Stricter requirements for Tourist visa applicants

[Deleted]

From Thai Visa.

www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/493306-stricter-requirements-for-tourist-visa-applicants/


FLIGHTS AND HOTEL RESERVATIONS NOW MANDATORY
Stricter requirements for Tourist visa applicants

BANGKOK (thaivisa.com): -- The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Bangkok has instructed the Thai Embassies and Consulates abroad to be stricter with requirements when applicants are applying for 60-days Tourist visas for Thailand.

The Royal Thai Embassies, Consulates and Consulates-General will from now require a confirmed airline ticket with flight numbers and date of entry/exit, plus confirmed hotel reservations with name and dates of checking in/out.

Quote
Required documents are:
- One completed and signed application form
- One photo (colour, size 4 x 6 cm)
- Passport (valid for no less than 6 months)
- Hotel reservation in Thailand with name and dates of checking in/out
- Airline ticket or confirmation slip with flight number and date of entry/exit

Please note that
Consular officers reserve the rights to ask for additional documents as deemed necessary.
In the absence of a required document, a letter indicating the unavailability of such document must be provided.


A new item is added to the list: If a required document is missing, an explanation letter must be provided.

The new requirements have been confirmed by Thaivisa.com and are in effect immediately.

[Banker]

Thanks for that bedwin. This will only affect the application for the Tourist visa, as usual its an old law (rule) being enforced.

[Banjo]

The only snag would be the hotel booking, I'd be very surprised if they wouldn't accept that you are touring around.
I doubt they would check if you put down the Oriental in Bangkok any way. ($400 a night).

[latindancer]

The thread on the Thaivisa forum has generated a lot of replies. Many people only reply to the original post without reading the entire thread, and I don't blame them. However if you do, you will see that this announcement is from the Ministry Of Foreign Affairs in Phnom Penh, Cambodia......so it does not apply to all Tourist Visa applications in other countries.
The original post and link was made by George, who owns Thaivisa Forum. However he seems to have goofed by not checking....or perhaps thinking much about the situation.
Having said this, as Banker stated : its an old law (rule) being enforced. Seemingly only in Cambodia.
In other countries, sometimes it is enforced but often not. When I applied for a Thai visa in Singapore in 2009 I was told I had to have a ticket out of the country, and they were completely inflexible about it. I said I was leaving Thailand by bus, and they said that if I could show them my bus ticket, that would be ok. But of course you can not buy one in Singapore. So I went to a photocopier and did a very careful "cut and paste" job (using glue and tweezers) on a different ticket, substituting the appropriate details. They don't phone the airlines to check ! I felt a bit nervous picking up the visa, but here was no problem, of course.
A different time I bought an airline ticket and then got a refund, but the buggers took about 8 weeks to send it to my bank.
If you're applying in Australia I wouldn't worry. Apply early enough and you'll have plenty of time to fulfill any of their silly requirements. For example, to buy a plane ticket which is then refundable. Or to cover the hotel reservations, to just write a quick cover letter.

[Banjo]

I've heard of unscrupulous travellers downloading their e-ticket in Word then doing a little editing of the dates before printing it off.

[Banker]

George at thaivisa does this all the time to attract readers with the wrong head lines, just the same as news papers do.

The Consulate in Phnom Penh is not the best place to get a Thai tourist visa, I had a friend come over a few months ago & they told him to go away & that he could get a 30 day visa ex exempt at Bangkok airport. I sent him to a travel agent & all was fixed in 2 days and a few dollars, they are just trying to push work for the fixers outside the consulate....that way the staff in the consulate get a kick back from the fixers......Lady's and Gentlemen remember this is Asia "Its all about MONEY"

[latindancer]

Having travelled in Asia a fair bit in previous years, I have noticed a good "rule of thumb" is that it's better to apply for a tourist visa in a more affluent country than the one you're going to. And conversely to avoid applying for one in a poorer country, as even though you come from Australia, you get lumped together with labourers going to that country, by whichever embassy you are applying at.
For example, years ago I applied for a Taiwanese visa in Bangkok. It was a godawful and demeaning experience. Many Thai factory workers want to go to Taiwan, and the embassy office staff were quite sour. They refused one British tourist seemingly because he had dreadlocks. He protested that he had $10,000 to spend there in the trade centre, but no go.
Thai tourist visas in Oz ? Easy peasy. Dress in nice clothes, give them a smile. "Give us the money and come back in 30 minutes."

