calbts2

No you have to exchange into the local currency Kyat. Best deal for cash is to use any of the money changers all over town. Airport exchange rates are a ripoff. Also many ATMs now but I did not use them so dont know if they charge fees like Thailand does.

It is possible to do via Kanchanaburi but it is a long arduous journey. First it takes maybe 6 hours to Dawei from the border on a dusty crappy road. Then a long 11-12 hour bus ride to Yangon. you can also fly from Dawei. Problem is there are not many buses scheduled - I think only one a day but I could be wrong. And the flights from Dawei to Yangon are very expensive. There is also a train but it takes forever.  If you want to break up the journey I do recommend Dawei and the amazing deserted clean beaches on the Peninsula. Now is the time to explore this area as I predict it will be ruined by development in 10-15 years.

Went to Yangon in July.
You need $40 ( 2 crisp new 20 dollar bills will do) and show flight reservations in and out of Thailand. Pretty straightforward. One day turnaround. I am going back in January for another SETV.

57 minutes ago, Ronuk said:

It's a concern for immigration for citizens entering a country they are departing too. Much the same for Thai citizens departing Thailand for another country even with a visa.

Try as a foreigner departing London for the US. They get the same grilling visa or not.

Are you referring to an airline making sure a passenger has a visa for their destination country or an immigration officer? I have never known or seen any Thai citizen getting any questioning about being allowed to leave Thailand at the airport or a land border by a Thai immigration official whatsoever. Likewise, I have never been questioned by a US Immigration officer when leaving the US. It is a very different situation that I saw at the Manila airport. Foreigners breezed through while the Filipino citizens were all waiting in long lines and some being taken aside for intrusive questioning.

I got one in April.

US Passport and here is what they wanted:

1. Application

2. 1450 Phil. Pesos

3. Air tickets into and out of Thailand

4. My recent bank statement (I used one of my US accounts with over $10,000 in it - I do not know if they require a certain minimum amount but obviously the more the better.)

Go in the morning and I think I got it back 2 business days later in afternoon.

Not a very crowded embassy - maybe 15 applicants when I was there and about all were Filipinos.

For tourist visas - Filipinos have to fill out an additional information sheet and I suspect it will be harder for them to get a tourist visa than a foreigner.

And yeah - unlike most countries on the planet - I got the impression at the airport that Philippines Immigration is more concerned with grilling and harassing their own departing citizens rather than concentrating on foreigners. I breezed right through while my Filipino girlfriend had to wait in a long line and got the 3rd degree.  One step below North Korea - completely asinine, treating supposedly free adults like children needing permission from their own government to leave their own country, not to mention the ridiculous travel tax they impose on them. Hopefully their new President will change that.

Yes I got one no problem in July. Just need to fill out the application, have flight ticket confirmations into and out of Thailand, and 2 brand new US $20 bills.

Turnaround next afternoon. Much less crowded than Vientiane. I like this embassy and Myanmar so much I am going back in January to get another. Nok Air and Air Asia have great deals to Yangon often.

21 hours ago, ukrules said:

I wish these guys would make their mind up once and for all. I suspect this is coming from the Myanmar side due to the additional visa requirement.

 

They are looking like a joke at this place. It's unreliable. Who makes these decisions and what's changed ?

Well with my recent experience coming through the Myanmar Immigration Border Post at that border - I would expect so.

Joe I understand but our issues were not with the Thai Immigration - they were with the Myanmar Immigration Officers.

My girlfriend entered in Yangon by air without a Visa as she gets 14 days Visa free in Myanmar. The Officers initially were saying that she could not leave by land at Htee Kee - she needed to leave the country by air from Yangon. We did not know that this was a requirement and still do not know if it actually is. Or maybe they were initially not allowing her to leave at that border in case she got turned back using visa-exempt to enter Thailand.

Only when we showed them our Thailand SETVs and they called the higher ups and then let us pass through.

I was just through there coming back from Dawei, Myanmar yesterday. Last van back to Kanchanaburi station from border is 2pm. Ride is about 90 minutes. Also of note, we were very lucky to hitch a ride on the back of a pickup from the Myanmar immigration post to the Thai border post which is about a 5-6 km distance. After the Myanmar Immigration building - there is about 1km of dirt road until you get to the actual border where the Thai police have an outpost and the road is then nicely paved. Then it is downhill about 3-4 km to the actual Thai Immigration check-in. You can actually try and walk down this way but I would not want to walk the other way up towards Myanmar.

Me (US Passport) and my girlfriend(Asean citizen) both had new SETVs from Yangon and thus Myanmar Immigration let us pass through this border on to Thailand. I do not think they would have let us through this border if we were trying for Visa Exempt entry into Thailand. My girlfriend actually entered into Myanmar without a Visa(She did not need one) and they almost stranded us because they were saying she had to leave the country via Yangon by air. Then they called the big boss on the phone and because we had Thailand SETVs - we were good to go.

We had no issues or questioning whatsoever with the Thai Immigration upon entry. Probably cause we had our SETVs.

I can tell you in 2 weeks. I am heading there soon.

I got a 60 day SETV in Manila in April. US passport with 2 previous Tourist Visas from Laos, an ED Visa, and Marriage Extensions. My first time in Manila.

The four key documents aside from the application form and money are

1. Air Ticket into Thailand

2. Air Ticket out of Thailand within your 60 day stay

3. My condo rental contract (Equivalent would be a hotel reservation)

4. Bank Statement ( Mine showed well over $10,000 US. Don't know what specific amount is required but obviously the more, the better.)

It takes 2 days to process. Consulate is in Makati which is a good area of Manila.

Also when I applied, about 15 other people - 95% Filipinos. Not a very busy place.

