chris5346

2 or more (always a good idea) passport/visa approved photographs

2 photocopies of your passport

Pens

US Dollars (if possible as the exchange rate offered at the border is rubbish). These are actually for your Laos visa (different price for each country), but USD are VERY useful in Laos and will often get you a better deal than Kip. Baht is also widely accepted in Laos at excellent rates, but for the border take USD.

fantastic, thought things were looking grim. so once i reach the border i get a laos visa (any cost there) stay for a few days and then return to thailand and get a double entry on the way back

a visa on arrival for laos costs 35$ at the land crossing nong khai or you can pay in baht but it costs you a bit extra you can also get a visa from the laos embassy in bkk but that only helps you if you want to use one of the express bus services from thailand to vientiene,

you can get a flight from bkk to udon thani with nok air and they also provide there own shuttle bus to vientiene or the airport has mini buses to the border and you can then get a taxi etc to vientiene,

once in vientiene you need to goto the thai consulate/embassy to apply for a tourist visa :

http://vientiane.thaiembassy.org/vientiane/en/consular/consular_check/

this will take 2 days to process - you apply in the morning only and collect the next day in the afternoon - cost 2000 baht for a double entry,

when you come back into thailand fill in the arrival card and fill in the visa number section and they should stamp you in for a 60 day stay which you have the option to add another 30 days at any immigration office inside thailand for 1900 baht,

you could also fly from bkk to vientiene but those flights are quite costly compared to the udon thani ones,

there's also other consulates you can get thai tourist visa.

hi,

there's one in the center of town a few doors from mr mechanic, a small shop front with manakins and dresses etc in the front, her names pawn , i can't remember the name of the shop it begins with a P.

i can find out some more info. if you require, pawn is friends with my mrs

well if you take the scenic bus route its heading north from chiang mai and entering laos from the north,

or there's a night bus going to udon thani.

you could also head north from chiang mai and head down to luang prabang on the river - bus/boat combo to vientiene.

depends if you want to make a holiday out of it,

it maybe a good trip to go north and tour thru laos ending up in vientiene where you get teh tourist visa then head to udon thani and fly back to chiang mai or get the night bus back.

north laos is beautiful and well worth a visit to luang prabangs waterfalls temples etc and veng vieng,

not much to do in vientiene and udon thani is similar to chiang mai.

i wouldn't recomend going to vientiene first then heading north to luang prabang etc because if you choose to go on the river it will be against teh current and takes 2 long days on a slow boat - unless you choose the speed boat option.

you can pay for the laos visa on arrival with dollas or baht it's upto you, but i think 35$ is a better deal,

they may not require a small photo for the laos visa but the application form does have space for one, they may charge an extra dollar if you don't have a photo- should only take 10 mins to get teh laos visa - you get teh application form from the left window.

the visa applications may ask where your staying in laos - you can find any hotel to put on the application,

if you have printed off and filled in the thai visa and go along with the money and photos in hand even if they have switched off the ticket machine and stopped handing out application forms you can probably still make the application at the window and just say you lost your ticket or maybe another tourist has 2 tickets.

you'll probably need to get thru the consulate gates b4 12:00 - you walk thru and see the people on the right making the last applications.

a taxi from teh border to the thai consulate shouldn't cost you any more than 200 baht even if your the only person - there's 2 embassys so make sure they send you to the one doing teh visas - just show your passport and say visa and they will know which one to take you to.

have you printed off the thai visa application form and filled in in fully ? i think it's double sided too ?

you should get a double entry tourist visa no problem if you fill in the application form correctly,

you can re-apply in the future for another tourist visa - the embassy will put a warning stamp in your passport first if your applying for too many from the same embassy.

very easy process you make the application in the mornings only and collect passport the next day in the afternoon,

price is 2000 baht and you need to provide photos.

http://vientiane.thaiembassy.org/vientiane/en/consular/consular_check/

from chiang mai you can either go by road which takes 12-13 hours during the night on a bus or private agent mini bus.

or you can fly to udon thani with nok air or nok air mini (small airplane) and there's a shuttle bus to the border.

