randymarsh

I've tried again this morning after a 12 hour recovery nap, and I have managed to do a COMPLETE application.

But what am I meant to do now?  No instructions as to how to pay, what to send in the post, where to etc.  Will I get an email?  Do they assess my application for approval before asking me to send my passport and pay?  That would make sense, but they'd lose money on rejected applications that way, so I assume not.

Edit:  Found out I have to then submit and choose Submit Via Post.  But the website is so slow it hasn't managed to load that page for the past 5 minutes.  Also it looks like I have to print out every piece of evidence again?  So just like the old process, only with the addition of this total unnecessary online nightmare.

Edit 2:  It froze for so long loading the page that I refreshed.  Now my COMPLETE application is not listed on my application history at all.  OMG.  

Edit  3:  The web site seems completely down now.  It will load the header of the main page and the rest of the screen attempts to load indefinitely but remains blank.

HELLO VIETNAM

i finally got to the end, the other amazing thing it does is time out constantly so you get to page 5 and upload all your supporting docs which have to all be less than 500kb, and once you finally do it, its timed you out and you restart the entire thing

as i say i got to the end anyway, and it seemed to work but i have no email confirmation and no idea if it actually went through or not, i cant see any pending applications on my account

this is hands down peak inefficiency from thailand, worst application process i have ever seen.  paper applications used to take me 10 minutes, this has been absolute hell.

i'd rather just get visa exempt and lose the extra 30 days in thailand than go back that web page so <deleted> it if it didn't go through

369KB and 110KB

It isn't rejected on size, otherwise they don't upload and you don't see thumbnails

It's not rejecting on the photos, It's on the dropdown which asks for 'Passport' as travel type.  

I tried Chrome and I get this error.  Then I tried Edge and in Edge the Upload buttons don't even display on the screen to upload my docs.  So it's impossible either way, for different reasons.

You'll be fine.  Get a tourist visa before you go and then a flight out to Vietnam inside 60 days.  It's a throwaway.  Extend visa in thailand and book a flight you'll actually use to Vietnam more around 90 days.  Then get another tourist visa in Saigon - I've got a few visas there and it's easy and NO QUEUE EVER.  Stay in Vietnam though for minimum 2 weeks coz it's good.  So that will cover you for 200 days.  One more trip to Nam and back after that will be fine as well.

So is being a digital nomad legal now?  I just read the reddit post on page 1 but I hate reddit.

But am I safe to tell that to the Suvarnabhumi immigration guys next time they quiz me on having 7 back to back tourist visas?

First time I've tried to do this and I've spent an hour on Step 3 of the online process and constantly get back the error message "Alert message!  Please specify your Travel Document!"

So I select Passport, which was already selected, and try again.  COMPUTER SAYS NO.

And every single time I try again, I have to reupload my passport scan and photo.

Do I just <deleted> the whole thing off and go to Vietnam instead?  I see no solution to this as paper applications aren't allowed.

I did it in Saigon last year as I mentioned with no problems and my passport was completely full of thai visas - only had about 5 blank pages left.  I'm not worried about the service there, I'm just wondering about this new requirement and whether I can get away without it, considering there are 2 separate pages on the site stating different things and it is not obvious which page is the more recent.

I don't want to book a hotel for 30 days.  

The place I usually stay is an apartment but it's generally Thai residents and the staff do not speak English.  There is no web site and no online booking and if I email them there is no chance they will understand or offer me some sort of booking receipt.  It is cash in hand on arrival.

I think I'll just go in on an exempt and extend.  They're making it unnecessarily difficult.

