Thailand Visa Request No. 045/20: Borderrun Poipet Cambodia
Questioner: Poytr
I have been coming to Thailand for over 30 years now I have a Thai boyfriend, for 18 years. What I do regularly is last 3 years 6 months to Thailand. I then have a two month visa. I have applied for a 30-day visa extension at Immigration many times.
What I then to obtain the extension another 30 days I go to the border crossing with Thailand and Cambodia Poipet over. However, in February I wanted to do that again, now it appears that you have to stay in Cambodia for a day and can go back the next day. However, I checked in advance whether it is still possible, the last time I did it was in 2017.
On the websites also those of immigration there was nothing written about it, however, that you can only do this land border crossing 2 times per calendar year. Is this also known to you?
It even seems to be the case that you are also limited by plane, if your visa is given a 30-day visa as a result. Normally I fly to Indonesia or Malaysia for a few days and when I come back I get 30 days. After 6 months I fly back to the Netherlands to my own home.
Reaction RonnyLatYa
Since the beginning of 2017, you also receive a residence period of 30 days when you enter on the basis of “Visa Exemption” by land. However, it is limited to 2 entries per calendar year.
In principle, there are no restrictions on entry on the basis of “Visa Exemption” via an airport. What can happen is that with multiple arrivals in the short term, especially “Back-to-back”, you may expect questions about what you actually came here to do. Rarely will you be refused because of this, or there must be more to it. What can happen is that you are told, or a note is made in your passport, that you must apply for a visa upon your next entry.
This regulation of 2 entries per calendar year on the basis of 'Visa Exemption' also applies to the border crossing in Poipet/Aranyaprathet. However, the fact that you must stay in Cambodia for a day is not a decision of Thailand, but of Cambodia.
The blog has already warned about this several times, that when you use a border crossing with Cambodia, there is a possibility that you cannot return immediately the same day. And especially at the border crossing Poipet/Aranyaprathet it seems difficult to do. It is best to avoid those if possible. By the way, not only on “Visa Exemption”, but there are also reports of people who had a visa and had the same problem. It seems to be used less at other border posts with Cambodia, but you can't rule it out there either, of course.
Regards,
RonnyLatYa