Lodestone

Does this VIP service get round the issue of showing an air ticket if you are receiving a 30 day VOA.

Yes, that seems to be the case. The bogus 200 baht bus tickets at the Ban Laem crossing were (is?) how it's done there. At Poipet it seems they've now just gone the simple direct old fashioned route of outright bribing some immigration guy to get around the air ticket requirement. Maybe it's all part of the new Samak government, same as how all the late night Sukhumvit sidewalk bars now openly serve beer again and how Foodland no longer has signs in the liquor aisle saying you can't buy booze after midnight and instead now freely lets you.

I just did a 7am Bangkok to Aranyaprathet/Poipet border run using Jackgolf and now JG's fee is a flat 2200 baht for everyone. The 'added value' for this 200 baht price hike is now everyone gets the 'VIP' service. This essentially boils down to no longer having to personally deal with immigration on either the Cambodia, and now, with VIP, the Thai side.

After getting off the JG bus, we alternately walked and were shuttled by car until we got to a spot in the shade by a building entrance and waited for 20 or 30 minutes. Meanwhile our passports, previously given to the JG staff, were taken, site unseen to us, somewhere off to immigration and collectively stamped out of Thailand. The passports were then all given back to us and as a group we trooped over to Thai immigration were hustled through the last aisle (6 - 'group tour') without having to flash the passport photo page or provide any other kind of confirming identification.

After entering the Cambodia side we again handed our passports over to a Jackgolf person to take care for us all of the Cambodia visa, entry and exit stamps -- just as before when I've crossed at the Ban Laem border. After a bit more waiting we got into some more cars to shuttle us to the Tropicana Hotel/Casino for the included buffet lunch, though I don't think it was much past 10:30am.

After lunch around noon we were again rounded up for entry back into Thailand. A JG guy again returned all our passports and I checked mine to find, in addition to that morning's Thailand exit stamp, two previously blank pages now used. One completely taken over by a Cambodia visa sticker and another more than half used with Cambodia entry and exit stamps, and, wait for it, a Thailand entry stamp. Yes, incredible to me at least, for the first time ever in too many years of traveling to Thailand I had just been granted entry into the country without even an obligatory face-to-face scrutiny -- and certainly no immigration counter photo. The only immigration contact we had at all was after we were led through the Thai immigration 'group tour' aisle again and flashed our passport photo page to a girl wearing a yellow polo shirt (rather than immigration uniform). I guess Jackgolf finally found the right person to pay off (hence the higher price). And certainly now in a more efficient manner than the bogus 200 baht bus tickets that have to be forked over for at the Ban Laem crossing.

Whenever possible, i.e. when I'm right there with the guy doing the stamping, I always politely request that he stamp on a particular page and location. That way I've been filling pages with 6 stamps each, and with some where there was still a little space left, I've squeezed in 8.

One thing that's important is both consistency in terms of what behavior you'll allow and following through with any disciplinary action, i.e. never back down. Get into a routine. For example, first for stuff they shouldn't have out: At the beginning of class, after attendance has been taken (if that's done), walk down every row of desks telling the students to put away their mobile phones, MP3 players, comic books, toys, school work for other classes, etc. This is the one fair warning which they all get at the beginning. Maybe a couple minutes later a last warning for any stragglers. After that and throughout the rest of the class period, you catch any student with any of the above objects out, you calmly walk over and put your hand out until he (or she) gives it to you. Never back down on this and never try to grab the item or wrestle it from the student. Just stick out your hand until he places it in it. Let the whole class come to a halt as everyone turns to watch the drama. Collect all the confiscated objects on your front table/desk. If they're particularly valuable, you might want to put them in your pocket or book bag for safe keeping. Depending on how far you want to take it, either return the items at the end of class or make the students come to the teacher's room at the end of the day to reclaim them.

Second, for disruptive behavior, e.g. fighting with other students, repeatedly getting out of their desks to visit their friends, banging on their desks or making other loud noises, general acts of disrespect towards you beyond the paragraph above, and so on, call them to the front of the class and make them stand before it (in front but off to the side so they don't get in the way of your teaching). Get their student ID, roster number, or name, and write it on the board as part of a 'naughty list.' Make clear that those that get on the list are subject to losing points from their grade. Keep them standing there until they've had enough and display some indication of contrition. Five minutes or so often seems enough, except in those cases where they continue to laugh and joke with their friends as they stand there. Those stay standing longer until they get the message. Some variations to consider (which I haven't had to try) is have them face the wall instead of the class, or for repeat offenders, instead of standing have them get on their knees and be in a wai the whole time. And certainly for future classes have them sit in the front and away from their friends which will lessen to a degree the incentive for more bad behavior.

