What are the latest updates and procedures for border bounces at Ranong for Non-O visa holders?

@Dave ****************************

999

@Graham *****

I have learned something new today 😁

@Nathan ********

I did the trip back in February on a non-o marriage. They wanted to see an onward flight and I had to fan out and count 20,000 baht in front of the boss before I stamped out. I paid 1000 baht for a boat over and back for two people, not including visa stamp fees on the Myanmar side.

Before i went on the longboat the office at Ranong. All problems go away when you have a agent.

@John *******

I had no idea

@Graham *****

oh I learned something today

@Jeffrey ********

much appreciate that !!!!

@Nathan ********

I have done the same 5-6 times last year. The last two or so hours drive through the mountains is a beautiful drive. But Ranong is not a bad place to stay a night, some good value hotels around and including 'the farmhouse hotel'. And the breakfast/cafe/coffee scene there is active. Very cheap weed in the few local shops. There's a few farmstays on the top of the mountains outside Ranong, but often very quiet, and more accommodations in Lang Suan, which is a huge hub for distribution of the big heavy fruits grown around the mountains, durian/Jack fruit etc. And if you've not witnessed the breakfast/morning scene in Surat thani city, a 2-3km trail of street vendors along the waters edge there, and a morning market with vendors just laying out their goods on the road from 5am until morning. And I found a stewed pork shop, the same owner serving for over 50 years now, allegedly not a day off sick. There's certificates and newspaper/magazine articles on the walls, and photos with celebrities, and the fella looks at you while chopping the pork, not the pork itself. And he talks to every customer who comes in. I say talks, he shouts at every customer. They're setting up from about 3am everynight, amazing place. Under the CBD hotel. An alternative but similar road trip is to Pedang Besar/Sadao on Malaysian border. Fascinating border towns, like something out of a movie, 'Dusk till Dawn'. But close by, in the national park, the Wang Prachan Boundary post is a soft checkpoint to bounce, but nothing is guaranteed without an agent, which should be arranged regionally in advance. You can meet them as they arrive in the parking area just before the checkpoint if you prefer to drive/arrive yourself.

@Steve *********

obviously closed means : no one day shopping . a disaster for both sides of the border

@Nathan ********

but that doesn’t mean you Have to leave every 90 days

Are you confusing having to do a 90 day report and doing a border bounce instead 🤔

Unless you have a visa nobody else seems to have 🤔

@Nathan ********

if you have a multiple entry as an addition to your non O you can of course go in and out as much as you want. But you don't have to. I have a non O and I haven't been out of the country since 2015.

@Nathan ********

maybe change it in the initial post 👍.

@Mark **************

I know langkawi to koh lipe, on the one ferry, the ferry staff take your passports at boarding, process immigration at sea, and give passports back when landing at koh lipe. But that sea border crossing was still closed August 2022 since covid.

@Nathan ********

We all get scammed when we do visa runs because we pay a fee for a service that is free 👍🏻

@Dan *******

thank you very much for this detailled reply! 🙂

@Nathan ********

With an METV The fee was never 1900, did it many times before covid. Around 100 baht per person for the boat ride,, $ 10 at Mynamar immigration.Job done. No fees checking in or out of Thailand. Unless youre being forced to use an agent there is no reason for those fees.

@Nathan ********

so you paid this money for a border agent service? ok! But the price does not include the trip you needed to reach the Ranong pier?

@Nathan ********

ok. I think I'm understanding you a bit better.

2600thb paid to immigration

Not an agent in Phuket or Koh Phangan that included transport etc. Just the admin fee at Ranong pier ( not Andaman Club casino)

@Nathan ********

casino

@Nathan ********

Hi, did you get your non O based on marriage to a Thai lady, or on having a Thai child? I got one years ago, 17 years to be exact. I got it at Thai consulate in UK, no Thai wife or child. On the e-visa portal if you select non-immigrant 'O' it only offers a three month visa, not a 12 month multiple entry, which I'd like to apply for. I am over 70 don't want the three month one, need the twelve month 'O' multiple entry.

@Nathan ********

no, you don’t have to exit Thailand every 90 days.

I suspect you are just really confused.

Please post a copy of your visa with any personal info blurred.

@Nathan ********

wait , U paid extra for a multi and U pay 2-3k baht to do a 90 days why oh why , would U take the multi entry ????

I didn't know U had to leave every 90 days ????

I'm on the same visa , I don't leave year to year.

But .. if I did it's 1000-1500b a time at the airport , right ???

I did it 2 years ago , 1 week in the UK and no probs at the airport just paying for a re entry.

@Nathan ********

did you need to show the 3 proof ofz ?