Reader submission: Are we no longer welcome in Thailand?
Dear readers,
I have been coming to Thailand for a long time, always received a Non-immigrant O multiple entry at the consulate in Amsterdam (without health certificate and proof of good behavior that seems to be new).
I was now about to apply for a new visa at the embassy in The Hague, but I was shocked by the last three posts on Thailandblog, in which it is stated that in Essen, Brussels, Antwerp, visas are no longer reinforced unless one is married. is with a Thai(se) or family business.
How things are now in The Hague is a mystery to me I cannot find clear information on their website, until recently there was only clear information on the website of the Consulate in Amsterdam, which has been removed, for the simple reason that they do not have multiple visas provide more.
From last year there are constant changes, the readers on Thailandblog are now completely lost track, this is evident from the many questions on this blog.
Even RonnyLatPhrao can't follow it now and then and this is really the man who keeps an eye on everything. My praise for this, but it is simply impossible to follow. All strange new rules and arbitrariness, the ink is barely dry or there are already new rules.
Also the new form in which people want to know which restaurants and clubs, bars and websites they visit, motorbike number, SIM card registration (Big Brother) must be able to provide identification for everything, etc etc, ban on beach chairs, jet ski scams, border runs etc, I think that no one is happy about this.
It is clearly becoming a privilege to be able to spend your hard-earned money in Thailand, this is not only my opinion, but also that of many people I speak to.
Myself and some of my acquaintances are not going to Thailand for a long time now. If we are not welcome, there are a few other countries nearby where we are welcome. A short visit with friends to Hua-Hin Thailand (with a 30-day visa exempt) is nice enough, from Cambodia or the Philippines.
All this with pain in my heart because I love (loved) Thailand and I speak Thai, but it really can't go on like this. For me the size is full. I want to be able to travel without stress.
Furthermore, a warning for people who cannot comply with the new rules. The embassy does not have to give you back the 150 euros. This was automatically waived upon request. Then also an unusable flight ticket, reservations, etc. and the damage is already mounting.
I wonder if there are more people on this blog who also have similar feelings?
Submitted by Karel Hua-hin
I live here and am not bothered by applying for a visa outside this country; I have no answer to that, although you make it seem that no visa is available in The Hague anymore.
Within the country, the extension is getting faster and easier and the official kindly filled in that questionnaire because I didn't have my glasses with me. It doesn't say more than the color and license plate of my scooter. There are different opinions about this form, so generalizing is not correct in a country where every civil servant has its own rules.
Recently - a month ago - I received my Non immigrant O multiple entries visa through the visa exchange through the embassy in The Hague. Didn't have any problem.
Dear Karel, I applied for my Non-immigrant multiple entry (year visa) 4 weeks ago in The Hague in the same way as before in Amsterdam. Also with the same form and data as before. There were absolutely no problems. I had my passport returned within a week with a visa. You can simply call The Hague in advance and ask what you need for the visa.
Hallo,
Last week I applied for my annual renewal.
No problem encountered, friendly official even filled in the forms for me and my wife, only had to sign signatures and that's it.
I did not have to fill in any new forms, everything was the same as before, I had applied for an extension 4 days too late, so I had to pay 4 × 500 thb.
Sakonakhon I have to renew annually, never any problems
Mrsgr Willem
I have been living in Thailand for 23 years now. 90 days 5 minutes, annual visa 15/20 minutes very friendly people and I have never had any problems in all those years. 20 years Phukert 3 years Udon Thani
Dear Karel,
It is still possible to apply for a Non-immigrant O multiple entry visa in the Netherlands.
Only not in Amsterdam anymore, but it is still possible in The Hague.
I do it from my lazy chair, via Visa plus costs 29,95 euros https://www.visumplus.nl/
I called recently, and it is indeed as described above.
