Of visa woes

On arrival in Thailand on December 13th we were greeted by signs at Satun port immigration that the King had decreed that foreigners on the visa waiver program, like us from Europe, entering Thailand by land or sea, would only receive permission to stay 15 days in the country. As we were intending to stay something like 87 we were a bit perturbed but none of our flashing of air tickets or protestations could sway the official. They changed the rules on November 28th, a week after we checked online from New Zealand.

Now it transpired we would have to get a Thai tourist visa. It costs but not much and is valid for 60 days but... you have to leave Thailand and go to a consulate or embassy to get it. We knew we were heading back to Malaysia. At least we had time. We soon started meeting people who had flown to KL or Singapore (even due to the ongoing changing of flights bound for Bangkok) and planned to spend three weeks in Thailand - only to have their holiday cut short by the new rules. The change is meant to discourage Farang (foreigners) living and working illegally in Thailand, who have just been popping to the border every thirty days. Now they pop an extra 200km every 60 days.

When we went to Penang in Malaysia just after xmas for the visa run there were hundreds more people waiting for visas and the first bus back to Thailand. The people living and working in Thailand illegally or quasi-legally were easy to spot. They were the 40-something caucasians freely talking about how they have done 3, 6, 12times. The mind boggled. everyone agreed the new law was nonsense and all the Thai guesthouse owners were deeply unamused that their mid and long-term guests were doing one early. The only people smiling were the visa agents in Penang - they've never had it so good. Luckily we had the time to do it and spent a nice few days sampling the food and window shopping in Penang's charming Little India.