The first thing we should mention is rules do change very frequently in Thailand, so this is just a guideline and you need to take responsibility for checking the accuracy. Having said that this is a question we are asked often and this is the current advice we are giving regarding visas.
Before you travel to Thailand you will need a double entry 60 day tourist VISA. This will enable you to get 60 days when you first enter Thailand which can be extended by 30 days in Koh Samui either personally or we can send yourpassport over to our representative and they´ll do it for a fee, then at the end of that 30 days you will have to do a visa run and going over to Burma.
This is the closest place to do a VISA run, which takes place overnight you leave in the evening and you are back on Koh Tao the following morning. When you re-enter Thailand you will get the second 60 day visa activated. Once this is nearly expired this can once again be can be extended by 30 days in Samui.
This takes you to 6 months. If you are on the seven month course you will still need an additional month which requires you to do one final VISA run.
Some people from certain countries do now get 30 day tourist visas when they enter Thailand over a land boarder, the UK is one of these, but Ireland isn´t. The list of countries which now get 30 day visas when they cross a land border is;
- Canada
- France
- Germany
- Italy
- Japan
- UK
- United States.
So if you are from any of the above countries you are able to do one additional VISA run to complete the trip, if you are from other countries you may need to do to visa runs, please check with the course director to ensure that your visa runs do not interfere with the timing of the final instructor exam.