Border run to Mai Sai CLOSED

[Dante99]

29 minutes ago, Sticky Rice Balls said:

i paid the 1800 and got the paper visa which takes up a whole page of my passport....

 

On 9/8/2023 at 7:49 PM, moana said:

When you pay 1800 it stays with the immigration folks and no visa is issued

 

On 9/8/2023 at 11:34 AM, araiwaja said:

So it seems ฿400 (฿1800 - $40) buys you:

- No forms to fill out

- Shorter turnaround time with no arguments

- Saves a ~50m walk through arrival and departure

- Saves a page in your passport since they don't stick a visa in it

 

So two say pay 1800 Baht and no visa but Sticky says he got a visa when he paid the 1800.  

 

Are all three correct?

 

Glad I went to Singapore, nothing to pay at immigration and no entry or exit stamp in my passport plus terrific Iranian food.

[transam]

6 minutes ago, Dante99 said:

 

 

So two say pay 1800 Baht and no visa but Sticky says he got a visa when he paid the 1800.  

 

Are all three correct?

 

Glad I went to Singapore, nothing to pay at immigration and no entry or exit stamp in my passport plus terrific Iranian food.

I agree, and it is strange that we get some very confusing answers here at times.........

[bamboozled]

On 9/9/2023 at 10:03 AM, Dante99 said:

The 1800 Baht is no visa so no paperwork and no records.  The $40 is with a visa so there are documents.  Easier to take what there is no record about.

Take the $40, don't issue the visa. Take the 1800 baht, don't issue the visa.

[bamboozled]

On 9/10/2023 at 11:48 AM, Sticky Rice Balls said:

he told me he would accept 40 usd if i GO into Laos and spend money...i was doing a turnaround and NOT spending money in laos he said 50 usd......i just paid in bt and went back to thai side

He said "and spend money"? The turnaround thing has been going on forever so no surprise for the agents. If they were interested in folks spending money in Laos they wouldn't let people pay the visa fee without getting a visa. I think the agent was just making up an excuse. You still pay a visa fee/Laos still gets the visa money whether they issue one or not (or someone gets it). I still don't understand why they won't take USD and do the same thing...just giving a stamp and sending you back.

 

Hmm...perhaps since 1800 baht is more than $40, they're just trying to get the larger pay-out. And if someone insists on paying $40 USD (and that's an official rule/rate), they don't want to argue the point and possibly get any higher-ups involved thus they revert back to official visa procedure. The real reason doesn't really matter....just fun to ruminate on.

[elektrified]

On 9/10/2023 at 12:25 PM, Dante99 said:

 

 

So two say pay 1800 Baht and no visa but Sticky says he got a visa when he paid the 1800.  

 

Are all three correct?

 

Glad I went to Singapore, nothing to pay at immigration and no entry or exit stamp in my passport plus terrific Iranian food.

Number 2 on the list is 100% wrong. I've been 4 times in the last few months. 1800 includes the visa WHICH IS MANDATORY. It was 1500 in December/January and you paid at the bank in the back.  Now you pay the IO directly and it's 1800.