Oh, yeah. Reward the good students with stickers. Or candy.

Here's one way to do a visa run for those wishing to minimize travel time and time spent in Laos.

Check here first to be sure your intended travel dates don't fall on a Thai or Lao holiday when the embassy will be closed. Note also that normal office hours for visa application submission are from 8:30am to 12 noon, and passport pickup times are from 1pm to 4pm.

Purchase a round trip ticket on NokAir: Outbound Flight DD9200, departing Bangkok (Don Mueang) at 6am, and arriving in Udon Thani at 7am. Next day return Flight DD9217, departing Udon Thani at 6:10pm, and arriving back in Bangkok (Don Mueang) at 7:10pm.

Print out a visa application form from here, fill it out, leaving the 'guarantor' answers blank, and glue two visa sized photos to the appropriate spots.

Make a photocopy of the photo page of your passport. This will be submitted along with the form.

Exchange enough baht to get at least 35USD to pay for your visa-on-arrival into Laos. Lao immigration will also accept baht but at a few hundred baht premium.

Choose where you want to stay in Vientiane. Here's a list of mostly low end accomodations. If you decide to go the guesthouse route have at least three or four alternate choices, since GHs typically have few rooms and with the current high popularity Vientiane seems to be enjoying among the backpacker set, you may not get your first choice. Your alternates should ideally be a short walking distance from each other.

At Udon Thani airport, just as you enter the arrivals hall from your flight, you will see a bit to your left a counter against the far wall with a large sign offering various choices for taxi and limousine service. Among these is a 150 baht minibus ride to the Friendship Bridge that connects Nong Kai, Thailand to Vientiane, Laos across the Mekong River. After purchasing a ticket for this you'll be quickly escorted outside to a seat on the minibus that's been waiting for your flight. Save the ticket.

The bus ride is about an hour and arrives in Nong Kai at the Thai immigration checkpoint at the bridge. After getting stamped out of Thailand, cross over to the covered area and buy a 15 baht bus ticket for the 5 minute ride across the bridge.

Arriving on the Laos side, get a Lao visa application form from one of the first two windows at the near end of the immigration building (you should see a visa sign above one the windows). Fill out this form and submit it back along with your passport, $35, and one visa photo. After a few minutes or longer they'll pass your passport back to you.

Walk around the right side of the building to immigration check-in for your entry stamp. After this there's another booth that'll want an additional 10 baht entry fee -- and they will provide you a rather elaborate receipt for it.

Now in Laos you'll be swarmed by various drivers offering rides to the Thai Embassy. The most you should pay for a solo ride in a nice van or car is 300 baht and some will readily agree to 200. Ideally if you can round up a couple others going your way, you should each pay no more than 100 baht for the half hour shared ride.

At the embassy you'll find a line of 50 or more people already there waiting outside to submit their applications. They'll be snaking out from a roofed but open air area to have their passports and all documents checked. After they've collected this from you, you'll be directed to go back to the main building across the grass and wait inside to pay your visa fee. When your name is called, pay 1000 baht for a single entry tourist visa or 2000 baht for a double entry. For another 1000 baht triple entries are also available, however the visa will still have only a three month expiration, so you won't be able to get maximum use out of it. Save the receipt they give you for when you pickup up your passport the next day.

Your driver from before will still be waiting for you. So after finishing business, have him drop you off at your first hotel/guesthouse choice. If it turns out they're fully booked, simply hike around to your other choices which should have been chosen to be nearby.

Whether you want to pay for your room, food, Internet, etc. in US dollars, Thai baht, or Lao kip is, as they say, up to you. However, most costs will be initially quoted in kip so you may get a somewhat better deal that way. The most convenient way to get kip is at the various ATM machines scattered around town. There are also a couple official currency exchange places but they close at 5:30pm.

The next day around 12:30pm grab a tuk tuk or just walk -- it's only about 20 or 30 minutes from the riverside -- back to the Thai embassy. Get in another long line again as before. When it's your turn hand over the receipt slip given you when you paid your visa fee the day before and get back your passport with your brand new Thai visa. Carefully check it all over to make sure it's what you were expecting.

Back outside you'll be swarmed again by drivers offering you a ride back to the Friendship Bridge. Chances are you'll see your same driver from yesterday. Again, same deal. No more than 300 baht for a solo ride, and if you can get a couple of others to go along, no more than 100 baht a piece.

