came to thailand today and they were shocked at the immigration border suvarnaburi

[parafareno]

the lady at the visa immigration at the airport was surprised how come i have a 3 monht visa.....that most of the people come here only for a week or 2 not 3 months

 

so instead just getting a stamp they were talking to me like 5 minutes.....cause i have single entry visa and will go home after 3 months...

was i singled out or is this normal now...

 

years ago i stayed up to 11 months in thailand before....and nobody asked anything at the immigration when i arrived to airport

 

very strange....

[Maestro]

Yes, you were singled out. Not everyone with  tourist visa gets a five-minute interview.

 

You did not mention your age. It you are of so-called working age, the immigration official may have been surprised that you get such a long vacation.

[parafareno]

50 yo

 

seems to me only me had a big talk for like 5 minutes....

and she said it will be hard to extend 2 months....only if i go out with a plane to another country...and come back.....

i am worried about that..i dont want to fly somewhere and pay so much money....i used to just go with a bus to cambodia and eveyrthing was ok

[parafareno]

she was talking also that other people come only for 1 week,not 3 months...etc....

why i stay so long....as a tourist etc....

[Puchaiyank]

Immigration lady was surprised that under the current conditions in Thailand that anyone would want to stay more than 2-3 weeks...????

[RichardColeman]

59 minutes ago, parafareno said:

she was talking also that other people come only for 1 week,not 3 months...etc....

why i stay so long....as a tourist etc....

Shock , Horror, Thai Immigration do their job. 

[Sticky Wicket]

A tourist is simply a person who is traveling or visiting a place for pleasure. 

 

There is no time restriction based on the definition.

 

Why can't somebody be a tourist for 1, 2, 10 years? 

 

It's dinosaur thinking from a dinosaur run country

[baansgr]

1 hour ago, parafareno said:

50 yo

 

seems to me only me had a big talk for like 5 minutes....

and she said it will be hard to extend 2 months....only if i go out with a plane to another country...and come back.....

i am worried about that..i dont want to fly somewhere and pay so much money....i used to just go with a bus to cambodia and eveyrthing was ok

Those days are long gone. Its a shame as Thailand is missing out on revenue from genuine people that can support themselves, however thousands of "tourists" in the past were and still are working illegally as teachers or bar staff on some islands, not to mention the criminal drug dealing element. Aus border force are ruthless even when people have a valid visa, check their phones etc to look for job offers, so its not just Thailand that is doing this.

[TSF]

8 minutes ago, Sticky Wicket said:

A tourist is simply a person who is traveling or visiting a place for pleasure. 

 

There is no time restriction based on the definition.

 

Why can't somebody be a tourist for 1, 2, 10 years? 

 

It's dinosaur thinking from a dinosaur run country

Indeed. There's no doubt there were/are people who used tourist visas and visa exempt to live/work in the country. But there were/are also many genuine tourist/travelers who use Thailand as a hub to explore the region. Spending months traveling through Lao, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia and all the time coming back into Thailand in order to get to the next destination. Seems that's pretty well off the menu now.

[ezzra]

43 minutes ago, Sticky Wicket said:

A tourist is simply a person who is traveling or visiting a place for pleasure. 

 

There is no time restriction based on the definition.

 

Why can't somebody be a tourist for 1, 2, 10 years? 

 

It's dinosaur thinking from a dinosaur run country

A tourist is a definition each country immigration laws diced to be as to whom and for how long a visitor is deemed to be a tourists, and as long the not yet a system to separate the wheat from the chaff, i.e. the bona fide tourists from the would be overstayers who abuse the system, Thailand has the right to exercise it's take on who is a tourist and who's not...

[Sticky Wicket]

3 hours ago, ezzra said:

A tourist is a definition each country immigration laws diced to be as to whom and for how long a visitor is deemed to be a tourists, and as long the not yet a system to separate the wheat from the chaff, i.e. the bona fide tourists from the would be overstayers who abuse the system, Thailand has the right to exercise it's take on who is a tourist and who's not...

