Thailand grants visa extension for tourists

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Gaybutton
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Thailand grants visa extension for tourists

Post by Gaybutton »

Thailand grants visa extension for tourists to stimulate upcoming high season

By Nop Meechukhun

31 August, 2022

Bangkok, 31 August, 2022 – Thailand’s Centre for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) approved the proposal by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) to extend the period of stay to 45 days for tourists from countries/territories entitled for visa exemption, and to 30 days for those eligible for a Visa on Arrival (VOA). This will be in effect from 1 October, 2022, until 31 March, 2023.

TAT has proposed the extension to stimulate the upcoming high season, which normally runs from October until March.

During the specially granted 6-month period, the length of stay per time will be extended from 30 days to 45 days for passport holders of the following countries/territories who may enter Thailand under a tourist visa exemption scheme: Andorra, Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Belgium, Brunei, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kuwait, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritius, Monaco, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Oman, The Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovak, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the UAE, UK, Ukraine, and USA.

Also, during the same 6-month period, the length of stay per time will be extended from 15 days to 30 days for passport holders of the following countries/territories who may apply for a VOA: Bhutan, Bulgaria, China, Cyprus, Ethiopia, Fiji, Georgia, India, Kazakhstan, Malta, Mexico, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, Uzbekistan, and Vanuatu.

In addition, passport holders of the following countries/ territories may enter Thailand without a visa under a bilateral agreement: Cambodia (14 days), Myanmar (14 days), Hong Kong (30 days), Lao PDR. (30 days, Macau (30 days), Mongolia (30 days), Russia (30 days and VOA), Vietnam (30 days), Argentina (90 days), Brazil (90 days), Chile (90 days), Korea (ROK) (90 days), and Peru (90 days).

Kindly note that nationals of certain countries/territories are required to apply for a visa only at the Royal Thai Embassy or the Royal Consulate-General in their country of residence or at the designated Royal Thai Embassy/Consulate-General. Therefore, travellers are advised to contact the nearest Royal Thai Embassy or Consulate-General to find out if they are eligible to lodge the application.

Information on the location and contact number of Royal Thai Embassies and Consulate-Generals is available at www.thaiembassy.org.

To apply online, visitors may check their eligibility to do so at the official website of the Thailand Electronic Visa at www.thaievisa.go.th.

Thailand warmly welcomes travellers from all countries/territories with proof of either a certificate of vaccination or, for unvaccinated individuals a negative RT-PCR or professional ATK test result within 72 hours of travel. These can be in a print or digital format. Random checks will be made on arrivals at Thailand’s international airports or land border checkpoints (in 22 provinces).

While in Thailand, both vaccinated and unvaccinated/not fully vaccinated travellers are advised to strictly follow the health and safety standards. Travellers who are experiencing COVID-like symptoms should get tested. If testing positive, they must get the appropriate medical treatment.

https://thepattayanews.com/2022/08/31/p ... gh-season/
Jun

Re: Thailand grants visa extension for tourists

Post by Jun »

I presume the cut off dates are based on the date they stamp the passport ?
Therefore, anyone arriving on 31 March 2023 would get the extra days on their stamp.

This does make planning multi country trips easier. For instance, if I currently wanted to do Thailand-Cambodia-Thailand for about 4 months, having up to 45 days in the last part of the trip with no visa needed is a big improvement.
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Re: Thailand grants visa extension for tourists

Post by maump »

Hmmm, I wonder if you go for an extension at 44 days, will it be another 45? that would be nice!
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Re: Thailand grants visa extension for tourists

Post by Gaybutton »

maump wrote: Mon Sep 05, 2022 9:17 am that would be nice!
I don't know if it is still this way, but back in the early days of visa runs, instead of getting the retirement visa or those not eligible for it, many used to do visa runs across the Cambodian or Laotian border, get a new visa, and right back into Thailand. Immigration finally limited that to a total of 180 days per year as I recall. I believe now visa runs are a thing of the past, so people who want a long term stay without having to get the retirement visa are going to try to find loopholes and ways to extend their stays as long as possible.

