Vientiane Laos for Thai Visa

[biggle]

When i was in phillipines last year i tried to obtain a visa from the Thai consulate , but they said no , so i emailed the last place that i had one ( Hull ) and asked them what i should do , they said it was perfectly OK for me to fedex it to somebody in UK who would pass it on to them , as long as i had already been stamped out of thailand.

Edited January 26, 2009 by biggle

[tropo]

You usually don't queue in Penang, you use an agent because the embassy is too far from the city center.

Penang is quite boring whereas spending some time in Vientiane is nice.

Having been to both several times, if both issued double entry TV's Penang would be my first choice without a doubt. There's far more to do and there's no necessity to go to the consulate. I don't see how you can find Penang boring. Another advantage is free entry into Penang and a cheap flight which brings you right there.

[Maestro]

In your previous reply you stated in point 9:

"The Thai immigration officer considers your visa to be invalid, deletes it, and gives you only a visa-exempt entry stamp with permission to stay for 15 days. Nothing illegal."

Why do you think the Thai immigration officer would consider a legally obtained visa to be invalid when he arrives at the border?

Because they can.

At that land border, the immigration officials are so used to seeing travellers return with a fresh visa issued at the Thai consulate in Vientiane that a visa from an honorary consulate, in another country, will stick out like a sore thumb and the officer will have a closer look at the passport, see that the passport holder was without a doubt in Laos on the date it was issued, and consider it invalid.

But let’s wait and hear from somebody who got this kind of visa through an agent in Vientiane, shall we?

--

Maestro

[Hawkup2000]

Just back as well. A few reflections; there is still a visa fee. The new place have queuenumbers now so it is easy to still down and relax and wait for your turn. The golden days of queuejumping is finally over in Vientiane ! I also saw a note that most Africans now have to apply for visa in their homecountries, so if I compare to last year I say there were much less people applying for visas this year.

[ubonjoe]

Just back as well. A few reflections; there is still a visa fee. The new place have queuenumbers now so it is easy to still down and relax and wait for your turn. The golden days of queuejumping is finally over in Vientiane ! I also saw a note that most Africans now have to apply for visa in their homecountries, so if I compare to last year I say there were much less people applying for visas this year.

Thanks for the report.

Good news that they have their number system going.

[fozzy58uk]

The news about the queue numbering system is great. I was so pissed off with the length of the wait the last couple of times that I was considering going to Cambodia even if i could only get a single entry. If the queue numbering system works we'll be able to take our number and chill till it's our turn. If only we could get a cheap flight to Vientiane things would be perfect.

[Bayoke]

I am travelling to Vientiane with my thai girlfriend next month. Just wondering does she need a Laos visa also? She has a passport but is it better to use only ID-card. We are planning to stay there about 4 days.

[ubonjoe]

I am travelling to Vientiane with my thai girlfriend next month. Just wondering does she need a Laos visa also? She has a passport but is it better to use only ID-card. We are planning to stay there about 4 days.

She will get a 30 day entry using her passport and it is free.

[Bayoke]

I am travelling to Vientiane with my thai girlfriend next month. Just wondering does she need a Laos visa also? She has a passport but is it better to use only ID-card. We are planning to stay there about 4 days.

She will get a 30 day entry using her passport and it is free.

Thank you ubonjoe.

[ubonjoe]

The news about the queue numbering system is great. I was so pissed off with the length of the wait the last couple of times that I was considering going to Cambodia even if i could only get a single entry. If the queue numbering system works we'll be able to take our number and chill till it's our turn. If only we could get a cheap flight to Vientiane things would be perfect.

Flying to Udon is the next best thing. If you get your tickets ahead of time it's not very expensive and is better than that long bus or train ride.

[brewsterbudgen]

I am travelling to Vientiane with my thai girlfriend next month. Just wondering does she need a Laos visa also? She has a passport but is it better to use only ID-card. We are planning to stay there about 4 days.

Make sure she takes her passport. Thais without passports need to have a permit to enter Laos, and this only gives them 3 days (2 nights) and is restricted to Vientiane. The permit has to be obtained in Nong Khai - possibly elsewhere as well, but NOT at border itself. A photo is required for the permit although a photocopy of their ID photo is OK. There are plenty of helpful agents near the border who will sort it all for you, for a fee.

