(XOR) wrote in message . com...

"Miguel Cruz" wrote in message
...
DALing daling43[delete]-at-hotmail.com wrote:
"Miguel Cruz" wrote:
DALing daling43[delete]-at-hotmail.com wrote:
Sure is $25 US since 26AUG2003 for a tourist visa. Hope they get the
message that they won't get my money.

But you're a US passport-holder, right? Do you need a visa? According
to
the Thai embassy web page you do not.

nope, go look at the Thai embassy site - ALL tourists need to pay the
$25
since 26AUG2003 (like I said - shoot themselves in the foot)

They're just up the street so I phoned. The guy said that yes, the visa
fee
is $25 for US citizens, but if you are going as a short-stay tourist (up
to
30 days) there is no need for this visa and you will not have to pay the
fee
at any point in your trip.

If you read the web site it basically does say that, but in language that
can be seen as ambiguous.

http://www.thaiembdc.org/consular/visa/visa.htm

They say that the tourist visa is $25 but then later on there is a "List
of
countries not requiring visa" which includes the USA and 42 others.

miguel
--
Hit The Road! Photos and tales from around the world: http://travel.u.nu

"DALing" daling43[delete]-at-hotmail.com wrote in message ...
like you said - downright confusing - USA folks don't need a visa so can
enter for 30 days w/o visa; if you need a visa it costs $25, and everyone
doesn't NEED a visa but they hide the list of 40 countries not requiring a
visa (not 42 - the other 1 country (Tunisia) has an exemption from paying
visa FEES , but it doesn't matter) down at the bottom of the web page.
(grumble, grumble I thought only the US government tried to be that
confusing)

I guess I should have read the entire page and not stopped at the $25 for
tourist visa part ( western European countries - read "non former Warsaw
pact nations" - are on the list and I don't know if the "micro countries"
issue their own passports but they aren't on the list)

Yup, that was my fault. Sorry

All the talk locally (I am in Thailand at the moment), was that you no
longer got the 'free 30 day on arrival' visa. All the travelling
farangs have been under the impression that this is what you get when
you get stamped upon arrival, and the local media reports have not
clarified *at all*. It indeed has been confusing.

A little more "clarification". People from some countries need a visa
before they get to Thailand. People from other countries are eligible
for "visa on arrival". My understanding is that there will be a charge
for that.

But people from many countries, including the US, do not need a visa
at all. Just get your passport stamped on entry and come in. No visa
necessary.

A friend just arrived yesterday from the US (UK passport holder) and
verified - no fee for 30 days. So now I am wondering why everyone has
been so up in arms.

Probably a combination of 2 things. First, a misunderstanding about
what a visa is. (That 30 day stamp you get when entering is *NOT* a
visa.) Second, many people claiming to live in Thailand are actually
long term tourists with multiple entry tourist visas. Costs for that
visa did go up.