Are visa runs being cracked down on or was I unlucky? Do I need to start considering long-term visas instead of visa-running?
I wanna share my recent visa-run experience with a visa run at DMK airport (I was in Vietnam from Aug 7 to Aug 13 2023.) I arrived around 12:20am on Aug 13 and the lines were quite empty. The IO questioned my purpose for my visa-exempt and extension stamps. I've had 2 visa-exempt entries with 2 extensions for each of them. When I told her "tourism" she questioned if this was really true and asked for a friend's contact and phone number. I told her I don't have my friend's phone number now but I have her Line. Maybe I should have just given it to her. She wasn't satisfied by this and transferred me to other officers to be questioned. These officers asked me personal questions such as where I live, when I'm leaving and showed me a handout that said I shouldn't be doing visa runs anymore. I told him I was following all the rules and never overstayed. He gave me the 30 days visa-exempt stamp anyways and told me to get a long-term visa. He also seemed to be typing some notes after he issued my 30 days.
So do i need to worry about doing visa runs in the future? Or was it just a stroke of bad luck? Do I need to start considering long-term visas? I'm Canadian (if that matters)
TLDR : Answer Summary
The original poster (OP) inquired about experiencing increased scrutiny during a visa run, questioning whether it indicated a crackdown on visa runs or simply bad luck. The OP shared that upon re-entry to Thailand from Vietnam, immigration officers were skeptical about their intentions and advised them to apply for a long-term visa due to the frequency of their visa-exempt entries. The community largely agreed that the trend is leaning towards stricter enforcement of visa regulations, encouraging OP to obtain a long-term visa to avoid future complications.