Fred Naancome Wijnands not correct. You must get a new TM30 after every hotel stay or stay in another private residence.

When a hotel copies your passport they register your stay with Immigration

I got in trouble with my local Immigration office here in Ubon Ratchathani for not getting a new TM30 from the office of the condominium where I live after I had been to Bangkok for a few nights.

The hotel in Bangkok copied my passport - as they all do - and registered my stay with them with Immigration.

When I presented my TM30 to the office in Ubon they checked my passport number on their system and said the TM30 from the condo was not valid.

I had to go back to the condo office and them to raise a new TM30.

My local Immigration office are very helpful. They said I must do this any time I stay somewhere else, a hotel or a private residence.

It’s a myth.

I did a visa run to Kuala Lumpur just before Christmas on a business class ticket.

I was still interrogated by the Immigration Officer at Don Mueang about the purpose of my trip, asked to prove I had a ticket booked to leave Thailand within 60 days and told to get a visa before I came back again…which I am now in the process of doing.

You have to accept that the immigration process in Thailand is consistently inconsistent.

There is the documented Thai immigration law and then the reality that every individual Thai Immigration Officer and Immigration Office interprets the law in their own way.

Within the space of three days I got very different responses from the Thai embassies in London and Ho Chi Minh City and the Immigration Office in Ubon Ratchathani regarding what I had to do to marry my Thai fiancée and then obtain a Thai marriage visa.

In 35 years in the computer and electronics industries I have travelled all over Asia, the Americas, Western and Eastern Europe and in my experience Thailand is the only country that allows their individual Immigration Officers so much latitude in deciding if they are going to allow you in to the country or not.

It’s ironic that a country which is so economically dependent on foreign visitors and ex-pats bringing their money here, makes it so difficult for us to do so.

There is no new rule limiting visa exempt entries to two per year. What has been limited are the EXTENSIONS to visa exempt entries.

The first extension you will get 30 days, but on the second extension only 7.

So long as you have a legitimate and justifiable reason for visiting Thailand - and you are not doing visa runs - then you can make several visa exempt entries in a calendar year.

Very happy with Western Union which I find to be relatively cheap and very reliable. Wise not so much.

Tony Hopkins I spent 2 nights in KL then re-entered Thailand without any issues in late December.

Judy, I met with the Immigration Office in Ubon Ratchatani last week. They will accept 12 months of UK bank statements proving I meet the THB per month requirement.

They said this does not have to be an affidavit from the UK Embassy. That was never a requirement from Thai Immigration, but many ex pats chose to provide it.

As I mentioned before this now academic for me as I am marrying my Thai fiancée in February. The Ubon Immigration Office confirmed that 12 months of UK bank statements confirming I meet the 40,000 THB per month income requirement is all they need. They said for my renewal in one years time I will need to show that this monthly income has been going in to a Thai bank account.

After only 4 months looking at this it is very clear that each Thai Embassy and each Thai Immigration office has their own interpretation of Thai immigration law.

My advise is check with the local Thai Immigration office who will process and issue your visa and only follow their instructions.

Jeremy Miller as someone new to Thailand, 66 years old, in good health with no resisting conditions what level of cover would you recommend?

@John *********

thanks for the clarification, much appreciated

Judy Blyth this is not what the Royal Thai Embassy in London advised me before Christmas. They said 800,000 THB in a Thai bank account OR proof of a minimum of 65,000 THB monthly income.