Essecola

Aren't people allowed 2 entries by land per year at the moment? Or is it that people with "x" number of visas are going to start being rejected entry? This person had a valid SETV, funds in hand, and onward ticket. So refused entry for no hotel booking? Seems so strange. No offence for writing this but did the gf start being rude before things could be presented to the superviser?

26 minutes ago, chainarong said:

Just as soon as U get used to the traffic in Phnom Phen ,it's an interesting place

How is Phnom Penh for other folks anyway? Last time I was there I think I got asked if I want a tuk tuk a couple thousand times in the week I stayed. Including a guy asking me if I want a tuk tuk while I was eating dinner in a restaurant at the riverside area. That's all silly stuff anyway if compared to the event of a medical emergency. Anybody ever had the pleasure of having a surprise medical emergency in wonderful Phnom Penh? (..by the way "tuk tuk, sir?!" )

36 minutes ago, jamie2009 said:

There have stories on TV of people adopting a limp and carrying a walking stick to get through Immigration.

There is also a person who uses a wheelchair.

Maybe times like this would be when it is worth it to buy the fast track service

The embassy in Phnom Penh will see only the visas you have in the passport you give them. But when an immigration officer enters the information from that passport into the system when you enter Thailand, all of your past visit history, including from previous passports, will be visible to him/her.

1 hour ago, blorg said:

With respect, this is a really badly posed question. You are asking where the "best" locations are to apply for a tourist visa. You give no information whatsoever as to your likes or dislikes as to tourism. You say you want to do it after having been in Thailand, so one would initially presume you were asking "where is easy in the nearby region?"

 

And then when people tell you the usual suspects of the easiest consulates in the region (which is pretty much Vientiane, Penang, Savannahket as the top three, followed by Phnom Penh, Vietnam, etc) you go, oh, I've been to all those places, and I didn't like Vientiane (which right now is the easiest as Penang and Savannahket have started asking for bank and flights) much. Well, THAT is the "easiest" if your aim is the visa.

Hong Kong is also certainly easy, I got my last one there and no questions and no additional documents like flights or bank required.

 

Yangon is meant to be easy, and Myanmar is a fascinating country, but who knows if it would be for you? I have visited it several times and loved it from the point of view of a less-developed destination that has not had so many tourists, but would you like the place? Who knows?

But then in your response you are now considering Sydney, so there seems to be no particular limitation?

 

I mean what are we meant to say? Why not go to Japan, I've never been but that would be top of my list of somewhere I think would be really interesting that I personally haven't been to. But you give no details of what you like or what your priorities are, so...

I'd also consider India, if you have never been, it is an absolutely amazing country and there are several Thai consulates there. Or why not go trekking in Nepal in the Himalayas, I spent three months there doing that and it was amazing. I also recently cycled around Sri Lanka (a short flight from Bangkok on Cathay Pacific or several other airlines) and there is an embassy in Colombo. Tehran? I've spent three months in Iran and it was amazing, the people are the most hospitable in the world. Air Asia flies via KL. Istanbul has a consulate and is one of the most amazing cities in the world, and isn't any further than Sydney. China? Amazing country, and full of Thai consulates.

 

But you give absolutely no indication as to your likes or dislikes or preferences so what are we meant to say?

Thought Penang only wants to see ticket out and hotel or accommodation booking.. never heard Penang wants to see proof of funds

8 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

Do you mean the one quoted in this post. Lots of confusion in that topic because it got mixed up with Savannakhet's changes.

 

It was not in this post. In the post titled 'what happened to vientiane'. Post #26 of that thread.

A person in another thread said he was rejected for a tourist visa in Vientiane and had only 1 previous SETV in his passport from a Thai embassy not in Asia.

23 minutes ago, IMA_FARANG said:

All Thai consulates and embassies have a number of visas that set of alarm bells when someone  applies for a visa  and exceeds that limit.

That number is set locally by that consulate or embassy.

Now, with free visas being offered those Thai honorary  consulates are losing the fees that helped raise funds for their operation.

Therefore they are now getting stricter at issuing new 'free' visas.

 

For example if you have one SETV in the passport. A person with one SETV in their passport said they were rejected recently. So 1 could be the new limit? Seems weird.

You shouldn't have a problem extending it in Bangkok 10 days before expiry. 

What is going on with people being rejected for a SETV in Vientiane despite having just 1 or 2 previous ones from somewhere else in their passport and no warning or remark stamp? And are they being rejected when they request the SETV or at the time they come to pick up their passport?

The title of the post is new visas. The Elite visa is pretty good if u think about it. About $15000 for 5 years. So $3000 per year. An unmarried person or a person who can't get another type of long term stamp would probably spend close to or more than $15k total on visa trips over a 5 year period anyway (if they were here all that time). My last visa trip was a week and including hotels, flights, the fee to enter Laos, taxis, and everything else, was over $800. I do realize a lot of folks don't have an extra $15k in their account.

