60 day visa, start day?

[BigLicks]

 I have a 60 day E visa for travel by 9/2....I arrive BKK on 8/1...because of the current situation I thought I would just book a flight on 8/1 from BKK and fly on to Cambodia for a couple of weeks in the hope things will get a little more normal in Pattaya... because I fly a different airline to Cambodia I believe I have to go through immigration to check in again for that flight,  ....my question is, will my visa start on the 8/1 at immigration or when I return to BKK from Cambodia.....I think I know what the answer will be though, just need to be certain to book my return home date

[Mick Pattaya]

When it was the conventional sticker visa on the passport its validity started the moment it got stamped at immigration. With the new E-Visa that might not be the case, if you are from one of the visa exempt entry countries (30 day stay allowed).

Possibly, you can just present your passport & get that 30 day stamp & declare the E-Visa next time you enter from Cambo.

[Gaztop08]

24 minutes ago, BigLicks said:

 I have a 60 day E visa for travel by 9/2....I arrive BKK on 8/1...because of the current situation I thought I would just book a flight on 8/1 from BKK and fly on to Cambodia for a couple of weeks in the hope things will get a little more normal in Pattaya... because I fly a different airline to Cambodia I believe I have to go through immigration to check in again for that flight,  ....my question is, will my visa start on the 8/1 at immigration or when I return to BKK from Cambodia.....I think I know what the answer will be though, just need to be certain to book my return home date

If I think what you are saying that you are going to enter Thailand ie go through Immigration.Your visa starts.If you then leave i’m sure your your tourist visa finishes. Tourist visas are single entry.

Edited November 27, 2021 by Gaztop08

[Fired Up Paul]

1 minute ago, Gaztop08 said:

If I think what you are saying that you are going to enter Thailand ie go through Immigration.Your visa starts.If you then leave i’m sure you finish your tourist visa. Tourist visas are single entry.

^^^ This.

If you are transiting to BKK from elsewhere eg Singapore, best to book your flight to Cambodia direct from there and not use your one time, single entry TR until you return to BKK from Cambodia.

Otherwise obtain another TR when you are in Thailand.

[BigLicks]

14 minutes ago, Gaztop08 said:

If I think what you are saying that you are going to enter Thailand ie go through Immigration.Your visa starts.If you then leave i’m sure your your tourist visa finishes. Tourist visas are single entry.

Thanks, I understand what your mean, maybe a better idea would be to fly to Cambodia from somewhere other than BKK, then as long as I arrive in Thailand before 9/2 my visa will be good for 60 days...makes sense..back to the drawing board as they say!!

[penboy]

10 hours ago, Mick Pattaya said:

When it was the conventional sticker visa on the passport its validity started the moment it got stamped at immigration. With the new E-Visa that might not be the case, if you are from one of the visa exempt entry countries (30 day stay allowed).

Possibly, you can just present your passport & get that 30 day stamp & declare the E-Visa next time you enter from Cambo.

Out of the few replies the OP has had, I would go along with this one. I've just been through the process of obtaining a SETV. It is printed out ready for when I arrive. There is nothing in my passport to say that I have one in my possession.

IMO, you should have your onward flight ticket at hand when arriving, keep your SETV to yourself and then use it when you return to Thailand. 

[penboy]

10 hours ago, Gaztop08 said:

If I think what you are saying that you are going to enter Thailand ie go through Immigration.Your visa starts.If you then leave i’m sure your your tourist visa finishes. Tourist visas are single entry.

It will only be used if he shows it, otherwise he will get 30 days visa exempt.

[don henley]

Don’t declare you have a tourist visa when you just do the short stopover in BKK. When you complete the arrival card TR6 just don’t enter your visa number. They will treat you as a 30 day visa exempt visitor.

When you return to Thailand a few weeks later then you can enter the details of the Tourist visa and your 60 days start.

[BigLicks]

Guys thanks for your educated replies...I think the best idea is not to show my E visa on arrival at BKK, do my Cambodia trip, then my E visa on next entry, my only doubt is there would be a stamp in my passport from my 1st entry which I imagine would auto start my e visa? ....News the last couple of days has even tempted me to think that the wisest thing to do would be to cancel the trip altogether until we have some degree of certainty about the next few months, so bloody frustrating! 

[davidge]

25 minutes ago, BigLicks said:

Guys thanks for your educated replies...I think the best idea is not to show my E visa on arrival at BKK, do my Cambodia trip, then my E visa on next entry, my only doubt is there would be a stamp in my passport from my 1st entry which I imagine would auto start my e visa? ....News the last couple of days has even tempted me to think that the wisest thing to do would be to cancel the trip altogether until we have some degree of certainty about the next few months, so bloody frustrating! 

The e-visa will show on the immigration system when they scan your passport. You can only use a Tourist Visa once (unless you get a multiple entry to start with) so when you return to Thailand you will not have a visa and therefore just get 30 days Visa Exempt.

You will also need a new Thailand Pass for each visit.

[BigLicks]

1 hour ago, davidge said:

The e-visa will show on the immigration system when they scan your passport. You can only use a Tourist Visa once (unless you get a multiple entry to start with) so when you return to Thailand you will not have a visa and therefore just get 30 days Visa Exempt.

You will also need a new Thailand Pass for each visit.

Thank you, that makes total sense to me now, if I do take my trip on the 7/1, I will just go to Pattaya and maybe visit somewhere else in Thailand...a safer bet methinks.

[Thomaz73]

1 hour ago, BigLicks said:

Thank you, that makes total sense to me now, if I do take my trip on the 7/1, I will just go to Pattaya and maybe visit somewhere else in Thailand...a safer bet methinks.

That's very sensible. Whether there's a way to not burn the visa or not. I have an idea that could be possible. But travel at the moment... Who needs it? Happy trails!

[biggles]

Some years ago I came to Thailand, I had a 60 day visa in my passport but was leaving for the Philippines 3 weeks later.

I was REALLY polite to the IO at Swampy when I explained this and mentioned that the  embassy had suggested that perhaps they would give me  a visa free 30 days and I could then use the TR when I returned. He called his boss over and explained... And gave me 30 days visa free. A nice guy! 

[Mick Pattaya]

8 hours ago, davidge said:

The e-visa will show on the immigration system when they scan your passport. You can only use a Tourist Visa once (unless you get a multiple entry to start with) so when you return to Thailand you will not have a visa and therefore just get 30 days Visa Exempt.

You will also need a new Thailand Pass for each visit.

The admittance procedure for a Visa visit will be different than an 30 day exempt entry though.

For starters, IO will write down the 'admitted till date' counting to 60 days in case of a TV. For exempt entry, I suppose they just put the 'exempt' stamp, can't recall if they put a specific 'exit by date'.

[bangna]

With exempt they used to stamp arrival and leave by date plus flight numbers.

With E visa, I assume when they enter the passport details it flags up the TR.

Note one occasion I entered on 60 day TR and he used the 30 day stamp. I very respectfully pointed out the TR sticker and he added the correct date but said it didn't matter because the system held the correct date. I wasn't about to risk that when I was leaving.

[bgtp]

I’m not sure if things have changed due to Covid, but would it still be possible to get a re-entry permit from immigration at Swampy? OP would just need to allow time for that before the flight to PP. Personally, I wouldn’t want to jump through the immigration hoops multiple times on a single trip, but others might not mind.