Thailand Travels

Questions from a Heidi from the UK

Question 1

Hi . Well I plan to go to Thailand for a year and although I can get a Visa for this, I still will need to leave Thailand in 90 days, this is my understanding of this. So I thought after ninety days I will have to leave to lets say Malaysia and then come back in with a new Visa?

Answer

I am not the expert on these matters, but I can tell you what I know from my own experiences.

You have the 30 day upon arrival with possible extension of 5 to 7 days at a Thai immigration office. Next the 2 month visa with possible extension of 1 month. The most common 1 year visas are the B (business), ED (education) and O (retirement). I believe in the case of B and the ED you must leave the country every 90 days.

When you leave your country you will have this visa (the stamp in your passport) that is good for 1 year. If you are living in Thailand on a 1 year visa - after 90 days in Thailand (no more than 90) you must cross the border at the Malaysia, Burma, Laos, or Cambodia official border stations. Lets say you are doing your border crossing at Laos. You do the necessary paperwork at the border, cross over getting your Lao stamp, walk around the station and enter back into the Thai entrance once again now getting your Thailand stamp in your passport. You will now feel great as you have just done it and have another legal 90 days (shown on this Thailand stamp) before having to do this trip again.

This border crossing trip can be quite daunting for the first time; it was for me. You can look into getting assistance from local private tourist/travel offices that are normally located near the border crossings and they can be of assistance to you. This is how I always did it. I also had a Thai friend go with me for the first time and do the border crossing with me. It made me feel more comfortable. If you have done it a few times it will be a breeze.

In my case I had a 1 year type B issued from the Thailand Consulate in the US. After it expired (in Thailand) and I wanted to continue living and working in Thailand I had to go through my school, the work permit dept and the nearest immigration office to get an actual visa from the county of Thailand. The first visa was for 3 months. The next was for 9 months. The next was for a year. If you have gone this far you are a real champ! Always dress you best and be patient when dealing with the immigration officers for best results.

The best information web sites for Thailand info are
http://pattayacityexpatsclub.com you can sign up for their newsletter
http://www.thaivisa.com packed with info and a great forum
http://www.stickmanbangkok.com great site

Question 2

Lets just say a 1 Year Non Immigrant Visa, you still must leave within 90 days?

Answer

Yes. The one year non-im B that you get from your home country is your official visa that is in your passport. This Visa is granted to you from Thailand WITH the stipulation that you do these border crossings ever 90 days. You will get additional stamps in your passport when you do your border crossings. If you do not do these border crossings you can get in trouble as an 'overstay'.

Question 3

And then for example go to Laos hang about for a day? Then go back in to Thailand?

Answer

Yes. I almost always did my crossing in Laos because I lived in NE Thailand. I cant remember the lengths of stay that I was given for Lao at my border crossings but I got the cheapest and shortest. (it was about $30 US) It could of been a 3 to 5 day stay. I'm not sure. Still I just crossed over the border, literally walked around the building and crossed back into Thailand. I did this whole process in about 2 hrs. You can stay longer than that if you want to venture into the neighboring country, but read your guidebook carefully, use good common sense, and note the length of stay that you have in this country. You could go for a day easily, sure, and go back into Thailand. Read the forums so you don't get burnt by a tuk tuk or something like that. Be familiar with the going prices and currency. The Thorn tree forum is good on http://www.lonelyplanet.com A Lonely Planet Country Guide is invaluable!!!

Question 4

Do you apply for a new Visa at this point at Laos, or is it just simply the case that from Laos entering back into Thailand the stamp on your passport will suffice and you automatically get another stay in Thailand.

Answer

Your whole application process starts and ends in Laos. It is really easy when returning into Thailand. You are given 2 stamps *one for when you go into Laos, given by Laos immigration and *one for when you go back into Thailand, given by Thailand immigration. Now when you look in your passport you will have 3 visa stamps; your first (the non Im B from your home country) the second from Laos, and the third from Thailand. Now you have 90 blissful legal free days in Thailand!

I hope this answers your questions. I enjoy keeping myself up with Thailand and sharing my little bit of knowledge. I love the land of smiles and have good friends there. Hence the web site!

Regards, Jim@kreuzonline