago, KhaoYai said:

Is there any right of appeal if you are denied entry?

Yes there is a appeal allowed. You complete a TM11 form, pay the 1900 baht fee and they have to respond to it within 7 days.

 

Download: TM11 appeal form.pdf135.52 kB · 39 downloads

[happy chappie]

12 hours ago, richjom said:

How does that work with visa's from Laos to Thailand weekly for Farangs if they wanted to live in Laos and shop etc in Udon Thani? Is it a big hassle?

Very easy to come in through Vientiane the only problem is going back in to Lao as they stick a huge page stamp in your passport and charge $20 to enter the country.im in the uk at the moment and I'm getting a new passport with extended amount of pages in it.i suppose it's different if your just a day tripper going in and out every couple of week rather than someone coming in and out for 60-90 days at a time and look like your trying to live in Thailand.

[ubonjoe]

12 hours ago, richjom said:

How does that work with visa's from Laos to Thailand weekly for Farangs if they wanted to live in Laos and shop etc in Udon Thani? Is it a big hassle?

Not easy since the 2 visa exempt entries per calendar year at land borders went into effect in January of 2017.

They would need a multiple entry tourist visa to do it now. The embassy in Vientiane will issue one for those living in Laos due to that rule going into effect.

 

14 minutes ago, happy chappie said:

Very easy to come in through Vientiane the only problem is going back in to Lao as they stick a huge page stamp in your passport and charge $20 to enter the country.im in the uk at the moment and I'm getting a new passport with extended amount of pages in it.i suppose it's different if your just a day tripper going in and out every couple of week rather than someone coming in and out for 60-90 days at a time and look like your trying to live in Thailand.

Not correct since January of 2017.

[happy chappie]

25 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

Not easy since the 2 visa exempt entries per calendar year at land borders went into effect in January of 2017.

They would need a multiple entry tourist visa to do it now. The embassy in Vientiane will issue one for those living in Laos due to that rule going into effect.

 

Not correct since January of 2017.

Sorry about the wrong info.ive never had a problem but I'm on a marriage visa multi entry.i didn't think about only 2 land crossings a year.so it's still possible but through obtaining a multi entry visa?

i have never had a problem with immo and I now go savannaket for 12 month multi entry based on marriage.i have to leave the country every 90 days and I'm an hour from the Vientiane boarder so make a day trip for duty free,the best bread in Asia and a couple of hours in the casino.