Visa run to Cambodia

[BKKTRAVELER]

14 hours ago, thaisail said:

I never felt that way about that Cambodian official. I really feel that he was trying to help me. He used his own money from his own bank account to pay his government for my E-Visa before receiving any money from me. He asked me for only $47 and he had to pay $36 for my E-Visa. He even sent me a scan of his ID card so that I could see that he was not trying to rip me off. So his "service charge was only $11. While the Singapore Bank charged $20 and the official's own bank in Cambodia charged him another $10. That is why I sent $50 to him and then he only received $40. I didn't have to put the exta $10 into his bank account in Phnom Penh but I promised to send him $50 which was $3 more than he asked for. I also invited him for a drink at our hotel because of how nicely he treated us. He never came by for a drink in the end and I regret this because he saved me hundreds of dollars by offering to help out with my visa so I would not have to spend 3 days in Bangkok going to the Cambodian Consulate. So please do not call it a bribe because I do not feel it was that way. 

I understand your reaction and he did truly do you a favor. It still remains a bribe unfortunately. A service costs 36$, but you are asked to pay 47$ by a government official knowing he'll pocket the difference. It's just 11$ and is practical, I get that. And if you have lived in Asia more than a few months, you get used to it quite easily.

 

Again, I'm not criticizing. I would have done the same thing as you and would have felt it was a great opportunity. I'm glad your trip turned out ok and that you made it back here with not too much hassle.

[EricTh]

15 hours ago, thaisail said:

There were time restraints and when I tried to set up an account with Transferwise with Schwab Bank a year ago, it was not possible to set up at that time. It was on a Friday evening when I had to make this transfer so that I could start working on the Thailand Pass for two people my Thai wife and me. My friend in Singapore was able to do that transfer is less than 12 hours and by Saturday morning the money was in his account. I was very happy to just get this job done and I didn't mind the extra cost.

 

Now that there's no more time constraint, it is advisable to setup a Transferwise account in just something like this happens again or you need to transfer money to Thailand from the USA in the future.

 

Edited February 22, 2022 by EricTh

[thaisail]

1 hour ago, EricTh said:

 

Now that there's no more time constraint, it is advisable to setup a Transferwise account in just something like this happens again or you need to transfer money to Thailand from the USA in the future.

 

How long would it have taken to do a transferwise wire transfer?

[thaisail]

On 2/20/2022 at 3:12 PM, MajorTom said:

I think its a misunderstanding. I recently applied and paid for a Cambodian e-visa with a foreign credit card. Zero problems.

Perhaps the Cambodian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has fixed this payment problem! I did my E-Visa on February 5.

[Gilligan In Drag]

On 2/20/2022 at 1:36 PM, konaboy said:

did NOT HAVE THE SAME SIGNATURE BY THE EMBASSY EMPLOYEE!! They wanted the same employee to sign both documents!! Of course I was never previously informed of this Thai technicality.

Yes, that is kind of my main stumbling block, pet peeve in Thailand, and it is especially and without fail problematic at immigration: They won't tell you until it is too late what they need or want. Press them on it, try and iron out before hand any ambiguities, and it's something like,  "Oh no no Mr. Too Smart for Thailand, you're no getting out of it by trying to establish clarity either wise guy, heheh." Saying more than a few cursory, rote, polite phrases and expressions often doesn't go down well, they feel pressured or cross examined if you start trying to find out what actually they want and anyway it will change depending on which staff member you meet, or at least at my rather obscure Isaan outpost Immigration office. The info sheet in Thai and English don't correspond, there is different requirements listed on both so, Immigration here is arbitrary, that said they end up granting me an extension everytime so far. And At least this year they called me and asked me to come back and do it again instead of waiting till the last minute and saying, "Oh sorry, no visa for you this time, you didn't do x,y,z..."

Edited February 22, 2022 by Gilligan In Drag

[Gilligan In Drag]

I wonder if it is possible to go to Cambodia by any of the land crossings. Boat to Ko Kut then to Sihanoukville? Maybe that is my imagination making that up but it seems that was one way to go to Cambodia in the past. Perhaps they would be laxer at that entry point and you just get a visa on arrival? The two times I 've been to Cambodia I flew in and got a visa on arrival. I guess that's not on anymore. I recall as well you could get a van from Poi Pet to Phnom Pehn, though last I read, probably 10+ years ago, those operators were super-dodgy, would basically unload you en-route in the middle of nowhere and you'd get picked up and put in the back of truck and have to pay the new driver dood to take you to Phenom Pen (phenomenal writers there, hence the name) or something like that.

