Kammie

3 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

Thanks for report. 

To be clear (which it was) you did not use border run company.

 

Here is another thread for border run from Pattaya. 

May be of use to some folk

https://aseannow.com/topic/1312731-border-run-pattaya-to-cambodia/

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.

4 hours ago, freedomnow said:

Which visa are/were you on to come back U-turn ?

 

 

 

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.

10 minutes ago, Sticky Rice Balls said:

been coming to LOS since 2008  always ONE way tix and NO visa......I get my free 30 day STAMP not a visa, at BKK...fly to CNX and extend that at immig for an other 30=60 days

 

allowed 2 LAND border runs a year....take bus from CNX to mae sai -Burma...stamp out and walk across small bridge into Burma...pay 10usd or 500 bt ...get STAMP from Burma..walk back into Thailand and again get first of the 2 allowed 30 day stamps.....go back to CNX and extend again--repeat for 2nd burma run and extend totaling 6 months..after that go home-back to work...

 

few times went to Laos but is a haul and i hate buying a laos visa just so can get a thai visa and come back.....long a$$ bus ride too...and have to stay over a night and fight crowds at consulate 300+ in crazy heat.....easier and quicker to do trip to Burma and the 2x is enough for me....

 

*suppose ill wait to get scolded for never having a visa and always buying a one way tix*

 

been doing it this way for 15 years and come her yearly   6 months here--6 months home/work

 

people were much nicer up there and got alot of stares....maybe cos of my hansum-ness   ????

 

burma immig was nice as was THAI--the ladies actually laughed with me..shocker!   555

 

did notice 1st time seeing a burmese army guy under the bridge with an assault rifle..yikes

 

side note im part of G7 which allows me this visa exempt*

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.

23 hours ago, bamboozled said:

I just filled one out yesterday walking back in from Tachilek.

Thanks that's great news, wanted to open a thread if the Mae sai border was open for border runs. 500 baht and leave your passport still?

Yes Mike you are right, thx for clarifying. Visa on arrival for Laos and exempt for Thailand in my case.

7 hours ago, blazes said:

One more question:  this means you did not come in Visa Exempt, right?

Dutch passport, so visa on arrival for both countries in my case.

7 hours ago, blazes said:

Interesting account.   Question: when you say the minivan "was waiting for me", does this mean you booked it in advance?

Also, what do you estimate the Ubon-Chong Mek drive to be normally, when no floods?

Thanks.

No didn't book anything, just got lucky as in normally the minibuses wait to get full before driving off. 

Normally should take 1,5 hour for the 90km trip.

I thought I'd give an first hand update:

Just did the Laos border run at Chong Mek, most relaxed border run ever! I don't know if I came at the right time (15:00) or what but literally everything went smoothly, didn't have to wait anywhere. Got off the plane at Ubon (12:00), free shuttle bus waiting to the bus terminal. At the bus terminal a minivan (100 baht) was waiting for me to get on and leave immediately. 2 hour drive because a road was flooded and we took a detour.

I just forgot to get USD somewhere so had to pay 2000 baht instead of the $40 for the visa on arrival, but that's totally on me. Filled out 2 forms at the newly built immigration building on the Laos side, went through immigration and turned around straight away. Got my 45 days and I'm off to the airport back to DMK. The whole border formalities took less than 45 minutes. 

5 hours ago, phills2k1 said:

It just hit me that THIS is the point of border runs hah

 

So in reality, you can obtain your first visa exempt entry, then get your extension, leave the country and start the process all over again? So as long as you're leaving the country, you can keep on obtaining the visa exempt entry extension in perpetuity?

Perpetual? No. Now we are talking 'grey' area and to the interpretation of said immigration officer. Of course it's not meant to be used like you say, the visa system, hence the many different types of visa. I just don't and can't handle the BS the embassy throws at me every time I went in so I stopped after a few visits and got in the 'on arrival' business.

In my experience after 12 years coming and going, I got held up once at immigration for 2 hours and had to explain why I was in Thailand for 6 months the previous year. Naturally my wise a#@ answer 'I love Thailand' wasn't enough, and their response was that I was living in Thailand. Long story short I had to buy a ticket out right then and there before the 30 days of my visa ran out. Which I did and didn't use. I would say there is a difference between immigration at the airports (hard) and getting extensions at the offices (easy). But I'm by no means an expert on the subject so take it as you will.

On 10/13/2022 at 3:04 PM, ubonjoe said:

You can only apply for one 30 day extension of a visa exempt entry. It has been that for many years.

In 2020 there were some special 30 day extensions due to coivid 19.

The Mae Sai crossing is closed to foreigners like all other crossings to Myanmar. The nearest crossing open is to Laos.

Thanks for the answer. I would have bet I did 2 extensions before leaving the country prior to 2018 but not sure as I had to renew my passport in 2018 so can't remember or check.

So looks like I'm heading to Laos or Malaysia as those countries offer visa on arrival for me and get ready to spar with immigration upon return to the Kingdom.

Thx again guys for clarifying.

This seems to be changed since the last time I was in the Kingdom (2020). Used to extend twice at immigration before needing to exit the country or do a border run at Mae Sai (still an option?).

So am I understanding it correctly that it's now only one extension at immigration?

Dutch passport, thx in advance.

And the real sad part is that it's accepted and expected from Thailand to rip off even their own population, meanwhile the whole world is vaccinating it's ppl from free. 

Could have been one of those 8000 but one to many hoops to jump through. 

How is it on the ground in Phuket now? Everyone scared of each other afraid to catch the virus and be sent to hospital? Or business as usual with zero %^&* given? Masks everywhere, including outside? Such a strange phenomenon. 

Great news, let's hope the word gets out to the embassies asap!

5 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

That could be false info since the embassy had not gotten any info about the sandbox yet since it was not approved by the cabinet until yesterday.

Just looked at their website and it has no info about it.

 

Still a little worried since I saw a list where it says the Netherlands is in the high risk countries group. 

I called the Thai embassy in The Hague yesterday, they said the Phuket sandbox is not for people from the Netherlands!? WTH!

Guess I'll lift along on this thread; Just heard from the Thai embassy in the Hague that the Phuket sandbox is NOT applicable to the Netherlands ???? 

Maybe check out my recent thread on a similar topic. At Mae Sai it most likely won't be a problem at all. BUT on your next entry through Suvarnabhumi or Don muang you most likely will get pulled aside like me. 

https://forum.thaivisa.com/topic/1137727-extension-after-warning-at-bkk-immigration/