james24

Is there any substance in Chiang Mai I can buy that will remove dirty handprints from a wall? The walls are pink and light grey.

As far as I can remember although Im no diy expert, sugar soap was good for removing marks like this, can anyone offer some advice..?

Id love to know too but its so hard to find this now as soy is a cheap alternative

Well I got the double but it wasn't easy. At the application window she interrogated me for about 10 minutes, asking me all types of q's like how i got my non-imm o's, what im doing here etc. She then made me write it all down on the photocpoy of my passport. At that point Id kinda given up but handed it in anyway.

Next day picked it up with visa however she had gone through every stamp in my passport and given them a tick which Im guessing means she checked everyone to make sure none were fake.

I guess she's only doing her job but she aint half a stern faced wotsit

The only official text about this I have seen is this announcement handed out by the Thai consulate in Vientiane, posted by a member in September 2011:

Based on members' reports, this consulate does not seem to be consistently implementing a hard and fast rule. Some got a red warning stamp with fewer previous tourist visas than others with more visas who got no red stamp. In other words, it is unpredictable.

Right ok, guess its take my chances time.

Im gonna walk it tommorow as I never get to walk anywhere in Chiang Mai. My mate has given me some sketchy directions based on his last visit there, have they changed address recently at all?

Yes, people do get these stamps. It only aplies to tourist visas, and is meant to deter people form living in Thailand on tourist visas. With a non-immirgant visa there is no issue.

Also the stamp means that the consulate in Vientianne will not issue, it doesn't mean that other consulates will not issue. But in neighbouring countries getting back to back tourist visas is getting difficult.

Well tommorow will be my 3rd double tourist visa, does that automatically give me a red stamp.. if so there is no point in going

Try the orange smoothy. It is very good and (I think) real orange juice.

Ill give it a go. To elaborate my mate actually ordered a fresh pineapple juice but was given a bog standard apple concentrate, that really is the only complaint, the rest of it was pretty good.

Dumpling stew pretty decent although dumplings on one night were very very salty. Really like it there and the beer is not too expensive. The only thing is their fruit juices. 50bt for a glass of concentrate straight out the carton, bit of a ripoff I think.

The burgers look good too

In a previous post someone mentioned that Laos give out red stamps, has anyone here received one and was it really as early as just over 3 visa's?

Also are they only given out regarding over use of tourist visa's or all visa's?

you can find accomodation in vientiane for as little as 100 - 150 baht but it's not easy to find a decent one.

also with the return bus , what i have done before is when you arrive at the bus station in udon thani early in the morning buy a return ticket for chiang mai , the buses leave udon at 8 pm ish and the vip one is usually full so buying a ticket in advance is good idea, you want the one with less seats on it i think nakaporn or something is the company.

if you don't buy a return ticket and just turn up at the bus station you want to get there many hours before, you don't want to end upon the second class bus back.

you can buy a ticket for the next day as long as you can get to the embassy before noon,

from udon bus station you can get a cheap slow bus to nong khai then a tuk tuk to the border - problem is that slow bus may mean you wont make the embassy that same morning ?

last time i did it there was several of us doing visa runs and we chipped in and hired a guy with a pick up so only cost 100 baht each.

other choice is you can get the vientiene express from the udon city center bus station but you have to get your laos visa before you go.

cheers, gpnna try and collar some other visa runners and see if we can all chip in

Arriving tommorow, gonna go for the double, Ill keep you posted but this red stamp thing is a bit of a worry, do they do it often?

They are giving out doubles I just got one last week but be warned 4+ stamps might get rejected and if you have 2+ (even 1) they will put a nice little red stamp across the top of the visa saying this person has used too many tourist visas to stay in Thailand. You can use on of those visa run services for 5000baht(food/lodging/Lao visa/Transportation/paperwork) 1 entry or 6000 baht 2 entry. Its a lot of sitting in a van over three days but easy and a well oiled machine.

Ahhh right ok, I havent actually got any stamps, well 14 day visa run stamps but I do have 4 four previous visa's as mentioned in the first post.

I really really hope I get one, may I ask how many visa's you had...?

Thanks guys

Gonna head down the bus station later and see what I can find. As for staying in a temple that does sound like a laugh, Ill check it out when I get there

nok air have a promo at the moment chiang mai to Udon Thani. 1100 each-way. From there it is one hour bus to the border or two to Vientiane. 12 hour bus journey to Udon makes no appeal!

Thanks man

Im really trying to save money at the moment and dont really mind the buses too much, is it possible to get one from the bus station in town? And does anyone know if I can book the bus on the way back in Laos?

Actually can anyone recommend a cheapy cheap guesthouse aswell? Thanks guys

Believe we will know when/if there is a change - each entry is 1,000 baht - and believe they are indeed checking passports for previous visas.

mmm well i got two tourist x2 previous but didnt use both entries on both. Plus I have 1 non-imm b and two non imm o's from Hull.

I know its hard to guess but with only 4 previous visa's do you think I might be ok? And if they refuse a double will they at least give me a single?

Gonna try and get a tourist visa in Laos next, does anyone know if they are free again? If not whats the current price of doubles...?

Man I so hope they arent going on tight at the moment...

Got to go and sort out my visa next week, just wondering about recent reports regarding the journey. Are the buses running ok, and if anyone can recommend a particular bus company to go with that would be ace.

Also as far as I know the bus doesnt go to the border, is that right..?

I understand its farmed not caught, does anyone know if its atlantic or pacific? Or even better the breed (if thats the right word) aswell

I have just looked at the website for Birmingham Consulate - it has very little infomation there, but does say that you still need to provide supporting documentation to get an "o" visa. There is no info on what is actually required. James, do you know anyone that has obtained a visa from Birmingham, without being married or doing voluteer work etc.

I know as much as you mate, there was one guy on here who said he got one no problem but youll have to search for it

sorry dude

Nice so the multi non imm o doesnt seem to hard?

Would I be right in thinking that my gf not wife could do all the paperwork for me? It seems only 2 documents are needed and they seem quite easy....

look into Birmingham

The only extension would be a 7 day under review unless valid reasons such as wife/child were shown.

Bummer. The ED visa does look like best option but its bloody expensive.

Should I perhaps just go for a double at Laos first then if that fails go for the ED? Im sure Ill at least get a single at Laos...? By the way do they still give doubles??

The problem with eating the green coconut (mao pao ong?) lies in trying to open it up when you buy a bunch of them for home. Too lazy to do it. It would certainly be nice if there's a store or street vendor whom you pass everyday. Are there instruments designed for this purpose beside a cleaver?

Most street vendors have them. Ice cold. They'll chop it for you too! 15-25 bt from most

Ok thanks guys.

Well flying back to the Uk and visiting Hull isnt something I really want to do at the moment. How about another double from Laos, are they still issuing them? If not Laos how is Cambodia fixed for them?

Hve I just got too many?

They are "old" and used to make curries.

The "cooked" ones have had the husk burned off, personally I don't care for the flavor of these.

The standard 'green' coconut is the best for drinking and may or may not have enough meat inside to eat, these will usually yield between 200-500ml...... open and drink, they go off within 30mins,.

Consider consuming at least one everyday while you stay in Banana-Land'

Cheers

But I think they maybe the cooked ones then as the brown ones from the hawkers do look like they have had the husk burnt off.

The old ones are hairt right, to be honest Ive never seen hairy coconuts here except my own :-) (sorry bad joke)

Are the brown hard coconuts (from the 10-20bt fruit street stalls on the side of the road) old coconuts?

Someone told me that they weren't the old ones, they were just cooked????