Can my wife use her Thai passport to exit Thailand without needing to renew her visa annually?

Question

My wife holds both Thai and Australian passports.   She has been told by Udon Thani Immigration  that she needs to renew her visa for Thailand annually (some obscure category) and thereby report every 90 days  otherwise , if she uses her  Australian passport  to travel to Australia, she would be fined for overstay at Bangkok airport regardless of showing her Thai passport.  This is  what we have been doing for 5 years.  Now , I have been told that she can exit the country on her Thai passport through the new Automated system  which doesn’t check for visas, providing she shows the airline both passports at check-in .  If this is true, she would no longer need to renew her Thai visa and 90 day reporting .  Can anyone confirm this ?  Thanks.

Ask Thailand · Answer

The community discussion revolves around whether a dual national (Thai and Australian) can exit Thailand on her Thai passport without needing to renew her visa or report every 90 days. While some members suggest that she needs to exit on the passport used upon entry (Australian) and cannot switch at Immigration, others indicate that using the Automated system may allow her to exit on her Thai passport if she presents both passports at check-in. The general consensus is that she should have entered Thailand on her Thai passport from the beginning to avoid complications.

Tod ********* · Answer

And while this IS an interesting topic, it is NOT all that THAI visa related <- mostly because the person in question IS thai and doesn't need a visa to the country ;)

Sorry [mention redacted], hope you got enough info to figure out what to do

We're done..

Tod ********* · Answer

She should never have stamped in to thailand on her Australian passport or fooled with getting a yearly extension at the immigration office. :/

IF I was a betting man I'd say IF she has a valid extension in her Australian passport she's gonna need to fly out and back to swap over to a thai one.

Liam ***** · Answer

She needs to leave on the passport she stamped in on (Australian), go somewhere else, and return on her Thai passport. Then she need never worry about visas again!

Michael ************************ · Answer

she didn't have a Thai passport when we arrived 5 years ago

Danny ***** · Answer

My daughters do this all the time. Leave the US on US passport, enter Thailand on their Thai passport. No dramas. Why would your wife enter Thailand on a foreign passport if she has a Thai one? That makes zero sense!

Michael ************************ · Answer

she has made a number of trips out of the country on her Thai passport... to Japan, Korea etc ...

Tod ********* · Answer

She's NOT in the country as a thai :/ She's in the country as an Australian and needs to stamp back out as one to stamp IN on her thai passport <- when she can indeed go thru the automatic system

Tod ********* · Answer

She can't be here as a foreigner (albeit one who is thai too) and exit on her thai passport.

She can ONLY swap passports by flying out on the foreign passport (if that's the one she's got the valid extension in) and then flying back in on the thai one.

Robert ******* · Answer

IT depends on which passport she used when she came into Thailand. If she used here Australian passport, she is an Australian visitor and has to follow the visa rules.

Tod ********* · Answer

As a thai national that enters thailand on a foreign passport she gets a year extension for 1900baht with very little fanfare at all

If she is in thailand on her foreign passport she needs to EXIT the country on that passport too

Can my wife use her Thai passport to exit Thailand without needing to renew her visa annually?

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