Lao borders (some at least) now requiring overnight stay?

[Tod Daniels]

 

We got quite a few reports yesterday of people up in Chiang Rai trying to bounce out/back at the Chiang Khong/Huay Xai border that they have to spend the night IN Lao before they can come back.
 

It appears at this time it's limited to Chiang Khong; as in there were no reports from Chiang Saen where you cross by boat or Nong Khai & Mukdahan/Savannakhet was stamping people out/back like normal.  

Just a heads up people IF you're trying to bounce out/back to get a new free entry stamp at the Chiang Khong border pack a change of clothes and tooth brush

 

The thing is with those companies they are not like the bounce companies in Bangkok/Pattaya where you pay a price and everything is included getting out or thailand in and out of Cambodia and then back in to thailand.

The bounce companies in Chiang Mai are more like glorified taxi services. They pretty much just take you there and cut you loose, you get across on your own, buy the Lao visa on arrival, pay your way across friendship bridge and back etc.

Anyway just wanted to let the people know up in that area of thailand how the border bouncing is working as of yesterday afternoon.

this is an announcement from one of the border bounce companies in Chiang Mai.

[DrJack54]

Are these reports from folk using border bounce agents (minivan runs) ? 

[Tod Daniels]

35 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

Are these reports from folk using border bounce agents (minivan runs) ? 

As I said, the agencies that bounce people to the borders in Chiang Rai province are not full service providers like the agencies in Bangkok or Pattaya

 

They are just transportation to the border and back. They don't have a prearranged system in place to get people out back like a "real" border bounce company.

 

The report I got from last night was customers of the bounce companies and people who showed up on their own to Chiang Khong all got stuck coming back.

 

Also at this time I don't know which side (Thai or Lao) implemented the policy, but I couldn't fault Lao for wanting people stay at least a night in their country to "spread the wealth" some .

[Tod Daniels]

I can say with 100% accuracy that there was no issue bouncing out and back at Mukdahan/Savannakhet yesterday.

Here's an out in stamp

[Tod Daniels]

Getting a better idea of what it what up there,

It's the THAI side of the bridge that's not letting people back in. 😖

People yesterday stamped out of thailand, went to Lao, bought the visa on arrival, stamped in stamped out, took the bus back across and the thai side turned them back 😮 

They had to go back to lao get their exit stamps cancelled and be let back in.
AND
as much as it pains me to say this, the announcement from the border bounce company is 100% correct, the Thai side is saying you have to stay OUT of thailand two nights

They said they will pick up the "stranded" people tomorrow morning when they're allowed back in


 

[FARANG KIWI]

Would be great to hear of any recent experiences at Chong Mek for Laos same day Border Bounce??

[Cameroni]

On what basis are the Thais requiring this? Will this apply if you fly out to KL? You'd have to stay 2 nights? 

[DrJack54]

Trolling post removed

[Enoon]

7 hours ago, Tod Daniels said:

I can say with 100% accuracy that there was no issue bouncing out and back at Mukdahan/Savannakhet yesterday.

Here's an out in stamp

 

Was it not part of the 60 day VE deal announcement that a person on out/in trip would have to spend one day out of the country before returning?

 

Isn't having one border control not bothering and another demanding 2 days out sort of "normal" for Thailand?

 

 

[Jack1988]

nothing new for me, thai style. They are very bipolar, i wouldn't even be surprised if they might won't to stamp the 60 days after 2 nights out of the country lol. They wake up and change the rules all the time.. Why? Why all this thai drama If they need more tourist here?

[Jack1988]

I don't feel welcome here when i start to see all this

[herfiehandbag]

12 minutes ago, Jack1988 said:

Why all this thai drama If they need more tourist here?

One might consider that people doing "border bounces" every 60 days are not really tourists?

[Pattaya57]

4 minutes ago, herfiehandbag said:

One might consider that people doing "border bounces" every 60 days are not really tourists?

It's actually 90 days back to back with the easy 30 day extension

 

Having to spend 2 days out of Thailand between 90 day stays is hardly something to cry over

 

[herfiehandbag]

Just now, Pattaya57 said:

It's actually 90 days back to back with the easy 30 day extension

Indeed, even less "touristy"!

[Jack1988]

44 minutes ago, herfiehandbag said:

One might consider that people doing "border bounces" every 60 days are not really tourists?

then why they give this 60 days stamps? 

[Rob Browder]

4 hours ago, herfiehandbag said:

One might consider that people doing "border bounces" every 60 days are not really tourists?

If they are not working here illegally, and spending their money here, they should be welcomed. 

 

Note that most of the ones who ARE working illegally are from neighboring countries, and don't have these problems.  There was never a "2x per-year" rule for them.

 

I'm waiting to find out there is an agent-fix coming for that entry-point - a way to force the shuttle-vans to charge more for the extra-fee, then pass along the loot, like is done now with the vans to Cambodia.

[NanLaew]

10 hours ago, herfiehandbag said:

One might consider that people doing "border bounces" every 60 days are not really tourists?

 

Oh no! Please say it isn't so!

