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White card
Before a skipper or any crew with in-transit status
can leave Thailand without their boat, they must first obtain a white
departure card for their passport by posting a refundable 20,000-baht
bank guarantee.
To do this, go to the Thai Farmers Bank main branch
in Phuket Town, on Phang Nga Road, a block east of Yaowarat Road.
Bring ship's papers, passport and 20,630 baht, which includes the
630-baht bank charge. Tell them you have a yacht and require a "bank
guarantee" for immigration. Your money will be put in a locked
interest-bearing account and a guarantee will be prepared. Sometimes
it will be done while you wait, or you will be asked to return in
two or three hours. You will receive an official-looking document
and a copy which you must keep.
Take the guarantee to yacht immigration. They will keep
the original on file. A white card will be stapled in your passport,
along with a letter for the immigration authorities at the border
or airport. You must know on which day you are making your visa run
because that information is included in the letter. You will be charged
a 10-baht fee.
When you return to Thailand, at the border you will
re-enter like any other tourist, and receive a new white card in your
passport. Back in Phuket, go to immigration with your copy of the
guarantee. They will give you the original, which you take back to
the Thai Farmers Bank. Your account will be unlocked and you will
be given a bank book. You can withdraw your money or leave it in the
account. Up to you.
Now you have the precious white card and can come and
go from Thailand as often as you wish without posting another bond
while your boat remains in the country, which somewhat renders pointless
the whole process, except to prove that you could scrape together,
albeit briefly, 20,000 baht in cash. But that's the way it is.
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