This write-up is intended to provide a primer to those looking for data about maintaining lawful Thai Immigration status through border runs.

Thai Immigration regulations are rapidly becoming a lot more constrictive, multifaceted, and stringent. Compared to the European Union, the United States of America, Canada, Australia, or the United Kingdom Thailand’s immigration rules are relatively liberal. Nonetheless, compared to countries in Southeastern Asia such as Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, and Indonesia the Thai Immigration rules are considerably far more stringent.

The promulgation of Thai visa exemption stamps is one area of Thai Immigration that has slowly become a lot more regulated over the years. There was a time when non-Thai nationals could stay in the Kingdom for a practically indefinite period of time so long as they made monthly trips to the border in order to be stamped out and stamped back into the nation on a visa exemption. These trips to the border had been named “border runs,” or “visa runs,” which explains the etymology of those terms. About the beginning of this decade, Thailand’s Immigration authorities began giving serious thought to the visa exemption program and several modifications have been made over the past ten years. Most critical to a lot of is the end of the infinite “border run,” since now non-ASEAN citizens are only granted a maximum of 15 days presence in the Kingdom with out a visa and those repeatedly utilizing a visa exemption are viewed suspiciously. Though this technique of visa running is being phased out, there are other techniques of maintaining lawful status which may possibly still be useful to those wishing to stay in the Kingdom.

The “airport visa run,” has turn out to be somewhat well-known as flights to countries like Malaysia and Vietnam are fairly affordable. Couple this with the reality that Thai Immigration at present grants thirty day exemption stamps at the airport to numerous nationalities and this creates a scenario in which some opt to use the airport in a manner related to prior land border usage.

One more approach of “visa running,” now getting employed is that of running to a nearby Consulate and obtaining a tourist or non-immigrant visa. These travel documents provide at least 60 days lawful status with a possible option to extend the visa domestically at Royal Thai Immigration. Nevertheless, Consulates and Embassies in Southeast Asia are becoming less cooperative in granting multiple tourist visas.

The Thai visa method is normally less complicated for those who begin the method from their country of origin or travel back to their country of origin in order to apply for a lengthy term visa. This could be attributed to the fact that some choose to apply for a long-remain multiple entry visa. This method nonetheless requires visa running, but the upside is a lack of hassle because it is not necessary to return to a Consulate. Also, Thai Immigration routinely stamps such visa holders out and back in on the same day thereby providing 90 more days of lawful status in the Kingdom. As this strategy supplies the most lawful presence in Thailand and creates the least quantity of consternation, it has turn into the preferred method for long term travelers staying in Thailand.