Edited January 27, 2009 by brewsterbudgen

[Bayoke]

Ok. Thanks for this information. I was reading some old topics where someone suggested to use ID-Card instead of passport. That's why i was confused what is the situation at the moment.

[ubonjoe]

The passport is best way.

It can be done with an ID card.

[tropo]

In your previous reply you stated in point 9:

"The Thai immigration officer considers your visa to be invalid, deletes it, and gives you only a visa-exempt entry stamp with permission to stay for 15 days. Nothing illegal."

Why do you think the Thai immigration officer would consider a legally obtained visa to be invalid when he arrives at the border?

Because they can.

At that land border, the immigration officials are so used to seeing travellers return with a fresh visa issued at the Thai consulate in Vientiane that a visa from an honorary consulate, in another country, will stick out like a sore thumb and the officer will have a closer look at the passport, see that the passport holder was without a doubt in Laos on the date it was issued, and consider it invalid.

But let’s wait and hear from somebody who got this kind of visa through an agent in Vientiane, shall we?

--

Maestro

Upon further consulation with the person who mentioned this 30k visa deal, it appears that these one year multiple entry visas are issued by the consulate in Vientiane. So apart from the high cost it could be worth a look. I couldn't say whether they are non-O's or non-B's at this stage, but I shall definitely find out soon.

[tropo]

Just back as well. A few reflections; there is still a visa fee. The new place have queuenumbers now so it is easy to still down and relax and wait for your turn. The golden days of queuejumping is finally over in Vientiane ! I also saw a note that most Africans now have to apply for visa in their homecountries, so if I compare to last year I say there were much less people applying for visas this year.

What about the queue jumping before they open the gates to issue a ticket?

[tropo]

I am travelling to Vientiane with my thai girlfriend next month. Just wondering does she need a Laos visa also? She has a passport but is it better to use only ID-card. We are planning to stay there about 4 days.

Make sure she takes her passport. Thais without passports need to have a permit to enter Laos, and this only gives them 3 days (2 nights) and is restricted to Vientiane. The permit has to be obtained in Nong Khai - possibly elsewhere as well, but NOT at border itself. A photo is required for the permit although a photocopy of their ID photo is OK. There are plenty of helpful agents near the border who will sort it all for you, for a fee.

Just a word of caution here. If she arrives later than 6pm she cannot get her permit until the next day. A friend of mine was stuck in Nong Khai because of this.

[Maestro]

Yes, a double-entry tourist visa, valid for travel to Thailand within 30 days from the date of issue of the visa.

Vientienne was issuing 3 month tourist visa,s …

Oops. Of course, it is 3 months. Don’t know where my head was when I wrote that. Thank you for correcting it.

--

Maestro

[Hawkup2000]

What about the queue jumping before they open the gates to issue a ticket?

I only arrived before opening the second day (pickup day). Then there was a female employee from the consulate standing outside checking that there were no queue jumping.

[tropo]

What about the queue jumping before they open the gates to issue a ticket?

I only arrived before opening the second day (pickup day). Then there was a female employee from the consulate standing outside checking that there were no queue jumping.

That's very good news! Queue jumping gets me very worked up.

[ArnoJaco]

Hi,

I just got back from my trip to Vientiane and I thought some readers might be interested in how I fared.

The good news is I received a double entry tourist visa without any problems.

I live near Surin so I bussed it to Korat, up to Udon, another bus to Nong Khai, spent the night there and the next morning touk-touked it to the border.

Just before reaching the border my touk-touk stopped at what appeared to be a road side food stand but turned out to be the "Miracle Travel Agency". This caused the hairs on my neck to stand up and everything cried out "rip off, rip off!!!"... I was addressed by a guy from Manchester, UK asking me whether I had a visa for Laos. I did not and he told me they could help me...

Again, I did not want to be ripped off, but against all better judgment I asked for the price and before I knew if (still against the aforementioned better judgment) I agreed to pay 2000 baht for their services. I mentioned that the Laos visa was only 1500 as far as I knew but I was told that they would drive me there and somebody would be helping me to get there...

So, Stephen, the guy from Manchester (who, by the way, got his money stolen by a girlfriend in the Philippines and is now trying to earn his passage back home), dutifully started filling out my Laos entry/exit card and made me sign the Laos visa application which he had filled out for me. For some reason I was expecting the actual visa for Laos and not just the visa application. I felt I could have done this by myself... but oh well... in for a penny, in for a pound I guess...

