Saigon

I would have proceeded to her kiosk for sure to see what would happen if that female officer had been on duty then! I actually am on my way to my local Isaan friend's for Songkran now.

Hi All, I flew to Sai Gon (or Ho Chi Minh City) about 3 weeks ago after spending 5 weeks in Thailand renewing my passport in BKK, and just came back to Thailand for Songkran via Chong Mek today. I got to passport Control only to find that there was only 1 out of 3 kiosks available, which was attended by a male officer in his 50's. I handed over my new passport to him, and not a single word was exchanged between us, let alone a single stupid question like 'Have you booked a flight back to your home country from Bangkok?' 555 Was I just unlucky to be asked so many questions and be forced to book a hotel room and show her the booking confirmation on the spot by that female officer at Chong Mek a few months ago? 555 Have a great Songkran, Everyone!

When I went back to Thailand by land via Chong Mek last month after spending more than 4 months in Vietnam, a female officer first asked me if I had booked a flight ticket back to my 'home country' from Thailand yet and I answered no to the question, adding that I'd go back to Vietnam again by land, and that officer asked me if I had booked a room to stay in Thailand yet but I answered no to that question, either and then that officer told me to book a room and show her the booking confirmation on the spot! I wouldn't think that kind of thing would happen to everybody, but maybe you should get ready for that because anything could happend at some of the Thai land crossings recently. Good luck!

Oh, that's a Visa-Free TRANSIT, isn't it? I meant that the OZ passport holders were allowed a 30-day visa-exempt entry to China, NOT a 240-hour visa-free transit. https://www.visaforchina.cn/DEL3_EN/tongzhigonggao/327343163872251904.html

As for staying in VN for a long time, there would be 2 options, I'd say. 1. Get a 90-day e-Visa. 2. Get a 45-day visa-exempt entry and do a border run to get another 45 days on visa-exemption (if you're allowed this kind of visa-exempt entry). I flew to Sai Gon from Bangkok last week to get another 45 days. I didn't even get asked any STUPID questions by the officer like 'Do you have a ticket to fly back to your home country?' or 'Do you have a booking comfirmation of your hotel room?' as in Thailand! The Thai Immigration will always change their mind and can't even stick at one thing! That's exactly what T.I.T. is all about! 567 Nationals who are allowed a visa-exempt entry to China do include OZ passport holders but don't include US or UK passport ones, for example. History does matter, I'd say, though.

I really wonder if Thailand would decide to reduce the period of visa-free stays in the kingdom from 60 days to 30 days after this news from Vietnam! I do doubt that. 555 https://vietnamnews.vn/politics-laws/1693484/viet-nam-to-waive-visas-for-citizens-from-12-countries-until-2028.html#:~:text=These countries include Germany%2C France,Sweden%2C Norway%2C and Finland.&text=HÀ NỘI — The Vietnamese Government,expire on March 15%2C 2025.

I went through Passport Control at DMK just before midnight, when it wasn't busy.

Hi All, After getting my new passport in Bangkok, I successfully got the Thai entry stamp to be transferred from the old passport to the new passport when I flew out of DMK the other day. I first joined one of the queues up to the Immigration kiosks, handed over both my passports to the officer and then I was asked to move to another kiosk, where another officer did the stamp transfer for me. The process didn't even take me 1min. FYI, I was still able to get 45 days to stay in Vietnam on visa- exemption. Hope that helps.

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.

First of all, sorry to hear that the Israeli passport holders are not allowed to enter Muslim countries like Malaysia. When I visited Indonesia years ago, I did meet 2 Israelis there: one with a US passport and the other with a French passport. One of the best bets would be for you to fly either from Surat Thani or Chumphon to Vientiane via DMK. As of right now, it'll cost you around 3,000B one way. The cheaper way would be to fly to Udon Thani via DMK (around 1,600B one way) and then enter Laos by land. Good luck!

I'm not sure about it yet. Maybe..