So good luck Cor
I can fully endorse the above story of Karel. Our experience with immigration is not good. We have lived in Thailand for almost 20 years. After I retired, we moved permanently to Phuket where we had a house. The retirement visa was difficult to get the first time, although all formalities were in order on our part. Thanks to the cooperation of my former employer, the Thai state oil company PTTEP (exploration and production division), it finally worked out. A year later it would be easier, at least you would expect that, because both my wife and I now had the official status of retirees in Thailand. Unfortunately, nothing could be further from the truth. It took us 5 days of immense opposition and frustration before we got the one-year extension. I had to drive back and forth 10 times to the immigration office in south Phuket. We also had the feeling that as an expat we were no longer welcome in the Kingdom. We didn't try the extension a year later; we have now permanently left Phuket.
Also have some questions. I have had a condo in Th. for years. but I am only going there for 30 days or a two-month visa, after which I will leave the country for a while, etc. Do I also have to submit all those documents? The TM30? What I read here makes me a bit worried. The more I read here the more unclear it becomes.
Good reading is very difficult for many people. The Non-innigrant multiple entry is still available, but no longer at consulates, but only at the embassy. And I would take the stories about all the extra forms with a lot of salt. They are incidents at some immigration offices. I have lived in Thailand for quite a long time and have never had to fill out additional forms with my annual renewals or 90 days notifications. Occasionally one asks for an extra copy of something. I still feel just as welcome as when I first came here 40 years ago. The military regime is also not bothered at all.
Hi Robert ,
Been to Sakonakhon for my nw year visa last week no communication about a legalization of your income form from the embassy
Gr William
Question to the above responders who have extended their annual visa: Have you been informed that from next year you must have your income statement legalized at the Min. of Foreign Affairs in Bangkok??
V@HarryN, I did my renewal at the beginning of this month, my income statement had to be legalized, at Foreign Affairs, it is quite busy, it took me 5 hours before this was arranged, it is also possible to do it with the to have mail sent to your (home) address, you keep waiting for it, it will cost you 400 bht, it is slightly cheaper by post.
That has been the case in Nongkhai for years, the signature on the income statement must be legalized on Chaeng Wattana. So if I go at 8 tons, then I won't be bothered by it.
You and some of your acquaintances are no longer going to Thailand for a longer period of time. And you express not only your own opinion, but also that of 'many people you speak to'.
Are they all really so stressed that they can no longer handle it and choose the Philippines and Cambodia because you and the many with you feel so much more welcome there, where it is all cake and egg and nothing stands in the way of a carefree stay, without scams, forms and identification requests?
Or should the TAT be scared to death now that a handful of Dutch people are threatening to ignore Thailand?
Well, they really don't lose sleep over that, the number of tourists increases every month by approximately the total number of visitors from the Netherlands who visit Thailand in a whole year.
And your statement that 'clearly it appears that the readers on Thailandblog are now completely lost track' seems to me already sufficiently refuted by the previous reactions.
French tourists from the Netherlands are family members, mainly children, who visit their father, these are not tourists and the number of European, especially Belgians and Dutch, is declining sharply, because of everything that is told here. Many hotel owners complain bitterly. And there are indeed problems with their visa application in The Hague.
I have been coming to Thailand for 26 years, I love Thailand very much and will probably always continue to come there. Permanent living will probably never happen again, although I have been able to obtain a retirement visa for several years and have already done so once. But if we now I want to be honest, all those papers, no matter how many there must be, and then be lucky with some immigration officials if they didn't get out of bed on the wrong side that day. I won't complain about the costs, you want it or you don't want it.
But I have been asking the question for several years now, we all come here with money in our pockets, some more than others, some buy a condo or house, and you no longer get any rights for it, what else should you do? do or bring more to be accepted at all???
I don't have to beg to spend my money in Thailand, it is certainly easier when it comes to visas in most surrounding countries and cheaper too. Will I be better accepted in those countries, I don't think so, everyone sees it We already have a walking ATM, but for me it makes a big difference if I don't have to deal with those inconveniences.
In the future I will just go to Thailand without a visa, my 30d is enough, I can also have a great time in Vietnam or Cambodia, those countries are getting better and better, they now have EVERYTHING there and almost no hassle with visas, online 15$ (without all that Thai nonsense) 1,3,6 months single or multiple entry, airport arrival to visa on arrival, pay according to your visa, fifteen minutes, half an hour and you're done.
