A note on the coup and visa situation in Thailand.

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Joe Underwater

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Scuba Instructor
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Northern California and Thailand
Just in case anyone is being scared off of Thailand due to either the coup or the recent crack down on visa's, please understand that neither is a legitimate concern for the tourist.

Coup:

There were some warning about protests in Bangkok, but nothing ever effected the tourist areas and the coup has actually peacefully put a stop to any protests. The military did have several days of night time curfews that were enforced nationwide (10pm-6am) but those have long been lifted and everything is back to normal. Things are actually overall much better as the military has embarked on a huge anti-curruption campaign targetting tourist areas. They are dismantling local mafias in tourist areas and returning the beaches back to the people. This coup has been a God send for nature lovers, beach lovers, and people that have had it with widespread corruption by local beach town officials. Things are far from perfect, but they are visibly much better.

Visa's

There has been a major crackdown on "long stay tourists" in Thailand who would make a back to back boarder runs every 30 days in order to enjoy the 30 day visa exempt status most countries get in Thailand. many of these people are working illegally in Thailand and the immigration knows this. The military government has put a stop to this, but this crackdown does not effect actual tourists. You can still get 30 days visa exempt stamp upon arrival, and in fact starting Sept 1st, tourists can even extend their visa exempt entry stamps at immigration inside Thailand for another 30 days. The showing of 10,000B per person or 20,000B per family and onward tickets is not being enforced for people that are not serial visa runners, however international airlines may ask you to show onward tickets out of Thailand or that you obtained a tourist visa at a Thai embassy or consulate in your home country before departing for Thailand.

If you have any questions please don't hesitate to contact me.

divethailandwithjoe@gmail.com
 
Agree.

Last week I traveled in and out of Bangkok
(BKK - Suvarnabhumi) and it felt like business as usual at immigration/passport control. It was no different from the many other times I have done this over the past five years. Also, I spent four days in Bangkok and the streets felt very benign. Maybe a few less tourists……
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/

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