[herfiehandbag]

6 hours ago, Rob Browder said:

If they are not working here illegally, and spending their money here, they should be welcomed. 

 

Note that most of the ones who ARE working illegally are from neighboring countries, and don't have these problems.  There was never a "2x per-year" rule for them.

 

I'm waiting to find out there is an agent-fix coming for that entry-point - a way to force the shuttle-vans to charge more for the extra-fee, then pass along the loot, like is done now with the vans to Cambodia.

That was my first reaction as well - the closure of the border crossings into Burma will have led to some deep thinking in the agent industry in Chiang Mai!

[worldtraveler3]

I don't have any issue with this as long as I'm permitted to do tourist visa plus extension leave for two months and do it again.

[Tod Daniels]

Now getting word from border bounce companies up there saying BOTH land borders in Chiang Rai province are requiring people stay out of thailand Chiang Saen says overnight and Chiang Khong says 2 nights out 😮 

 

They are saying it's an order from the immigration dept

 

Sorry to have posted sketchy info.

If you're up in the Northwest of Thailand and need to bounce you should plan on being IN Lao a day or two.

At this time NO other land borders are are affected...

[racket]

This should be against international law in my opinion. No one should be forced to stay in a country for 1-2 days against their will. 

 

Hopefully Myanmar opens their border soon.

[Pattaya57]

16 minutes ago, racket said:

This should be against international law in my opinion. No one should be forced to stay in a country for 1-2 days against their will.

 

Self entitled much as you are way over the top thinking this is against human rights 😆 

[ah you edited your post deleting all the human rights violations they were committing]

 

No-one is forcing anyone to cross into Laos and return to Thailand at that border so if you don't like the 2 days out of Thailand rule then just choose to go somewhere else

[racket]

13 minutes ago, Pattaya57 said:

 

Self entitled much as you are way over the top thinking this is against human rights 😆 

[ah you edited your post deleting all the human rights violations they were committing]

 

No-one is forcing anyone to cross into Laos and return to Thailand at that border so if you don't like the 2 days out of Thailand rule then just choose to go somewhere else

 

I guess they weren’t informed about it before entering Laos. I agree, if people aren’t happy with the new two-day rules, they can choose another border-run destination. I removed that section as it seemed off-topic.

[Caldera]

1 hour ago, racket said:

This should be against international law in my opinion. No one should be forced to stay in a country for 1-2 days against their will. 

 

Hopefully Myanmar opens their border soon.

 

To be clear, nobody forces you to stay in Laos. Thai immigration at this particular checkpoint just doesn't let you back into Thailand right away.

 

You are free to head to the airport in Vientiane or Luang Phabang instead to fly wherever you'd like without delay. You're also free to travel to Cambodia or Vietnam overland. Heck, you could probably even just travel to another land border with Thailand and get admitted there.

[Saigon]

1 hour ago, racket said:

This should be against international law in my opinion. No one should be forced to stay in a country for 1-2 days against their will. 

 

Whether or not to be allowed to enter / re-enter the Kingdom is at the discretion of the IOs.

[Saigon]

4 hours ago, Tod Daniels said:

Now getting word from border bounce companies up there saying BOTH land borders in Chiang Rai province are requiring people stay out of thailand Chiang Saen says overnight and Chiang Khong says 2 nights out 😮 

 

They are saying it's an order from the immigration dept

 

Sorry to have posted sketchy info.

If you're up in the Northwest of Thailand and need to bounce you should plan on being IN Lao a day or two.

At this time NO other land borders are are affected...

 

ubonjoe would often advise us to stay out of Thailand for a night or two before coming back to the Kingdom from the border bounce to stay on the safe side.

[racket]

3 hours ago, Saigon said:

 

Whether or not to be allowed to enter / re-enter the Kingdom is at the discretion of the IOs.

 

That’s true, but it’s a bit unclear which side of the IO is enforcing these rules. My initial thought was that the Laos IO wouldn’t stamp them out unless they stayed in the country for two days. If it’s the Thai IO, that’s a different situation, but it seems odd since Laos would be the only one benefiting from retaining the tourists. That’s why I find it strange to force people to stay.

[Maestro]

Removed an off-topic post and the replies to it.

[Maestro]

10 hours ago, Tod Daniels said:

Now getting word from border bounce companies up there saying BOTH land borders in Chiang Rai province are requiring people stay out of thailand Chiang Saen says overnight and Chiang Khong says 2 nights out 😮 

 

They are saying it's an order from the immigration dept

…

 

How exactly does this work? Does the border immigration official say "don't come back earlier than in two days" (Chiang Khong) or "come back tomorrow" (Chiang Saen) without putting a stamp refusing entry into the passport?

[Maestro]

On 8/24/2024 at 11:44 AM, Enoon said:

Was it not part of the 60 day VE deal announcement that a person on out/in trip would have to spend one day out of the country before returning?...

 

It is not in the Ministerial announcement published in the Royal Gazette.

 

Someone from the Consular Department of the Ministry of the Interior may have mentioned it in an interview.