Currumbin

HCMC is great. I have secured visas here around 4-5 times. Drop off documents and passport in the morning and pick up next day. They will give you a time when you lodge the documents. Read the advice on the website and follow without exception. USD$40 is the fee. Take the right money. Make it simple and everything will go smoothly. Turn up without any of the documents required and they will not accept your application. You can walk to the Consular General's Office from Ben Thanh Market. Return taxi fare including waiting around USD$3.00. Single entry is simple. Multiple Entry requires a lot more documents. Once again, read the website.

7 hours ago, NanLaew said:

The pinned "Latest reports of getting a visa in the region:" is getting a bit dated.

 

Anyone with recent experience of getting a single-entry Non-B in Singapore or Kuala Lumpur or Ho Chi Minh City?

 

The paperwork isn't an issue, just seeking the one with the friendliest disposition as well as avoiding any busy ones. I think HCMC will be cheaper when it comes to accommodation while waiting and Singapore the most expensive.

 

Thanks!

NL

I have never applied for anything else than a SETV and METV but I can tell you that the embassy staff in Saigon are the most efficient I have experienced anywhere over the last 20 years or so. Saigon is a great place, cheap and easy to get around. Stay in District 1 and you can walk to the Consular General or take a cab for around $4 return. Submit your documents in the morning and pick up you passport the following afternoon. I just flew over and back with Thai for 5,500 baht return. Just so easy. As I said on a previous post, just inform yourself what you need and go prepared. Singapore and KL are such a drag and expensive.

23 minutes ago, connda said:

I think the more important question is: "Why do you care so much what other people do, no less care about how they choose to dress?"  or "Why are so many Westerners obsessed with these puritanical values regarding dress?"  
And I don't want to hear that it's Thai culture values.  Up until the 1940s standard Thai dress was shirtless for men and women.  My wife's mother went shirtless up into the 1960 until the government put their foot down regarding a dress code that was forced on the populace in the 1940s.  And I routinely see Thai men without shirts on both in the city and in rural areas.  The general public really don't care.  So it's not Thai culture; it's Western puritanicalism.  

Around a beach area in the tropics -- seriously?    "But they're not on the beach!"  But they are in a beach town and to me, that's close enough.  Have you every been to a resort town in Mexico?  This is what people on vacation do.  Take their shirts off and let their hair down.  
The folks who consistently get bent out of shape about this really need to find a  hobby other than getting outraged about other folks choice of dress while they are on vacation or out simply having a relaxing time.
Like the the shirtless vacationers - it's best to chill.  

When I first came to Thailand in 1979 and into the 1980"s it was an offence for a male to appear in public without a shirt. Most of the thai men pulled their t shirts up to just below their chest if they wanted to cool down. On one occasion my friend and I were riding motorcycles. He decided to take his shirt off. I warned him but he said bs. It was not long until the police pulled him over and ordered him to put his t shirt back on. I will never forget the look on his face.

On ‎3‎/‎10‎/‎2017 at 12:44 PM, Pilotman said:

Why do so many Farangs walk and ride about shirtless off the beach areas?  Okay, if you  are lucky enough to look like Adonis on a good day then maybe you have some justification and pride in your own body ( although I would save it for the beach and pool)  but the ones I  inevitably see are old, fat and  look ridiculous. I saw one in  SCG yesterday and  another two in Tesco the day before.  I could hear the Thais talking about them and  their appearance in the most derogatory terms.  I just dont get it. 

Isn't it always the ones that owe a duty to the general public to remain completely clothed at all times.

3 hours ago, LazySlipper said:

 

Lawyers always do give hope... only reason they stay in business...

Hope and a bill.

I prefer logic. When I set out on a trip up to Isaan or elsewhere I put my money under the lambs wool seat cover on the passenger seat. I keep around 70-120 baht in my pocket. If I am stopped for some BS offence I tell them that I do not have the 400 baht fine but show them the notes and point to the baht coins in the ash tray. They are never happy but take what is on offer. Just one way of keeping my overheads down.

On ‎21‎/‎09‎/‎2017 at 11:08 AM, alocmrlj said:

stopped/checked probably over 500 times. Police very polite in most cases. Ticketed 2 times, always got a receipt. Never asked for urine check. Police checkpoints are much more often in North(Chinag Rai area) for obvious reasons. 

I have never been asked for a urine test over the 7 years I have been driving to and from Isaan. I must have been through a thousand checkpoints. I always have the window down and my Thai license to show. They just waive me through. Once I got pulled over for speeding. My Thai girlfriend acted as interpreter. She started laughing as the officer was writing the ticket and gave me a hug. When I asked what was so funny she said that the officer decided to give me a 50% discount because I was so handsome. A pleasant outcome.

Did it yesterday. The Thai Consular-General is walking distance from District 1. If you have Google Maps it is around 20 minute walk each way. Take the good advice of OP and take a VinaSun taxi. All other taxis have meters that spin at the speed of light and at the end you have to argue, fight or pay triple or more of the fare. I went by taxi to pick up my passport yesterday  as it was raining. The driver waited for me outside and the return trip was around $4. Opening hours are 8.30-11.30am and 1.30-3pm. Take Application form which you can download and print or they have copies there that you can fill out and lodge. Take US$40. They do not accept any other currency. Be smart and take the right money. One passport photo. Tickets showing entry and exit from Thailand. Copy of bank book or statement showing you have 20,000 baht or more to sustain yourself during the initial 60 days of the visa.

You leave your passport there overnight and collect it the following afternoon. The staff are super friendly and frightfully efficient. They all speak English. A very easy process compared to other countries.

The key is to take everything required. That makes it so easy. The day I lodged my application there was an American girl arguing that she did not want to purchase an outbound ticket from Thailand until after she completed a diving course. She also did not want to purchase and inbound ticket until the Visa Application was approved. She knew the rules but wanted to be excused from them. She held up the line for around 30 minutes and got absolutely no where.