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Degen, you know that you can get around the 90 day absence requirement by getting a new 60-day entry visa from a foreign embassy, right? At least, that was the case as of a few weeks ago, according to Stickman and the Thai Visa site. If you know that that has changed, please let me know...
-Brass
I am 99.9% certain you are wrong. Can you link us to what you are referring to?
From what I saw on Stickman last week and on the ThaiVisa forum, I think brass is correct about the tourist visa and border stamp combination. This is basically what I have been doing for the last 2 years and it looks like it will still be allowed.
If you were only doing border runs with 30 day stamps, you would be limited to 3 in 90 days and then you would have to leave the country for 90 days before continuing with 30 day stamps. If you have a tourist visa in the mix, it changes everything. You can do 3 border runs at 30 days each, then get a tourist visa from a foreign embassy and keep going.
In my understanding, the best thing to do from California is to get a double entry tourist visa from the los angeles embassy. Go to Thailand and you'll be good to go for 90 days before you have to leave the country. At that point, you leave and come back on your second entry of the tourist visa. Another 90 days then you can do 3 border crossings getting 30 day stamps each time. At that point you have to get a new tourist visa from outside of Thailand or stay out for 90 days.
Quote from stickman (page link below)
"Following on from the opening piece in last week's column about the changing times and the current visa situation, I can pass on a few more rumours that have slipped through. The first is some clarification of the rule regarding entry into Thailand on what is termed anything from an entry permit to a visa on arrival to a standard 30 day visa. Call it what you will, I am referring to the 30 day stamp in our passport that we get if we arrive at the border without having got a visa from a Thai embassy or consulate abroad beforehand. Rumour has it that once you have had three entries into Thailand (of ANY duration) in a six month period, you cannot re-enter Thailand again for a period of 90 days on that type of 30 day visa stamp. Essentially you would either have to wait out the 90 days before returning, or go to a Thai consulate or embassy abroad and apply for a tourist or non-immigrant visa. Some officials from within the Immigration Department have said that they will happily allow people to come and go on tourist visas issued at Thai embassies and consulates abroad ad infinitum."
http://www.stickmanbangkok.com/Weekly2006/weekly280.htm