Hi everyone. I have a serious problem. I have family in Thailand — my child and my partner. We’re not married, and I need to get parental rights through a Thai court, so we hired a lawyer. When my exemption stay ended, I left for Vietnam for 45 days and then flew back to DMK a few days ago.

What happened there was shocking. Many people were denied entry. I had all documents — a letter from my lawyer, invitation from my partner’s family, Thai bank statement, my child’s birth certificate — but they didn’t look at anything. They just said I “can’t enter for the third time,” took my passport, and put me in the detention room for the night. The conditions were terrible.

The main issue: they didn’t put any stamp in my passport. No denied entry, nothing. The next day, after returning to Vietnam, I applied for a tourist visa with all documents and clearly stated that I want to visit my family for the holidays. The next day I got a simple “your visa application has been rejected.” No explanation. Embassy and e-visa center won’t tell us anything.

Now I don’t know what to do. I’m planning to fly to Vientiane, try to enter by land, and if they refuse me again, I want to apply for a Non-O visa at the Thai embassy there. But I’ve already lost so much money that I’m afraid of another rejection.

If anyone has experience with this situation, please share advice. I just want to be with my family for Christmas. Thank you.

Experince yesterday at BKK. I was previously on a Non-O Retirement with extensions. I was married to a Thai wife now divorced. Two children in Surin. I left Thailand for two years for work and returned Visa exempt 4 December 2024 for 60 days to see my children. Ex wife (Thai) stays in Australia to work. I had difficulty with child access and border bounced Cambodia to get extra time to get access. I left within the second 60 days for Australia for a few weeks. Organising a court case in Thailand for custody. I was held by immigration even after explaining that i am seeking a Non -O on basis of Thai children but need custody. They also had my history and told me where I lived. The IO called supervisor and berated me for the border bounce. I was told next time no Visa, no entry. Seems the reports of multiple 60 day are real. I have never been questioned on previous Visa exempt entries.