Saigon

Did you read part of my last message? 555 >> Yes, she did sound rude and arrogant to me at first but had a big smile on her face when she gave my passport back to me in the end! I could see how stressful it must of been to her, even though it was her job.

Yes, I've lived in Thailand on Non-B for years, but have spent most of my time in Vietnam for the last few years now, so I didn't even know why that IO felt suspicious of me. Yes, she did sound rude and arrogant to me at first but had a big smile on her face when she gave my passport back to me in the end! I could see how stressful it must of been to her, even though it was her job. I'm going back to Vietnam with my new passport anyway! PS I didn't even know that there would be some hotels that let you cancel your booking with a penalty even if you did at the last minute.

I wasn't even able to cancel it because it was too soon, but I booked the damn cheapest room I could find in BKK so No Wuckers! haha.. I have a few question now. Does the IO have the right to force me to book a room on the spot before they let me in? And does the IO have the right to deny me entry into Thailand if I refuse to book a room on the spot? I got really surprised when that IO asked me if I had booked my flight back home yet, though. The Immigration at Chong Mek was so busy when I got there in the Lao-Thai international bus that there was 1 officer ushering the passengers into each of the 3 immigration booths available at the time, so I wasn't even able to choose which one to proceed to. That IO did look MALE to me at first, but later on turned out to be FEMALE as I got closer to HER. PS Apparently all the Thai & Lao people had to give Tea Money to the IOs on the Lao side but I didn't. They might ask you for that if you should go through there at the weekend as overtime fee, so please beware! Good luck!

Hi all, This is exactly what happened to me at the Thai land crossing in Cheng Mek the other day, and that was a dialog I had to have with the IO (female). IO: What did you do when you last stayed in Thailand for a few months last year? Me: I travelled and saw my friends. IO: How long are you staying in Thailand this time? Me: 30 days. (I put '30 days' in the 'Length of stay' column in the immigration card before handing it over to her!) IO: What are you doing? Me: I'll have to renew my passport in Bangkok now. They say that the process will take about 3 weeks. IO: Do you have a flight ticket back to your home country from Thailand already? Me: No, I'm going back to Vietnam after I've got my new passport. IO: Do you have a flight ticket to Vietnam from Thailand already? Me: No, I'm going back there by land. (I know it'd be better to fly out with both the new & old passpors, though.) IO: Did you book a hotel room in Bangkok already? Me: No, not yet. IO: You must book a room in Bangkok and show me the booking confirmation right now! And I ended up having to book a room in Bangkok right on the spot. That wasn't a back-to-back border bounce at all and I last left Thailand almost a half year ago and was my 1st visit to the kingdom of the year. Please beware!

Thank you for your confusion, though I don't even know who 'somebody' is.

I've been back in VN now. I left Thailand 1.5 years ago after having lived in The Kingdom for more than a decade with a Non-B, and then went to Laos for a while, where I learned great news that the VN government had just extended the period of the visa-exemption entry into the country from 15 days to 45 days. FYI, you can enter VN on visa-exemption as often as you want, and the VN Immigration will never ever stop you like the Thai Immigration! This 45-day scheme seems to be good till 14 March, unfortunately, though. I was going to renew my passport here in VN, but I'd then have to go to Ha Noi (1,000km from here) or Sai Gon (600km from here) for that and that twice! So I decided to come back to Thailand to renew it in BKK, where I did renew my last passport several years ago. I do miss some Thai food! I'd actually like to come back here from Thailand by land, which will be a 2 night / 2 day trip, while it'll be a 1 night / 1 day trip if I fly to Sai Gon and cost you 3 times as much! 555 I'm going to fly out of Bangkok with both my passports after I've got my new passport to stay on the safe side. Cheers

I'll probably fly to VN but might to China. I'm just lucky to be allowed to enter both of those 2 countries on visa-exemption, which I'd take advantage of. Thank you.

Thanks very much for all your comments. I'd think it better, easier and safer to fly out with both my old and new passports. I'm coming back to Thailand by land via Chong Mek with my old passport and fly out of BKK or DMK with my new passport, and would you find any issues in that?

Thanks for your advice. However, I have no idea how to check if they could do the transfer for me at Chong Mek, so maybe I should go to the land crossing, and might get sent back to the Immigration Office to do the transfer, before going back to the land crossing again. Is that what you mean? I'm afraid that they would probably ask you for Tea Money for the transfer at the Immigration Office, I'm afraid. Would they charge you for the transfer if you left Thailand by air? Maybe 500B or 1,000B?

Thanks very much for the report on 'Chong Mek.' I've actually used this land crossing on the Thai side very often, where the Thai Immigration Officials will ask the Lao people for a lot of money as Tea Money! I'm not yet sure if I can go through there with both my new & old passports, though.

Thank you for all the comments. TBH, I'm a bit confused after reading them and the link by Tod. Apparently it'd be better to leave by air than by land to stay on the safe side. I'm not going to get a 30-day extension, and am going to use 'Chong Mek' in Ubon Ratchathani, a land crossing to Laos.

I just heard that it might be a bit of a hassle if you leave by land, though. I'm going to use the same land crossing when leaving as when entering, and would that make it a bit easier? Thank you

I nearlly forgot to tell you that I'm planning to leave Thailand by land, not by air.

Hi all, I did ask you the same question a few months ago, but at that time I was going to do this when I was staying at my Thai friend's but I started to wonder if it would be a better idea if I do it when I was staying in a hotel for just a few nights. In that case, will the hotel issue a TM30 to me before I can report to the Immigration Office for the transfer? Thank you in advance!

And maybe you'd stay in Vientiane for a night or two before coming back to Thailand to stay on the safe side.