Friendly Thai Visa vs Bangkok Buddy vs "Tour And Travel"

[linze10]

I did search before posting, I see different opinions about Bangkok Buddy, not much mention of these other two who are all apparently offering the same border runs from Pattaya to Cambodia. Pardon the inquiry but I'm a bit perplexed why there can be so many different opinions. Is the point of a border run to simply bring you to the border in the vans and let you stamp the passport and come back to Patts on the same day?

 

First I'm wondering if this is even possible anymore with all the crack-downs on border hopping?

 

Second I'm wondering how there could possibly be such different opinions unless some are exaggerating? Boggles the mind, they are simply ferrying you to the border or is there some secret entrance they bring you and on occasion the door is locked? If they have a special relationship with the boys in brown how could it be that unpredictable?

 

Cheers

[mstevens]

I used Bangkok Buddy a few times in the past for a border run, to Cambodia and back. Everything worked well. I have never used the other firms so cannot comment on them.

 

Bangkok Buddy also offer a service to get retirement visas where you lodge your passport with them, pay around 30,000 baht and a month or so later you get your passport back. Read reviews about Bangkok Buddy online and some people learned the hard way that this is a seriously bad idea.

[gk10012001]

I used bangkok buddy twice about ten or 11 years ago. Border runs to cambodia, lunch at one of the casinos there.  They were great.  The office manager spoke very good english and I texted her a few times later as I asked for the thai words for a few things.  I can't recall her name.  No idea what is there now.

[Anon B]

Linze10, visa runs are generally pretty safe, but giving your passport and a visa fee is very risky. There are a couple possible reasons for the mixed experiences about Bangkok Buddy...

 

1. She might be busy, careless and just not see the importance of making sure people don't end up on overstay. Some might get lucky and really benefit from her services so not everyone has the same experience with her. 

 

2. She might scam certain people, not everyone, if she thinks they won't do anything  about it such as elderly people, nice guys, etc. In her mind, they're not Thai so it isn't that big of a deal to just keep certain people's visa money and not provide the service. It's known by a lot of people she likes to cut corners. 

 

I'm not sure which reason it really is. All I know is that I had to pay a big fine because of her and got banned from Thailand 😞