syd barrett Posted December 30, 2008 Share Posted December 30, 2008 Because I am six feet and seven inches tall barefoot, I decided this time to opt for a '5 Star Visa run'. Forum rules forbid me from naming the company I used, but it can be found on Soi 13. A few days before my intended visa-run I visited their makeshift 'Office' outside of their establishment on Soi 13 where a sturdy girl named 'Annie' runs a tight ship with emphasis on required signatures and two photographs and original passport for photocopy and notations. The morning of my Visa Run I arrived early at the pub/bar on Soi 13 in order to enjoy my complimentary breakfast. There were however, several fellow 'Runee's' already seated and tucking in to their full English breakfast fare. On my solitary table was placed a plastic laminated menu card offering three options. I did not memorize the options but they are Full English, followed by a cereal option and a lighter 'egg emphasis' option; probably for the Pattaya bodybuilders. The BBC news was provided on a large flat screen at a sensible volume for the time of day. Eight minutes later my breakfast and tea was served by a not-unattractive girl with short hair and a large chest. The tea provided was a Tetley teabag dangling in scalding hot water. A genuine nice touch was a miniature stainless steel milk jug with real fresh milk which I titrated into my breakfast tea. The breakfast itself was very good. I give it an SB rating of 8.5. I cannot give a lesser score for the fact that only one fried egg and one slice of toast was served up. That would be just and intrusion of my personal gluttony. The weak point was the sausage. (A similar point much discussed by my former girlfriends). The sausage was of poor quality and highly spiced. On a brighter point, the 'Bubble & Squeak' was excellent and the toasted bread was of high quality. We all departed at 0647. A tip here, is to try and secure one of the front two seats on the six-seater minibus. The space in front would be enough to extend the legs fully, recline and sleep. The second row of seats however offer only 37 inches of leg room. (Which is ample for normal-heighted people). There was one toilet stop on the outward journey, totalling eleven minutes. This being enough time to visit the toilet and stock up on confectionery and minerals and ice creams. It was at this toilet stop (2 hours and 13 minutes after departure from Soi 13) that I was beginning to regret refusing the well publicized 'free second cup of tea' at the pub/bar at Soi 13. I had opted for a solitary mug of tea thinking that my bladder must remain unemptied for the duration of the journey; being approximately four hours. We arrived at the border following a total journey time of 3 hours 37 minutes. The driver was fast, but not insane. There are seatbelts provided on the minibus. I recommend that they be used. At the border all formalities were provided, except the actual entry and departure. By this I mean acquisition of the visa, entry stamps in/out of Cambodia were handled by the ground staff. Following the re-entry into Thailand at the border (named Pong Nam Ron) or Baan Laaem there was provided two thermos flasks of hot coffee/tea for the thirsty. Here, there is opportunity to take advantage of the toilet facilities for 3 baht cash. Then as a homeward treat, a full packed lunch was provided on a plastic tray. This consisted of a ham and tomato sandwich: Good quality and not mean on the filling. A Scotch egg which I had not experienced for a decade: Very tasty. A kind of Florida Salad in a plastic dish which tasted much better than it looked. Then a piece of cake, which was sponge and as expected dry. We were provided with a bottle of ice cold water (500ml). The journey back to Pattaya took 4 hours and 2 minutes because we hit traffic. There were movies on show (4 in total) (One shown with Thai-only text and spoken language) which was a nice idea except all Visa-runners were non-Thai! When we arrived back at the pub/bar we had the option of using a free-beer voucher valid for one drink: Chang/Heineken/Tiger. I declined the invitation but completed my appraisal sheet and returned it to the minibus driver post Visa-run with a 100 baht tip. All things considered, a high quality visa run. I recommend this service. Two tips: try to get the front row of seats and don't be afraid to rehydrate, because there is one toilet break on each journey to/from the border. If you need to know the Visa run service it is on Soi 13 and called the SPO****** Bar. (Sorry if this breaks forum rules). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joskydive Posted December 30, 2008 Share Posted December 30, 2008 Been there, done that! Also, been with the other one and they are 1st Class but you have your free cooked lunch back at the pub. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spuey Posted December 30, 2008 Share Posted December 30, 2008 what a great detailed and imformative post this is, everything you need to know, nice one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharecropper Posted December 30, 2008 Share Posted December 30, 2008 Excellent report. Thanks. But on a lighter note, having just watched a UK (and soon to be US) series called Life on Mars, where a copper time travels back to 1973, I am pleased to see time also warps the other way and you got to do this trip in December 2009. I may be contacting you about some sports wagers in the Uk before then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