Another lady in the travel agency sort of yelled from the back, "what kind of visa do you want?" I asked her "for Laos or for Thailand..."... "for Thailand"... I mentioned double entry and that was that...

I was still harboring thoughts of rip off, and "how can you be this stupid", etc, etc... but what actually happened is the following:

Miracle Travel Agency filled out my Laos visa application AND my Thai visa application (with the required photo's and photocopies glued and stapled together).

Then they handed me 36 USD for the Laos visa and one of their guys accompanied me by touk-touk to the border point, told me where to get in line... , he waited for me on the other end... bought the ticket for the bus across the Friendship bridge... once across the bridge he stood in line to get my Laos visa (asked me for the 36 USD they'd given me)... he got the visa and then we walked straight through... (no need to get a stamp in the passport once you get the visa on arrival) and then as a final courtesy the same Miracle man walked off, got a car and drove us all the way to Vientiane, asked me where I wanted to go and dropped me off exactly where I wanted to be... (Well worth the additional 500 baht I paid, in my humble opinion, but this was not all...)

The next morning I was at the embassy around 6:45 and I was the second in line. By 7:00 the line stretched to about 30 people, 100 people by 7:30 and by the time the clock struck 8:30 I'd say there were around 250 to 300 people waiting in line.

While we were waiting, a group of Laotians (is that the correct term?) were standing at the gate. They had obviously done this before... There is a large gate and a small gate next to it on the right. We were all in line at the small gate, the Laotians were all at the big gate... You can hear it coming a mile away can't you

Around 8:40 an official from the Thai embassy walks up to the gate, that's right, the big gate and our dear Laotian friends grabbed the first few numbers... I was second in "our" line and I ended up with number 9... some people were grumbling about fairness and "why do they get the first numbers"... etc... To be honest, I did not pay much attention to it as I was inside and that's all I really cared about...

Once you get a number you go sit down and they start calling out the numbers. Here a special thanks goes out again to the men & women from the Miracle Travel Agency :-) as they had done all the work for me. I had no more forms to fill out. I just sat down and three minutes later my number was called. I handed over my passport together with the forms and the photocopies and I was told "to go pay inside" meaning inside the main building.

Once there I had to wait another 10 to 15 minutes and my number was called. I paid 2000 baht and that was it.

I had read earlier on TV that certain countries (Austria, Belgium, UK, USA, Holland, ... these are the countries I can remember) were "requested" to apply for a visa in their own country. I am Belgian, so when I was asked to pay 2000 baht I was actually quite happy as it meant I would get a double entry.

Anyways, the first stage behind me, I had to come back the next day to pick up the visa.

I got there early again and I started chatting with the Laotians at the gate (the same guys who were there the day before... and who are more than likely there now ). There were some questions about agents in a previous post so I will explain here what I found out.

As far as I can gather the services they offer vary from:

- provide you with the visa application form so you can fill that out before you go inside (40 or 50 baht)

- stand in line for you and get a "lucky number" as they called it. This means they stand in line, get a number for you and you can just saunter up by the time the doors actually open meaning you don't stand in line like everybody else. They give you the number they got for you and you can be certain your number will be called as one of the first numbers. (Bear in mind you will hear some grumbling (rightfully so I believe) from people who HAVE been standing in line for the past 2 hours) I believe the charge for this was 200 or 300 baht.

- go into the embassy and actually get your visa for you. (Remember they have lucky numbers so you will not have to wait long. You hand over the receipt the embassy gave you the day before and about 10 minutes after the gates open, they come out with you visa) This service costs 300 baht

- they will go through the whole procedure for you, i.e. meet you at your hotel, pick up your passport, fill out the visa application form, stand in line, pay and pick up your passport with visa the next day. For this they charge 5000 baht.

PLEASE NOTE I AM WRITING THIS FROM MEMORY. PLEASE DO NOT QUOTE ME ON THE COST, OR ANYTHING ELSE FOR THAT MATTER. I am NOT working with them and I am not getting anything out of it. This is just what I learnt while standing in line and waiting.

Some people asked for a name and a number in earlier posts on TV, so here it is: Mr. OUN and his number is +856-20-567 98 10.

Mr. Oun is a young, somewhat heavy set, short haired guy and he certainly seemed to know what he was doing, working with his brother. Both of them nice guys, no feelings of dealing with "gangsters who are out to get you".

They are of course no officials from the Thai embassy and I have no idea about the legality of what they are doing.