But it doesn't! Show me the legal documentation that defines a tourist and how long they are allowed to stay for.

 

It's just arbitrary xenophobia.

 

Everything is opaque here to allow maximization of scams and corruption.

 

There is NO semblance of a welfare state here, so even the much maligned over stayer still has to fend for himself.  

Edited October 23, 2019 by Sticky Wicket

[josephbloggs]

4 hours ago, Sticky Wicket said:

A tourist is simply a person who is traveling or visiting a place for pleasure. 

 

There is no time restriction based on the definition.

 

Why can't somebody be a tourist for 1, 2, 10 years? 

 

It's dinosaur thinking from a dinosaur run country

Ok, so tell me a non dinosaur country that allows people to wander around freely as a tourist for 1, 2, 10 years?  Especially with no proof of income, no questions asked as you appear to think should be normal.

[fhickson]

its hit or miss, not organized, and probably never will be. you just got a bad apple.

 

again, vet the clerk visually before you get in that particular line. with a little practice you can avoid people who are feeling bitchy that day, not in a good mood, not smiling etc.

[Sticky Wicket]

17 minutes ago, josephbloggs said:

Ok, so tell me a non dinosaur country that allows people to wander around freely as a tourist for 1, 2, 10 years?  Especially with no proof of income, no questions asked as you appear to think should be normal.

I never said they could!

[josephbloggs]

9 minutes ago, Sticky Wicket said:

I never said they could!

"It's dinosaur thinking from a dinosaur run country" would imply that more forward thinking countries operate differently.

 

Instead you could have just said "this is normal, everywhere".

[Sticky Wicket]

Just now, josephbloggs said:

"It's dinosaur thinking from a dinosaur run country" would imply that more forward thinking countries operate differently.

 

Instead you could have just said "this is normal, everywhere".

No, the 'dinosaur run country' was very specific to the creatures that are currently ruining this country

[Tropicalevo]

5 hours ago, Sticky Wicket said:

A tourist is simply a person who is traveling or visiting a place for pleasure. 

 

There is no time restriction based on the definition.

 

Why can't somebody be a tourist for 1, 2, 10 years? 

 

It's dinosaur thinking from a dinosaur run country

For the same reason that a Thai cannot get a tourist visa in the UK for those periods. True for most countries.

It is quite normal

[Sticky Wicket]

2 minutes ago, Tropicalevo said:

For the same reason that a Thai cannot get a tourist visa in the UK for those periods. True for most countries.

It is quite normal

Why are you comparing a 1st world country and a third world country with absolutely no safety net!

 

[Tropicalevo]

11 minutes ago, Sticky Wicket said:

The amount of sanctimonious expats on this site is astonishing!

 

The old timers hate the thought of the younger, wealthier and better looking youngsters shagging all 'their' women!

What a dumb statement. Not everyone that comes here has your moral standards.

I have lived here for 20 years and married to a Birmingham girl for 30. Good luck on sha**ing her. She died three years ago.

[Sticky Wicket]

1 minute ago, Tropicalevo said:

What a dumb statement. Not everyone that comes here has your moral standards.

I have lived here for 20 years and married to a Birmingham girl for 30. Good luck on sha**ing her. She died three years ago.

Why are you taking the statement personally?

[seajae]

1 hour ago, Sticky Wicket said:

But it doesn't! Show me the legal documentation that defines a tourist and how long they are allowed to stay for.

 

It's just arbitrary xenophobia.

 

Everything is opaque here to allow maximization of scams and corruption.

