Thai Consulate Savannakhet Policy Change

[Tod Daniels]

ATTENTION ALL MEMBERS
 

THAI CONSULATE SAVANNAKHET POLICY CHANGE
 

The thai consulate in Savannakhet Lao will go to online appointment booking only effective June 1st (actually on Tuesday June 4th which is the first day they're open after the holiday).

They will no longer allow walk up service, you have to book an appt to get in the gate.

At this time the appointment booking website is "under construction" but here's the link
Online Appointment Booking Savannakhet

Also their processing time for visas have changed and they have the same processing time as Vientiane.

Apply for a visa and get the passport back two business days after the application (NOT including the day you apply, so what I call 3 day processing)

Examplez;
Apply Monday morning/passport returned Wednesday afternoon  
Apply Thursday morning/ passport returned Monday afternoon
Apply Friday morning/passport returned Tuesday afternoon

[FARANG KIWI]

Thanks for the timely update 🙂

[DrJack54]

Think we all guessed this was inevitable. 

[brianthainess]

4 hours ago, Tod Daniels said:

At this time the appointment booking website is "under construction" but here's the link

Will it work, Thai websites are infamous for difficulties good luck to all, who will need to use it. Time will tell.

[DualSportBiker]

Can't say I won't enjoy an extra day to travel around. Definitely driving across again so I can explore the hinterland :)

[Ben Zioner]

Makes perfect sense doesn't?

[PJ71]

Another PITA.

 

This will just lead to more people leaving and more people overstaying....

Edited May 29 by PJ71

[rbkk]

I was there last Thursday 23rd May. It was crazy busy. I arrived at 8.55am to a huge snaking queue. I was finally seen at 4.55pm and processed by grumpy overworked staff and thankfully given a passport collection ticket number 491 for the next day, Friday. There were at least another 60+ people behind me in the queue. (There were big concerns that with the number of applicants it may be after the weekend before they could process our passports.) They had to abandon the 2 hour window to apply (9am-11am). It rained all day long. Wet travel bags and a sea of umbrellas. The majority of the queue were Myanmar  people escaping from their country via the education visa route. At Thai Immigration, on my return, the next day they had a holding area set up for the "Students". Non-o's were waved up the steps and given a scaled down information form to fill in(Myanmar people were given the full usual form to fill in). No bag checks done to Non-O's to speed up the process. Talking to many of the Myanmar people in the queue it was obvious that these were the highly educated ones. Many had studied overseas to a high level and the level of English was very good. I asked one how had he been allowed out of their country now that I thought there was conscription there. He said he left through the main airport. He said he was lucky. I didn't delve any deeper as to how. A Myanmar humanitarian crisis is happening and Thailand seems to be trying to help as best it can. I applaud the Thai consulate staff for doing their best on a very stressful day.

[Denim]

This will thin out the number of applicants a bit.

 

No longer the stand out place for visa applications if you live in Bangkok or further away.

[PJ71]

34 minutes ago, Denim said:

This will thin out the number of applicants a bit.

 

No longer the stand out place for visa applications if you live in Bangkok or further away.

Exactly, looks like going back to extensions then in my case which is something i'd much rather not deal with.

[Kwaibill]

I enjoyed my stays there when I was doing the routine. An extra couple of days per year would not trouble me. I had a fave restaurant and beer Lao dark is quite drinkable,IMO.

[connda]

Providing superior customer service by making it impossible to get an appointment. 

[Bangkok Barry]

 

I'm old enough to remember when you applied in the morning and collected in the afternoon. Now it takes two days with a possible three-night stay. Another sign of things going backwards.

[transam]

Seems they are going to lose a lot of revenue.........🤔

[tubber]

I haven't been to Savannakhet since before Covid but I can only see this as a good thing? It was a nightmare standing outside in the blazing heat or pissing rain for hours then waiting to see if you could get your application in before they closed. Depends how far apart the appointments are and how many staff they have checking applications they might be able to process quite a lot in a day? If you are on a Non-O Married to a Thai, like I was, you should know roughly when you need to renew and book a reasonable distance in advance.

