Border Run at Sadao

[beachbuggy]

Hi there,

can anyone advise if I can do a border run at Sadao and return same day please? I am going with a non OA, which will be voided on exit then reenter with a 30 day visa exempt (UK passport).

I have vacc cert, 10k baht and the Malaysian pass will have been completed. TIA

[ubonjoe]

You could do a border hop at the Sadao border crossing to get a 30 day visa exempt entry.

[uptome1946]

I just returned from Malaysian yesterday to Chiang Mai.  I crossed into Malaysia at DanNok (Sadao) on 1July with a Visa exempt which expired on 2 July.  I visited a friend at a marina in Langkawi for 5 days before returning. 

 

I took a taxi from Hat Yai to the border which cost me 800baht, then got stamped out at the Thai Immigration before walking the 300 meters of so to the Malaysian Immigration building. 

 

I was the ONLY person walking and the only person that I saw entering Malaysia.  I had downloaded the MySejahtera app in Hat Yai the night before but had a few problems entering data.  The Malaysian official helped me complete the Travel Pass when I entered. 

 

When you exit immigration there is nothing there to do.  It is a 6 kilometer trip to the next small town with no taxis waiting there and very few people about. 

 

Luckily a GRAB driver was pulled over 100 meters past the immigration building and he took me to Kuala Pergis where the ferry crosses to Langkawi.  This was another adventure in itself.

 

When I returned 5 days later, I looked for a place to get stamped out of Malaysia.  I walked around for 10 minute asking where I could get an exit stamp.  At least three people told me to keep walking.

 

I even asked a POLIS officer where I could get "stamped out".  He looked at my passport and said,  "keep walking".

 

So I assumed perhaps that I no longer needed to get a stamp and walked back to the Thai office.  When I got there I was told to walk back and get an exit stamp. 

 

The same official that stamped me in 5 days ago in the same office finally put an exit stamp in my passport.

 

The whole process was not EASY and nothing like past experiences of many years ago.

[Saigon]

Hello,

 

Can I please ask you how many days you were

allowed to stay in Malaysia for when you got a

stamp in your passport on your visa-exempt

entry into the country then? 90 days?

 

 

[Thailand J]

On 7/8/2022 at 3:06 PM, uptome1946 said:

The Malaysian official helped me complete the Travel Pass when I entered. 

May I ask how did you get internet service at the Malaysian immigration check point?

[freedomnow]

On 7/8/2022 at 3:06 PM, uptome1946 said:

MySejahtera app in Hat Yai the night before but had a few problems entering data.  The Malaysian official helped me complete the Travel Pass when I entered. 

Yip, that whole MySejahtera thing is a nightmare.

It was best to register through their alternate web portal first, not phone app with QR screenshot of vaccines. I had to reach out to them on twitter as their phone app support was awful.

 

I had to get them to complete it also on arrival....utter mess vs thaipass before.

Usually tech savvy, the Malaysia app was a brickwall for me.

 

Here is website interface - faster.

https://www.mysafetravel.gov.my/application

Edited July 10, 2022 by freedomnow

[freedomnow]

14 minutes ago, Thailand J said:

May I ask how did you get internet service at the Malaysian immigration check point?

They will have their wifi at entry points..they added me to network in kl.

[beachbuggy]

On 7/8/2022 at 9:57 AM, ubonjoe said:

You could do a border hop at the Sadao border crossing to get a 30 day visa exempt entry.

Can I literally go through the Malaysian arrivals hall, maybe have a coffee then go straight back into Thailand? Just wondering about lots of questions like, why are you changing OA after 11 years or any question to refuse me entry

[uptome1946]

The Malaysian Immigration official gave me 90 days which in the past was also my experience as an American.  There were two Thai women and one was crying in the hall when I entered again on 5 July. 

 

The official would only give the younger woman a 7 day stamp.  They had been pleading their case for some time and the older woman was saying,  "I need my friend to help me in my new restaurant".   The Malaysian official was not sympathetic.

 

I had a Thai phone with no data service but the WiFi immediately connected at the immigration office.  No problems at all.

 

I misspelled the port where the ferry connects to Langkawi.  It is Kuala Perlis.  I missed the last ferry on 1 July but there is another ferry leaving from another town about 40 kilometers away.  I made that ferry just in time but learned the hard way that Malaysian clocks are an hour ahead of Thai clocks and that Langkawi Island gets lots of weekend visitors so best to buy ferry tickets well ahead.

[beachbuggy]

On 7/8/2022 at 9:57 AM, ubonjoe said:

You could do a border hop at the Sadao border crossing to get a 30 day visa exempt entry.

Ubonjoe,

will I be able to leave, void my OA visa and return on the same day with a new visa exempt 30 days at Sadao as I read on the net that immigration may have stopped this at border crossings

[ubonjoe]

2 minutes ago, beachbuggy said:

will I be able to leave, void my OA visa and return on the same day with a new visa exempt 30 days at Sadao as I read on the net that immigration may have stopped this at border crossings

No problem to return the same day but I have heard of Malaysia insisting you stay at least one night.

[Thailand J]

July 13 stamped into Malaysia at Sadao, no mention of any vaccine cert.

If you drive your Thai registered car into Malaysia you need to get insurance BEFORE Thai immigration, not after Malaysian immigration as before. You also need TM2 ( 2 copies) and TM3 if applicable. You also need "Touch  and go" card to get on Malaysian  highways.

[KhunBENQ]

On 7/10/2022 at 11:16 AM, beachbuggy said:

Just wondering about lots of questions like, why are you changing OA after 11 years or any question to refuse me entry

My experience at Nong Khai: officer didn't want me leave.

Sent me to some room.
? Re-entry permit. Officer thought I had forgotten.

No thanks! I had to persuade three officers that I want to cancel the visa.

On return some raised eyebrow and I explained explicitly that I want 30 days to cancel the visa.

No big hassle.