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Patrick Barranis

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  1. Thanks. We had a good trip. I can confirm what you said though they also required photos. Since we didn't have them, we politely asked, repeatedly, for an alternative and they let us pay a "fee" instead, eventually. Vientiane was beautiful. It's a shame that the Lao Kip is doing so poorly, but with the great exchange rate we had a good trip, tipped generously, and still spent very very little. Highly recommended.
  2. We went to the Bangkok IO to extend our STV, and found out there is, in fact, a list of required documents that does not seem to be available online. I have attached it here. Note that the 4th bullet on the right says "Proof of Thai health and accident insurance..." When we got our STV we opted not to go with the suggested Thai insurance companies since their premiums were quite high for the minimal coverage. We used another carrier who was already setup to provide the special Thai insurance certificate with 3 signatures (they had even automated it, so it was produced automatically with the rest of all the official paperwork). The Embassy in the US that issued the visa was happy to accept it. However, the officer at the IO said we had to have insurance from a company in Thailand. We politely pushed back and said surely this was a mistake - we bought a $1M USD policy with exceptionally good coverage (and we spent less than we would have paid a Thai company for far worse insurance). I suspect the officer was misunderstanding the use of "Proof of Thai ... insurance" to mean that it must be from a Thai company, but, alas, there's nothing we could do. Has anyone else had this experience? Also, near the bottom there's a bit that's cut off that seems to say the last day to extend an STV is September 30th. I've read this elsewhere and believe it's likely true. Just FYI for anyone this affects.
  3. This is staggeringly unhelpful. From where we are in Sathorn, Bangkok, the Chaeng Wattana office is about a 105 minute trip up the MRT and dark red SRT line, each way. (Sadly we're less than 1km from the old, closed IO). From where we'll stay later in Koh Tao, the Koh Samui IO is an all-day odyssey by fast ferry. As I understand it, STV visas can only be extended at the main IO in your district, not any of the smaller offices. That means there are only 6 in the entire country, so it's going to be quite a trip for many if not most.
  4. The Laos eVisa website says it can be used by citizens of Thailand and USA, among many others. But as far as I can tell, both can just obtain a visa on arrival. Is that right? If so, you'd think the eVisa site would mention that... Also, can anyone confirm that they've been able to travel to Laos since the border opened, without problems? We're looking to enter by rail at Vientiane. TIA!
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