At the bridge, get stamped out of Laos and ride the same 15 baht bus to the other side and get stamped in to Thailand. The same minibus that brought you from Udon Thani airport may be there waiting or they may not. If they're there, hop aboard and you're home free. If not call them up on the number printed on the ticket saved from yesterday and see what kind of schedule and/or arrangements they can make. Otherwise you can try paying for a taxi to the airport or see how to connect to the local buses. All in all, though, with a 6:10pm departure time for your flight, you should have no problem getting to the airport in time.

Lao immigration...get a visa application form, fill it out, give them your passport, the form, a photo and the visa fee (depended on nationality, 35 USD for most W. Europeans and US citizens)

Do they accept Thai baht or only US dollars?

Lodestone,

They accept both, but you generally save a few baht if you use US dollars. My last trip over was in June and I wrote about my experience here. However, I can't tell you if anything changed in the last 6 months.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?sh...p;#entry1376715

You should check out the Royal Thai Embassy website for additional info:

http://www.thaiembassy.org/vientiane/consu...ervices_en.html

I can also confirm they have transportation at the airport, never used it but saw a sign on the wall advertising 150bt to Vientiane.

Good luck & have a good trip.

Thanks for the info! Do you have any cheap (1 or 2 star, well under 1000 baht/night) hotel or guest house recommendations, preferably near the Thai embassy?

Lao immigration...get a visa application form, fill it out, give them your passport, the form, a photo and the visa fee (depended on nationality, 35 USD for most W. Europeans and US citizens)

Do they accept Thai baht or only US dollars?

FYI i'm going to Vientiane by bus from bangers tomorrow; i'll post how it goes. i'll probably spend a week or so in Laos so if i don't post right away it doesn't (necessarily) mean i've been kidnapped.

bus ticket is 900 baht one way straight to Vientiane. last time i went to Vientiane i took the train and tuk-tuk'd to the border crossing.

If time is of essence, don't bother going to Udon Thani bus station. There are mini busses that leave straight from the airport to the friendship bridge, only 150 baht, one hour. You can buy a ticket for this bus at the airport, just after you have entered the arrival hall (after getting your lugguage). Don't worry the desk where they sell this ticket has a big sign. The bus leaves when it is full, and they of course run just after a plane has arrived. (maybe they wait about 10 minutes, but that's all).

The mini bus will bring you straight to the bridge, where you need to get stamped out. There is a bus that will bring you over the bridge toward Lao immigration, 15 baht, takes about 3 minutes. Go to the immigration desk, get a visa application form, fill it out, give them your passport, the form, a photo and the visa fee (depended on nationality, 35 USD for most W. Europeans and US citizens), you will receive your passport back together with the arrival/departure card, fill this in and enter the country. You might have to pay a 20 baht arrival fee, after you have been stamped into the country.

Now there is a desk to your left, where you can order a tuk tuk, shared taxi or a normal taxi. Get the normal taxi and state the embassy as your destination, 250 baht about 30 minutes.

Easy..

So far I've planned a flight arriving at 7am at Udon Thani airport. Were I to step off that plane with what I currently know, I'd be almost entirely lost. I've read about there being buses going to the Friendship Bridge but I think I'll need a little more to go on, namely what bus specifically: is it a local numbered bus, a private kind of tour bus, a sort of airport express bus, or what? And more importantly, how do I get to it once off the plane? Is there a stop at the arrivals terminal or do I have to go somewhere else or off the airport grounds entirely? Also, it'd be helpful to know its cost, schedule, and travel time to the bridge.

Once I get off this bus at the bridge, I'm again in unknown territory, so I'll need some more help, please . My goal is to reach the Thai embassy in Vientiane in time to submit a tourist visa application before noon. I think I read something about tuk-tuks, taxis, songthaews, or maybe some other type of conveyances, but which one? I'd like to get to the embassy reasonably quickly but I think I've allowed enough time that I don't need to pay an exorbitant fee to get there. And do I exit Thailand/enter Laos right after I'm off the bus from the airport, i.e. do I walk to the border crossing, or is it the purpose of the second set of transports to get me there?

Once at the border and across, I take it I should expect another group of taxis, motorcys, etc. there to greet me. Here again, what do I do ? I'd like to go straight from this point to the embassy, drop off my passport and application, and then continue to a nearby one or two star accomodation for the night. How long is the trip from the border to the embassy? Should I be able to make it by noon? Would it make more sense to hire a motorcy or taxi for this leg, or are the songthaews (or equivalent) frequent and prevelent enough to just hop on one of those. Also, any hotel recommendations?

For the trip back, after a 1pm pickup of my passport at the embassy, can I just retrace my reroute, essentially? The flight back out of Udon Thani leaves at 6:10pm. Does it look like I'll have enough time to reach it?

