Completed visa run to Malaysia

[sadmoneysnow]

I decided to do a visa run from Phuket to Padang Besar. Since I did it on my own the total cost was 1600 THB (bus, van, hotel, food). I have been in Thailand over a year on a visa exempt stamp with multiple covid extension. I went on a bus from Phuket to Hat Yai. Then van from Hat Yai to Padang Besar. Leaving Thailand was pretty simple

 

In Padang Besar I go to my hotel, eat a meal, then go to sleep. Once I wake up, I exit Malaysia and walk back to Thailand. The place where you get stamped in is the same as where I was stamped out. The IO officer looks over my passport and tells me that I need to do 2-3 nights in Malaysia if I want a visa exempt entry, not one night. If I had a tourist visa already then I could just go straight in. I talk to him only in Thai and say that I thought one night is enough and I would be able to get the 45 visa exempt stamp, I asked him if I needed to pay and he said no. After we talk for a little bit he tells me that I can go this one time ครั้งเดียว. Relieved, I get stamped back into Thailand.  I would not try to use this border again unless I actually planned to spend 2-3 days in Malaysia.

 

I then start the journey back to Phuket. After crossing the bridge into Phuket, 4 police officers enter the bus. They talk to a few of the people on the bus ( I'm not sure about what, maybe they asked for ID too ). Then one officer that made eye contact with me as he passed my seat asked to see my passport. He looks at my visa to make sure I am not overstaying, the first time I have had my visa status spot checked while in the country. He hands my passport back, the police exit, and we continue to Phuket

 

 

 

 

Edited November 13, 2022 by sadmoneysnow

[BritTim]

The road crossing at Pedang Besar was known to be tough pre Covid. I am waiting to see a report on using the rail crossing there for a quick in/out without staying overnight. My recollection is that in 2019 it was possible.

[Haveasay]

No fee or e visa into Malaysia I presume. Flew to Hat Yai and looked at the options. But thanks for the info. I'm sure others will follow at that price. I presume mini bus to border from Hat Yai bus station? I did check that out for something to do as stayed at train station motel and a motel closer to airport before heading to Singapore who now require a fee to enter. I was in transit.

[5ilver]

Thanks for the informative report @sadmoneysnow re: the police checks on the bus, I did read recent news reports that immigration and the police are tasked to "extra scrutinize" foreign arrivals (and also foreign residents) these few days to ensure security for APEC so it could be related to that.

[edwardandtubs]

11 hours ago, sadmoneysnow said:

The IO officer looks over my passport and tells me that I need to do 2-3 nights in Malaysia if I want a visa exempt entry, not one night.

This is a bizarre statement. Is the minimum 2 or 3 nights? I'm guessing this is just something he says to make people's lives difficult.

 

As I'm in Bangkok I'm thinking it could be worth flying to Hatyai and then taking the minibus to Penang, spending a couple of nights there before returning. It would probably work out about the same price in total as the 3500 baht agency visa run to Cambodia or the flight to Udon Thani and then quick in-out to Laos.

[at15]

1 hour ago, 5ilver said:

Thanks for the informative report @sadmoneysnow re: the police checks on the bus, I did read recent news reports that immigration and the police are tasked to "extra scrutinize" foreign arrivals (and also foreign residents) these few days to ensure security for APEC so it could be related to that.

That was my feeling too after some weird experiences with immigration recently. Everything is looked at very closely nowadays including the 30 day extensions.

[sandyf]

2 hours ago, edwardandtubs said:

As I'm in Bangkok I'm thinking it could be worth flying to Hatyai and then taking the minibus to Penang, spending a couple of nights there before returning. It would probably work out about the same price in total as the 3500 baht agency visa run to Cambodia or the flight to Udon Thani and then quick in-out to Laos.

Have you thought about Langkawi? I think it is nicer than Penang.

We took the shuttle to PB station and then a taxi to the ferry. You can get Malaysian train part of the way and then a taxi to the ferry.

[edwardandtubs]

54 minutes ago, sandyf said:

Have you thought about Langkawi? I think it is nicer than Penang.

We took the shuttle to PB station and then a taxi to the ferry. You can get Malaysian train part of the way and then a taxi to the ferry.

Yes, I started a thread on Koh Lipe to Langkawi but no one seems to know if the ferries are running normally. Thanks for the alternative suggestion. I'll look into it.

[sandyf]

7 minutes ago, edwardandtubs said:

Yes, I started a thread on Koh Lipe to Langkawi but no one seems to know if the ferries are running normally. Thanks for the alternative suggestion. I'll look into it.

I think it was late 2018 when we went and we did look at going from Koh Lipe but there was a bit of a problem so went from Kuala Perlis instead.

Think it may have been a timing issue in gettin from Hat Yai over to the Koh Lipe ferry.

If you go the Sky Bridge is well  worth a visit.

 

[Saigon]

Hi,

 

I came back to Thailand from Penang,

Malaysia by train through Padang Besar

last month. I was away from Thailand

for about 2 weeks then.

 

The IO on the Thai side did take a few

minutes before he stamped me in after

asking me several questions (I have so

many stamps of Non-B extensions in

my passport).

 

The train back to Hat Yai left about an

hour behind schedule. FYI, there are 2

trains between Hat Yai and Padang

Besar (1 morning one and 1 afternoon

one) and I took the afternoon one to

Hat Yai.

