Thailand's new six-month, multiple-entry tourist visas will become available Nov 13, but will limit stays to 60 day at a time.
The Foreign Ministry on Friday told all embassies, consulate-general and honorary consuls worldwide to begin preparing for the visas, regulations for which were approved by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha in August and published in the Royal Gazette on Sept 14. The Ministry publicly released details of the new visas on its Facebook page Tuesday
Unlike current tourist visas, which offer from one to three entries, the six-month multiple-entry visa will allow unlimited border crossings during the validity period. However, to prevent foreigners from basically living in Thailand on tourist visas, each entry will be limited to 60 days.
The new multiple-entry visa will cost 5,000 baht, versus 1,000 baht for a single-entry, 60-day visa, which can be extended in-country for up to 30 days for an additional fee.
Border checkpoints frequently have been known to reject foreigner using consecutive tourist visas to permit lengthy stays in Thailand. And, amid the immigration crackdown that followed August's Erawan shrine bombing, immigration agent on the Cambodian border and in Kanchanaburi reportedly have stopped even those travellers with valid tourist visas from immediately leaving the country and re-entering to activate additional entries.