[ubonjoe]

5 minutes ago, Gilligan In Drag said:

I wonder if it is possible to go to Cambodia by any of the land crossings. Boat to Ko Kut then to Sihanoukville? Maybe that is my imagination making that up but it seems that was one way to go to Cambodia in the past.

That is not possible at this time. The land border crossings are closed.

[BritTim]

50 minutes ago, Gilligan In Drag said:

I wonder if it is possible to go to Cambodia by any of the land crossings. Boat to Ko Kut then to Sihanoukville? Maybe that is my imagination making that up but it seems that was one way to go to Cambodia in the past. Perhaps they would be laxer at that entry point and you just get a visa on arrival? The two times I 've been to Cambodia I flew in and got a visa on arrival. I guess that's not on anymore. I recall as well you could get a van from Poi Pet to Phnom Pehn, though last I read, probably 10+ years ago, those operators were super-dodgy, would basically unload you en-route in the middle of nowhere and you'd get picked up and put in the back of truck and have to pay the new driver dood to take you to Phenom Pen (phenomenal writers there, hence the name) or something like that.

I do not think there would be any chance of crossing legally at Hat Lek/Koh Kong at the current time.

[Gilligan In Drag]

Thanks guys, very good to know.

[thaisail]

On 2/20/2022 at 6:52 PM, BangkokReady said:

You can't get visa exempt/on arrival?

Maybe you can now. At the time visa on arrival was not possible.

[thaisail]

On 2/21/2022 at 9:38 AM, Faranguz said:

Hi @thaisail,

thanks for sharing your experience.

 

I've been in Thailand for a while, arrived with tourist visa and then used a couple of COVID extensions.

Now I can't get a new one.

 

Your thread is the first piece of information that seems to show an alternative solution.

Do you think in my case can work as well?

Have you used Covid extensions before?

I never had a covid extension but I was offered one in January but the next day when I walked into the office the IO received a message from Bangkok HQ saying that anyone with a long term Non O extension would no longer be permitted to get the 60 day covid extension. So I had no option other than to leave Thailand to get a visa.

[thaisail]

On 2/21/2022 at 4:33 PM, BuckoA said:

Hi. You can apply for the Thai Pass before you go to Cambodia for the visa. 

Yes but the only issue was the Thai insurance requirement which you need to buy in order to get the Thailand Pass. The AXA insurance states that if you are in Thailand you are not eligible. I contacted my insurance agent in Phuket and she said to just state that you are not in Thailand and buy the insurance. Three days later I was in Cambodia. I got my Thailand Pass the day before my flight to Cambodia. Hope that doesn't invalidate my insurance!

[thaisail]

6 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

That is not possible at this time. The land border crossings are closed.

I was told by a tour agent in Vientaine that I could have crossed the bridge in Nong Kai and there would have been a special van that would have taken me to a place for a Covid test and then to the hotel that was booked as part of the tour. As soon as I would get a negative result, I would be free to continue the tour or go to the Thai consulate for my Visa. I will try to copy and paste the information provided by the Laos tour agency. Of course it could have been bad information provided by an over optimistic tour agent.

[thaisail]

6 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

That is not possible at this time. The land border crossings are closed.

The below was from an email sent by a tour agent in Vientaine the day before I want to Cambodia. 

 

 

 

Could you help to make sure with the Embassy if in Laos can do a VISA run. 

 

You can enter Laos on the bridge from Nong Kai and do PCR Test at the hotel as at the moment still do not have PCR Test team to stand by at the border.

 

You have to stay in Laos all that time as below outline:

 

Day 1: 7 Feb 2022: Vientiane - Arrival (COVID19 Test/PCR Test) Quarantine 

Day 2: 8 Feb 2022: Vientiane - Waiting result

Day 3: 9 Feb 2022: Vientiane - If result negative then you can go for your VISA

Day 4: 10 Feb 2022: Vientiane - get VISA (COVID19 Test/PCR Test) (PCR Test result will be approximately 6 hours)

Day 5: 11 Feb 2022: Vientiane - Departure Day

[thaisail]

4 minutes ago, thaisail said:

The below was from an email sent by a tour agent in Vientaine the day before I want to Cambodia. 

