What are the current rules for receiving a visa exemption upon re-entering Thailand after visiting Vietnam?

djfree1510 *** There is no "reset".

*** There is no mention of "calendar year".

*** There is no two-times limit on visa-exempt entries within a one-year period.

In case you have heard such drivel from out of the mouth of an Immigration officer, this officer will soon learn that what he said just can’t be true.

What actually counts is: There are only two extensions on visa-exempt entries possible, within a 1-year period.

The first extension will be issued for 30 days, the extension for a second visa-exempt entry will be issued for 7 days

You can theoretically do 4, 5 or even 6 visa exempt entries for short 2-3 weeks holidays, within a one-year period, if you never maximize each stay.

Of course, upon each entry, you should be able to proof your onward travel, a few nights of a booked accomodation and proof of cash equivalent of 20,000 THB

You should refrain from thinking in terms of "calendar year"

I would rather say that all visa-exempt stays within the recent "1-year period" will be considered when you attempt another visa-exempt entry

Just think about it, if a “calendar year” count would be in effect:

This would allow 157 days BEFORE New Year, and 157 more days AFTER New Year, totaling in a 304-days consecutive visa-exempt holiday inside Thailand.

The mind boggles.

Do you really believe that a Thai Immigration officer in January or February looks up the amount of visa-exempt stays within a "calendar year" (none yet) and ignores all the days of your visa-exempt stays within the previous year?

It won't make much sense.

djfree1510 Your record in the computer will be there tomorrow the same as it was there yesterday.

Nothing resets.

They are looking for trends, and they will use your entire history in evaluating those trends.

It's all about your entry and stay history rather than a specific period of time

*** What seems to be happening is that some people are only being granted a 7 days extension if they have already received a 30 days extension on a previous visa exempt entry earlier in the year.

This may reset in a new calendar year, but if so, it only affects extensions and not the right to enter Thailand on a visa exemption itself.

It depends on your entries and your total time spent in Thailand within a rolling cycle, regardless of the calendar year.

djfree1510

@Thom *********

is right

djfree1510 perhaps, but no change for me

djfree1510 you are still wrong and confusing . . . . .There are no new "visa rules" or a new law.

There is no “reset” on January 1st.

There is no limit of two visa-exemptions within a calendar year, and not within a one-year period as well.

Nothing “resets”.

What has changed, mandated from above, is the strict scrutinizing of your number of visa-exempt entries and the thorough check on "visa runners" (actually they meant to say "back-to-back border runners").The new approach taken by border officials is intended to ensure that the option to do a "visa run" is not abused.

Now as far as regarding extensions on visa-exempt entries, it does appear that the Immigration offices are indeed only issuing 7-day extensions if you already got one previous 30-day extension on any visa exempt entry

It is totally up to the discretion of the immigration officer you are in front of when you apply for the extension and they will tell you if you can get the 30-days extension, or if you only get the 7-days extension.

The thing is right now it's totally subjective and up to the officer you are standing in front of when you go to stamp into the country for them to decide if you're a "real tourist" or if they think you're milking the visa exempt entry program.

There's just no real concrete clear directive as far as what's what.

Some people with a 30-days extension already on a previous visa exempt entry reported getting another 30-days extension without any issue, however some have reported they only got a 7-days extension issued. So your experience might vary.

60 + 30 + 60 + 7 = a maximum of 157 days per year... and it seems this is regardless of whether you arrived by air or across a land border (some say that for a land border visa-exempt entry, you cannot get any extension at all)

Visa-exempt entries themselves are not limited, even though some believe that unlimited visa-free entries are possible by air. This is simply not true.

Visa-exempt entries are not limited to two entries per calendar year.

This is a misconception, and some agents and lawyers spread this information to make profit from panicked people.

Many agents and Immigration Volunteers are warning you should not believe those alleged news telling you that visa-exempt entries are limited to two per calendar year. It simply is not true.

In the past visa-exempt entries were limited to two across land borders, this old rule got discontinued on July 15th, 2024. On the paper, visa-exempt entries by air or across land and sea were “unlimited” after this date.

However this word “unlimited” did not describe the real stance of Immigration – THEY decide when your “personal limit” is up, not any text printed on the websites of Thai embassies.

Under certain circumstances, but always at the individual discretion of the border official, multiple visa-exempt entries are possible, like four, five or even more times, if you do not milk the system.

In this case, however, the entry history in your passport and on the immigration central computer must prove that your stays were short-term holidays (like only 2-4 weeks) and the total annual stay is not exceeding 157 days (some will say not exceed 180 days, some will say 150 days – it’s unclear)

And there should be several weeks (or months) abroad between each visa-exempt stay.

Your best proof of not misusing the system is when you can show that you returned to your home country between each visa-exempt stay, or stayed abroad for a long time. And when you show an onward travel proof

ATTENTION: an “onwardticket” can be scolded upon by Immigration and you can be accused of showing a faked ticket, denied entry and being forced to buy a ticket back to your origin.

The intended aim of the new approach was to prohibit "visa runs," where you only entered briefly a neighboring country and then immediately re-entered.

You must be able to prove the planned short stay at the immigration counter—for example, with proof of onward travel or a return journey, such as a flight ticket.

It seems that a border official would consider you being a "genuine" tourist based on such short holiday trips within a year.

In this case, they expect to see on their central computer that you never extended the 60-days visa-exempt stay permit – i.e. maximized – any of these short trips.

The 7-day extension is a REAL extension. It's not the same as the stamp "application for extension denied, you have 7 days to leave the Kingdom", even if to some people it looks like a “grace period”. I have already seen the stamp of a 7-days extension, it takes up half of a passport page. The original “you have 7 days to leave” stamp is smaller, takes something like a quarter up to one-third of the page

What has become clear, is that "per year" can be defined as "per one-year period.

Some people still say they meant “calendar year” but to me this doesn’t make any sense, and we have received several confirmations that nothing “resets in a new calendar year”. The count will be for a full one-year period

Those who want to be on the safe side should obtain a single-entry tourist visa in advance for stays of up to 60 days, with the option to extend for 30 more days. You can do two stints on SETV within a 1-year period, no problem.

@Greg **********

Fair enough, but the point was he entered Thailand apparently, in MY scenario, WITHOUT an onward ticket within 90 days. You suggested it was the ticket to Viet Nam, WITHIN the 90 days.

I'm suggesting there's no evidence he had that ticket when he left for, or got into, Thailand, so he shouldn't have been let in in the first place.

But yes, right now it makes no difference............

@Alan *********

but he already entered Thailand, so what he is planning further, doesn't bear anyting 🙂

@Greg **********

No confusion, although yes, I should have said "onward ticket" but the point is the same - EXIT Thailand.

I try to take things at face value. He said he's "planning" to go to Vietnam, i.e. planning, as in now. To ME, that doesn't sound like he had the ticket when he started out.

But maybe that's just me.

@Alan *********

why, you must be confusing things . . . . you do not necessarily need to prove a return ticket when checking in visa-exempt to a flight. You only need proof of an ONWARD travel. It doesn't necessarily have to be a return ticket. It can be a simple one-way ticket to some destination outside of Thailand . .that's why I assumed that he might already had a flight ticket to Vietnam on day number 58

@Greg **********

Yes, but my point was that his original March 25 EXIT from Thailand is more than 90 DAYS from his original entry. The airline should have stopped him from boarding.

OR Thai Immigration should have forced him to provide proof of leaving Thailand WITHIN the 90 days.

@Alan *********

if he stays until February 8 before he flies to Vietnam, the rest of the days after entering on a second visa-exempt entry coming from Vietnam will be LESS than 60 days before he flies out by March 25