If a French tourist enters Thailand with a visa-on-arrival and extends that for thirty days, will she be able to do exactly the same thing after flying to Bali for two or three days?
In other words, can she spend four months in Thailand - minus a few days exactly in the middle of her trip - without worrying that she will not be readmitted to the country or that she will not be permitted to extend her visa after her short absence from Thailand?
I would be grateful for some reassurance from people who understand the system.
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TLDR : Answer Summary
A French tourist who enters Thailand with a 30-day visa exemption (not a visa-on-arrival, as it's not available for French citizens) can leave the country and return after a short trip, like to Bali, to receive another 30-day exemption. Each entry effectively resets the stay duration, allowing her to extend her time in Thailand without worries about re-entry or extension issues.
French people don’t get a visa on arrival and if someone did get one on arrival it wouldn’t last 30 days but barring that there aren’t any issues with the visa exempt entries that you have described.
They should have no problem doing that but advise her against following the Visa On Arrival signs as she is not eligible for that entry scheme. She just goes to a normal “foreign passport” desk and will get a free stamp for 30 days. This is called visa exempt.
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