 

 

 

Could you help to make sure with the Embassy if in Laos can do a VISA run. 

 

You can enter Laos on the bridge from Nong Kai and do PCR Test at the hotel as at the moment still do not have PCR Test team to stand by at the border.

 

You have to stay in Laos all that time as below outline:

 

Day 1: 7 Feb 2022: Vientiane - Arrival (COVID19 Test/PCR Test) Quarantine 

Day 2: 8 Feb 2022: Vientiane - Waiting result

Day 3: 9 Feb 2022: Vientiane - If result negative then you can go for your VISA

Day 4: 10 Feb 2022: Vientiane - get VISA (COVID19 Test/PCR Test) (PCR Test result will be approximately 6 hours)

Day 5: 11 Feb 2022: Vientiane - Departure Day

Company in Vientaine is called EXO Travel. I did not choose to go to Laos because there were no scheduled flights from Vientaine to Bangkok at the time. The lady at the agency claimed that Laos Airlines was flying one flight per week but it was a charter flight and I had doubts that the Thailand Pass would work on a charter flight. 

[cobra]

Too bad you didn't have time to visit Angkor Wat Temple complex in Siem Reap.

[BritTim]

5 hours ago, thaisail said:

The below was from an email sent by a tour agent in Vientaine the day before I want to Cambodia. 

 

 

 

Could you help to make sure with the Embassy if in Laos can do a VISA run. 

 

You can enter Laos on the bridge from Nong Kai and do PCR Test at the hotel as at the moment still do not have PCR Test team to stand by at the border.

 

You have to stay in Laos all that time as below outline:

 

Day 1: 7 Feb 2022: Vientiane - Arrival (COVID19 Test/PCR Test) Quarantine 

Day 2: 8 Feb 2022: Vientiane - Waiting result

Day 3: 9 Feb 2022: Vientiane - If result negative then you can go for your VISA

Day 4: 10 Feb 2022: Vientiane - get VISA (COVID19 Test/PCR Test) (PCR Test result will be approximately 6 hours)

Day 5: 11 Feb 2022: Vientiane - Departure Day

What price were you quoted for this "tour"?

[thaisail]

3 hours ago, cobra said:

Too bad you didn't have time to visit Angkor Wat Temple complex in Siem Reap.

Planing to drive there in my Ford Ranger as Doon as the land border is open again!

[ubonjoe]

7 hours ago, thaisail said:

The below was from an email sent by a tour agent in Vientaine the day before I want to Cambodia. 

I see no mention of how you would return from Vientiane. The bridge from Vientiane is closed for entries from Laos and if you did manage to enter you would have to do a 14 day quarantine in a AQ hotel.

[thaisail]

2 hours ago, BritTim said:

What price were you quoted for this "tour"?

Never reached the price quote stage.

[thaisail]

1 minute ago, ubonjoe said:

I see no mention of how you would return from Vientiane. The bridge from Vientiane is closed for entries from Laos and if you did manage to enter you would have to do a 14 day quarantine in a AQ hotel.

I would have flown to Bangkok from Vientaine but the flight was a charter flight only so I don't thing the Test and Go would have worked. So that is why we chose Cambodia.

[audaciousnomad]

2 hours ago, thaisail said:

I would have flown to Bangkok from Vientaine but the flight was a charter flight only so I don't thing the Test and Go would have worked. So that is why we chose Cambodia.

You were wise to have done so. I suspect that EXO would have handled you as far as getting into Laos...but once your tour was done and you needed to make your next moves in departing Laos (back to Thailand or elsewhere), you would have been on your own to sort it all out.

[KhaoNiaw]

3 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

I see no mention of how you would return from Vientiane. The bridge from Vientiane is closed for entries from Laos and if you did manage to enter you would have to do a 14 day quarantine in a AQ hotel.

Seen a couple of people on FB saying that they've come into Thailand across the bridge and have had to do 7-day quarantines. 

[audaciousnomad]

3 minutes ago, KhaoNiaw said:

Seen a couple of people on FB saying that they've come into Thailand across the bridge and have had to do 7-day quarantines. 

Nice. Which FB group?

