Here is a link to the thread running in ThaiVisa. They are doing a lot of work to try to clarify the changes:-

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Regulatio ... 27532.html

arjay wrote:BWD, I would suggest that Thailand understandably wants to discourage the low lifes, the hand to mouth brigade/those on a shoe string budget and the extended stay sex tourists.

Yes Arjay. AND also the unqualified teachers who work here illegally. The Gov. have been targeting them for some time now.

oldfield wrote:

arjay wrote:BWD, I would suggest that Thailand understandably wants to discourage the low lifes, the hand to mouth brigade/those on a shoe string budget and the extended stay sex tourists.

Yes Arjay. AND also the unqualified teachers who work here illegally. The Gov. have been targeting them for some time now.

They are qualified teachers when they complete a TEFL course... Its only that Thailand want to add the degree bit to try and discourage the bad elements doing a TEFL course and staying here...Are they saying that only TEFL teachers are bad??

Just to clafify a point Oldfield raised a while back, yes my Lao GF got her 30 day stamp when doing a visa run across the NK Friendship bridge last week. In fact it was, by my calculations, 29 days, which seems to be what they actually give. I assume they count the day of arrival as day one, rather than counting forwards 30 days.

Spoke to the bloke in charge of Visas at the Thai consulate in Sydney he says that you will still get a 30 day Visa at a border entry if you can show a confirmed flight ticket out of the country within 30 days but whether the guys at the borders know this well TIT.

I must be lucky. I just did a run across the bridge and back expecting a 15 day stamp. They gave me the full 30 days!