Which neighboring countries are open?

[young Farrang]

As D-day approaches and going back to Europe is not an option, which neighboring countries are open for tourists and what is required to obtain a tourist/short-term visa (medical/quarantine/insurance etc) traveling from thailand either by land or air?

[Olmate]

Why must you leave?

[kingdong]

until the !os and vietnam

opens its borders no way i,ll be coming to the los for 5 weeks perhaps 3 weeks in vietnam and a week in thailand

[Ron jeremy]

Cambodia, 

[young Farrang]

13 minutes ago, Olmate said:

Why must you leave?

most likely end of amnesty. 

 

9 minutes ago, Ron jeremy said:

Cambodia, 

I read somewhere you need to deposit $3000 in a cambodian bank account in order to enter, is there some more information regarding this requirement?

Edited July 11, 2020 by young Farrang

[sungod]

15 minutes ago, young Farrang said:

thanks for your helpful reply. Maybe someone on this forum has been through the process. Surely there should be a way around this requirement. It seems absurd to pay a 3k deposit at entry if you already have full travel insurance coverage. 

https://kh.usembassy.gov/new-cambodia-entry-requirements-and-covid-19-update/

[young Farrang]

Just now, sungod said:

https://kh.usembassy.gov/new-cambodia-entry-requirements-and-covid-19-update/

thanks. 

 

52 minutes ago, Ron jeremy said:

Cambodia, 

 I guess that means Cambodia is not an option since they are not issuing tourist visas at this point. 

[thaibestlover]

I am in the same situation: Free visa till end of July. So, I asked a simple Thai visa run agency and theyll go for a visa run morning to Poi Pet/Cambodia and will stamp out the passport and few minutes later stamp in to TH the passport for further 30 days. Price: 2500 THB for everything, incl van roundtrip from Pattaya. 

[ThailandRyan]

4 minutes ago, thaibestlover said:

I am in the same situation: Free visa till end of July. So, I asked a simple Thai visa run agency and theyll go for a visa run morning to Poi Pet/Cambodia and will stamp out the passport and few minutes later stamp in to TH the passport for further 30 days. Price: 2500 THB for everything, incl van roundtrip from Pattaya. 

Are they putting the passport in a drone and flying it over and back?

[Guderian]

7 hours ago, young Farrang said:

As D-day approaches and going back to Europe is not an option

Why is going back to Europe not an option? There's a number of flights every week from Bangkok to various European destinations, and as Thailand is green-lighted by the EU (unlike the UK <shakes head in disbelief>) you wouldn't have to go into quarantine.

[Rimmer]

Troll post and a reply removed

[young Farrang]

35 minutes ago, Guderian said:

Why is going back to Europe not an option? There's a number of flights every week from Bangkok to various European destinations, and as Thailand is green-lighted by the EU (unlike the UK <shakes head in disbelief>) you wouldn't have to go into quarantine.

Because I have lived in Asia for the past 7 years, I have no family nor home to return to.

[at15]

there are no options nearby. the home country is really the only option. the closest at this point is UAE. there are direct flights from BKK to Abu Dhabi. 

[geisha]

Well every country looks a bit bleak at the moment. Why not try Europe, some lovely places, doesn’t have to be your birth country. Hang out there till more positive news in the autumn . 

[buick]

europe could be a great option for august, nice and warm.  far fewer tourists than the normal august.  find a cheap spot to stay and enjoy until you are able to return to thailand (maybe november ?).  it'll get colder and colder so try for southern europe.  it could be worse that is for sure.

[RoyLee]

1 hour ago, thaibestlover said:

I am in the same situation: Free visa till end of July. So, I asked a simple Thai visa run agency and theyll go for a visa run morning to Poi Pet/Cambodia and will stamp out the passport and few minutes later stamp in to TH the passport for further 30 days. Price: 2500 THB for everything, incl van roundtrip from Pattaya. 

Go for it. Let us know how you make out.

[JeffersLos]

There'll probably be an extension to the amnesty. 

[darrendsd]

1 hour ago, thaibestlover said:

I am in the same situation: Free visa till end of July. So, I asked a simple Thai visa run agency and theyll go for a visa run morning to Poi Pet/Cambodia and will stamp out the passport and few minutes later stamp in to TH the passport for further 30 days. Price: 2500 THB for everything, incl van roundtrip from Pattaya. 

There is no way in the world that this is going to happen - sure on these runs you can wait in no mans land while the stamp is being processed however there is no entry to Thailand for people like you (or me who is in the same boat) even if you waited in no mans land

[StayinThailand2much]

12 minutes ago, darrendsd said:

There is no way in the world that this is going to happen - sure on these runs you can wait in no mans land while the stamp is being processed however there is no entry to Thailand for people like you (or me who is in the same boat) even if you waited in no mans land

Would be interesting to know how they come back.

 

And how about the 3,000$ in Cambodia?