Oh, and some visa questions: Is the latest word still that Vientiane is 'friendly' toward tourist visa apps? And is my application day of Wednesday one of the 'good' days? I read somewhere never to apply on Mondays (I think), that whoever is manning the window that day often rejects applicants. I won't have bank statements or other financial proof of support, will that pose a problem? Finally, I'm hoping for a double entry tourist visa, as I read they were still available in Vientiane. Still the case? I'll even pay for a triple if those are on offer. Any reports of that?

Hope I've covered everything. Sorry for all the questions, but I'm a bit constrained on the time I have for this.

you are not interested in teaching or your students.

Please quote any post of mine where I've expressed a single negative view towards teaching or students.

The poster Simon43 has correctly identified a problem here that is all too prevalent.

I would say certainly you at least have illustrated a phenomenon all too prevalent in online forums, namely speaking out of one's ass.

And is there any interest on your part in following the TEFL course which will provide you with the best training for teaching your future pupils? Or it it just a case of the quickest, easiest and to hel_l with the quality of my teaching?

Are you saying ICAL -- the only low cost course provider mentioned here -- offers a poor quality course?

Tell you what, as it's Christmas, I'll do you a favour! I've just launched my own online TEFL course. It only costs $50 and you don't actually have to do any studying at all!! Just send me the payment and I'll generate a very flash certificate on my computer and email it to you. This online TEFL certificate proudly states 'Accepted by everyone throughout the world, especially all Thai schools and MOE' - Will that do for you??

Walk it through a successful WP process and I'll even pay double!

You're comparing apples to oranges, but that's okay. I am not sure that Text&Talk's claim to exclusive acceptance is accurate. If you want a four week in-house course, another sponsor of ours is SEE, based in Chiang Mai. If you want something more like a correspondence or online course, ICAL should do the job.

Again, sorry for the repetition , but I'm interested solely in the cheapest, easiest way of acquiring a TEFL that the MoE will accept for purposes of granting a WP. As such I wish to only compare similar ('apple-like') attributes of T&T and ICAL, i.e. price and acceptability by MoE. Given that, it's not quite clear to me by your "ICAL should do the job" that you mean you can confirm the MoE will accept a TEFL cert. from them, or just that they offer what you feel is a legit online course.

I'm interested in getting a TEFL certificate solely for a work permit and thus want to spend as little as possible as long as I end up with a valid and acceptable cert. According to the Text-And-Talk Academy's site, only their TEFL is accepted by the Thai Ministry of Education and for that privilege a new applicant must pay 585 GBP (about US$1160). Whereas ICAL (a sponsor of ThaiVisa.com) offers an online course for only US$265 and claims its ICAL Certificates have been accepted all over the world. Obviously I'd prefer to go the cheaper ICAL route but at the same time don't want to end up having effectively thrown that smaller amount away if the cert. is refused when applying for a WP. Anyone know what the actual WP situation is in this regard? Thanks.

Why do so many people feel it necessary to have an agent take care of your visa?

I have used the NJ book shop several times for my multi non-B. Never had any problem. Why use the agent?

It didn't sound like fun wasting time taking a taxi to the embassy and messing around with any paperwork and bureaucrats there, then taxiing back to the hotel and repeating the whole thing 2 days later. Instead I ate some great food, toured around the island, went shopping and spent alot of time sampling the local beers. Lovely 2 day holiday and then back to Thailand.

The real question would be why bother messing around yourself at the embassy when you can use a reasonably priced visa agent and save yourself the hassle.

I can only speak for Penang tourist visas, but I've never used an agent. What I've always done instead is get there on the 10am arrival Air Asia flight, flag down a street taxi outside the airport and take a 30 ringgit trip first to the Thai consulate (about a 25 minute drive) to submit my application (while the driver waits) and then on to a Chulia Street hotel. When he drops me off, I'll offer the driver the same deal, which he invariably enthusiastically agrees to, for a next day afternoon hotel pickup with a stop again at the consulate to pick up my passport before continuing to drop me off at the airport for my evening AirAsia flight back. In my experience doing it this way has seemed pretty efficient with minimal hassle. I'm not sure how including an agent in the process, again speaking only for tourist visas and before the latest 'crackdown', helps matters and might mean I have to spend an extra day in Penang, which I'd prefer not to.