Fernand, you can't go to Thailand and expect to be accepted by the locals. It is better to accept how the Thais see us. Tourists are tolerated because they bring in money. If the money runs out, then leave. Expats have to disappear immediately after they have transferred their knowledge.
I've been living in Rayong for 13 years and didn't just come up with this. My wife, a true Thai, fully endorses this. She thinks there are too many foreigners (of the bad kind) in her country. You can see from everything that Thailand should stay with the Thais at all times and don't try to tell them what they can do better, because then you will be told that you don't understand (and never will) "Thainess".
So, whatever you do, you will always be treated like a second class citizen.
If you accept this, there are still many positive things left and it is a very good place to be!
Today, with some difficulty, I extended the Retirement visa at Immigration Rayong until the end of September 2017. After my insistence, the bank had not updated the bank book to today's date, and the officer noticed that. The guarantee letter from the bank with the same balance, was dated early today, 08.30 to be specific. Drove to a Kasikorn Bank in Rayong and deposited money.
Then it was fine. Had to draw a number again after noon. And, make copies.
Didn't have to fill out a form about where we would eat, or do some shopping, etc., but we did have two forms with the terms of permission and overstay penalties, etc. Had to read the conditions and sign the papers. Then, and this is really the first time; my partner was presented with a form; “a Notification Form for Housemaster, which she then had to complete and sign. Even though I have a yellow Tabian Ban and a Thai ID card from the municipality. We were back home in Kram at four o'clock.
It is no different, the rule is that, just like hotels, your wife is obliged to submit the Notification Form for Housemaster to Immigration within 24 hours after the start of your stay in her house, provided she is a homeowner. If not handed in on time, she can be fined, so she was lucky that Immigration turned a blind eye. This is therefore an obligation of your partner/homeowner. It is best to keep the copy of that report in your passport, Rayong advises.
Having the bank book updated on the day of the renewal application, providing a copy to Immigration, having the bank book with you for inspection and submitting it together with the Balance letter from the bank will of course not cause that problem again next time.
Full documentation helps, if it's not busy you'll be back on the street after 15 minutes with the year extension.
Nico B
Just to be clear: health certificate and proof of good behavior only apply to the OA application.
For the multiple non-immigrant -O visa, the normal forms are sufficient, namely:
– fully completed visa application
– 1 passport photo
– 150 euros CASH
– proof of income (payslips) or assets (min. 20,000 euros)
– copy of flight ticket
– completed non-immigrant travel plan
These modest, preferably handed over with a smile, are sufficient for a quick and painless handling in The Hague.
I will pick up my single entry for 60 days at the Consulate in Amsterdam on Tuesday.
If anyone has specific questions, please post them here or email them to thaila..bl g (period)[email protected] (just enter the name of this site including the dot nl) and I will post them there and provide feedback.
Next Thursday (29th with EVA) traveling again for five weeks! Delicious…
Alex
I have lived in Chiang Mai for 11 years and have never had any major problems. The only problem is that it is very busy so connect in time. 90 days no problem.
I did not receive a response from Essen, which would have been a 1-hour drive for me and I read that Visumplus, for example, could no longer arrange a Non Immigrant Multiple Entry O visa without having to go all the way to The Hague, but I have just received my new visa. because of Visumplus, with fast service, VAT, service costs + 150 Euro for the visa, I had to pay 204 Euro. I do not have a 'sweetheart' or am not married to a Thai person, but I have 3 children from a previous marriage who also have Thai nationality. I had to prove that I have an income of at least 600 Euro per month, no health certificate, only a one-way ticket from Dusseldorf (Finnair 375 Euro) Guarantor address in Thailand 1 of my adult children, the Guarantor address in the Netherlands that of a still living mother, my 'destination', the in-laws address of my eldest daughter. I am very satisfied with Visumplus, which answers all my emails promptly and friendly. Don't be discouraged. My visa started on September 22, 2016, so very recently.