Edited July 11, 2020 by StayinThailand2much

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

2 hours ago, thaibestlover said:

I am in the same situation: Free visa till end of July. So, I asked a simple Thai visa run agency and theyll go for a visa run morning to Poi Pet/Cambodia and will stamp out the passport and few minutes later stamp in to TH the passport for further 30 days. Price: 2500 THB for everything, incl van roundtrip from Pattaya. 

 

I believe another poster here claimed firsthand experience that a similar thing is going on with the Kanchanaburi/Myanmar border... You go to the Thai side, then hand your passport over to an agent, they take it over to the Myanmar side, have it stamped there, and then returned back to you on the Thai side....  This despite the general public perception that borders are closed.

[NoshowJones]

9 hours ago, young Farrang said:

most likely end of amnesty. 

 

I read somewhere you need to deposit $3000 in a cambodian bank account in order to enter, is there some more information regarding this requirement?

How can you get a Cambodian bank account if you are not in the country to begin with.

[darrendsd]

29 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

I believe another poster here claimed firsthand experience that a similar thing is going on with the Kanchanaburi/Myanmar border... You go to the Thai side, then hand your passport over to an agent, they take it over to the Myanmar side, have it stamped there, and then returned back to you on the Thai side....  This despite the general public perception that borders are closed.

This is exactly how it happens there - i have been to this border numerous times

 

However the chances of it happening now is zero - the borders are closed

 

How do you think this will look when you leave the country again or visit your local I/O? Do people not think that Immigration will not notice these stamps and start asking questions? 

[darrendsd]

28 minutes ago, possum1931 said:

How can you get a Cambodian bank account if you are not in the country to begin with.

According to the statement you pay at the Airport not into a bank account

 

Good luck trying to get it back if it's the Immigration crooks at the Airport who are processing the refund - they tried ripping me off going in last time i went there so I don't doubt they will try ripping people off when they ask for their 3k back on departure 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

7 minutes ago, darrendsd said:

This is exactly how it happens there - i have been to this border numerous times

 

However the chances of it happening now is zero - the borders are closed

 

How do you think this will look when you leave the country again or visit your local I/O? Do people not think that Immigration will not notice these stamps and start asking questions? 

 

The account I was relating, from another poster, was posted here in another thread just in the past week or so. The other poster claimed the practice at the Kanchanaburi-Myanmar border was current and ongoing.  Yes, the border remains closed, but apparently passports are being allowed to go back and forth still for some fee.  The passport holder never physically leaves the TH side, only his/her passport does.

 

 

 

Edited July 11, 2020 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[Bangkok Barry]

14 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

The account I was relating, from another poster, was posted here in another thread just in the past week or so. The other poster claimed the practice at the Kanchanaburi-Myanmar border was current and ongoing.  Yes, the border remains closed, but apparently passports are being allowed to go back and forth still for some fee.  The passport holder never physically leaves the TH side, only his/her passport does.

 

 

 

I'm pretty sure that the whole point of having to leave the country is that you do it and not just your passport. No matter how pointless and time-wasting it is. And not leaving the country as required by law, if discovered, could result in arrest and a lifetime ban. The visa-run companies would not, of course, tell you this. Those wiser than me in these matters might care to comment and advise.

[thaiman]

What about Philippines?

[Caldera]

2 hours ago, young Farrang said:

Because I have lived in Asia for the past 7 years, I have no family nor home to return to.

Assuming that you are a citizen of an EU country, you could now pick pretty much any EU country for a stay.

 

I'm basically in the same situation as you and currently leaning towards Greece - I have no reason to spend too much time in my home country either. I'm thinking I'll rent an Airbnb in Athens and do some island hopping from there until Southeast Asia becomes tourist-friendly again, with occasional short trips to my home country and other interesting places throughout Europe I haven't visited for many years.

 

Edited July 11, 2020 by Caldera

[Caldera]

1 hour ago, possum1931 said:

How can you get a Cambodian bank account if you are not in the country to begin with.

The whole point is to put down a deposit, NOT in your own bank account but in theirs.

 

But Cambodia doesn't issue tourist visas in any case. On top of that deposit and other entry requirements (COVID-19 test, health insurance, etc.), you'd need to engage in some trickery to get a business visa from a Cambodian embassy.

 

[Burma Bill]

On 7/11/2020 at 8:22 AM, young Farrang said:

thanks. 

 

 I guess that means Cambodia is not an option since they are not issuing tourist visas at this point. 

That is correct - NO TOURIST VISAS for Cambodia. Most borders closed except for business/trade, repatriation and special medical cases. The land border with Vietnam is now open but as no tourist visas being issued the cross border travelers are mainly local nationals - a kind of domestic tourism. There a no direct flights between Thailand and Cambodia at this time.

[uhuh]

Borders are closed. 

Lots of covid,  anyway,  wouldn't want to go there right now.