Kammie

Exactly, went on my own. There are many companies in Pattaya that do this for around 3k. Cambodia inter tour & travel are a reliable one.

I just thought I would share my experience doing a border run to Cambodia. By far the smoothest run ever! Even though it was crazy busy (or maybe because of it) everything went smoothly and quickly. Farangs have separate lines which was quickly done coming and going. Not one question asked. Probably because of songkran, it was packed on both sides. Only thing was that they charged me 1500 baht for the visa on arrival instead of the usual 1300 baht, reason given: Thai baht has gone down. Last time I did it at ban pakkad, which left me wondering if they would even let me through. Got a lot of questions and looks. "Who told you about this border?" "What are you doing in Cambodia?" "What are you doing in Thailand?" "How long you staying in Cambodia?" So yeah ban laem for me from now on.

Tourist I guess, but I'm exempt so I get 30 days when I enter Thailand from Europe and a 30 day extension each time after that, either at immigration office or a border run like today. Both of which can be done 2 times per year.

Just arrived at the Laos border at Chiang khong. It's even easier than Chong Mek which I did last year! 1800 baht instead of 2000 baht, didn't even have to go in to Laos, they just give me visa on arrival and exit stamp at the same counter. No pictures or forms to fill out. Although an American in front of me did have to do everything: fill out the 2 forms give a picture and walk across to Laos. I'm Dutch btw.

Yes story of my life also for the last 15 years (visa exemption), until today: foreigners not allowed in Myanmar.

Guess you guys are the main source for the hottest and latest news flashes. Should have checked here first instead of waiting till the last day of my visa. Did it so many times that I guess I got complaisant. Tachileik is indeed still closed for anyone other than Thai people. No word on when it will reopen, the immigration officer just said their boss says it's closed. So now I'm racing to Chiang khong hoping to get there in time from Chiang Rai.