My wife and I (both of us are US citizens) will be moving to Chiang Mai on September 15 and wanted to get our 2X tourist visas before we left but we just got our new passports and are up in the boondocks of South Dakota visiting family so we can’t take the chance of not having our passports back if we mail them off. Our question is can we safely plan on flying in and just getting the 30 day entry and then just heading up to Vientiane for our visas? I know it has been mentioned in other threads but does anybody know offhand about how much it should cost my wife and I to make a run to Vientiane from Chiang Mai? Does Vientiane issue the 2X tourist visas or only single? Any advice would be appreciated if it is really a bad idea to plan on this we can drive six hours each way to Denver and spend the two days there to get them here but we really don’t have time and I suspect it is cheaper not to mention more interesting just to head up to Vientiane after we get settled in. Thank you.

My wife and I (both of us are US citizens) will be moving to Chiang Mai on September 15 and wanted to get our 2X tourist visas before we left but we just got our new passports and are up in the boondocks of South Dakota visiting family so we can’t take the chance of not having our passports back if we mail them off. Our question is can we safely plan on flying in and just getting the 30 day entry and then just heading up to Vientiane for our visas? I know it has been mentioned in other threads but does anybody know offhand about how much it should cost my wife and I to make a run to Vientiane from Chiang Mai? Does Vientiane issue the 2X tourist visas or only single? Any advice would be appreciated if it is really a bad idea to plan on this we can drive six hours each way to Denver and spend the two days there to get them here but we really don’t have time and I suspect it is cheaper not to mention more interesting just to head up to Vientiane after we get settled in. Thank you.

To enter Thailand without a visa you will need to be able to produce an onward confirmed air ticket within 30 days of your arrival.

Chiang Mai to Vientiane is not an easy trip, might be easier to consider a direct flight to Kuala Lumpur or Singapore from Chiang Mai

Others will have more up to date info

Good luck

You say you are moving to Chiang Mai. You might want to talk some more about those plans. For how long? On what long term visa type? Or did you mean you only want to spend as long as a double entry tourist visa? In any case if you are flying out of the US without a visa on a one way or a RT that leaves more than 30 days from arrival, you will want to buy an air ticket out of Thailand that leaves within 30 days. Otherwise, you might not even be boarded in the US. The Thai immigration side is less of a worry, they rarely check for air ticket on arrival.

Probably if you stick to the honorary offices and not the consulates, you will get faster turn around. I received a 3x tourist out of Portland and it was maybe 2 day turn plus mail time. I did US Priority Mail and turned them fast. You can even get more insurance of speed and use US Express Mail.