Visa run to Chom Chong question

[speerbob]

Hi,

I am a US and Thai citizen traveling on a USA passport.  I have a 90 days visa for Thailand now but will be staying in Thailand over 90 days so I need to cross a border to get my passport re-stamped to extend my time in Thailand.  So, I would like to cross at Chom Chong/O-Smach land border and visit O-Smach and then go back into Thailand the same day.  Can I do this without getting a Cambodian visa here in the USA?  Can I get one at the border on my USA passport?  I know people do visa runs all the time to the border crossing at Chom Chong but then I saw Cambodia requires a visa, so I'm confused.  Please help.  Thank you, Tanya
 

[Caldera]

As a US citizen, you can buy a Cambodian visa on arrival at the border. 

 

But as a Thai citizen, why do a border run? You can get an extension at your local immigration office based on being Thai.

[DrJack54]

6 hours ago, speerbob said:

I am a US and Thai citizen traveling on a USA passport. 

You don't have a Thai passport? 

As for border run here is thread re Chom Chong.

https://aseannow.com/topic/1297703-border-run-at-chong-chomo-smach-surin/

[Tod Daniels]

9 hours ago, speerbob said:

I'm confused.  Please help

you are indeed at least a little mixed up 😉 
 

YES you can bounce out and back to get a 60 day free entry stamp at that border, yes you can do an out/in without issue at that border (meaning you don't need to stay IN cambodia overnight)

As people said you will BUY a visa on arrival to cambodia when you get to the border, they'll put it in your passport, mark it used, then stamp you in to cambodia, you turn around, stamp out and come right back to thailand  

[CMBob]

Rather puzzling.  Why OP didn't enter on his Thai passport (which, of course, would allow him to stay as long as he wants with no reporting requirements) is beyond me.

And now he's talking about a visa run?  Just leave and re-enter with your Thai passport!

(I presume OP has a Thai passport given he says he is a Thai citizen; if he doesn't, go get one)

[buick]

i've crossed their several times, i've got friends in Buriram and i've done a couple true border bounces (to get new visa exempt) plus a couple visits just for the casino (on a Non-O retirement).  a couple times, i had to pay the Cambo folks a fee to come/go same day.  i think it was 300thb.  they asked how long i was staying when i got the Cambo visa.  it didn't happen every time, i'd guess it was 2 out of 5.  be it a scam or not, i wasn't going to make a fuss about it.

[Scouse123]

1 hour ago, CMBob said:

Rather puzzling.  Why OP didn't enter on his Thai passport (which, of course, would allow him to stay as long as he wants with no reporting requirements) is beyond me.

And now he's talking about a visa run?  Just leave and re-enter with your Thai passport!

(I presume OP has a Thai passport given he says he is a Thai citizen; if he doesn't, go get one)

 

Because he probably doesn't have one and he stressed he is travelling on a US passport.

[Scouse123]

39 minutes ago, buick said:

i've crossed their several times, i've got friends in Buriram and i've done a couple true border bounces (to get new visa exempt) plus a couple visits just for the casino (on a Non-O retirement).  a couple times, i had to pay the Cambo folks a fee to come/go same day.  i think it was 300thb.  they asked how long i was staying when i got the Cambo visa.  it didn't happen every time, i'd guess it was 2 out of 5.  be it a scam or not, i wasn't going to make a fuss about it.

 

It's a good border to go in and out of, TBH.

 

Much better than Poipet.

[Andycoops]

19 hours ago, buick said:

i've crossed their several times, i've got friends in Buriram and i've done a couple true border bounces (to get new visa exempt) plus a couple visits just for the casino (on a Non-O retirement).  a couple times, i had to pay the Cambo folks a fee to come/go same day.  i think it was 300thb.  they asked how long i was staying when i got the Cambo visa.  it didn't happen every time, i'd guess it was 2 out of 5.  be it a scam or not, i wasn't going to make a fuss about it.

The last time I heard they wanted 300 baht for same day bounce.

[Tod Daniels]

49 minutes ago, Andycoops said:

The last time I heard they wanted 300 baht for same day bounce.

yep totally common request 🙂

[speerbob]

Hi, Thank you everyone for your responses.