[mvdf]

On 2/19/2022 at 10:55 PM, thaisail said:

He said for $47 USD, he would pay for my visa with his private bank account and he asked me to transfer that amount to his ABA Bank account number in Phnom Penh. I managed to find a friend in Singapore who was able to use his mobile app to transfer $50 USD to his account in Cambodia but it took about 12 hours to complete. There was also a $20 service charge to pay from his Singapore bank. I then transfered $70 in Thai Baht to my Singapore friend's Thai Bank account in Thailand.

This is an incredibly complicated and expensive payment method. A friend in Singapore SWIFT-wired $50 to Cambodia with SWIFT fees of $20 for a total of $70 which you then transferred to a Thai account. Why couldn't you have directly sent the money to Cambodia via Dee Money? Cheaper and almost instantaneous.

 

Next, ABA deducted their own fee of $10 from the $50, leaving just $40 for final credit to the beneficiary. So now you have to reimburse $10 to that person who processed the visa. 

 

Edited February 23, 2022 by mvdf

[KhaoNiaw]

9 minutes ago, audaciousnomad said:

Nice. Which FB group?

One of the main Laos FB groups, probably Laos in the Time of Covid, maybe one of the others. There's also information from the Thai embassy in Laos, all in Thai though. 7-day quarantine if you're fully vaccinated and it gives a list of quarantine hotels in Nong Khai, Nakhon Phanom and Mukdahan:
https://vientiane.thaiembassy.org/2022/02/4999/?fbclid=IwAR3RDU2nnCnF8-6ESSYgxBkYlOOpzAfHgsH4B2gFBKCXQMRtsuR8hYwardk 
Details for Thai nationals first, then foreign nationals further down the page. 

Edited February 23, 2022 by KhaoNiaw

[chilly07]

On 2/20/2022 at 9:11 AM, EricTh said:

 

Maybe the big boss realized that some people have been cheating the system by recycling the money. They have the discretion to do that.

 

Putting 400k just for 2 months isn't a big deal. Compare with retirees who has to put 400k for 12 months, and 800k for 5 months in a year.

 

I am surprised immigration didn't require marriage extension holders to put 400k for the whole year.

Not a good idea to make suggestions to Immigration. They do read these comments. I keep my BB account purely for Immigration. I collect Credit Advices each month and only transfer the funds I need to my other account for day to day expenditure. I take both up to date bank books when I apply for my extension as well as the usual certificates from BB. This shows that I am not recycling the same 40k each month. The 400k is a big deal as that is tied up for 12 mths and is not available for medical expenses and supporting my Thai family. Retirees who rent do not have the same financial commitment to Thailand that Married expats do.

[chilly07]

Maybe an agent would have been a little less complicated

[EricTh]

2 hours ago, chilly07 said:

The 400k is a big deal as that is tied up for 12 mths and is not available for medical expenses and supporting my Thai family. Retirees who rent do not have the same financial commitment to Thailand that Married expats do.

 

I am a bit confused here. I read that for marriage extension, it is 400K for just 2 months before application and not 12 months. Or did I read incorrectly?

 

It's retirees that need minimum 400K for 12 months.

Edited February 26, 2022 by EricTh

[ericthai]

On 2/21/2022 at 10:19 AM, thaisail said:

Plus I have had the 400k in my Kasikorn account for the entire 12 months. However, on December 27, just before the end of the US tax year, I moved half of the money to my wife's Kasikorn account so that I wouldn't have to file an FBAR for the IRS in the US. My extension renewal date was February 15. I was advised against this by everyone but I felt confident that I could win my case with the 40k per month transfers in from Schwab to Bangkok Bank every month foe the pasr 18 months. I regret not reading more of this forum about what the others have been going through to get their marriage extension during Covid. Had I done my research, I would never have made such a careless move. But I took a chance and lost. I would have avoided this visa run if I had applied for the Covid 60 day extension which was offered to me by the IO. He actually asked me to come the next day and he would have given me that extension. But the next morning, he showed me the message from Bangkok that ordered them to stop giving the 60 day Covid Extension to anyone with a long term visa extension. So he really had no option but to tell me to "Go to Laos!"

You might want to check into FBAR more. My understanding from my accountant is that transferring money out of your account wont help with FBAR.

 

I was told that the rules state that if your foreign bank account (and any bank accounts you have access to, I have to list our corporate accountants as I'm listed as an officer with account access) exceeds $10,000 in a year you have to file. However, I have been told that it's also an annual aggregate total.  I use an the account at my lawyers office for my taxes.