Visiting Thailand requires a visa if you are not eligible for a visa on arrival. The VOA has been changed over the past 3 years and has now been shorted to 15 days if you arrive across a land border. The Visa on Arrival was shortened as it was being viewed by the Thai government as an exploitable visa loophole which needed to be closed as people had been living in Thailand for at times more than 9 years without obtaining a real visa.
Crossing a land border was changed to only allowing 15 days entry into Thailand. Arriving via air on an international flight was left at 30 days on arrival. This VOA has again been changed in 2009 where they limited as to how many back-to-back VOAs one could receive. Visa rules and immigration laws in Thailand are always in a state of flux and it is always best to speak to an attorney to find out what the new rules entail. As with the VOA, it has been changed more than 3 times during the course of 2009 alone.
The tourist visa is the most commonly used visa in Thailand. The visa is valid for 60 days once you enter Thailand and this you can extend again at Thai Immigration for another 30 days at a cost of 1,900 Baht. The Thai embassies do not really issue many multiple entry Tourist visas but from time to time they do. They are more likely to issue a multiple entry business visa or marriage visa . These multiple entry visas are valid for 1 year. Once you enter you receive 3 months entry permission. Before the 3 months expires you need to do a visa run which means that you cross a land border and return to Thailand an hour later to activate the next leg on your visa. The visa has 4 legs valid for 3 months each hence it is valid for 1 year.
If you are looking at staying in Thailand for 6 months or a year only speak to our attorneys about obtaining a 1-year Thai visa which not works out to be cheaper, more convenient but also save you passport pages. Speak to us today about your Thai visa.