Thailand visa question No. 042/20: Border run with visa

Questioner: Josh

I have an OA visa (stamp) that allows me to enter and leave Thailand until September 15, 2020 and I always get a stay of 1 year. I will soon be returning to the Netherlands for six months, so I will not be able to return before September 15.

Now I thought I would make another “visa run” this month to, for example, Laos so that I can get a stamp to stay in Thailand until the end of February 2021 and then “buy” an exit on it so that I can go to Thailand after September 2020.

Because I have a valid stamp in my passport, I wondered if the above is possible and if I should visit Laos. In other words, after passing through Thai immigration (exit), can I immediately turn around and re-enter Thailand?

Reaction RonnyLatYa

I read that your Non-immigrant OA visa is valid until September 15, which means that you still fall under the old scheme. By that I mean that health insurance was not yet mandatory when you obtained the visa. Very important in this case, because upon entry you will still receive a residence period of one year. In the new system, ie visas obtained after October 31, 2019, this will no longer be the case. There you only get one stay for the validity period of your health insurance. So if you enter after 9 months, you will not receive a year, but a residence period of 3 months. So the remaining period. You can of course extend afterwards, if you can present a new health insurance policy.

In your case (normally) not, and you can then make a “border run” in February. You will then obtain a residence period until February next year.

As for the other part of your question. You must also enter the other country. This means that you are not allowed to turn back immediately after you have obtained the “departure” stamp at immigration. In this case, you must first purchase a visa for Laos (can be done at the border) and then use the visa by entering Laos. Then you can immediately turn right again.

Regards,

RonnyLatYa