[Caldera]

The timing might be a bit unfortunate. With the upcoming introduction of 60-day visa exempt stays, the single entry tourist visa could very well become obsolete. Without the tourist visa applicants, the queues should get quite a bit shorter. 

[transam]

Just now, Caldera said:

The timing might be a bit unfortunate. With the upcoming introduction of 60-day visa exempt stays, the single entry tourist visa could very well become obsolete. Without the tourist visa applicants, the queues should get quite a bit shorter. 

Appointments, perhaps no queues.........😉

[sandyf]

9 hours ago, transam said:

Seems they are going to lose a lot of revenue.........🤔

"They" being the locals, the Thai government will collect revenue from wherever and whatever application is made.

[sandyf]

9 hours ago, Bangkok Barry said:

 

I'm old enough to remember when you applied in the morning and collected in the afternoon. Now it takes two days with a possible three-night stay. Another sign of things going backwards.

Just going backwards towards e-visas.

[transam]

7 hours ago, sandyf said:

"They" being the locals, the Thai government will collect revenue from wherever and whatever application is made.

No, visa hunter numbers........😉

The locals will be OK, an extra day of cash from applicants..........

[StayinThailand2much]

23 hours ago, Ben Zioner said:

Makes perfect sense doesn't?

 

The more computerised Thai government offices are, the longer they need to process any applications... Anyway, good for Laos, as visa tourists will spend more money there. 😆 

[StayinThailand2much]

16 hours ago, tubber said:

I haven't been to Savannakhet since before Covid but I can only see this as a good thing? It was a nightmare standing outside in the blazing heat or pissing rain for hours then waiting to see if you could get your application in before they closed. Depends how far apart the appointments are and how many staff they have checking applications they might be able to process quite a lot in a day? If you are on a Non-O Married to a Thai, like I was, you should know roughly when you need to renew and book a reasonable distance in advance.

 

Well, in addition to standing in a queue outside the consulate, you'll now be able to spend extra time to book an appointment on their more or less working website. Okay, perhaps queues will get a bit shorter...

Edited May 30 by StayinThailand2much

[StayinThailand2much]

21 hours ago, Denim said:

This will thin out the number of applicants a bit.

 

No longer the stand out place for visa applications if you live in Bangkok or further away.

 

Wonder, whether they will compensate by raising visa fees by a few 100 percent, like they did at their embassy in NZ... 😆 

[eastbaybob]

Just got back from submitting my application. I wasn’t aware of the change until I got here and fortunately it did not cause a mad scramble of people not wanting to make an appointment.  I showed up at 8:45 this morning and was last in line.  I was still last in line when I made it to the counter 40 minutes later.  I was receipt #30.  Savanakhet for a few days is an OK place.  Yesterday when I got to town there was still a line at 12:30 going out to the sidewalk.

[BritTim]

I have believed for some time that Thailand should open additional consulates in Laos to take the pressure off Vientiane and Savannakhet. Obvious potential locations are Pakse and Luang Prabang.

[sabaijai]

On 5/29/2024 at 4:53 PM, Bangkok Barry said:

 

I'm old enough to remember when you applied in the morning and collected in the afternoon. Now it takes two days with a possible three-night stay. Another sign of things going backwards.

More likely a sign of increased demand for visas.

[sabaijai]

On 5/29/2024 at 7:15 PM, Caldera said:

The timing might be a bit unfortunate. With the upcoming introduction of 60-day visa exempt stays, the single entry tourist visa could very well become obsolete. Without the tourist visa applicants, the queues should get quite a bit shorter. 

Good point.

[ndreamer]

Well looks like I have an extended stay at homebar this week.

[ndreamer]

website is open now, note that it doesn't email so print the page. i was able to get in early. Tuesday.

[sandyf]

On 5/30/2024 at 4:53 AM, transam said:

No, visa hunter numbers........😉

The locals will be OK, an extra day of cash from applicants..........

How many extra days will they get if the number of applicants reduce and use other means to remain in Thailand. One day up and 2 days down.

An increase in extensions would offset the loss of visa revenue.