I am heading to Yangon next month to get another SETV. Making the SE Asia Thai Visa tour until I turn 50 next year and this Visa madness finally ends for me.

This agreement is a complete sham as are all of these illegal US treasury so called information agreements. As far as I know, no US bank has given up info on foreign account holders yet as there is no domestic mechanism to enforce these info exchanges from the US to the foreign countries. FACTA is a bad US law that foreign countries bow down to. I pray it gets repealed in the near future but not holding my breath if Hillary gets in. For those who want more info on how wrong, misguided, and terrible this FATCA is ..do a search for issacbrocksociety

I am on an ED visa extension and I came back to Suvarnabhumi from 2 months abroad last week with a valid re-entry permit. After reading that story about that French guy on an ED who got refused entry and forced to fly back to France, I was extremely nervous. Like him I am divorced and switched recently from a Non-O to a Non ED.

I was as prepared as I could be with enough money and a letter from my school explaining and excusing my absence.

But you know what - nothing unusual happened and I got stamped in no questions and problems. Maybe it was luck but I will never know. The officer was an older man in his late 50's and very polite. I pointed out my re-entry permit in my passport and confirmed with him the ending date of my current extension in Thai. I also returned after midnight during the recent holiday so maybe that had something to do with it. I don't really know.

Oh and I have an American passport.

Good Luck.

Yes I fully agree - Air China is the worst along with that Nazi-like security at Beijing Airport. Lesson learned - never take any Chinese airline again and never transit through any China airport.

Here is my recent nightmare:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/746814-air-china-any-recent-reviews-from-bkk-to-usa/#entry8167423

Yes I flew RT Bangkok - Beijing- SFO last month. I must say that along with Air India - Air China is among the WORST airlines that I have flown in my 45 plus years.

Terrible food, lame video selection on the flights, sniping flight attendants that chastise you for watching video on your cellphone and demand you turn off even when it is ok to use laptops and tablets. I could go on and on. I also had the unfortunate experience of sitting next to some old guy that smelled like a horse's ass for the trans-pacific leg. But that could have happened on any airline.

I hate to say that even Delta is much better than Air China - and that is saying alot considering US based airlines are some of the worst customer service-wise in the world.

Much better options are JAL, Korean Air, ANA, China Air(out of Taiwan NOT China), Cathay, and Thai Air(even though they are usually very expensive for International flights)

Then there is the nightmare of going through transit in China.

Even though I was in transit and getting on another plane out of the country - China makes you wait in line and go through passport controls and stamps your passport. WHY?

I am only in transit for an hour or so.

Then even though I had already gone through security in Bangkok and again the other way in the USA , I had to go through full security again. And if you thought the TSA was bad - just experience these Chinese Nazis.

After I went through a metal detector - this guy insisted on giving me a full clothed body search. When he reached into my pockets and almost into my pants, I yelled at him to lay off and almost slugged him.

Complete utter jerks on power trips. The first time he even wanded my passport I was holding. Did he think he was going to find a mini bomb in the pages?

It is because of this experience I will NEVER transit through China again. It is worth it to me to pay the extra $100-$200 or however much more to transfer through non-gestapo airports in So. Korea, Japan, Taiwan, etc. where you instead wait in a sterile transit area for your transfer, do not have to go through a passport control, and do not get humiliated by Nazi-like guards.

Xm.

Sent from my KFTT using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Easy answer - Schwab.

Also stick to AEON ATMS as they are now I think the last that do not charge the now 180 baht ripoff foreign atm card fee.

poanoi - I disagree. Why pay a fee at all if you can avoid it. I live here and to me 150 baht is significant no matter how much I want to withdrawal.

And over a month it really adds up. Let's say I go to the 150 baht ATMS 6 times a month that is 900 baht wasted.

Even though my US bank(Schwab) reimburses me for the fee(the exchange rate I get is pretty close to the true rate from xe.com), I will not contribute to the Thai bankers extortion out of principle.

It is a flat out ripoff and one of the highest ATM fees I know of in the world.

And there are plenty of AEON atms in Bangkok.

Don't know about Ko Phangan though.

Satcommlee - You are flat out wrong. Using AEON atms is how you avoid the fee. I do agree The ATMS are not a charity - they are there to service customers. Banks usually make money by giving out loans with customer's money.

I know of many actual charities more worthy of 150 baht ATM fees than the members of the Thai Bankers Assoc..

When I go to Big C there is a row of ATMS:

Bangkok Bank, Siam, Kasikorn, Government Savings Bank- COST to withdrawal = 150 baht/$5

AEON - COST to withdrawal - 0 baht/$0

One answer - AEON ATMs - No 150 baht extortion fee

The worst times to use AEON machines are the last day and first day of the month. All of the Thai AEON customers use the machines to pay their credit card bills. Rest of the month it is not too bad. Never had my card rejected but did have some malfunctioning AEON atms a few years ago when the money did not come out. Called Schwab in the US and they credited my account and after the investigation - the ATM balance records showed the malfunction. For awhile I was taking video of my ATM transactions to prove that the money did not come out if it were to happen again. Thankfully it has not.

Likewise, unlike other major US banks(Citibank, Chase, US Bank, etc. ) that keep getting worse with more checking fees and foreign exchange charges,Schwab keeps getting better. I have been a client for almost 20 years. They used to charge fees back in the 1990's. But then they wised up and realized they were pissing off clients with the meddling fees. So they eliminated them and are now very good. Great customer service too. They even sent my new ATM card to Thailand by fedex free of charge. I also stick to AEON atms as I also do not want the Thai Bankers extortion 150 baht fee to be paid by Schwab. Too bad the other big US banks cannot take a hint from Schwab.

This is the easiest way - electronic debit from US bank account.

https://www.eftps.gov/eftps/

http://www.irs.gov/efile/article/0,,id=98005,00.html