Koh Lipe immigration office

[Tayida]

There is an immigration office in Koh Lipe where a 30 days visa exemption can be extended? Thank you

[ubonjoe]

As far as i know there is not one other than for arrivals and departures for the ferry from/to Malaysia.

[Tayida]

1 minute ago, ubonjoe said:

As far as i know there is not one other than for arrivals and departures for the ferry from/to Malaysia.

Can the visa be extended there?

 

[ubonjoe]

1 minute ago, Tayida said:

Can the visa be extended there?

 

I don't think so and that office may be closed now due to the covid 19 restrictions.

[DrJack54]

OP, if you are not on Koh Lipe as yet, have you considered checking out issue of extension at mainland office prior to going there.

[jessc]

Hi - Joe and Jack are correct. I live on Koh Lipe. Immigration here is closed now because land/sea border with Malaysia is closed. But even when it's open, extensions must be done on the mainland.

 

You can do an extension at the Satun Town immigration office if you hire a car to/from the Hat Yai airport, and stop at Satun Town immigration on the way. Or if the extension is needed in the middle if your stay on Lipe, one of the travel shops here can arrange to take you from Pakbara Pier to Satun and back to the pier again. Requires an overnight on the mainland due to current boat schedule.

 

There's a "Koh Lipe Locals" FB group you can join to ask more questions.

Edited January 4, 2022 by jessc
typo

[DrJack54]

@jessc excellent report. 

All options covered.

[ChrisKC]

23 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

As far as i know there is not one other than for arrivals and departures for the ferry from/to Malaysia.

And that one is on the beach! 

[yogi yogi]

how are things on ko lipe. is it busy?  are any veg restaurants around??  masssage shops open>  diving available???

[RedArmy]

3 minutes ago, yogi yogi said:

 diving available???

"Muff" diving is always available.

[ChrisKC]

I was there for a few days in October last. Virtually everything was closed. But plenty of peace and quiet!

 

Immigration was open then!

[jessc]

7 hours ago, yogi yogi said:

how are things on ko lipe. is it busy?  are any veg restaurants around??  masssage shops open>  diving available???

Lipe is open. Busy for the holidays (about 60% of pre-pandemic levels) with a sharp drop as of yesterday. But still waaaaaay busier than October.

 

Not all biz survived, but those that did are open. Veg/vegan menus in several restaurants. Many people diving now.

 

As of today, need to show a vax certificate (or Thai Pass), or recent negative PCR or ATK test (72hrs or less) to come to the island. Speedboats leave from Pakbara Pier to Lipe daily at 11:30am and 1:30pm ????

[yogi yogi]

1 hour ago, jessc said:

Lipe is open. Busy for the holidays (about 60% of pre-pandemic levels) with a sharp drop as of yesterday. But still waaaaaay busier than October.

 

Not all biz survived, but those that did are open. Veg/vegan menus in several restaurants. Many people diving now.

 

As of today, need to show a vax certificate (or Thai Pass), or recent negative PCR or ATK test (72hrs or less) to come to the island. Speedboats leave from Pakbara Pier to Lipe daily at 11:30am and 1:30pm ????

are rooms cheap thier right now..i havent been thier in ten years

[jessc]

2 minutes ago, yogi yogi said:

are rooms cheap thier right now..i havent been thier in ten years

Not as cheap as 10 years ago! ????

 

Lots of discount packages now. This is basically the case many places around the world at the moment. Hotels that use online booking sites (Agoda, etc.) cannot offer rooms for less than the prices on the booking sites (per the contacts with the hotels. This is why online booking sites can boast "lowest available prices.")

 

But, *packages* are excluded from those contracts. So many many hotels are now offering packages that net out to be cheaper than the booking sites nightly rates (and as a way to get around the booking sites' covid refund policies, which are kinda untenable for the smaller hotels).

 

So thing to do is find places on booking sites that look good to you, and then find them on the web and contact them directly to ask about packages. If you want a longer stay, ask about doing a custom package - so long as the package includes something other than a room (snorkeling, a dinner, massage, boat ticket, etc.) it's a "package."

 

This is not a great long term biz model for hotels, but it's necessary at the moment. (And, I am not a hotel owner offering this advice; just someone in the industry with insight).

[Mike Teavee]

@jessc, do you have any recommendations for cheap hotels/websites on Koh Lipe?

 

GF is visiting her mum in Satun next week & I'd like to book them a holiday on Koh Lipe but the prices on Agoda etc... look crazy given the current environment. 

 

Ideally somewhere around Pattaya Beach (We were originally planning on staying at Bundhaya Villas when I was also going but my many times moved UK trip looks like it's going to go ahead). 

 

Thanks for any tips for booking accomodation on Koh Lipe, I've always just used Agoda but by your comment it sounds like there might be better deals to be had elsewhere 

[portlandtree]

On 1/3/2022 at 10:02 AM, Tayida said:

Can the visa be extended there?

 

NO