torrenova Posted December 30, 2008 Share Posted December 30, 2008 To the OP. Did anyone have any issues with an expected 30 days and only getting 15 ? It would be interesting to see how they deal with this and also how it affects business (which will become much less I think). Good report. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
syd barrett Posted December 30, 2008 Author Share Posted December 30, 2008 To the OP.Did anyone have any issues with an expected 30 days and only getting 15 ? It would be interesting to see how they deal with this and also how it affects business (which will become much less I think). Good report. Thanks. No, all of my fellow Visa-run buddies were either 90 day or tourist-visa guys. I must guess that nobody would pay 2,500 baht for 15 days unless really desperate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomBrown Posted December 30, 2008 Share Posted December 30, 2008 what a great detailed and imformative post this is, everything you need to know, nice one Well not everything, didn't include the actual price of this service. I'll assume its ฿2,500 as mentioned in Syd's second post. Regardless, lots of details, thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
syd barrett Posted December 31, 2008 Author Share Posted December 31, 2008 what a great detailed and imformative post this is, everything you need to know, nice one Well not everything, didn't include the actual price of this service. I'll assume its ฿2,500 as mentioned in Syd's second post. Regardless, lots of details, thanks. Yes, the cost was 2,500 Baht. There is a loyalty-card in operation that gives you 500 baht off after two visa runs so if you are a regular visa-runner then the cost might be, in real terms 2,250. That represents good value for a luxury visa run. There are visa runs to the border for 1,800 and 2,000 baht but some of them are very uncomfortable especially for taller people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cejmcq Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 While at this particular border waiting for your documents you can also take advantage of some great deals on alcohol, tobacco and other products at the shops in the no-mans land on the right hand side in back as your entering Cambodia after the wooden bridge. Your allowed to take 2 bottles of wine/spirits but there are local runners that can bring over however much you need. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
visarunner Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 While at this particular border waiting for your documents you can also take advantage of some great deals on alcohol, tobacco and other products at the shops in the no-mans land on the right hand side in back as your entering Cambodia after the wooden bridge. Your allowed to take 2 bottles of wine/spirits but there are local runners that can bring over however much you need. Be careful. Thai Custom knows this trick. They will check the van after you left the area direct at the border. Thgere are 2 checkpoints. They will open the van and search people if they suspect if some person carry over the legal limit. Heavy fines. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
torrenova Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 Fines are 10 times the tax plus confiscation. I have been known to arrange for dozens of bottles to get through but if you had say 10 bottles with Bt500 tax on each, then you'd get hit for 10*500*10 = Bt50,000 ! I guess you could get away with less but not a BiB Bt100 tip ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
syd barrett Posted January 2, 2009 Author Share Posted January 2, 2009 While at this particular border waiting for your documents you can also take advantage of some great deals on alcohol, tobacco and other products at the shops in the no-mans land on the right hand side in back as your entering Cambodia after the wooden bridge. Your allowed to take 2 bottles of wine/spirits but there are local runners that can bring over however much you need. Typically how much is a carton of Marlborough and a litre of Johnnie Walker Black compared to Thailand? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tropo Posted January 2, 2009 Share Posted January 2, 2009 Typically how much is a carton of Marlborough and a litre of Johnnie Walker Black compared to Thailand? You won't be getting real Marlborough and good luck if you can smoke them because a few smoker friends of mine couldn't. I also doubt you'll be getting real whiskey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pattaya_girl Posted January 2, 2009 Share Posted January 2, 2009 I bought a bottle of Johnny Walker Swing Whiskey at the border - tasted more like 100 Pipers to me, never again. The Cigarettes are awful as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
