rahil627

this is lottery. i personally think it depends on the immigration officer. some say, can do one month in advance, some say come around one week before expiration. I've had both experiences. i will check what they say tomorrow. but i wonder, is it now possible to do a Malaysia run? maybe save some baht? (i still have to calculate train cost... and passport space? lol)

passport, photo, letter, form (you should be able to get at the embassy) but, as i said, i have no clue how to get a letter at the moment, because it seems only e-visa is possible for tourist visa. my research agrees with everything cowboy bebop said. i decided it's not even worth taking a trip to khon kaen to check. i personally trust the e-visa over an embassy/consulate. i just have to suck it up, settle for 30 days e-visa, or find a job--which is probably a bad time.

thanks so much for the clarifications! and yeah, e-visa sounds like the way to go, no matter the path chosen. i don't have much US$ in cash anyway.

at the Bangkok embassy, they said to contact these places to get a letter... but those e-mails don't reply. The e-mails are of the official e-visa site, so i imagine they're very very busy, lol. I haven't tried calling yet..

i didn't read this entire thread, but i find it interesting, as an expat normally living in Taiwan, but got stuck in Thailand during covid. the way i see it is: there's two groups of people: there's a group of people that just want to F off, as in, retire, just want to live in a cheap place, likely with little to no desire to cooperate toward making a better civilization. SE Asia (except Vietnam) fits this well, but so do many less developed places around the world. You will live like any other villager there, and maybe their governments will allow it, or maybe not. (in Thailand, these are often retired Englanders, Russians with mafia money, or people from some other sun-less cold places: many on these very forums) then there's a group of people that actually want to live with the culture, maybe even love the culture, cooperate, do some good deeds, create organizations, or add value in some way. East Asia fits this well, but so do most places in the world, developed or not. Who doesn't want this sort of person in their group? Thai culture is nothing like Taiwanese-Chinese culture (much closer to one of Taiwan's indigenous tribes though), and i imagine Vietnamese culture is also nothing like Thai culture. I'll know soon once i go, but even just judging from my past Vietnamese friends 'n co-workers, especially in programming companies, they're beasts (i mean that in a good way!). With ant-like organization and productivity, it's just a matter of time for them to rise up. History was not kind, but they can probably be near self-sufficient. Tourism is good income, but they've got enough skills 'n work ethic to live without them, or at least the rotten ones. it sucks i can't get a long-term visa, but how can one blame them for actually cleaning up the travel agency visa black market?? the covid pandemic added a ton of new long-term expats on top of a ton of past long-term expats... i think post-covid (endemic) is the perfect time to clean up the bad ones, all of them: new and old... i just hope the bureaucratic replacement isn't worse than corrupt immigration 'n agencies... it sucks for the good-hearted long-term expats there being kicked out; I hope they'll find some way to hang on (fake marriage?)! this sounds like the moment expats cease to exist. you must now choose to be categorized as either a tourist or a migrant worker or something special. most developed countries are like this, so, def can't be mad at that. assimilate or get out. it sounds more like sincere progress than xenophobia to me. all i know is i could never live in Thailand again! ahhhhhhh. i need organization!!

no visa-on-arrival, which is different from visa-exempt. UK have a 15-day visa-exempt scheme, along with about 10 other EU nations. if you want 30 days, just apply for an e-visa, which is 30 days max at the moment: https://evisa.xuatnhapcanh.gov.vn/trang-chu-ttdt . UK is one of the 80 countries with this option. by January, they may or may not bring back the longer visas.

from a few sources on youtube, these forums, and even a few travelers that came to Thailand (i'm currently at a guest-house), it seems it's not needed... i also thought i read somewhere that you had to be either fully vaccinated or have insurance... i think on the US gov's travel site, but it sounds like all health restrictions are gone now, from several sources. I think even the US gov web-site can't keep up with changes going on in every country (still very good though!). before that, i even tried nomad insurance.. but the travel insurance people are so busy that they can only handle emergency customers! (there's probably so many governments and health institutions around the world scamming people because of covid... ugh.)

