Just put one or two 1,000 baht notes inside the passport. Problem solved.

what if get marry with a thai citizen as farang ?

how long visa do you get and how?

It's an entirely different visa class than tourist visas. Try searching the forum for details. I am still learning about the marriage 'O' visa and not really clear on all the details yet and don't want to give you an incorrect answer. Unfortunately I only qualify for tourist visas at the present. I don't make tons of money, I am not retired, I am not in university anymore or here, and I don't have a job in Thailand. As far as I am aware (and don't quote me) there isn't really any other situation where one would qualify for anything other than a tourist visa in this case.

you can get a non-o for 90 days when you have a child. just take a copy of the where it say you are the dad and that is..

if you have any problem then just write to me and i will help... i get that visa...

perfect answer for a stupid comment , tourists go back home , doesn't need a visa each time . well said

again i don't understand why anyone would be using penang for a visa run when Laos is so much closer and easier, last time i used it 2 years ago-not only did they give me a tourist visa, they gave me 2 entries! that is the only consulate outside my country that give me more than 1 entry, and staying in vietiene is so much nicer than staying in penang ; i love vientiene , now that i have a non-imm. visa i miss having to go there for my new tourist visa, oh well, next time i'll probably get rejected when i try to get a non-im.o so i guess i'll be back there getting a tourist visa soon enough..

....when they are short on visa stickers again, a little tea money might help!

agree 100%, why would anyone bother going to Penang or anywhere south these days, just fly up to Udon, cross the border the next day, get your visa in Vientiane, no worries whatsoever, and move on....the word has been out on Penang for over two years now, so why keep trying to push it? Vientiane is USER FRIENDLY, other places are not...wise up and move on.

a few days ago, someone was doing a visa run from hatyai to sadao or padang baesa from hatyai airport.... wonder if he/she returns safely?

I don't understand why there so many Thailand apologists.

Do they get a special visa?

This post has been edited by TimeBandit2: 2009-07-23 05:14:16

Not everybody is living in BKK or way up North. For those living in the South, there still is Kota Bharu. Except that there is no booze or beer available at the 7/11, I have had no bad experiences with that consulate whatsoever.

I really don't care how people stay here legal or illegal but don't whine how unfair Thailand is when you have been gaming the system for months or years and get caught out. It's like the kid with chocolate all over his face and says I didn't eat the cake when his mom comes home early. You sound like a fool and look like a fool.
These post are typical of what starts out as informational and turns into a joke.

in these cases, I think that showing a healthy bank statment usually does the trick,,, (thats if you have one!!!)


I had this in Hong Kong,, they refused me.... so I said I have MY OWN money in the bank.. they asked me for a statment.. I asked if a print-out of my internet banking was ok... So, I printed out my English recent bank statment and returned to the Embassy and they were fine. no problems whatsoever.


they even told me "to avoid problems next time, make sure you always bring a recent bank statment" (either my home country or from thailand).

alternatively, you can get a new passport every 9 months!!!

but the best option it seems is to avoid penang!!! (or sign-up to an education course - if appropriate).

just a problem with that.. they have computers... 5-10 years ago that would do the trick

Tourism being killed? Wake up people ! There are exceptionally FEW genuine tourists who actually stay for a year on 3 back to back tourist visas.

This is being done to weed out illegal workers.
Isnt that obvious?
It's got nothing to do with stopping tourists coming. As a matter of fact, the vast majority of tourists who come on a 2 or 3 week break, need NO visa at all. They just fly in and get a 30 day stamp. For free.
How many other countries do that?
I'm not a Thailand apologist, but just try doing that in as a Thai going back to say Europe or the USA.

And to the people who keep saying 'i dont know why people use Penang' blah blah blah
Well, Laos may be nearer if you live in Bangkok, but HELLO, there are other parts of Thailand that people live in.
Fact is, from Phuket, you can 'do it yourself' on public transport to Penang for a few thousand baht. It's a 12 hour bus ride and its cheap.
Flying to Laos or KL isnt as cheap. To some people, that's important.

