hi everyone,

my boyfriend will be joining me here in thailand next week. as an american staying for less than 30 days, he'll come in with the tourist visa exempt status. the thai ministry of foreign affairs website states,

"Foreigners entering Thailand under the Tourist Visa Exemption category must possess adequate finances for the duration of stay in Thailand (i.e., cash 10,000 Baht per person and 20,000 Baht per family)."
(Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kingdom of Thailand)

is this requirement enforced (he flies into suvarabhumi)? i came in with a non-immigrant B visa, so i've got no idea what happens with tourists...just want him to be prepared when he gets here.

thanks for any information!
liz

Like everybody else he will have to fill in the entry/exit form given to him by the flight personnel before arriving in Bangkok. He will present this form together with his passport at the immigration booth by arrival, and he will get his 30 days stamp in his passport - usually that's that - and he can start enjoying his stay in wonderful Thailand.

Tell him to keep the exit slip of the form given back to him by immigration carefully with his passport, or he might have problems by leaving the kingdom.

Thailand immigration forms ask you how much you earn per year ....I reply to this arbitrarily because it annoys me. I can never remember what I said the last time so if they ever do a random computer check on me they will be very confused.

But they have never asked me to show them 10,000B in cash on arrival. There was some discussion on forums about this a year or two ago....concerns about tourists doing overland border crossings being obvious targets for muggings etc...but I've done overland borders too and again, no immigration official ever asked to see my dosh. I think a credit card would do as proof of funds anyway.

Tell your boyfriend to dress reasonably though....if he arrives barefoot sporting dreadlocks, grubby fisherman's pants and a torn Tshirt then immigration might enforce the rule.

__________________
“Not all those who wander are lost.” Tolkien.
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

I think the only place where the cash requirements are sometimes enforced are the land borders known for visa runners. And even then only if people look like they might not have 20,000 Baht.

An ATM card is sufficient to meet the requirements.

So all in all: in your case no problems at all.