you'll also need a visa for laos (1500 baht or $35 ) which can be done on arrival at the border if you don't have a laos embassy near you.

any questions please ask,

i did this trip from chiang mai and i only just made the application in time before they closed the gates,

i would recommend you print off and fill in the application form ready and take photographs with you,

you may also need a small photo for the laos visa on arrival and if you pay in dollas its cheaper than in baht for that.

you can use baht in laos all the way for what your doing , if you do get hold of some kip make sure you spend it all in laos because you wont be able to convert it to baht in thailand - actually there's a conversion kiosk right on the border on the laos side if you have some.

many hotels, most people head towards fountain square and down to the river and turn right basically - it's 15 mins in a tuk tuk from the thai consulate/embassy.

there are hotels near the embassy but they are expensive and nothing to do around there at night.

the second time i went a small group of us from the night bus all chipped in and hired a private guy to take us directly to the border - this saved loads of time etc and didn't cost much extra.

also on the application forms they ask where your staying in laos - if your doing the thai visa before you find a hotel then find any hotels name off the internet before you go.

there's agents outside the embassy , but if your organised no need to use them and just go inside yourself,

good luck,

what time is your bus supposed to get arriving at udon thani ?

and at which bus terminal ?

where are you coming from ?

do you realise you have to get to the thai embassy at 11 am ish at the latest ?

if you can get teh vientienne express bus but you will need a loas visa in your passport and be at teh inner udon thani bus station.

are you both over 50 years old ?

hi,

do you know if they would issue a double entry visa ?

i assume you applied for a single entry and had to show any flight out of thailand with in the next 3 months ?

thanks,

chris

if you want to stay longer than 6 months you can simPly visit laos and get another double tourist visa,

ideally you want to try and get a 3 entry tourist visa with 6 months validity with that you can stay for close to two hundred and seventy days but they are not easy to get hold of.

yes you can book a flight with 5 months between but ideally you will need a double tourist visa in your PassPort or else the airline may not let you check in.

if the double tourist visa only has 3 months validity thats fine for a 5 month stay if used correctly.

where are you thinking of getting the visa from

you will only be issued with a 1 year tempory licence at best with a tourist visa and you need to also provide a medical certificate which can be obtained for approx. 100 baht at the hospital on the way to the transport office,

you will also need a residence certificate that you can get from immigration for 500 baht and you need to provide some sort of proof of address like a rental agreement etc.

after one year you can upgrade to a full thai 5 year driving licence but you'll need a better visa than a tourist one,

if you head towards hangdong and at the big C junction there's a bridge type sign over the road and the transport office is under that sign a road to the left - mayeb 50 meters b5 the entrance to big C.

if you have a driving licence from Euro etc take it along and you can just take some eye tests etc and along with the medical certificate you can get both motor bike and car tempory driving licences .

hi,

are you clear as to when you need to do your border run to activate your next 60 days ?

you can't just do it on the last day of your 30 day extension, immigration will have stamped a date in your passport but that's not the date you need to goto cambodia, you need to look on the visa itself and there will be a enter before date shown that's the last day or ideally go 1 day before that date,

if your going to siam reap you'll need to go for a minimum of 2-3 days earlier to make it worth while so you can come back into thailand on the enter before date.

if you get your dates wrong and make a mistake you'll only get 15 days on your next stamp,

is there a bridge or a car ferry accross the river at chiang kong into laos ?

yes the first guy is talking about sending from the u.k and the second guy is talking about his australian pension.

there's bangkok air but it's 7500 baht.

i don't think ther'es many companies doing that route,

if your after cheaper you could fly to phnom penn and get a bus to siam reap.

i took a look at halifax and there demo etc shows converting in uk only ?

http://www.halifax.co.uk/onlinebankinghelp/international-payments/help-guidance/

this new guys sending his pension is from australia.

