interesting article in Bangkok Post!
Bangkok Post - Thai immigration steps up visa run scrutiny

no more than two entries with visa exemptions? limits of visa extensions.
would affect thousands of foreigners living in Thailand without visa
but a lot of questions remain...

The social media sites are rife with �information� and rumours about further changes to the system. There is a lot of abuse of the admittedly complex visa system and I am not surprised Thailand is tightening rules.

The so called soft DTV visa seems widely abused with people getting it for spurious education courses in language, cooking or boxing.

guess DTV is next...long expected actually

That's not entirely true. One can indeed enter more than twice on a visa exemption in any given year, but the passenger must produce (in their own words) "a valid reason" as to why the traveller should be let in. Most countries are already doing this when they see a repeated visitor doing 'visa runs'.

The way I see it is that they're trying to either:
1) keep people who think they can live here on a tourist visa exemption OUT; OR
2) get them to apply for the right visa so that they are compliant with Section (12)(1) and (3) of the Imm. Act of 79', i.e. switching to the DTV or a non-IMM visa. These visas bring extra revenue to the bureau.

In light of this, I don't think they're trying to push legitimate tourists away, and the fact that they're still allowing extensions for the first time but not the second time shows exactly the kind of people the bureau is targeting.

We all know that there's quite a number of immigrants (all of whom from visa-exempt countries) who have been abusing visa-free entries for decades in order to live here by posing / disguising as a tourist, without having to go through the bureaucracy of obtaining a suitable residence permit and immigration just basically turned a blind eye to it.

... but we also know how Thai immigration can be when it comes to implementing anything, not to mention there's numerous visa-run agencies whose revenue rely on such travellers so I guess we'll have to see how this plays out...

According to them they've already refused around 3.000 cases since the beginning of this year.

3,000 is probably a drop in the ocean of 'real' numbers. Probably closing visa-run agencies would have obvious 'difficulties' and any that were closed would be reborn.

As I don't need a visa to stay in Thailand no direct effect on me but the time and money to reach this situation compared to those who stay in Thailand for years by various means and methods is sometimes annoying especially when you know what the individuals are doing.

No idea of the accuracy of this but it popped up elsewhere and might give more clarity for visa runners. Note it doesn't say others won't be refused but still . . .

If properly enforced, I am sure places like Phuket would return to its former pleasant self, and maybe even Pattaya would become tolerable The key lies in properly enforced though, and I fear these rules (whatever they turn out to be) will make life more cumbersome for the legitimate people, and make little difference for those abusing the system - just like immigration rules in Europe. But I digress.

with so much misinformation out there, I'd take this with a grain of salt unless it's an official document from the bureau.

this list also does not make sense at all....just wishful thinking of some westeners...

Indeed, hence my caveat.

The list is now reported elsewhere as being from late 2014, just post coup, but again I have no idea if that is indeed the case.

I had to laugh when I saw Uganda, Ethiopia etc on there Utter made up nonsense, that list

So much misinformation on this topic. All they are doing is enforcing regulations that are already on the books. If you abuse the visa exemption with border runs, then you may be flagged. If you are a legitimate tourist with accommodations and ongoing travel plans, you're fine.


You mean people that using DTV for one of its intended purposes? (soft power: thai language, thai cooking, muay thai) ???

-David

It's become such a common practice over the years that it's become an expectation among many ex-pats. Hard to argue though that it's no longer such a harmless practice with the exploitation by gangs running large scale criminal operations.

Exactly – and Thailand has turned a blind eye to it not for years but decades. So of course we as a nation did set a moral standard (that's totally not in line with the established rules) for those looking to move here on a more permanent basis.

It's crazy. I have personally met a couple folks who somehow managed to live here, without any employment, yet after a year or two you still see them around.

Some expats were not happy because they were under the impression that they could get away with living here full time by doing 30/60 day border runs, "build a life" here etc. etc. (whatever that means) and then when they find out that there's a chance they may be ineligible to come "home" on their next entry, they get all emotional and upset over it. When legally speaking this is not their home to begin with.