I think this is simply about loss of income to the consulate. Remember the post from Hull consulate when the Thai Govt made tourist visas free? I guess Penang is just saying that they cant be bothered doing the paperwork for a free tourist visa for people who are applying for their 4th visa.
Doing back to back tourist visas is taking the piss. You know it. Don't bleat when they shut the loopholes down.
I know there are probably a very few cases of genuine people who have private income and are in essence 'retired' in Thailand, but are under 50 years old so cant get a retirement visa. But by enlarge, they are few in number. I feel sorry for them, but the vast majority of visa runners are not in that group. They are working. Illegally.

No big deal - the spirit of the law is you should come here as a tourist for a short period of time............ if you want longer, you should make the necessary arrangements before you come........... not go in and out basically cheating the system because you want to live here semi-permanently.......

ud think there would be a school in every province. 1 days a week for 12 months, learn the language and get 2 stay. i've been thinking about it as my plan when i return.

the problem is they're just in bkk, pattaya, chang mai? not of the places I want to live. how about i nice beach town (no pattaya is not nice).

If you are a genuine tourist....it's not likely that you would need more than three back to back tourist visas. If you are not a genuine tourist...either get a proper visa or bugger off back home. The rules are not that complicated. Does your country allow people to just wander in and out pretending to be tourists?

when the free-Tourist Visas promotion will be over, even Penang will re-issue visas, it's just a matter of money

"oh forgot they dont like tourists..."

They do like tourists. They don't like people living in Thailand long-term under the guise of being "tourists".

This ruling was given out 7 weeks ago by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to Thailand's Embassies and Consulates in South East Asia. Not the ministry that the Police and Immigration report to.
It does seem that the Ministry of Tourism and that for Finance were able to persuade Foreign Affairs to drop the 1,000 baht fee for the visa - however the Xenophobics in the latter ministry have countered with adding a further restriction which it appears to now being enforced by the Penang Consulate.
The ability to obtain multiple entry tourist visas has existed for over 10 years - it appears that wheels turn very slowly in Thailand's Bureaucracy.

Sometimes one wonders at the actions of governments - but the example of the police harassment of motorcyclists eg.. The driver not wearing a helmet , but it is quite fine for 2/3 passengers not to have helmets. And there are lots of other examples.

can you tell me what a genuine holiday is? I'm sorry I don't understand...

I would for a couple of years and then spend a year in Thailand doing nothing....

Just beacase i'm not a American with 2 weeks holiday a year don't mean i'm not on a holiday.

I like riding my bicycle and sitting on the beach, living cheap and enjoying the best food in the world.

getting a "proper visa"as you say, mate, is so complex and full of red-tape, a real burden for simple people, like someone who works for six months in the West and spend six months holidays in the East, and there are scores of them around, think only about how many German, Swiss and Scandinavian construction workers who work only from april to september in their countries ( due to the weather) or people involved in the ski season (thousands) like rescuer and ski trainers who do six month in the Alps and six months in Phukhet or Pattaya.
In the end , those people are GENUINE tourists, being a genuine tourist does not mean to stay in a place for a determined lenght of time.
You are wrong.

If you don't have a secure long term visa solution (and nobody does even though many think they do), you are a "tourist" in Thailand.

Phrases like "proper visa," "border runners," "perpetual tourists" are all taken from Thailand's misguided social engineering program........a program that continues to be a disaster for tourism and local, micro-economies that depend on it.

The person who said that "this is not Government policy and only applies to Penang" is off the mark. The government knows precisely what its embassies are doing.

They entire system is xenophobic........it is anti-foreigner, anti-tourism, anti-foreign investment. It is broken! I can't understand why the system is allowed to function in a way that hurts Thailand.

A certain department must have tremendous power to get away with this sort of thing at a time when Thailand needs foreign dollars and investment.

Somebody needs to take out a big broom and...............clean house.