[Banjo]

Rule of thumb in Thailand is never apply for a visa in an adjoining country.
I did a couple of tourists in Vientiane and it was a nightmare.
I hear Malaysia and Cambodia are worse.
I've done my current choice in Adelaide at the Royal Thai Consulate for years now and it's been a breeze.

[latindancer]

I thought Vientiane was supposed to be easy !

Thaivisa has changed the original post in that thread, and now it appears that the requirements for Tourist visas are in fact becoming more stringent in all overseas embassies and consulates, becoming effective immediately.

[Banjo]

It wasn't too bad, standing in the sun for hours with a bad back and arthritic ankles wasn't too flash though.
And then they refused me a double.

It's an understandable reaction on the the Thais behalf in some ways.
Try living and/or working in Australia on a tourist visa and see what happens.
As Australian residents I recommend all pensioners wishing to travel overseas for any length of time make sure they have an appropriate visa for their countries of choice.

[Banker]

The easier places to get a Tourist visa for Thailand changes from time to time. The company's that do the visa runs usually know the best places to go.

I also understand why Thailand tighten up the visa rules sometimes. They want to stop the people working illegally on Tourist visa & Visa exempt stamps at the land crossings one reason they cut it down to 15 days only at the land crossings.

Another reason is to keep the Riff Raff out of their country, I can also understand why. In Cambodia they would have the easiest Visa rules in Asia and this shows by the type of expat that lives in Cambodia, IMO the worst I have seen anywhere in Asia.

[Banker]

Please remember the Consulate may give you a visa but the final decision will be with the Immigration officer at the Airport or land crossing, he/she has the final say.

[rodcourt49]

Aug 27, 2011 9:22:44 GMT 7 latindancer said:

The thread on the Thaivisa forum has generated a lot of replies. Many people only reply to the original post without reading the entire thread, and I don't blame them. However if you do, you will see that this announcement is from the Ministry Of Foreign Affairs in Phnom Penh, Cambodia......so it does not apply to all Tourist Visa applications in other countries.
The original post and link was made by George, who owns Thaivisa Forum. However he seems to have goofed by not checking....or perhaps thinking much about the situation.
Having said this, as Banker stated : its an old law (rule) being enforced. Seemingly only in Cambodia.
In other countries, sometimes it is enforced but often not. When I applied for a Thai visa in Singapore in 2009 I was told I had to have a ticket out of the country, and they were completely inflexible about it. I said I was leaving Thailand by bus, and they said that if I could show them my bus ticket, that would be ok. But of course you can not buy one in Singapore. So I went to a photocopier and did a very careful "cut and paste" job (using glue and tweezers) on a different ticket, substituting the appropriate details. They don't phone the airlines to check ! I felt a bit nervous picking up the visa, but here was no problem, of course.
A different time I bought an airline ticket and then got a refund, but the buggers took about 8 weeks to send it to my bank.
If you're applying in Australia I wouldn't worry. Apply early enough and you'll have plenty of time to fulfill any of their silly requirements. For example, to buy a plane ticket which is then refundable. Or to cover the hotel reservations, to just write a quick cover letter.

cancelled

[mick]

Aug 27, 2011 16:32:06 GMT 7 Banjo said:

Rule of thumb in Thailand is never apply for a visa in an adjoining country.
I did a couple of tourists in Vientiane and it was a nightmare.
I hear Malaysia and Cambodia are worse.
I've done my current choice in Adelaide at the Royal Thai Consulate for years now and it's been a breeze.

I'm planning to do mine in Melbourne, they said if I wanted to go longer than the Sixty days then I would need to buy multiple Visas.
They said each Visa stamp will cost $45, and after Sixty days I would need to leave and re-enter again.
As someone stated above they just book a return ticket and then get a refund, does that incur a fee though?

[Banjo]

You don't get much back for cashing in the back half of a return ticket.
One suggestion would be to just arrive on a 30 day exemption (no visa) and then do a trip to Vientiane to get a tourist visa when that runs out.
I see I said it was a pain in the arse but that was 2 years ago... maybe it wasn't so bad after all...
And it's a chance to see a bit of Laos. I'm going for a few days next week and I've always liked the place.

Failing that get your visa in Melbourne but they will probably want to see a return itinerary unless you can convince them you're not sure when you will be coming back.