The Burmese Immigration office at Victoria Point, opposite Ranong, a favourite with visa-hoppers. Photo: Silke Baron
Immigration will introduce a new rule soon aimed at discouraging visitors who extend their stays by doing visa runs.
Currently, visitors who come from certain listed countries could receive a visa on arrival and then simply cross into a neighbouring country and back for another 30 days. Some repeat this indefinitely.
Now Immigration plans to reinstate a former rule – subsequently relaxed last year – that arrivals crossing land borders will receive only 15 days. This will not apply to the first arrival in Thailand, whether by land or air, but to subsequent arrivals by road or rail. Perhaps more significantly, the number of consecutive, back-to-back visa runs may also be limited.
The main aim is to discourage foreigners from staying long-term in the kingdom by doing multiple back-to-back tourist visa runs.
Immigration has attempted before to discourage visa hoppers. The most recent attempt was when it was announced that no one would be able to spend more than 90 days total in Thailand on multiple visa runs. This has apparently been applied selectively, and will continue to be used this way, along with the new 15-day rule, in cases of people recognised as serial visa-hoppers.
A Phuket Immigration officer told The Phuket News they knew about the new rule, but that it is not yet being applied, and they are not sure just when it will go into effect.
Original story: The Phuket News