I certainly do not vouch for them, nor do I work with them or get any commission from them in whatever manner, shape or form. I want to make this point absolutely clear. I am simply writing this down in reply to a number of posts I read before I myself set off to Vientiane and in answer to some of the questions I myself and other TV members asked.

My personal opinion is that I may well give Mr. Oun a call next time I'm in Vientiane and I have to go through all of it again. Anyways, my next time should not be for another six months (and that will be soon enough) so I'll cross that (Friendship) bridge when I get there.

I hope this is helpful in some way if you're on your way up there.

Good luck!

A.

[JimmyTheMook]

Interesting , have heard about buying the lucky numbers b4 as that sure would beat standing in line for hours for the matter of a few bucks.

[tranquillize]

I guess the "Free Thai Visas" rule hasn't come into effect yet. It will be interesting to see if 2X TV's will be free...

[tropo]

I guess the "Free Thai Visas" rule hasn't come into effect yet. It will be interesting to see if 2X TV's will be free...

I wouldn't hold your breath on that one.

[ubonjoe]

I guess the "Free Thai Visas" rule hasn't come into effect yet. It will be interesting to see if 2X TV's will be free...

I wouldn't hold your breath on that one.

The free visas was mentioned in an article yesterday on the Nation website about the elite card. They are still discussing it at the cabnet level.

So you are right don't hold your breath.

[eddiemonster]

ArnoJaco

Thanks for a great report

[a_classic_cigar]

Hi,

I just got back from my trip to Vientiane and I thought some readers might be interested in how I fared.

The good news is I received a double entry tourist visa without any problems.

A.

Thanks A - Any suggestions on transport to their (air, bus, walk (lol) )?

Hotel recommendations - modest - safe ?

PM me if you can...cheers!

Chris

[ubonjoe]

Hi,

I just got back from my trip to Vientiane and I thought some readers might be interested in how I fared.

The good news is I received a double entry tourist visa without any problems.

A.

Thanks A - Any suggestions on transport to their (air, bus, walk (lol) )?

Hotel recommendations - modest - safe ?

PM me if you can...cheers!

Chris

He traveled from Surin.

From Bangkok you can go by bus from Morchit or train to Nong Kai.

You can fly to Udon Thani and take a van (limo service at airport) to the bridge in Nong Kai.

Lots of info in the previous pages of this topic.

[a_classic_cigar]

Hi,

I just got back from my trip to Vientiane and I thought some readers might be interested in how I fared.

The good news is I received a double entry tourist visa without any problems.

A.

Thanks A - Any suggestions on transport to their (air, bus, walk (lol) )?

Hotel recommendations - modest - safe ?

PM me if you can...cheers!

Chris

He traveled from Surin.

From Bangkok you can go by bus from Morchit or train to Nong Kai.

You can fly to Udon Thani and take a van (limo service at airport) to the bridge in Nong Kai.

Lots of info in the previous pages of this topic.

Cheers - sorry for adding repeat questions...trying to do this, prep for the ride to Lopburi and planning next weeks executive meetings... (lol) for work!

Chris

[ArnoJaco]

Hi,

I just got back from my trip to Vientiane and I thought some readers might be interested in how I fared.

The good news is I received a double entry tourist visa without any problems.

A.

Thanks A - Any suggestions on transport to their (air, bus, walk (lol) )?

Hotel recommendations - modest - safe ?

PM me if you can...cheers!

Chris

He traveled from Surin.

From Bangkok you can go by bus from Morchit or train to Nong Kai.

You can fly to Udon Thani and take a van (limo service at airport) to the bridge in Nong Kai.

Lots of info in the previous pages of this topic.

Cheers - sorry for adding repeat questions...trying to do this, prep for the ride to Lopburi and planning next weeks executive meetings... (lol) for work!

Chris

Hi Chris,

I'm afraid I cannot help you with any recommendations for hotels as I stayed with a friend.

As for safe, I really doubt there is anything to worry about.

A.

[parryhandy]

Just done the trip and will add that whilst having a cigarette in the smoking area in the consulate , the Thai man who seemed to be in charge was asking me and a few others there for feedback.Very nice man genuinely interested in our experience of the service.

He said later the numbering will become electronic i.e. ticket machine and displays the same as banks and this comes from Bangkok and is quite expensive. I said it would be nice if there was a drinks machine for coffee , tea while we wait and he answered that they are not allowed to do that.