Edited November 14, 2022 by Saigon

[MrJ2U]

Nice report.

 

 

[Leon1980]

I did a thread a few weeks back on my visa run to Wang Prachan. 

 

Wang Prachan is 90 minutes by taxi from Hatyai but is the easiest visa run I have ever done. 

It was a nice drive and decent roads.

The whole process took about 7 minutes and that includes all the stamps. The immigration on both sides were friendly. It cost 1300 baht as the female immigration lady said the Malaysians were charging:). 

 

So taxi 1500 and border fee 1,300 and completed in 3 hours.

The lady immigration officer also told my fiance that can do again in January and as many times as we need. I know there's a rule of only 2 land border crossings a year but I think they don't care as long as they get their fee. 

 

 

[cyril sneer]

very helpful info, thanks

[lopburi3]

If going to Penang for several days perhaps could obtain tourist visa from Thai Consulate?  That used to be a normal place to obtain visas.  As for border crossing Sadao was the normal point for non train crossing or activating new entry.

 

Back in the days normally used share taxi between Hat Yai and Penang for a little better smelling air.  The vans were cheaper but not a pleasant ride and often drivers would try to extort pax an extra fee at crossing point.

[garrya]

May I ask why people would rather choose Padang Besar over Dannok (Sadao)?

[Leon1980]

Update on Wang Prachan. 

 

The border is now too busy with organized visa runs from Phuket and fees have increased and many turned away. 

[kman90]

On 11/15/2022 at 11:29 AM, Leon1980 said:

I did a thread a few weeks back on my visa run to Wang Prachan. 

 

Wang Prachan is 90 minutes by taxi from Hatyai but is the easiest visa run I have ever done. 

It was a nice drive and decent roads.

The whole process took about 7 minutes and that includes all the stamps. The immigration on both sides were friendly. It cost 1300 baht as the female immigration lady said the Malaysians were charging:). 

 

So taxi 1500 and border fee 1,300 and completed in 3 hours.

The lady immigration officer also told my fiance that can do again in January and as many times as we need. I know there's a rule of only 2 land border crossings a year but I think they don't care as long as they get their fee. 

 

 

Why are they charging 1,300?

Isn't a Visa Exempt Entry stamp supposed to be free?

Is this essentially a bribe? 

[RedArmy]

7 minutes ago, kman90 said:

 

Is this essentially a bribe? 

No, there are no such things as "Bribes" in Thailand.

[kman90]

Just now, RedArmy said:

No, there are no such things as "Bribes" in Thailand.

Apologies, I meant to write "donation"... auto-correct ey?

[kman90]

Thanks for this.

Just to clarify something, you said: "If I had a tourist visa already then I could just go straight in"

So.. if I get approved for the online e-visa (60 day tourist visa) on the day my visa stamp expires... could I come back across the border same day??

[BritTim]

1 hour ago, kman90 said:

Thanks for this.

Just to clarify something, you said: "If I had a tourist visa already then I could just go straight in"

So.. if I get approved for the online e-visa (60 day tourist visa) on the day my visa stamp expires... could I come back across the border same day??

There is no law that should prevent your immediate return. However, at least at some crossings, there are strong financial incentives on the officials to find excuses to block hassle free entry. It is hard to predict what will happen at specific border crossings under specific circumstances.

[kman90]

1 minute ago, BritTim said:

There is no law that should prevent your immediate return. However, at least at some crossings, there are strong financial incentives on the officials to find excuses to block hassle free entry. It is hard to predict what will happen at specific border crossings under specific circumstances.

I've read somewhere that the reason for these obstacles is to deter illegal workers.

Perhaps the requirement to stay in the bordering country for a few days makes it unfeasible for them (missing 3 days in work per month + accommodation costs).

And if the person can afford 1,300 baht.. they are probably not an illegal worker (maybe this is their justification of the 1,300 "fee"?)

If I have an approved e-visa how could they suspect me of being an illegal worker?

 

I will try it next month and report back

[BritTim]

1 hour ago, kman90 said:

If I have an approved e-visa how could they suspect me of being an illegal worker?

If your e-visa is a tourist visa, it provides no greater assurance that you are not an illegal worker than a visa exemption would. Further, on the assumption that this 1,300 or 2,000 or 3,500 baht fee is somehow official, why are you not provided with an official receipt for it?

 

I wish you luck but, when individual crossings start applying rules that do not exist at other crossings, you can only be confident that they will not target you if someone else has recently had no problem under the same conditions as yourself.

[kman90]

Actually it provides much greater assurance.

 

There are 64 countries allowed to enter under visa exempt stamp. Including Brunei, Cambodia, Myanmar....
(I imagine a fake passport from ones of these countries is also very easy to source)

 

If you're using the exact same visa system as these types of countries, then in my opinion, the authorities could use it as a "reasonable justification" to charge you 1300. Especially if you are not appearing to be a tourist by bouncing straight back.

 

I'm not saying it make perfect sense or that it's official. Just that it has plausible deniability. 

 

The E-visa is only applicable to Western Europe and USA. And there's a lot of paperwork to provide to get it. Hard to reasonably justify slapping another 1300 on that for any kind of security reason.

We'll see

[MarcelV]

On 11/15/2022 at 9:05 PM, garrya said:

May I ask why people would rather choose Padang Besar over Dannok (Sadao)?

I would like to know as well .