What is the best method for a Dutch citizen on a Covid visa extension to perform a border bounce in Thailand?

Oct 12, 2022
2 years ago
Leon ****
ORIGINAL POSTER
Hey guys,

Iโ€™m Dutch citizen and on covid visa extension for almost a year. My stamp is expiring on 7th of November but would like to stay here even longer.

What is the most secure method to do a border bounce? Apparently flying out by air is not an option ( too many covid extensions)

- Iโ€™ve read that the immigration at land borders are not that strict, is it true?

- Is the Nong Khai border the best option for me?

- Iโ€™m not planning to apply for a tourist visa,

So can I just cross the border and immediately go back to Thailand?

- Is the visa exemption by land also for 45 days? I think before it was only 15 days

- And can I also extend it for 30 days?

Thank you in advance ๐Ÿ™
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TLDR : Answer Summary
A Dutch citizen on a Covid visa extension, expiring soon, inquires about secure border bounce options. The community suggests that land borders are less strict compared to air travel, though results vary by location. The Nong Khai border is mentioned but may require traveling from other parts of Thailand. Direct re-entry into Thailand is generally possible at most borders, but certain locations have restrictions requiring an overnight stay. The current visa exemption allows for 45 days by land or air, with the possibility to extend for 30 days at an immigration office.
Tod *********
Sadly for the O/P this is a VISA advice group, not a "what border is the easiest to bounce at" one ๐Ÿ˜ฎ

I answered the questions the best I could, and I let this post on more as an FYI to other people who will need to bounce

you're still almost a month away from needing to bounce so you have time. Post on a group related to Bangkok and ask for recommendations
Tod *********
- ๐—œโ€™๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ถ๐—บ๐—บ๐—ถ๐—ด๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ฏ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜€ ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ป๐—ผ๐˜ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐˜, ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ถ๐˜ ๐˜๐—ฟ๐˜‚๐—ฒ?

You will have less problem at a land border with a passport full of covid extensions BUT you still COULD have issues depending on the border you bounce at

- ๐—œ๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ก๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ž๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ถ ๐—ฏ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜ ๐—ผ๐—ฝ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—บ๐—ฒ?

If you're not in the north of thailand it's a LONG way to go to bounce out and in, ANY of the Lao borders are okay, Malaysia is open in the south and Cambodia is open to the east. The only borders that are closed to foreigners are the ones with Burma

- ๐—œโ€™๐—บ ๐—ป๐—ผ๐˜ ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ป๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—ฎ๐—ฝ๐—ฝ๐—น๐˜† ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ฎ ๐˜๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐˜€๐˜ ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ฎ,

๐—ฆ๐—ผ ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐—œ ๐—ท๐˜‚๐˜€๐˜ ๐—ฐ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐˜€๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฏ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ถ๐—บ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—น๐˜† ๐—ด๐—ผ ๐—ฏ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ธ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ?

you can stamp out of thailand, stamp in and out of another country and then right back into thailand at MOST borders, some of the cambodian borders make you spend a night in cambodia before you can come back. There are reports SOME Malaysia borders are saying the same thing, spend a night in Malaysia before you can come back.

- ๐—œ๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ฎ ๐—ฒ๐˜…๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฝ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—ฏ๐˜† ๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ฎ๐—น๐˜€๐—ผ ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐Ÿฐ๐Ÿฑ ๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐˜†๐˜€? ๐—œ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ธ ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ถ๐˜ ๐˜„๐—ฎ๐˜€ ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—น๐˜† ๐Ÿญ๐Ÿฑ ๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐˜†๐˜€

The 15 days by land was cancelled back on Jan 1st 2017, the current program (from Oct 1st to Mar 31st) gives 45 day visa exempt entry by air or land. Remember though you can only get TWO visa exempt entries by land in a calendar year (Jan 1 to Dec 31)

- ๐—”๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐—œ ๐—ฎ๐—น๐˜€๐—ผ ๐—ฒ๐˜…๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ถ๐˜ ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐Ÿฏ๐Ÿฌ ๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐˜†๐˜€?

You can extend a visa exempt entry for 30 days for 1900baht at the immigration office where you stay.
Leon ****
ORIGINAL POSTER
@Tod ********
thank you for the detailed answer Tod๐Ÿ™

Which border would you recommend as Iโ€™m currently in Bangkok? Ban pakkad is the closest but Iโ€™ve heard itโ€™s better to go to nong khai.
Tod *********
@Leon ***
ban pakard is NOT the closest cambodian border to Bangkok, Aranyaprathet/Poipet is,

You can bounce at Ban Laem without much issue.
Tod *********
face it, you've been here a LONG time on covid stamps, AND while there was no problem getting those 60 day extensions, the problem occurs when you try to bounce out and back with a passport full of them (especially by air).
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