Some people aren't sure if they will be here 5 years. Would be nice if a 2 year visa was available that could just be paid for like the Elite visa as it would be in line with the theme that they just want more money. Maybe something like $7000 for 2 years would be fair. A few ppl I know can afford the Elite but they can't be sure what they are doing after 12-18 more months so they risk a lost value on the investment if they bought Elite then went somewhere else after a couple years. 

Just my thoughts I guess. I don't make the rules. 

1 hour ago, alocacoc said:

I just called 5 Star Visa Run in Pattaya. I got told, no problem to get another SETV as long there is no remark / warning the passport. In my case, 1 METV from Europe, 1 SETV from Vientiane and 1 SETV from Savannakhet.

 

However, it couldn't hurt to add a bank statement, even it's not required.

These other ppl that wrote info above never mentioned warning stamps being in the passports that were rejected. So unless info is missing, seems a little bit eyebrow raising to me.

1 hour ago, thaiman said:

I saw a guy get rejected last week for having just  one TV(issued in Europe) in his passport already.  He was handed an official rejection paper of some sort.

Really if this is true and people are getting rejected in Vientiane then something is seriously wrong. There must be missing info. One? Rejected for having ONE previous SETV? Vientiane used to be almost the easiest and best option to get a stamp. If true this is going to be awful for a lot of people.

10 hours ago, at15 said:

3 but none from vientiane 

I thought the consulate in Vientiane would only not issue an SETV if a person had up to 3 of them from that location (and perhaps including the warning/remark stamp). Could there be some information that's missing from this story? 

Poipet is NOT the place to do ur visa run. From experience...

Maybe cross Savannakhet off the list of places to go for a visa? Some people have been using tourist visas for years and have never once had to provide bank info, onward tickets, or anything else. Seems Savannakhet is now a place almost on par with KL and Singapore for abrasiveness at the embassy. One person said he saw a guy getting shouted at? Umm, no thanks.

2 hours ago, alocacoc said:

 

Actually Savannakhet was quite nice. Due a holiday I had to stay a day longer than planned. Now, on my current passport is 1 METV from my home country, 1 TV from Vientiane and 1 TV from Savannakhet. I don't know now where to go next time. But i still have 2 months time to decide and see what other runners will report.

Go to Penang bro! Use an agent, maybe some place in Chulia Street..(Jim's Place..)

1 minute ago, alocacoc said:

Would be an Flight Booking confirmation enough? There are enough travel agencies were issue such a confirmation with the option to cancel it within a specific period of time. I used that to apply a METV in my home country.

Refundable ticket?

Just now, alocacoc said:

 

http://www.easybook.com/en-my/bus/booking/thailand-to-kualalumpur

 

But, it seems too cheap. About 470 Baht. Departure from Hat Yay.

If you can prebook a flight from bkk to kl or penang it could save a world of discomfort being on that bus for so many hours. Cost is not very much more for the headaches avoided. Bus from KL to Penang once inside Malaysia is a lot easier than the long ride thru south thailand. Prebooked flights to KL from bkk can be 1200 baht or so if lucky.

1 minute ago, juice777 said:

Dose anyone know a website where I can book a bus ticket to Malaysia? Form Pattaya or Bangkok

That way I can try to get a visa there next time or just get 30 days at the border

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk
 

A bus ticket to Malaysia through south Thailand may be a neat idea now. There might be some option of bus then boat type of service considering this weeks floods. Worth a look for sure

1 hour ago, Upnotover said:

 

They could do but they don't need to.  When you depart on a new passport it is linked to the previous one.  All they do in the passport is record the details of your previous entry.

Yes of course immigration has all previous records in the system. I was thinking of it in terms of the next SETV the person applies for. Maybe they could see that updated entry and exit stamp carried over and think, gee, where did that visa come from before? I think they would be able to discern it came from an SETV from somewhere and isn't a transfer of info from a visa exempt entry. Or maybe it isn't worth worrying about, who knows. Maybe they wouldn't care.

For what time period are they asking to see bank information in Savannaket? Is it for the previous 2 months? Am assuming they are not asking all applicants for SETV in Vientiane for bank info but perhaps those who are asking for a 4th SETV from there? It seems people will get the warning stamp after the 3rd SETV from Vientiane or Penang triggering request for extra infos if applying at either place again.

I had wondered, for example, if you renew your passport in Bangkok and it has many tourist visa stamps in it, then maybe immigration, when the person departs, puts a note or remark in the new book that says this person had a lot of tourist visas in their previous book. Am sure the answer is probably not, but the feeling of uncertainty is still there. I mean they could put a remark if they felt like it isn't it...

If somebody from a G7 country has 3 Tourist visas in their passport already from Laos, is it still no hassle to get 1 or 2 more from the consulate in Penang or 1 more from Laos? They told me they prefer not to get a red stamp if they try for another one in Laos.