 

There is NO semblance of a welfare state here, so even the much maligned over stayer still has to fend for himself.  

unfortunately its the ones that come here as tourists then start working or continue to stay illegally that screw it up for everyone else, its always the few that <deleted> it for the many. Saying this every country in the world has similar laws about "tourists" that do this type of thing, try getting asian or african people into Australia on a tourist visa, very difficult and the amount of hoops you have to jump through makes it more so. A country has the right to stop those suspected of being other than what they claim although Thailand has gone overboard in recent years in some respects but they are within their rights to do so as there are thousands that have crewed the system in the past and still are. Reading all your rants you appear to be simply trying to stir the pot with garbage replies, you are looking more like a troll 

 

Edited October 23, 2019 by seajae

[Sticky Wicket]

1 minute ago, seajae said:

unfortunately its the ones that come here as tourists then start working or continue to stay illegally that screw it up for everyone else, its always the few that <deleted> it for the many. Saying this every country in the world has similar laws about "tourists" that do this type of thing, try getting asian or african people into Australia on a tourist visa, very difficult and the amount of hoops you have to jump through makes it more so. A country has the right to stop those suspected of being other than what they claim although Thailand has gone overboard in recent years in some respects but they are within their rights to do so as there are thousands that have crewed the system in the past and still are

Yeh I can agree with most of that.

I suppose my main gripe is that anybody under 50 only has the Elite option and it's a complete waste of money

The fact that working digitally from Thailand is illegal is also archaic in the 21st century.

[NanLaew]

5 hours ago, Sticky Wicket said:

A tourist is simply a person who is traveling or visiting a place for pleasure. 

 

There is no time restriction based on the definition.

 

Why can't somebody be a tourist for 1, 2, 10 years? 

 

It's dinosaur thinking from a dinosaur run country

Perpetual 'tourist' is so yesterday.

 

I much prefer the social cache and the Thai immigration officer's concordant, respectful gravitas by calling myself International Gypsy.

 

To qualify, one must be able to claim unfettered access to a sofa in at least three different countries.

Edited October 23, 2019 by NanLaew

[Sticky Wicket]

It worked pretty well when there were double and triple tourist visas

[Vacuum]

6 minutes ago, Sticky Wicket said:

It worked pretty well when there were double and triple tourist visas

Yes indeed, for the illegal english teachers that abused them. And yet you seem to be surprised that immigration have changed the rules for tourist visas.

[Sticky Wicket]

7 minutes ago, Vacuum said:

Yes indeed, for the illegal english teachers that abused them. And yet you seem to be surprised that immigration have changed the rules for tourist visas.

What about the agents and the schools that abuse the teachers?

With the dreadful level of English, they need all the help they can get anyway

 

[Thian]

12 hours ago, RichardColeman said:

Shock , Horror, Thai Immigration do their job. 

They should have asked the questions at the embassy where he got the visa.

[NCC1701A]

10 hours ago, parafareno said:

very strange....

welcome to the New Thailand.

 

Please spread the word.

[TSF]

7 hours ago, ezzra said:

A tourist is a definition each country immigration laws diced to be as to whom and for how long a visitor is deemed to be a tourists, and as long the not yet a system to separate the wheat from the chaff, i.e. the bona fide tourists from the would be overstayers who abuse the system, Thailand has the right to exercise it's take on who is a tourist and who's not...

Seems Thais are not only killing off their own tourism industry but now effecting neighboring countries. I was reading a news story today from Cambodia, their tourism is down 30+% and many tourism-related businesses are closing. So many of those genuine tourists/travelers/flash-packers who would have made side trips from Thailand to Cambodia then back into Thailand and on to their next destination are no longer doing so due to a limit of only 2 land border crossing a year, and Thai embassies in neighboring countries refusing 2nd tourist visas. The Thais dragged the whole of SEA down with them in 1998 and may well do it again soon.

[Suradit69]

6 hours ago, Tropicalevo said:

What a dumb statement. Not everyone that comes here has your moral standards.

I have lived here for 20 years and married to a Birmingham girl for 30. Good luck on sha**ing her. She died three years ago.

Sticky W just enjoys stirring the pot and sounds like the sanctimonious old fart he labels others. Why anyone as bitter as he is would stay here is a mystery. Maybe he's not even in Thailand. 

 

 I'm sure he'll now, once again, spew some of his vitriol in my direction.  Not worth being bothered about. He's unhappy and wants to make everyone as angry he is. Just laugh at him and move on.

 

 

 

 

Edited October 23, 2019 by Suradit69