Mukda Han - Savannakhet Getting Popular

[gzu88bv]

Lots of visa traffic and long queues last Tuesday at Thai Consulate in Savannakhet. Savannakhet now follows

the Thai Consulate in Vientiane, e.g. visa applications have to be handed in before 12 am and visas can then be

picked up the next day after 2 pm. Be therefore very early or you may spend and extra day in Laos.

[learndutchbkk]

Lots of visa traffic and long queues last Tuesday at Thai Consulate in Savannakhet. Savannakhet now follows

the Thai Consulate in Vientiane, e.g. visa applications have to be handed in before 12 am and visas can then be

picked up the next day after 2 pm. Be therefore very early or you may spend and extra day in Laos.

Hi i asume you talk about getting a tourist visa there!

Do you have to show a returnticket out of thailand

thx Chris

[Badbanker]

I think Savannakhet was busy with 100+ people in January this year and I know from friends that it is getting 200+ now per day. The ministry of foreign affairs should expand it and make it a real consulate rather than a backyard garden, to cope with the needs of all the travellers that they have forced on it!

Badbanker

[sriracha john]

Tick Tock... Tick Tock... How long before this place is off the clock.

Counting down to it's closing down as an option.

In 5... 4... 3...

[ovenman]

I think Savannakhet was busy with 100+ people in January this year and I know from friends that it is getting 200+ now per day. The ministry of foreign affairs should expand it and make it a real consulate rather than a backyard garden, to cope with the needs of all the travellers that they have forced on it!

...but far more likely that the Thai consulate in Savannakhet will be forced to take it upon themselves to reduce the workload that has suddenly been foisted upon them. Hopefully not to the extent that reduction has been achieved at the Thai embassy in Phnom Penh.

[gzu88bv]

Hi i asume you talk about getting a tourist visa there!

Do you have to show a returnticket out of thailand

thx Chris

Among over 300 applications that had to be dealt with last Tuesday, we are talking here of 2 tourist visas.

No air ticket to be shown and I have not heard of such for Laos, whereas Cambodia however seems to be a

different matter.

[farangsay]

I think Savannakhet was busy with 100+ people in January this year and I know from friends that it is getting 200+ now per day. The ministry of foreign affairs should expand it and make it a real consulate rather than a backyard garden, to cope with the needs of all the travellers that they have forced on it!

Badbanker

In late April I got there at 9.30am (direct from the border) and there were over 50 people in

the queue already. The receipt I finally received was numbered #151 (OK I'm not sure if I

was the 151st that day). Considering the place and the numbers it was organised fairly well.

Orderly queue. Guy at the door letting three people in the room at any given time.

I'd imagine that if they come to 12.00 and latecomers are still waiting it would just be

"tough , we're closed , come back tomorrow".

I suppose if numbers really rose they might consider more staff and a bigger room to

increase revenues.

They were not too prompt re-opening after lunch. It's posted outside as 13.00 but it

was more 14.30 when the gates were finally opened.

Having arrived 10 or 15 minutes early for the 14.00 estimate I was stuck standing with

a few others in the hot sun until a nice young lad insisted I come sit in his tuk-tuk.

When I came out he was waiting and off to the bus station. Now the going rate is 100b

(I know a lot of people go 5 up and pay 20b each) so I gave him his 100b on arrival

and said "no , ok" when he went fishing for change. He seemed really pleased. On the

whole I found the people in Savannakhet quite nice in a subdued sort of way.

[tropo]

Tick Tock... Tick Tock... How long before this place is off the clock.

Counting down to it's closing down as an option.

In 5... 4... 3...

Maybe, maybe not. Perhaps someone will see the sense in collecting around 52 million baht (assuming 200 TV applicants a day) a year. In addition to this you can imagine how much these visa runners are contributing to the local economy for food, accommodation and transport.

Edited May 10, 2007 by tropo

[cali4995]

i think jack golf had increased their frequency of trips, now it's mon-thurs? so, friday or the weekend is probably the only time you can cross over the bridge without it being a total circus and who knows how many other companies are now running buses? welcome to thailand

[sriracha john]

My assertions of "things to come" from just 3 months ago in another thread. Those ever-increasing numbers did come:

Savannakhet Visa Run

Badbanker,

you are overestimating the numbers .

Are you camping out there?

From my own experience in Mukdahan most of the tour companies are Thai/Budhist relatet Tours.

The VisaRun groups never had any (big) impact.

BTW there are still other Consulates which are close to Thailand .

Anyone tried Khota Bharu?

Obviously, the visa running businesses are making a huge impact on Mukdahan. Prior to their "runs" the only people using the consulate was the quite rare, adventurous, and intrepid traveler going it alone. Now, every major visa-run company has a bus going there, when previously, NONE of them did...

and by repeated reports, not just Badbankers, this can involve up to several hundred of people going daily, when previously there was perhaps a small handful in a week's time.

I won't be surprised if in some way or another, the whole system there doesn't collapse on itself and things as they are now, stop, either from the Thai's side or the Lao's side... something's gotta give.

the max that they have handled was about 100pax per day.

When I was there they had prepared numbers up to 100 and they told us , no more.

Based on Jacks own Message board they had a group of 66pax on15/16Jan(combined for 2-3 weeks), so the figures you are trying to establish(hundreds) are way over the top.

The place has already lost the main advantage,namely that the visa had been issued within same day.

How many companies besides "Jack and his Golf buddies" are going? I've seen ads for at least 3 Bangkok companies and at least 3 Pattaya companies that all make the trip there. On days when they hit up there on the same day, I wouldn't be surprised to see a swarm.

If they (not sure if you mean the bus company or the consulate), but if you mean the consulate is limiting their numbers to 100 in a day, then the potential for staying over even longer than the current 2 days is quite real.

Still... despite its ever-increasing pitfalls, it remains the closest location for many.

[Badbanker]

YOu really got to feel sorry for the guys that run the visa office. For a long time it must have been a good posting and not tooooo busy!

Now it seems their paradise is no more and they by some other threads on this board are turning away people that have already received one visa from Savannakhet.

Again, with all the revenue that ARE getting why don't they invest a little money and laod balance all consulates that are adjacent to Thailand.

I think Khota Bharu is looking like the best place to go at the moment!

Badbanker (Over 50 and supporting child for another visarun free 11 months)

[engrin]

"Now it seems their paradise is no more and they by some other threads on this board are turning away people that have already received one visa from Savannakhet."

I've only seen one person say that. Is that really the case?

[gzu88bv]

"Now it seems their paradise is no more and they by some other threads on this board are turning away people that have already received one visa from Savannakhet."

I've only seen one person say that. Is that really the case?

Living up north, reasonably close to Savannakhet I (non-O-visa holder) wanted to report the facts and not scare people away,

but inform this great board and give its members something back in the sense “falangs help falangs”.

[visarunner]

Tuesday was busy as it was , for this week , the only available timeslot for all people to go.

Officially Thursday was announced as a holiday.

We were told ,on our last visit , that every person get's 2 TV from this place within one calendar year.

I maintain my earlier statement that the visarun companies have no impact on the consulate.

Jack's had 10 people on Tuesday at the border.

[sriracha john]

Among over 300 applications that had to be dealt with last Tuesday

I maintain my earlier statement that the visarun companies have no impact on the consulate.

Jack's had 10 people on Tuesday at the border.

Some other fortunate visa-running company had a great day then with 290 clients.