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Is Vientiane refusing people with lots of SETVs too?


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11 hours ago, Traubert said:

Sure but not many you want to be in for long.

Generally, the maximum stay holding a Visitor Visa is nine months. We usually only allow visitors to stay for nine months in an 18-month period.

 

Oh this if for New Zealand, usually considered one of the most desirable tourist destinations.. the stupid Thai's don't have a clue..

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As far as countries in SE Asia that are easier to get into: when I went to Vietnam twice this year, I got a 3-month visa there in a matter of an hour or so, having made the application online already. The whole group of a couple dozen people, as I remember, were processed together at the airport.

What's the big deal.?

I could have gone through the process of applying for a TV to Thailand over there in Saigon but the thought of bank statements - not just my bank books from the U.S. - and proof of a reservation made at my favorite guest house in Chiang Mai .... it seemed like too much trouble.

No trouble to get the 30-day exempt. in Chiang Mai and one extension and I had thought I could just bop over the border and apply for a new TV in Vientiane until I read these posts. 

Now I am hoping I can get away with a run to Tachileck and back the same day and slide in once more on a 30-day. 

Any advice? Should I make a plane reservation to fly out of LOS ahead of time? Have cash in hand ?

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3 hours ago, brewsterbudgen said:

Wow, I didn't know that.  So, westerners can just enter on a tourist visa and then live there for months? Is this because there are no Retirement, Marriage or other options?

You cannot really be that ignorant. Staying in a foreign country "for months" as a tourist isn't a problem pretty much anywhere in the world. Where many countries draw the line, in one way or another, is that you cannot spend most of the year there as a tourist.

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9 hours ago, Sheryl said:

 

You don't.

 

And there is no problem with getting 2, 3, 4 even 5 TVs in  year if they are issued from your home country and stays are short. Ditto multiple visa exempt entries by air.

 

Why should anyone have to fly home to get another tourist visa? If you are here in the region already, why make us jump through hoops to get another TV in neighboring coutries? I can't see the point of forcing someone to fly home just to get another TV. The outcome is the same, all the person wants to do is spend some more time in Thailand,  not stay for ever.

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24 minutes ago, Ling Kae said:

Why should anyone have to fly home to get another tourist visa? If you are here in the region already, why make us jump through hoops to get another TV in neighboring coutries? I can't see the point of forcing someone to fly home just to get another TV. The outcome is the same, all the person wants to do is spend some more time in Thailand,  not stay for ever.

I just checked on the Thai embassy's website in my home country. To get a METV, I would need to have a permanent job there. However, I live off my savings, and haven't been to my home country for years. So the whole 'just travel to your home country, and you can get a long-term visa' is bull****! I would have to abandon my partner of seven years in Thailand, trying to get a job back home. By the time I could get a METV, based on being employed back home, my long-distance relationship would probably have fallen apart, meaning I wouldn't need a Thailand visa anymore... Go figure!

Edited by StayinThailand2much
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I do not really think they have a problem with tourists.... genuine,  legitimate Tourists.

I think the biggest issue they have are that if someone is in Thailand 11 months out of the year... they are most likely working in Thailand ti support themselves.... 

Which I completely agree is wrong.

 

As for myself,  I know I am risking getting a IO that is in a bad mood, has a bad attitude,  or someone else <deleted> off.

I enter Thailand on VE every time.. 

I have 2 reasons to come here...

My wife is here on an ED Visa, so I am "visiting her "... also, I do actual tourist stuff.... on Vacation from my work, 35 days on / 35 days off. 

They can see that as I leave for Work,  I am most definitely not working here in Thailand. 

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42 minutes ago, Ling Kae said:

Why should anyone have to fly home to get another tourist visa? If you are here in the region already, why make us jump through hoops to get another TV in neighboring coutries? I can't see the point of forcing someone to fly home just to get another TV. The outcome is the same, all the person wants to do is spend some more time in Thailand,  not stay for ever.