whoa, thanks so much for the detailed posts! brought out much clarity ???? i'd personally guess it's a problem of management of programmers.. Institutions are the worst, hiring contract programmers to build their terrible thoughtless designs. (a programmer's point of view ???? )

upon a bit more research... youtube videos(!), not outdated web-sites... i've kinda come to the conclusion to just avoid the agents. it's just visa-exempt for certain countries (UK, ASEAN...), 30-day e-visa (US...), and i believe the 90-day visa is for business visa only (not tourist), and that it's more strict now (need a legit business sponsor, not a bullshoot agent). it generally sounds like the Vietnam gov used the pandemic as an opportunity to purge people who aren't paying them money (taxes) out (illegal English teachers 'n tutors amongst the many), and hopefully purge the agents out as well(??). i dunno.. it's either very slow progress or chaos... hard to tell. an e-visa run is possible, but it sounds like a pain, especially for every 30-days. you'd have to apply for another e-visa a week or so before expiration (the e-visa site sucks), and plan a visa run: the land borders to Cambodia and Laos do not sound fun nor cheap as it creates two opportunities for corruption (entry and re-entry) and you'd need to somehow get US$ in cash; an international flight might just be cheaper, more secure, and more convenient. so, the long-stay dream just has to wait until they announce something. i'll wait 'til the 15th. otherwise, i'd prolly just look for a contract job online. it sucks, but gotta accept it! i'm a little afraid 30-days might not be enough time to get a motorcycle, find a cozy spot in Vietnam to make a home, and find some work... there's just too much to explore! i truly wonder if the visa at the Thai embassy is legit, even just the 30-day one! a proper visa (not e-visa) used to be extendable for $10 at an immigration office! that's by far the best option... i'd go if i had one of those asap!! i mean, is it considered "visa-on-arrival" if you get it at an embassy, before arrival? lol

i'm worried about this too... i'm not sure where i read it... somewhere on US's travel gov site..?

oh okay, thanks for the info! then i won't bother. i just thought the world agreed upon some sort of international document, like an international driving permit. yeah, that's true, i still have the paper certificate from the vaccination center too... cool, i won't stress it then.

the e-visa site (https://laoevisa.gov.la) shows this pop-up. US$50 for US citizens, there's a fee calculator by country on the site.

i just want to ensure another country accepts it, so i'm trying to get whichever thing is "international"...

some missed details: it's free (i imagine it's normally free..?) 1st or 4th jab, it doesn't matter (it was my 1st) i took an ordinary southbound train early afternoon on a Tuesday (iirc), perfect journey there. However, i had to wait a long time for the next northbound train. It was quite full, with people standing up(!), so i think it was the first post-work-time train (there's a bunch at around 4-6pm, but nothing before) zero lines/queues for me. Waiting post-shot was the only time i had to wait. as someone said, there's really no instructions, and you just have to sorta follow the colored tape lines on the floor, and search the queue entrances for your vaccine brand. For the most part it's organized by the process (register form, info staff with a light, shot, waiting & record) but it's def understandable if you don't know where to go. I was able to intuit just fine.

oh wait, the yellow "vaccine passport" is different... yeah, i was asked the choice of "certificate" or "passport" at my local hospital, but i chose passport... <deleted>? should i go back and ask for an "international certificate"? or do they give you both?

i just want to confirm kingkenny's experience as of two days ago: i walked-in with just a passport, in-n-out very quickly, waiting area was at 3/4 capacity. Choice of Phizer, Moderna, and one other (i don't remember). i took a train from Ayutthaya (a nice ride full of rice paddies), got out the station, and just straight up walked toward the giant building (i honestly did not see a proper way to walk there...). The entrance is on the rear-side of that massive building. I didn't see any signs in English to inform this, but i think there's a covid info desk at train station itself. i was actually shocked by the experience because it was so fast. No one has ever gave me a shot without questions or some warm-up in my life like that! Register form (extremely simple) -> choose shot / show record -> instant shot -> wait 30 minutes. It's most run by younger competent medical kids that speak English (hurray for the next generation). But remember to ask for a vaccine certificate at one of the kiosks. then, back in Ayutthaya, at the general hospital, there's a room to submit the vaccine certificate to get a vaccine passport. 50 baht (and they copy the papers for you). It takes a week because an actual doctor has to sign it. This is the bottle-neck of the process. the only problem is that i couldn't see that it was indeed Phizer, because, iirc, the shots are pre-loaded? I dunno. It was too fast. as a person who has been in Thailand since covid started, i'd say just take the train trip. Hospitals in many non-tourist provinces are either: first-come-first-serve, not for foreigners, out-of-supply, reservation-only, and often only have Chinese vaccines or AstraZeneca at best. I've been unfortunate dwelling in less popular provinces, and i'm not the sort of person to research Facebook groups to figure out which place is giving out appointments if you download their terrible smart-phone app that doesn't work. So, if you're a walk-in kinda person, take the trip! thanks for sharing your experience kingkenny, and to whoever started this thread! i totally forgot about this place. I imagine hospitals in Thailand don't even have the technology to store Phizer shots. xD

