How many times can I apply for a Tourist Visa (TR) in a year for Thailand?

@Graham *****

But fine for me If I'm wrong.

@Graham *****

it's the Visa regulation stated on the Imigration page

@Florian ***********

Where I keep asking (link?)

@Graham *****

But as you certainly know and as it is written down in Thai law, the text regulation of the individual visa takes precedence over the general text regulation. That's why you always enter with a tourist visa or other visa so that you can't reach these 180 days.

@Florian ***********

I think it was a proposal some years ago, but there’s no written 180 days rule at date. However 180 days in country without a long stay visa could be a turning point and I know some IO use it as a guideline regarding further stays as a tourist.

@Florian ***********

I didn't enter on a Tourist Visa but, if I did and it was a Multi-entry Tourist Visa, that gives almost 9 months stay in Thailand with two strategic border bounces and 3 extensions. How can that be if the 180 days is law?

This is entry without visa regulations.

stamp on arrival is not a visa on arrival it is not a visa so you can stay in the country for a maximum of 180 days.

@Graham *****

All I can say is read my first post, everything is explained there. but I'd like to say it again. without visa. So stamp on arrival, that's not a visa. Dot the permission 180 days maximum of which 90 days in 6 months

Leave it there until you can produce the link to Thai Immigration law with the 180 day rule. I'm done.

@Florian ***********

This is just another misinformation from a embassy/consulate site. There’s no such official rule from the Thai Immigration.

Yawn

@Graham *****

Google it your self or Check in the Page of Thai embasy

@Graham *****

According to the latest regulations, anyone who stays in the country for longer than 180 days is considered a permanent resident and is therefore subject to tax. To prevent this from happening, a limit has been set for 180 days without a visa...this is what i heard from the visa agents or my lawyer in Thailand.

@Florian ***********

whether or not this exists or not is debatable. It isn’t enforced at all.

According to

@Todd ********

you are free to enter Thailand just as you wish if you’re entitled to visa exemption or got a tourist visa and have a well prepared answer if you get questions by the IO. So several of the people who gets denied every day and week probably just don’t know how to speak for themselves. However there’s no official 180 days rule, but based on feedbacks we also know that 180 days as a tourist in a year COULD be a turning point for additional tourist entries. We also based on feedback know that the 180 day limit is used as a written internal instructions for the IO’s. If you maximise three visa exemptions in a short period and stay 180 days I personally think you could risk to get questioned and potentially denied on your fourth, even if you know how to use your mouth.

That’s because you are indeed free to enter Thailand as you wish. If you have unsatisfactory answers for the IO, you will have issues. If you have good answers, he/she will stamp you in. Welcome back. Thailand loves tourism.

According to the random ‘secret’ poster of Jan Kenneth Nesland, you could be questioned…. no shit Jan. Immigration officials will do their jobs.

And these people aren’t speaking for themselves, you are taking their posts and speaking for them. Out of context. And you don’t know any of them.

‘Risk’ getting questioned 😂? Are you a total travel newbie Jan? Cmon. What is that you are trying to say here? Don’t come in a second time? A third time? Fourth? The reality you have no idea. Nobody does.

@Todd ********

You behave and act just like I’ve watched you over time and goes to person attacks every time you get confronted with your non accurate information. You are indeed not free to enter and stay in Thailand as you wish without a visa according to your stay as everyone knows.

@Jan *****************

you provoke for no reason, and I will poke back :) nothing new here.

You continue to overdramatize entry to Thailand for no apparent reason. Everyone knows that visa exemption (soon to be 60 days) is a perfectly permissible way to enter. You do not require a visa. Sorry for correcting you again.

@Todd ********

I can’t say this better than Tod. How long can I stay in TH on visa-exempt entries on how many entries can you do as a tourist ?" is like asking "how long is a piece of string?"

NOW read it HERE - the classic reply of Tod Daniels to the never ending question “how often can I enter Thailand”:

“You can keep doing it until you can't.

After the first 1-2, it becomes a gamble. It all depends on which IO you're dealing with. Some people have been ok on just visa-exempt entries (and extensions of said stamps) for periods of over 6 months or even a year.

However, in the past year or so they've really been cracking down on people with back-to-back tourist visas & visa exempt entry stamps. Especially those with long ago Covid extensions.

We RARELY let posts prevail, where people ask if they're going to have a problem getting in get posted on this group and we get a LOT of people wanting to post questions like that.

It's not that we deny those posts because we don't want to answer/help you, the reason we don't let them on is because there are WAY too many variables in that answer and truth be told there is NO real correct answer.

Things that factor in to you entering Thailand successfully are

-previous entry / stay history

-what airport you fly into

-whether you were here over Covid

-whether you have an old ED or Volunteer visa in your passport

Unfortunately the real deciding factor is the officer you're standing in front of when you go to stamp in - and that is beyond your control.

There is NO rhyme or reason on why some people with extensive entry stay histories skate in and other people are pulled aside and grilled after one entry

There doesn't appear to be any specific nationality they're targeting, no number of days in Thailand, no previous number of entries, although ED and Volunteer visa. Especially those b/s back door ones people got during Covid and those Covid extension stamps are considered "stamps of death"

When flying in with extensive entry/stay history airport choice DOES seem to factor in to it. BOTH Suvarnabhumi (BKK) and Don Mueang (DMK) seem much harder on people than say Phuket or Chiang Mai (which has no reported denial of entries)

All you can really do is be prepared by having

*** proof of funds (20K baht or the equivalent in CASH)

*** proof of onward travel within the number of days you will get stamped in for - that means if you're comin' in free stamp for 30 days have onward travel IN 30 days (because that "I've got onward travel in 60 days because i going to get a 30 day entension" line doesn't always work

*** proof of lodging for the time you're here (at least for a week)

They (officers at passport control) CAN ask for any of those things, all of those things OR none of them. Please remember the fact you were never asked does NOT mean those are requirements to enter, nor does it mean no one is asked, it just means you weren't asked

Also remember the fact you have a tourist visa doesn't guarantee you get in (especially with an extensive entry/stay history) all having a tourist visa guarantees is IF you get in, they stamp you in for 60 days.

A new passport doesn't "wipe the slate", your entire entry/extension/stay history is available to every officer at every entry point to Thailand with a click of a button.. Now it can help for them just paging thru the passport but IF they wanna really see how much you've been coming here, a new passport isn't gonna help that much.

@Jan *****************

Tod’s answer is perfectly accurate. You can keep coming until you can’t. And I know people who have been doing it for years on end. Yes - indeed ‘some’ people have been ok for many years.

There is no evidence whatsoever of a ‘crackdown’. And if there is, you can be sure that Thai immigration will be clear with their intent. Again there is no crackdown whatsoever on back to back TV’s or visa exemptions.

The rhyme or reason is situational. And being ‘grilled’ can be perfectly random. It’s their job.

For your ‘stamps of death’ I was here for the full duration of Covid and dozens of friends and acquaintances still here also. Don’t let rumour overwhelm.

I totally agree with you about BKK and DMK being seen as harder spots for entry than less significant airports. And if concerned about long history of entries, you can always pay for ‘FastTrack’ and facilitate smooth entry. And for sure anyone thinking a new passport is going to solve anything is just being naive to the reality.

@Todd ********

I don't think I've tried to claim anything more than him either. There’s a limit to how long time you can stay in Thailand as a tourist without a long stay visa, and a tourist visa itself does not guarantee you entry.🤷🏼

@Graham *****

This is written on every Thai embassy and consul website in the world