 

I just wanted to expand on my question and answer some of yours.  My wife has a US and Thai passport.  But a US citizen must use the US passport for the whole trip from the USA.  A US citizen cannot enter or leave the USA on a foreign passport.  Also, they must use the US passport for the whole trip by US law.  US immigration will look for the stamps from the other countries on the trip.  So she must travel on her US passport to Thailand and back.  I did confirm this with the US passport office.

 

Right now she has a 90 day O visa but she plans to stay 118 days.  So, if I understand right.  Before the 90 days is up she can cross the border at Chom Chong into Cambodia and for a fee get the Cambodia entry stamp and then cross right back into Thailand and she will have another 60 days as a tourist in Thailand.  Does this all sound right?

 

Someone mentioned getting an extension to her O visa at a local immigration office.  Is that actually doable with an O visa?  From what I think I understand on the Thailand Embassy Washington DC website (which could be more informative, but it's not), that may not be the case.  Anyone know of someone getting an extension at the Burrium Immigration office to an O visa?

 

FYI, when we sent in for the O Visa we did not know that Thailand had changed the entry from 30 days to 60 days with a possible 30 day extension.  

 

Thank you, BOB

[speerbob]

Hi, Can a Thai citizen enter Cambodia to go to the casino with just a Thai ID?  My wife may want to take some Thai friends with her.  Thanks,  BOB

[Scouse123]

16 hours ago, speerbob said:

Hi, Can a Thai citizen enter Cambodia to go to the casino with just a Thai ID?  My wife may want to take some Thai friends with her.  Thanks,  BOB

 

YES

[Tod Daniels]

On 8/15/2024 at 12:49 AM, speerbob said:

But a US citizen must use the US passport for the whole trip from the USA.  A US citizen cannot enter or leave the USA on a foreign passport.  Also, they must use the US passport for the whole trip by US law.  US immigration will look for the stamps from the other countries on the trip.  So she must travel on her US passport to Thailand and back.  I did confirm this with the US passport office.

That is 100% total b/s, she shows her US passport to get OUT of the US and she could have shown her thai passport to get IN to thailand no issue at all. THOUSANDS of thaiz who hold US nationality do that every time they come to thailand  They don't look for stamps from other countries when she comes back to the US, they KNOW she's thai and holds a thai passport

 

On 8/15/2024 at 12:49 AM, speerbob said:

Right now she has a 90 day O visa but she plans to stay 118 days.  So, if I understand right.  Before the 90 days is up she can cross the border at Chom Chong into Cambodia and for a fee get the Cambodia entry stamp and then cross right back into Thailand and she will have another 60 days as a tourist in Thailand. 

  No she shouldn't do that at all really There's no need to bounce her out and back

 

On 8/15/2024 at 12:49 AM, speerbob said:

Someone mentioned getting an extension to her O visa at a local immigration office.  Is that actually doable with an O visa?

That's exactly what she should do, GO to the immigration office in the area where you live, show her thai passport, thai i/d and house book listing and get a one year extension for 1900baht

It's the easiest extension the immigration office issues for ANY reason.

Also you can get a 60 day "visit thai family" extension at the immigration office too for 1900baht as well  

[gdaf123]

My wife and daughter have dual Thai/US citizenship and have always booked trips w/ the US passport and then used their Thai passports at Immigration to enter/leave the country.  We have never had any issue upon re-entry into the States.  The only thing is they need to show both passports when getting their boarding passes at Swampy (they check entry stamps for whatever reason).  They had to show their Thai passports once while traveling to LOS when asked about onward travel.

 

For international travel around Asia they just use their Thai passports.

 

Also, for what it's worth, my wife has her maiden name on her Thai passport and married last name on her US passport, and that's never been a problem either.  Just make sure the name on the flight booking matches whichever passport is used.

Edited August 17 by gdaf123

[buick]

On 8/12/2024 at 11:56 PM, Scouse123 said:

 

It's a good border to go in and out of, TBH.

 

Much better than Poipet.

i agree.  real easy.  no lines, no hassles.