Never go home = not a tourist 

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2 minutes ago, dbrenn said:

Never go home = not a tourist 

I go home every year for more than 6 months yet I still have to jump through the hoops to obtain a second SETV. Last time in Vientiane i supplied:

 

Application with 2 photos

Bio page copy of passport 

Copy of Lao Visa signed by me

Current hotel receipt with street address in Thailand 

Bank statement showing more than 20k baht

Flight booking home within the 60 days

 

Many people were rejected due to insufficient documentation.  My advice is to be prepared and take everything.

 

When I did cross over the border at Nong Khai, I was questioned again about my address in Thailand which I confirmed as per application. 

 

I did get my TV by the way as I supplied all of the above.

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19 hours ago, Ling Kae said:

I know many farangs here in Thailand and many say the same as you. It truly doesn't make sense when so many hard working average Thais are just wanting, wishing and hoping more tourist's will turn up. As you say, all we do is spend spend and spend, just doesn't make sense.

How long have you been living in thailand now....WHEN have the laws EVER used common sense. The fact of the matter is that the Thai's no longer want foreigners here, They want your money but not you. Things have changed in Thailand and instead of saying why this and why that time to move on. Vietnam is a much better place to live these days anyways.

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12 hours ago, Sheryl said:

 

You don't.

 

And there is no problem with getting 2, 3, 4 even 5 TVs in  year if they are issued from your home country and stays are short. Ditto multiple visa exempt entries by air.

 

As above, what they are concerned about are people using tourist visas/visa exempt entries to actually live in Thailand. And that concern exists because there are in fact people doing just that.

Well that depends on your home country. And, even if you are from an affluent western country, the tightening has started there too, and it isn't as easy as it used to be. 

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16 hours ago, thecyclist said:

Well that depends on your home country. And, even if you are from an affluent western country, the tightening has started there too, and it isn't as easy as it used to be. 

That's because Thailand has also become an affluent country. It doesn't view westerners as rich and high status anymore. 

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33 minutes ago, dbrenn said:

That's because Thailand has also become an affluent country. It doesn't view westerners as rich and high status anymore. 

And the minimum wage is? 

Oh yes 300baht per day. Sign me up. That's 3 pints at Stumble inn Soi 4. 

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41 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

And the minimum wage is? 

Oh yes 300baht per day. Sign me up. That's 3 pints at Stumble inn Soi 4. 

Thais on 300 Baht a day don't drink in soi 4 - they drink Lao lao khao in corrugated iron roadside places. Likewise, how many westerners on the minimum wage drink in tourist bars back home? None - they drink cheap cider from Tescos at home.

 

Fact is that life on benefits or the minimum wage back home is just as hard as life on the minimum wage in Thailand. Nowadays, Thailand has a growing middle class, whose spending power rivals our own.

 

We're no richer than the Thais are these days, so we can't expect that they'll still be in awe of us.

Edited by dbrenn
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On 8/23/2019 at 6:02 PM, TSF said:

You just got to wonder. They want tourists to come to the country and spend money and stimulate the local economy, but they don't want you to come too often. Like what's the issue? All we do is spend-spend-spend. We take taxis, buses, trains, planes....we pay. We eat/drink...we pay...We stay in hotels/apartments/rooms/houses...we pay....We go see movies, go shopping, go to clubs, have a massage, get a gal for the night....we pay, pay, pay. 

Yes, you are right. I just don't understand how they think. Even if you stay for years on end you still pay for everything it's not free is it?

May be it's because they couldn't get any corruption money from you?

I can't think of any other reason.

If I put lots of money in an envelope and discretely pass it to them would that solve my visa problem? The money is passed by myself personally not using a runner.  Anyone knows? I mean lots of money. How much? Say 1,000 US. Someone out there must know the answer.

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21 hours ago, Ling Kae said:

The cleaners in my hotel are on 7,000 baht a month with only 2 days off a month. The average Thai is not affluent at all, most struggle to pay their rent.

Are the cleaners actually Thai? I ask because a lot of these jobs are now being done by non-Thais. 

But anyhow, besides a few hotel cleaners, Thailand, as you were told, is not the poor country it was 20 years ago. It's currency is strong, employment is high, along with many other factors. They don't need us, (who is US by the way?) that is the illusion many Westerners carry with them. They just want us to come as short term tourists, spend all, then go home. 

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