syd barrett Posted January 2, 2009 Author Share Posted January 2, 2009 Typically how much is a carton of Marlborough and a litre of Johnnie Walker Black compared to Thailand? You won't be getting real Marlborough and good luck if you can smoke them because a few smoker friends of mine couldn't. I also doubt you'll be getting real whiskey. I bought a bottle of Johnny Walker Swing Whiskey at the border - tasted more like 100 Pipers to me, never again. The Cigarettes are awful as well. Thanks for the warnings, I'll give the fake goods a miss. If the whiskey is counterfeit then it might well be hazardous to health. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G54 Posted January 2, 2009 Share Posted January 2, 2009 As to the excess for 'duty free', a friend was sold several extra cartons of ciggies. The bus was stopped. He was fined a substantial amount. They even took him to the ATM to withdraw the money with the threat of being interned if he did not pay up there and then. Also delayed quite a long time. He did say, afterwards, he thought the runners selling cheap ciggies were in cahoots with the enforcement agencies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
syd barrett Posted January 4, 2009 Author Share Posted January 4, 2009 As to the excess for 'duty free', a friend was sold several extra cartons of ciggies. The bus was stopped. He was fined a substantial amount. They even took him to the ATM to withdraw the money with the threat of being interned if he did not pay up there and then. Also delayed quite a long time.He did say, afterwards, he thought the runners selling cheap ciggies were in cahoots with the enforcement agencies. Thanks for the heads-up G54! It looks like a scam. It won't be the first time that the Boys in Brown are in cahoots with the devils. Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QED Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 I refuse to buy anything from that border due to an unsmokable pack of cigs I bought there first time (g/f's papa seemed to enjoy them though ) Last time I had some friends ask me to pick up various bottles, so just asked one of the guys on my bus to carry a couple of bottles for me - no problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pattaya46 Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 Your allowed to take 2 bottles of wine/spirits but there are local runners that can bring over however much you need. Last visarun I made, our driver of CambodiaInter warned us that it was no more than ONE pack of cigarettes and ONE bottle of alcohol by person. He said : no more bottles than passengers in the minibus ! So not sure what are the exact rules, but ONE is a good way to avoid problems... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deejah Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 inter for 1800 not vip but has nice big seats can sit in front next to driver very comfortable when he is not on his mobile wasnt even a full van found it reading the forums at bam laem they sell pills too the viagras might be copies as they don't include a package insert, 4 pills 100 baht, they look real and are well packaged the celexas did have a package insert, might be real, dirt cheap 4 for 60 baht can get kamagra dirt cheap 60 baht or less all prices negotiable also have diazapam, not sure of the quality its a shame about the 15 days only now i have not been keeping up with this news issue but i imagine it is hitting the visa run companies hard all the best Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
syd barrett Posted January 9, 2009 Author Share Posted January 9, 2009 at bam laem they sell pills toothe viagras might be copies as they don't include a package insert, 4 pills 100 baht, they look real and are well packaged the celexas did have a package insert, might be real, dirt cheap 4 for 60 baht can get kamagra dirt cheap 60 baht or less all prices negotiable also have diazapam, not sure of the quality its a shame about the 15 days only now i have not been keeping up with this news issue but i imagine it is hitting the visa run companies hard I would imagine that the erection-drugs sold at the border are copies. Considering the side-effects of these drugs on the CVS there must be health risks attached. The diazepam is probably genuine stuff, because its been around for donkeys years and it is easy to make in the labs. Plus, surely the visa-run companies have a double work load now? So they must be quids in with the new 15 days visa runs (which are unlimited). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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