Do you have no problem at all with the military, everything is much calmer and sometimes also fairer?
Had to have a retirement, had already received that 3 times in my new passport, lost the old one to the police
been and received proof.
Now they demanded that I must be able to show that visa, otherwise I would have to go back to Belgium for a new one
to request ? Show a piece of paper (5000 bath) if you pay this everything is fine not paid was furious
my wife says no problem starts calling the family ? Two days later she said everything will be in
come in order.
A week later a large black Mercedes with a man with many stripes and stars stops and took me to the immigration. There was just one day with a lot of people, no empty place, suddenly a lot of place numbers counted, so no longer the same papers back on the desk, 5 minutes later everything was ok.
Indeed very recognizable every year the same lazer, filling in more and more forms, so last year we hired an agency that (also had to go back 2 times) to save us the frustration And that while we have been making the same trip for 10 years, there is more than enough income and / or money in the bank.
This will be our last year unfortunately / We call it a day as we increasingly feel that we are no longer welcome.
I haven't lived in Thailand for very long. Let's say about a year and a half. I live in Udon Thani. In the past period I have of course had to deal with the 90-day notification and this week we went to Immigration to apply for a new annual visa. I must say, so far no problem with Immigration here. All extremely friendly employees and very helpful. Applying for a new annual visa was arranged within half an hour. And you don't have to fill in any extra forms, etc. Everything was arranged very professionally and quickly. Many town halls in the Netherlands, with all their databases and automation, can still follow an example.
It always amazes me that a country that likes to welcome tourists makes constant changes to their visa destinations. What was possible for years at different consulates is suddenly no longer possible, and the benefits, or the why, are understandably less and less understood by most tourists. In the past you were given 30 days for a border run via the country road, while this is now 15 days. The aforementioned 30 days is at most still possible if one enters the country by airway. Even with a non Immigrant O multiple entry (150 Euro) you are often obliged to travel kilometers after 90 days for a so-called border run. While lately you hear all kinds of messages that even that is no longer possible at every border crossing. With almost all the changes that have taken place in recent years, you do indeed have the feeling that they only make it harder for tourists, and certainly not easier. A real improvement would be, for example, if a tourist or an expat could get his extension at the local ampheur, so that he is not often forced to drive miles to reach the border for a visa run or an Immigration. When I used to live in the Netherlands when there was no EC as an Englishman, I could simply report to the aliens police for an extension or check, and you will find this authority in almost every place of residence. I am already curious what the next change will bring, but I am already almost certain that this will not bring any real improvement for the tourist either, which raises the question, for whom at all.
The average tourist arrives by plane and does not stay longer than 30 days.
For this group it is free and without formalities, except for a stamp in your passport.
For people who want to stay here for longer on a structural basis, it is best that the rules become stricter.
Perhaps bringing in this target group is no longer a spearhead policy, or there is even a certain discouragement policy behind it.
After all, not all good citizens 'like you and me' have reasons to prefer a more permanent residence in the Thai Kingdom.
Most tourists who do not stay longer than 30 days do indeed come by plane and do not come into contact with the Thai consulate at all to apply for a possible visa in advance. Also to apply for a Non Immigrant O multiple entry, it has not become stricter, only more difficult, because it is mandatory to go to other consulates. Personally, I consider it a myth, or at least poorly thought out. Many good hibernators, who behave well and leave a lot of money behind, would be punished and discouraged with such a measure, so that the question "Are we no longer welcome" is a generally appropriate question here.
Understand all the fuss about visas and or unfriendliness or being difficult from the immigration officials on duty, go to extend my retirement visa once a year and stop by every 1 days for confirmation of the address, well the room has air conditioning, and there is coffee in the corner and there is a toilet, so spend the time at ease, and it is no different.
Cambodia has also recently changed its visa rules, a 1 year retirement visa has now been introduced. According to a response on a Cambodian forum, applying is just as easy as other 1-year visas, take your passport to a travel agency with a visa service, pay approximately $280 to $290 and pick up your passport within a week. You don't have to fill out a form with anything.