I get my aussie pension paid into my Commonwealth bank account then on payday, i just take my debit card to the atm and draw it all out in one go. Is this a bad way of doing it

sounds too easy to be the cheapest method.

you need to talk to your bank and ask what there charges are etc.

you could work out what rate your receiving by looking at your statements and comparing to ones in thailand.

but what other choice do you have ? send a transfer instead but on small amounts maybe not much difference.

are you going to extend the second entry also ? because you probably wont get to use the full 30 days because you need to do another border run before the visa expires - what's the enter before date shown on the visa ?

are you staying in bkk ?

what date does your 30 day extension run out ?

with laos and cambodia you will need more space in your passport for a full page visa sticker - malaysia and burma are simpler systems.

you can also have a gap between the thai entries if you want to spend time in a neighboring country etc.

you can get a residence certificate on a tourist visa and also use that to get the 1 year tempory driving licence.

after the one year runs out you can change to a full private driving licence which is 5 years but i think your supposed to show a different visa other than a tourist.

i think it helps if you have a full driving licence from your home country.

chiang mai transport office is very good i changed mine into a 5 year one today.

i presume if there's any problems you can just keep getting one year ones ?

the cars not running hot , it's goes upto about one third on the temp gauge after 10 mins driving and mostly stays around half way.

if sat in traffic etc or a hot day here the temp. goes upto two thirds on the temp gauge and i presume the fan cuts in ?

i don't know i haven't had the car long.

if i do short journeys or on open road the temp gauge stays low and no signs of any problem with oil lamp also.

i was reading some of the addative bottles today, some contain ptfe and they are synthetic based ? can i add them to normal oil ?

some say they reduce engine temp and wear etc so maybe an idea to try one ?

or is it going to be a case of i add the engine treatment and i notice/see no difference ?

i have also been looking at 50W oils and there's many here designed for pick ups and diesels etc. i did manage to find one small can of havoline 20W50 in big C which looks the best so far if i can find a large bottle.

thanks for the tips.

yes sorry it's the same car and thread,

before i bought the car i thought the problem was due to the oil pump turning slower at tick over (700rpm) when the aircon pump was running because that's the only time the light came on but since i've been driving it around i have noticed it comes on even with the aircon off and when the engines at its hottest the light comes on at 1200rmp,

so it looks like the problem is a bit more serious that i first thought.

i will try a thicker oil and put some coolant in the water as suggested thank you.

the previous owner told me he asked people about this problem and i think they flogged him off saying it was due to vibrations?

i asked if had taken it to main dealer and he said no.

i was trying to find out what oil was used in the last service and how many kilometers had he done since the light has been coming on but with communication problems i couldn't find out any info. from him.

he did say that the oil filter was changed last time.

i'll change the oil and see what happens,

i'm still unsure about this cheap oil at 200 baht and putting a 1000 baht addative to it seems backward to me ?

thanks for you help,

chris

if you want to copy what i'm doing ask halifax if it's possible for you to make manual payments in addition to your monthly direct debit (maybe you will need to set your DD to the min. amount or 5 pounds etc).

they should give you there account number and sort code and you use your 16 digit credit card no. as a reference - that's how i do mine.

i tested it first on a small amount and my omline banking saves all the details so it's very easy once set-up.

i can now make a payment and money appears on the credit card the same day.

the nationwide also have a pretty good one but they charge 1 % and one pound per transaction.

most credit and debit cards charge a small fortune if using cards abroad for cash.

hi,

yes your right, if you withdraw cash they charge interest - my santander zero is over 20 %.

what i do is pay santander first making a positive balance then withdraw the money out avoiding any charges - easy with online banking.

my card is limited to 300 pounds a day , i believe the clarity card isn't limited ? but i wouldn't recomend you shart shovelling thousands at a time using this method incase u raise any alarms and they think your money laundering.

also you can go inside some banks with your passport and ask for a cash advance instead of using the atm and getting a 150 baht charge.

it had a new oil filter last service , i'm hoping that they used thin oil last time and that's contributing to the problem,

a japanese guy has owned it for the past 5 years and has looked after it well, servicing and repairing faults with exception of this oil lamp.

the 20W50 oil i have found only costs 250 baht ! will the quality be ok ? or should i find some better stuff ?

i'm thinking that if i use the lubricating addative that reduces friction that may make the oil flow too well and actually reduce the oil pressure in the system ?

i guess the first thing to try is just the thicker oil then maybe addatives if no improvement .