Re: [102attendees] [103attendees] Visa problems - need a different invitation letter

[Jeff Haas <[e-mail]>]

> On Sep 6, 2018, at 01:57, Jakob Heitz (jheitz) <jheitz=[e-mail]> wrote:
> 
> That is an interpretation of
> TOURISM AUTHORITY OF THAILAND ACT, B.E. 2522 (1979)
> https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.asianlii.org_th_legis_consol-5Fact_taota1979337_&d=DwICAg&c=HAkYuh63rsuhr6Scbfh0UjBXeMK-ndb3voDTXcWzoCI&r=T-sa37bq-QjZoC4jLQ0QAtNyQAPQqGdTNBvhTirOBqc&m=WKh2tSIuZNODPuDlzIrPmgYBrEqjFJX61BvBNsC8TiI&s=EBIb_cqlekX4cyIFs48pIrEsuGi93RwCPVwx0iib1Bs&e=
> in which the definition of tourist is:
> 
> "tourist" means any person who freely travels from his normal place of residence to other place for temporary period with the objective other than to carry on his occupation or to earn income;
> 
> If your occupation is to develop IETF standards and your employer pays you to do that and that is what you do at the conference, then you might have difficulty in persuading a border guard that you are a tourist.
> 
> Maybe the guard is in a good mood and will overlook the detail, believing you will spend money in his country and all will be well.
> Or not.

I don't argue any of these points.  That said, the advice I've listened to over the years is to keep my conversation with immigration very simple:
1. I am here to attend the X conference or Y meeting.
2. I am not being paid by anyone in this country to do 1.

The second point is usually where the argument of "doing work" comes up.  

Whether the first point comes up as "doing business" or the second point comes up as "doing work in this country" is often left to the interpretation of the immigration officer. Thus far, it hasn't.  I simply stay honest with those points with the possible expectation that I might be denied entry at the whim of the person I'm speaking to.  It's a good reason to have the emergency contact information for your employer's travel agency on hand.

-- Jeff