hmmmmmmmm... so, i checked about visas a bit more... it seems although the Vietnam embassy in Thailand (and maybe consulate too) offers a 30-day and 90-day visa, i can't find a travel agent web-site that'll give an approval letter for picking one up at the embassy. The process seems to be similar to the process to get a visa-on-arrival at airport, but there's a tiny difference, and you must tell them to specifically pick up at embassy. im trying: visa-vietnam.org - only offers e-visa at $60 (which you can officially get for $25..?) vietnam-visa.com - the folks here are pretty direct about the inner-workings of this mess... they say border runs are still possible (both: Laos and Cambodia), and can maybe even give you a "sponsor letter" to get a business visa (shhhh...) but the They didn't mention how much. - but they also said "You should be aware that you can not a visa from the Vietnamese embassy in Bangkok because visa on arrival has been inactive recently." And i actually feel like they are right! official e-visa site (just fyi): https://evisa.xuatnhapcanh.gov.vn/ - terrible name for an official gov site... i've never been to Vietnam, but yeah, it already feels like the sort of country to have this kind of travel agent bullcrap culture. ???? i also read a proper visa (not e-visa) is extendable... just have to deal with the right agents to procure one. ???? i guess ill keep trying for now.. i'll keep that in mind thecyclist. thanks!, but $200 is a bit much for me for just 30-days... if anyone knows some decent online vietnam visa agencies, i'll ask them all! ????

so, from my understanding: motorcycle: nope. customs is amongst the worst. only with tour company for a short period. flight: yay, but make sure you sort the visa beforehand. (I met a person recently who couldn't even do a lay-over because they didn't have "a letter"; they re-routed ???? what is wrong with the world!!) bus: "international buses" from Bangkok or DIY via standard public transport several routes?: pakse, savannakhet, vientaine, luang prabang(?), etc. tha kaek is delayed. The northern routes are rough, undeveloped roads? So for a smooth sail, maybe Savannakhet to central Vietnam? i just looked at the US travel.state.gov web-site and it still shows a level 2 advisory: Areas of Savannakhet, Xieng Khouang, Saravane, Khammouane, Sekong, Champassak, Houaphan, Attapeu, Luang Prabang, and Vientiane provinces, as well as along Route 7 (from Route 13 to the Vietnam border), Route 9 (Savannakhet to the Vietnam border), and Route 20 (Pakse to Saravane) due to unexploded bombs. ???? (they would know) this is awful. i feel awful. it's 2022! irreversible damage. also: level 2 alert (take caution) for bandits along the Myanmar border, and level 3 alert (reconsider) for Xaisomboun province. conclusion?: and so, with that, i feel maybe that the Air Asia flight ain't so bad... especially since i just want to skip straight to Vietnam anyway, and Vietnam at the moment virtually has no restrictions... Now to just find a proper visa with 90-days (not e-visa)!

i might try it out this week.. it'll be a long train from Ayyuthaya, but i love trains. ???? about 3km from the train station, close to the general hospital the hunt for a proper Vietnam visa is on! i'll update if i do.

so, from my understanding: motorcycle: nope. customs is amongst the worst. only with tour company for a short period. flight: yay, but make sure you sort the visa beforehand bus: several routes: pakse, savannakhet, vientaine, luang prabang(?), etc. The northern routes are rough, undeveloped roads? So for a smooth sail, maybe Savannakhet?

these "international" buses... they only leave from Bangkok, yeah? they don't stop anywhere along the way, do they? just straight to Savannakhet, Pakse, etc.? Or could you actually get on one from Khon Kaen? sounds like a sweet option to get straight into Laos, and avoid the 'bus station is located 20km away from everything but here's a taxi' problem.

i just stumbled upon it in Google Maps, and judging by it's appearance on street view it looks legit: a giant villa-like building, just like the consulates in Laos!

just thinking out loud here... Vietnam Embassy in Vientaine, Laos: there's an excellent review by a French person on Google Maps from 2019 that says the following: $56 - two days (normal) $66 - next day $81 - same day another review from 4 years ago said: $80 for the 90-day visa cash only, USD or Kip? and it generally has good reviews ...unfortunately there are no reviews about the "consulate" of Vietnam in Khon Kaen. sooooo, land route it is!? ???? i had no clue about this train to the border. incredible! for some reason i thought it dead-ended in the middle of isaan / northeast Thailand somewhere. i'll likely ride my motorcycle to Khon Kaen, call it my final destination in Thailand, sell it there?, and then escape through Vientaine. yay! trains! ❤️ i'm so much happier now after that miserably muggy day in bangkok, lmao

okie dokie. sorry about that!

from Thailand to Vietnam, via Vientiane ????