For a foreigner, in order to enter and stay in Thailand for some time, acquiring a Thai Visa is a must. Tourist visa is the most common form of Thai Visa that is applied for. Of late, a number of changes have taken place in the Thai immigration rules and regulations. The most important one is the cutting short of the border run for the tourists from the countries (like Laos, Myanmar, Malaysia, Cambodia) that had the facility of Visa on arrival. Previously, a tourist coming to Thailand from these countries on visa could stay there up to a period of 30 days. The new rules have cut short those 30 days to 15 days. This has been done mostly due to the overload of population that is happening in Thailand due to coming in of the foreigners. In order to acquire a Thai Visa, there are a number of formalities that one needs to go through.
Documents needed for tourist visa
A tourist visa is helpful when a tourist wishes to stay in Thailand longer than he is allowed to. In order to get a tourist visa, the person needs to get some documents in place. First and foremost, a valid passport (with validity of at least 6 months) and other such travel documents are needed to get a Thai Visa. In order to apply for a Thai Visa, first an application form needs to be filled up. A recent passport sized photograph of the visa applicant is to be submitted along with the form. Additionally, it should be ensured that the payments for the air ticket have been made in full. Apart from these, there might be a number of other documents which are necessary. The right to ask for them completely lies with the consul.
Period of stay and stay extension rules
Travelers who come to Thailand armed with a tourist visa are usually allowed to stay for 30 days. There are a number of countries, mostly parts of Europe Union, Latvia, Romania, Bulgaria, Estonia etc. where a Thai Visa exemption has been given by the government of Thailand. At present, anyone entering Thailand from any country needs to get a visa beforehand. Anyone who wishes to extend his/her stay in Thailand has to file yet another application for extended stay in the country. In case one needs to change their visa in some way, the immigration office is where they could get their work done. A proper tourist Thai Visa extension includes three to six months of validity to stay in the country. The visa should be utilized by then or one will again have to run to the immigrations in order to have a re-run of the visa.
The newest regulations in Thai Visa are going to greatly benefit the various travel agencies. This is because, due to the rule of making visa beforehand, the booking would be more with the travel agencies. The steady growth in the tourism market of Thailand has led to a rush of tourists here.
