September 28, 2024
2 days ago
Rant alert….
I love all the questions about "how many times can I enter visa exempt".
They're almost always followed by comments of "I did three this year" or "I did 10 so far and have no issues - so you'll be fine".
No one can answer this question with any authority. That's because there is no rule. There is no limit. It is completely up to the discretion of the immigration officer you hand your passport to on arrival.
The guys that had no issue were probably dealing with Sheila. She's happy in her life and likes to think foreigners are good for the economy.
Those that have issues are the ones that hand it to Brian. He's having a bad hair day and about to get his car repossessed. He's apt to take out his depression on foreigners that try to enter his country twice in a calendar year. For no other reason than he's having a bad hair day.
Obviously those two scenarios are made up by me, but that's the type of issues you could encounter at an immigration counter where you have no idea whether you're dealing with Sheila or Brian (and I'm not trying to be sexist in any way here - make up your own names or genders).
No one can answer this type of question. One person could have got in 23 times this year with no issue, but someone else could be questioned or even denied on their second attempt. The latter is probably far fetched but in theory it could happen. We don't know and we can't say, because it's at the discretion of the individual officer.
TLDR : Answer Summary
The community discussion emphasizes the lack of clear rules regarding the frequency of visa-exempt entries into Thailand, with the outcome largely depending on the immigration officer's discretion. While some share experiences of multiple successful entries, others caution that encounters vary widely by officer, leading to unpredictable results. Notably, the conversation points out the arbitrary nature of immigration experiences, humorously personified by various named immigration officers.