If you're wondering why some people try to avoid the retirement visa, many who want to stay long term are not old enough yet to qualify. And that 800,000 baht in a Thai bank account requirement isn't exactly overly appealing either if it can be avoided. Many who wish to stay long term are not well off enough to even have 800,000 baht, much less be able to keep it locked up in a Thai bank account.

And the O-A visa isn't appealing to very many who could get the O retirement visa if they want the retirement visa at all.
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Re: Thailand grants visa extension for tourists

Post by 2lz2p »

The period of stay upon arrival visa exempt will be 45 days beginning 1 October. The Immigration rules for an extension of stay allow only 30 days when entry is Visa Exempt. I have seen nothing to indicate that rule has changed - so 75 days max for Visa Exempt entry (45+30).

The current rules for border crossings using Visa Exempt is only 2 allowed during the calendar year. Although there is no restriction on the number of times when entering by air, Immigration Officers may still deny entry if they decide that the person has many Visa Exempt entries and appears to be using them as a means to live in Thailand.

Effective 1 September 2022, Thailand now has a Long Term Stay Visa (10 years) for the "wealthy" with no age restrictions. It is being handled by the Bureau of Investments rather than the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

For retirees, the requirement is an annual income equal to or more than US$80,000. However, if you have an annual income between US$40,000 and US$80,000 you can still qualify if you have an investment in Thailand of US$250,000. It also requires one have health insurance coverage of at least US$50,000 for the period of stay. It doesn't specifically require the insurance be from a Thai company.

This is all new, so there will no doubt be many unanswered question as to what specific documents you will need.

The Link to the BOI website with info is: https://ltr.boi.go.th/index.html. The Pattaya Mail article is at: https://www.pattayamail.com/thailandnew ... ars-408899 and the Hua Hin Today article is at: https://www.huahintoday.com/thailand-ne ... available/
Jun

Re: Thailand grants visa extension for tourists

Post by Jun »

2lz2p wrote: Mon Sep 05, 2022 1:04 pmThe period of stay upon arrival visa exempt will be 45 days beginning 1 October. The Immigration rules for an extension of stay allow only 30 days when entry is Visa Exempt. I have seen nothing to indicate that rule has changed - so 75 days max for Visa Exempt entry (45+30).
The immigration offices resemble some kind of job creation scheme for document stampers. So I also expect they are going to continue their 1800 baht extensions as these bring in revenue to keep the operation going.

However, I would prefer to apply for a 60 or 90 day visa before travelling. That is now an easy online application, with no need to post the passport and it's far easier and more pleasant than visiting Jomtien immigration to get 30 extra days.
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Re: Thailand grants visa extension for tourists

Post by travelerjim1 »

maump wrote: Mon Sep 05, 2022 9:17 am Hmmm, I wonder if you go for an extension at 44 days, will it be another 45? that would be nice!
It will be a one time 30 day extension...
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Re: Thailand grants visa extension for tourists

Post by christianpfc »

The title is misleading. The period of stay for visa exempt is extended from 30 to 45 days, or for visa on arrival from 15 to 30 days.
Visa extension is a completely different story, correct name would be "extension of stay" and the text does not say if this changes, so I assume it stays at 30 days and 1900 THB, and a day to travel to and from Government Complex Chaeng Wattana and wait there for processing.
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Re: Thailand grants visa extension for tourists

Post by pong »

It seems only since just before this weekend it is now all been made really official.
Several mainstream TH forums do indeed tell that the ´extra to buy´ period remains 30 days.
For that 1900 THB you can also-still-with some smart booking-do a short trip out&back, f.e. to KUL/Malaysia on a cheap airline.
Much more as that 1900 bt have the airfares from EUR raised-at least 800 now where as around 600 was perfectly doable till pre-pandemic.
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Re: Thailand grants visa extension for tourists

Post by christianpfc »

I came to the same conclusion, for 1900 THB and spending a day traveling to and from Government Complex, I can as well do a visa run (costs the same in money and time). I did extension in my first years in Thailand, but then switched to doing more and longer visa runs.
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