Imagine a tourist who wants to do 60 days and in the first 30 days plans to do 4 nights Bangkok. 4 nights pattaya, 2 nights back in Bangkok, 5 nights in Chiang Mai, 5 nights in Phuket, 5 nights in samui, 3 nights on pha ngan and 2 on ko Tao.  <deleted> THAT 

I did it last August and was easy but they have since added a new requirement on proof of accommodation for half of your stay (so at least 30 days of hotel bookings)

I'm not booking anything in advance as I never do and have do not have fixed plans to know exactly where I'll be.  Crazy that they expect someone on holiday to restrict themselves to this extent.  How difficult do they want to make visiting a country?

http://www.thaiembassy.org/hochiminh/en/services/7442/80804-For-Non-Vietnamese-passport-holder-%7C-D%C3%A0nh-cho-ng%C6%B0%E1%BB%9D.html

• Accomodation / Place of stay 
  **Copy of confirmed hotel reservation
  - Proof of accommodation to stay covering at least half of the trip with complete information.
  - Hotel reservation must start from the date of arrival into Thailand.
  - The name of the person (including family members with children or accompanying person names) applying for visa must appear on the hotel reservation.
  **For applicants staying with friends/family members with accommodation in Thailand, please provide the following documents:
  -  If the person you are staying with is a Thai Nationality, please provide a copy of his/her Thai Identity card and copy of Thai house registration
  -  If the person you are staying with is a foreigner living in Thailand, please provide a copy of passport, copy of Thai work permit, copy of accommodation ownership documents or rental agreement

Interestingly, on the Saigon embassy site, the old page is still there and accessible directly through a google search.  The old page does not have the accommodation requirement, so I'm wondering if i can get round it by telling them I never saw the new page.

http://www.thaiembassy.org/hochiminh/en/services/33685-Tourist-Visa.html

Has anyone managed to get a tourist visa here recently without providing accommodation evidence?

Thanks

I had a response from the passport office.  They will renew my passport - they just said include a booking receipt / print out for whatever hotel I happen to be in.  They're not fussed at all as they mentioned they post it back to the Immigration office anyway!

GOOD TIMES

Will email the UK passport office and ask them what they think.. thanks

I dont live here permanently but travelling long term (holiday).  

Does anyone have any experience renewing a passport while not in the UK?  

On the gov.uk site, there is a list of accepted identity documents.  I can give my current passport, but i need one other from the below.  Do these accepted documents relate to the country I'm in now e.g. a letter from government office in Thailand sent to my Thai address?  Looking through them, I can't see how anyone on holiday would have any of these things... Wonder if this service is only for expats.

Your British passport (if you are renewing) • Non-British uncancelled passport • National identity card or equivalent (or colour photocopy) • Visa or residence permit (or colour photocopy) • Tax record eg a letter from a tax authority • Educational record eg school report • Employment record eg official letter from your employer • Letter sent to you from a central, regional or local government department • Medical/health card • Voter’s card • Immigration documents

Been in Thailand for 5 months.

30 day on arrival + 30 extension.

Laos tourist visa + 30 day extension.

Vietnam tourist visa.  

Through Suvarnabhumi back from Vietnam, immigration had a long look at my passport, called me over, quizzed me and told me I've been here too long and that next time he needs to see a non-immigrant visa.

Should I be worried?  There's no way I can get a non-immigrant visa.  I'm guessing it just depends which counter you go to?  Or will there be something in their system now to say no more tourist visas?  Guessing not.

I think the doxy has killed it to be honest.  If i did a urine test now (the 20 minute one), they wouldnt find any bacteria / wbcs.  

I'm hoping I'm good now but if it comes back then yes I'll definitely get the culture.

Thanks for responses everyone.

Just about to finish my 7th day on doxycycline and my symptoms have cleared up - took a while though, i'd say from day 5 onwards have felt back to normal. 

I've been taking 2x100mg a day.  Should I stop now?  I'm wondering whether to keep going and do a 10 day course, or even longer?  The only thing is I've been having some side effects.  Do you think cutting back to 100mg a day for another 3 days would be worthwhile?  

Dose info on internet suggests 100mg is a standard maintenance dose...

ORAL:
Most Products:
-Initial dose: 200 mg orally on the first day, given in 2 divided doses (100 mg every 12 hours)
-Maintenance dose: 100 mg orally once a day OR 50 mg orally every 12 hours
---More severe infections (especially chronic urinary tract infections): 100 mg orally every 12 hours

Any issues with floods in isaan and this train route?

