Penang Visa Run

[mads]

Hi

Im flying to penang on monday 8th october. I will be leaving Thailand at 725 am and arrive at Penang 1005 am.

Do I have enough time to get to the embassy and apply for a tourist visa the same day ?

[ovenman]

Do I have enough time to get to the embassy and apply for a tourist visa the same day?

You should be fine if you take a taxi from the airport direct to the Thai consulate.

[lopburi3]

Probably is the key word - you can not control airline delays.

[digitalchromakey]

Hi

Im flying to penang on monday 8th october. I will be leaving Thailand at 725 am and arrive at Penang 1005 am.

Do I have enough time to get to the embassy and apply for a tourist visa the same day ?

Yes (assuming you arrive at the scheduled time) Get a taxi direct to the Thai Consulate. It should take less than an hour and you have until 12:00 to apply.

Note, that the consulate there is in a residential area, there are no ATMs, business centres or shops nearby. So make sure you have the cash you need for the visa in Malysian Ringit and everything else you need.

[mads]

Thanks for your help.

[sniffdog]

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Probably is the key word - you can not control airline delays.

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Correct, another term comes to mind is screwed .... if you have your flight booked the next day at 5:00 pm.

If your flight is delayed and you won't make it to the consulate on time, there are two options:

- You leave the next day on your flight as booked without a TR (For some not an option as they go to Penang

because the VOA has been done 3 times)

- You book a new ticket and hope that a flight is available soon. This will come at a cost as rates on

Air Asia are high close to the date of flying out. You might think about rebooking, but that's not an

option as you're closer than 48 hours before departure.

On the up side though, I flew that flight a couple of times and it was never late. And Air Asia's ontime

performance is 80-85% nowadays.

Edited October 4, 2007 by sniffdog

[Fred Sanford]

It's always a risk but seems to work out most of the time

[tropo]

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Probably is the key word - you can not control airline delays.

=================================================================

Correct, another term comes to mind is screwed .... if you have your flight booked the next day at 5:00 pm.

If your flight is delayed and you won't make it to the consulate on time, there are two options:

There is another option. Get an agent to arrange your visa.

These agents have some breathing room when making the applications on your behalf. They are well known to the consulate staff and would still be able to process your visa on time even if you arrive a little late due to airline delays.

If you do your visa application personally, it's probably a good idea to allow 2 nights (Mon - Thurs) stay as insurance. If you missed your flight the next day, the cost would be high to book a new return ticket at such short notice and there's no guarantee you'd even be able to get a seat. You CANNOT change a flight within 48 hours...you have to purchase a new ticket.

It's also very important to find out if the consulate is going to be open on the day you arrive. They'll be closed on Malaysian AND Thai public holidays.

Edited October 5, 2007 by tropo

[mattias33]

Agree with tropo. Get a agent. Cost you about 500 baht but for sure he fix it all for you. I used a very helpful and proffesional agent a month ago and if you e-mail him i think it would even be possible that he wait for you in the airport and pick up all your things there. You go to the restaurant and he come back around 4 in the afternoon.

His name is Eddy chia

If you want i can pm his mobile-nr to you.

Cheers

[Fred Sanford]

Use NJ Books as your agent. He charges 200 baht and is extremely reliable. He is located on Chulia St

[tropo]

Use NJ Books as your agent. He charges 200 baht and is extremely reliable. He is located on Chulia St

Fred, I was thinking of giving them a go this time around just to compare.

How much do they charge for transport from the airport to Chulia Street?

[mel2surf]

First timer flying to PEN Mon. AM (Oct.8)

for TV. I bring passport,2 passport photos,

copy of I-D page and some MYR (ringgit)?

Will try NJ Books or Love Lane Inn (Jimmy)

Do all vendors in Penang accept only ringgit or?

I allowed plenty of time(returning thurs.)

Is this correct?

thx,

mel2surf

[The Professor]

whatever you do, do not change baht to ringget in thailand. you get a crappy rate and there's no need to do it. see my post in other thread for step by step.

[mel2surf]

Cheers guys!

And hopefully these suggestions help out other Penang first timers as well.