Need to start planning an end of year tourist visa run. Windows on Savannasakhet and Penang seem to be near shutting, if not now entirely closed for those with multiple previous TRs, so from reports it looks like Vientiane is (today's!) best bet for a single (or hopefully double) entry tourist visa. How might I get there from Bangkok in a reasonably efficient and economical manner? Ideally, if by road I'd like to leave in the early, mid, or late evening with a morning arrival in time for visa app. submission, followed by a next day pickup and departure back to Bangkok in the afternoon or early evening. If by air, also ideally a low cost carrier with an early morning Bangkok departure and mid morning Vientiane arrival in time to reach the consulate, and a similar next day afternoon/evening return flight to Bangkok -- analogous to Air Asia's convenient Bangkok-Penang runs. I also have no idea what the Vientiane airport taxi situation is to the consulate and hotels (hopefully not unusually larcenous).

Anyway, I've not made this trip before and would appreciate any tips, especially in the context of and compared to a Penang run which is now all too familar to me. Thanks!

Edit: Oh and I'd also be interested in any all inclusive JackGolf like visa run services to Vientiane and the latest on having to show to the Thai consulate a bank statement with a 45K baht (or whatever) balance.

Anyone know a Bangkok branch of Siam Commercial Bank that'll let you open a savings account without a work permit? I know there was a thread somewhere a while back mentioning some success with them along with the advice to just keep trying different branches until you find one that'll do it. Well, I've been turned down by five straight so far -- three in the Nana-Sukhumvit area, one near Victory Monument, and one more in MBK -- because I didn't have the WP. And yes I was dressed 'appropriately', etc. and spoke politely. I do need the account to be at Siam Commercial, though; another bank won't do, unfortunately.

I need to do a border run and would like to take care of it on a couple of day's off I have coming up -- this Friday and the following Wednesday. Unfortunately, it seems JackGolf and the other visa run companies don't operate on those days (or only go to Poipet which requires an outbound air ticket which I don't feel like springing for). So I was wondering how easy would it be to make a run on public (or some other) transport from Bangkok to Ban Laem, what the cost would be, and any other details I need to be aware of? I'd also be willing to reconsider Poipet if anyone knows a still fairly reliable way around the ticket requirement, e.g. buying online from AirAsia the day before and canceling the day after (if that still works).

Check your settings to see if you have own number sending selected on. Sometimes selecting this function to off will prevent you making a call.

Thanks! It turned out to be something very similar to that.

Under 'Settings -> Call settings -> Line for outgoing calls' somehow Line 2 had gotten selected and I was unable to call out. Apparently having a Line 2 for outgoing calls has to be first specially activated with AIS (maybe at an extra cost) and I'd not done this. As soon as I switched it back to Line 1 I was able to call out again. Hmmm, I don't remember switching to Line 2 before and don't know how I could have inadvertently done this. Guess I'll have to switch the automatic keyguard back on to keep the keys from being pushed when the phone is in my pocket. Thanks again.

About two weeks ago I bought an AIS SIM card at MBK and have been using it to call other mobile phones and land lines without a problem. Just today I tried to call a number and all I got is the typical three tone your-number-cannot-be-connected sound that everyone's heard at some point, though without any voice message to go with it. This happens whether I dial mobile or land line numbers.

I'm still able to receive calls exactly as before and the phone seems to otherwise perform completely normally. I've also not dropped it nor done anything else that could have damaged it. The battery also has plenty of charge and the SIM has an available balance of 142 baht on it. I've tried switching the phone off and on but that made no difference. I've not yet removed and reinserted the SIM card but have considered doing so. But more so I'm thinking at this point that maybe everything is actually OK physically and instead there's some kind of registration or other code I need to enter to fully activate it -- that I had a two week grace period to do and this has run out. I simply bought the card with cash and never filled out any form or did anything to set it up. The guy I purchased it from put it in my phone and got it working for me.

Any ideas what's going on? Do I need to make a trip back to MBK and hopefully find the guy and have him service my phone, or even go to a Nokia service center, or instead get in touch with AIS?

Try working in one of the better public EP programs or one of the awful religious private schools for awhile

Any suggestions on which are the better public EP programs or among the less awful religious private schools in Bangkok? Thanks.

Looking to teach in Bangkok.

I live in Bangkok now, currently on a tourist visa.

I'm an American with a bachelors degree in physics from a U.S. university and have the original diploma with me. I have done some volunteer level class instruction and tutoring in English in the U.S. but have no paid experience nor a TEFL or any other kind of teaching certificate. I feel I'm able to connect well in communicating and explaining unfamiliar concepts. Most of my professional background is in computer programming so I'd also be open to teaching that, if there's a demand, along with high school level math and physics. I'd also be just as happy teaching English by itself if that's where the need is.

My preference would be to begin as soon as practicable and would very much like to avoid having to first achieve any additional certification if at all possible. What are my chances if I wished to teach at a quality, reputable school such as Wattana Wittaya Academy? If to start off with I'd have to settle for a smaller, private or public school which would be good ones to teach for? Thanks.