Report - Visa Exempt Extension At Maesai

[daeng1212]

Just extended my stay for another 30 days with the Visa Exempt stamp at Maesai (after getting a tourist visa in Vientiane in early April and extending that on June 1 for 30 more days). No problems. I had heard that officials have been asking to see onward travel tickets at some places, and one person had recommended buying a train ticket from Bangkok to Butterworth, and then cashing it in for an 80% refund after doing the extension. So I stopped in to see a travel agent I know in Chiangrai a few weeks ago and asked him if I could buy a train ticket, and he said that train tickets could no longer be purchased in Chiangrai, and that I'd have to go to Chiangmai to do that. When I explained my situation to him, he said that some officials at Maesai weren't asking to see an onward travel ticket, and if they did, I could just tell them I planned to go to Laos (in which case a plane ticket would not be needed). Or, he said, I could make a plane trip reservation (no cost), get the print-out to show the Immigration officials, and then let the reservation cancel automatically (no money spent). So I did that - made a reservation for a trip to Kunming on July 24, which will cancel automatically 15 days before the trip. However, at Maesai today, no one asked to see any proof of onward travel.