clarification immigration rejection

[88stones]

Hello,

I have a question about immigration and specifically the rule of entering Thailand
by land border 2 x per calendar year or 12 months and transit airport.

One of my children entered Thailand this year at Sadao but was rejected as per attached letter.
Passport is from an EU country and is on the exemption list.

The rejection was based on the fact he had entered Thailand 2x in the last 12 months (NOT per calendar year ( land border)

I am a confused what the rule is. 2x per 12 months or 2x per calendar year.

I tried to get clarification at the Thai Embassy, but they could not explain it, other then state a visa is needed to enter Thailand for this passport.

I asked when the ban would end for this passport. No answer because they did not know.  Then I asked if the passport could be used for transit at a Thai airport like BKK or Krabi. Meaning fly in, pass immigration, check in for the next flight to EU, pass immigration, fly out, all the same day. The Thai embassy was unsure and advised a visa to transit.

This calendar year he has only entered Thailand once in March 2019. And in 2018 the last Thai exit stamp is from July 2018

Anybody. What is the rule 2x per 12 months or per calendar year or whatever comes first ?
What are the rules for airport transit that needs a check in and therefor needs to pass immigration.
Does the Thai paper state any end date for this ban ?

Thank you.
 

[ubonjoe]

It is two visa exempt entries per calendar year at a land border crossing. See: Visa Exempt Rules Dec 2016.pdf

The officer evidently made a mistake. 

By air there is no limit to visa exempt entries.

There is no ban from entering the country again for a denial of entry.

[freeman01]

I got rejected once at Cambodia border then took a flight to bkk the next day and got stamped in without issue. just make sure to have a flight out and 10 days hotels reservation printed and also 20,000 THB or equivalent to show as the officer will likely ask for those with the red flag on the passport.

 

To play it safe, I would get a 60 day tourist visa at the embassy, very simple with the papers mentioned above and it cost like 50 bucks.

[natway09]

Some of the Immigration officials take it as in the previous  12 months

[ubonjoe]

22 minutes ago, natway09 said:

Some of the Immigration officials take it as in the previous  12 months

They are certainly wrong. I would think by now they would know it is per calendar year since the order has been in effect for almost 3 years now.

[cornishcarlos]

3 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

They are certainly wrong

They are never wrong.. ????????

 

[Tayaout]

If I read the stamp correctly then he was denied under section 12.9 of the immigration act. He probably did not show 20K baht when asked for it. 

 

http://library.siam-legal.com/thai-law/thai-immigration-act-entering-and-departing-the-kingdom-sections-11-22/

[ubonjoe]

5 minutes ago, Tayaout said:

If I read the stamp correctly then he was denied under section 12.9 of the immigration act. He probably did not show 20K baht when asked for it. 

For visa exempt it is 10k baht. It would of been 20k baht for the family since they were entering as a family.

They probably put 9 in error or decided to use it instead of 1 which would of been the correct one since the 2 entry rule is under a ministerial order. They told him it was for having more than 2 visa exempt entries.

[88stones]

Thank you all for your reply.

 

He was denied as he had entered Thailand 2x in the last 12 months. The immigration officer also told him that. The Thai embassy confirmed this. Just unclear when the ban would end.

 

He had 40K THB cash on him + credit card + reserved booking. Never overstayed in any country + clean passport with no damage or torn pages. No criminal record. Clean clothes and presentation. No drugs/user.

 

 

 

 

[Caldera]

1 hour ago, 88stones said:

He was denied as he had entered Thailand 2x in the last 12 months. The immigration officer also told him that. The Thai embassy confirmed this. Just unclear when the ban would end.

He was denied entry - on that particular occasion - but he wasn't banned, so that point is moot.

[BritTim]

I think he was validly (but harshly) denied under Section 12.1. The numeral is not a 9, but the Thai numeral for one. Immigration has the discretion to deny visa exempt entry as a means of staying long periods in Thailand, and seem to have somewhat abused that discretion here. Interesting that this happened at Sadao which has been problematic in the past, but seemed better in the last couple of years. Hopefully, this was just a blip.

[Tayaout]

3 hours ago, 88stones said:

Thank you all for your reply.

 

He was denied as he had entered Thailand 2x in the last 12 months. The immigration officer also told him that. The Thai embassy confirmed this. Just unclear when the ban would end.

 

He had 40K THB cash on him + credit card + reserved booking. Never overstayed in any country + clean passport with no damage or torn pages. No criminal record. Clean clothes and presentation. No drugs/user.

 

 

 

 

He is not banned. I got the same denial stamp and came back 2-3 days later without even any questioning. Since then I crossed the border many times and no issues.