10 hours ago, jeab1980 said:

OP can i ask as you are a tourist entering on a mixture of tourist visa's and 30 day exempt.

Why havent you got a few days to spare to get a TV?

I've got the time if I absolutely have to but just being lazy.  Prefer to be here and tired of visa applications & queueing in Vientiane.  So I thought if I can fly in and out, yeah I'll only get 60 days but for the hassle of 2 days in Laos... or 4 if I do it over this weekend, it's worth losing 30 days just to not bother.

Ok thanks everyone.  Will make sure I have cash just in case.  Such a pointless rule though - 20k?  I could blow that in a night.

Do they have to see cash?  Bank statement or online banking screenshot not ok I'm guessing?

I've been here quite a lot that last few years.

I've got 3 tourist visas but only one from this year.  

Others are:

• October 2015 from Vientiane - used to enter Thailand same time (was a double entry - miss those days!!!)
• August 2016 from London Embassy - used to enter Thailand in September 2016

I also got an exempt & extension was in Thailand December 2016 and extended in Chiang Mai.

UK Passport.

Are they likely to ask me anything?  Require proof of anything?  I'll probably be flying in from Vietnam.  If they refuse entry, what am I meant to do?  

Arrived in March and got 30 day exemption and extended 30 days.  Then went to Laos got 60 day single entry, extended to 90 days.  So coming up to 5 months already.

Need to leave again soon but don't have a few days spare really to go for another tourist visa.  Would I be ok flying out and flying back maybe the next day?  I wouldn't fly back in same day.

Thanks.  The ultrasound I had showed no prostate issues.  All signs point to a UTI caused by bacteria.

The problem I'm having is getting anyone to pinpoint the bacteria and therefore, exactly which antibiotic i should be taking.  

First time I had UTI was last year back in UK and they did urine analysis which showed red blood, white blood, and bacteria.  But they don't ever tell you what bacteria it is.  They give a 'best guess' treatment, in the UK this is Augmentin.. this is when I was in A&E because it was bad.  They gave me Augmentin IV and then remainder as pills for 7 days.  He said it is effective in 90% of cases, so they always give it.  The augmentin made me feel a lot better pretty much as soon as I started the IV but clearly it never completely cleared my infection.

Next time UTI came back, I saw probably the best urologist in Chiang Mai (and probably one of the best in Thailand) and he gave me cephalexin.  Again, without actually testing the bacteria.  Only the same urine analysis on RBC, WBC etc.  So again, this was a 'best guess' treatment.  And again, it worked for a while.

And now today, hospital in Pattaya.  Same urine analysis... same results high WBC.  But no pinpointing of the cause/bacteria, and another best guess - doxycycline.

Sheryl - or anyone else - is it actually possible for them to do a more detailed urine culture to identify the specific bacteria?  No one ever seems to offer me this.  The urine tests I get done are pretty much immediate - get the results back in 20 minutes.  Is there a urine culture I can ask for where they let bacteria grow over a number of days, similar to throat swabs?  I think this is what I need at this point... if the doxycycline doesn't work.

Just had urine test done and a few WBC came back  (1-2).  Going to try doxycycline.  

Had a UTI last year with blood in urine.  Had ultrasound and cystoscopy to rule out anything serious.  

My symptoms keep coming back despite courses of antibiotics.  I hear it's common in men as difficult to kill off the bacteria completely.

My last successful treatment was taking a long course of cephalexin (about 12 days I think) which left me with no symptoms for 3 or 4 months.  However, the last 3 weeks I've had symptoms again (feeling like i need to urinate a lot, very mild discomfort in bladder area).  I tried cephalexin again but after a week it had made no difference so I stopped.  

I've had recent urine analysis and no bacteria or blood cells were detected.  So I'm in this difficult position again where I know I'm not ok but the tests are telling me I am.  

Does anyone know the best antibiotics to kill this off for good?  I've read rocephin can work but it has to be injected daily and I'm not sure on the length of treatment.  

And yes, before anyone tells me, I will discuss again with a urologist but this thread is just to help me learn more in advance.  

Thanks.