60 day visa in vientiane?

[baquinn]

Hoping someone can help me with this.I'm planning to go to Thailand for a longish stay with friends.I applied to the Thai Consulate here in Dublin for a tourist visa,unfortunately there seems to have been a mess with my application and I won't get it on time,so I'm just going to get a 30 day visa on arrival in Bangkok.I was wondering,if after the 30 days,I could cross into Laos(which I'll be nearest to) and apply for a 60 day visa in Vientiane.Or will I just have to reenter on another 30 day visa?If it is possible,it would save me a trip + expense of a Laos visa.Thanks

[fester]

You can do a border hop to Vientiane,and get another 30 days, or apply for a new Tourist Visa at Vientiane Thai Embassy.

Have a look here for visa run to Vientiane, Laos

This has been discussed before in this thread in this forum.

[Luma]

1) Last I heard, the train to Nong Khai, the Thai border town, leaves Bangkoks' Hualampong station at 20.45 and arrives in Nong Khai around 09.30 the following morning, but train times frequently change here, and trains often arrive late.  A second class ticket for an upper berth in an air conditioned sleeping carriage is 540 baht.

2) Head to the border post at the Thai - Laos friendship bridge (Saphan Mattaphak Thai - Lao) by tuk tuk.  Haggle the driver down to 40 baht, and don't let him leave you with any dodgy travel agents who want to charge you 2000 baht to "take care you so you no worry".  There is nothing they can do for you that you can't do yourself a lot cheaper.

3) If you have an overstay fine to pay, head for the office on your left when you arrive at the border (200 baht per day of overstay).  Otherwise, just pass through a checkpoint and buy a bus ticket (10 baht) to the Laos border point at the other end of the bridge.

4) On arrival at the Laos border, fill in an arrival card and a visa application.  You will need one passport size photograph.  You can give a guesthouse as your address in Laos (eg Saylom Yen guest house, Saylom Road)  You don't have to stay there.  They won't check.  Leave the space for a Laos contact blank.

Join the queue for a 15 day 'Visa On Arrival', which costs 31 US dollars (including a one dollar farang fee) which you CAN pay in baht (1,500), whatever you may have heard.

5) Don't change too much money.  The baht is accepted almost everywhere around Vientianne (which, btw, is pronounced Wiang Chang).  Since the exchange rate is about 230 kip to one baht, you would have to carry 230,000 kip in 2,000 and 5,000 kip notes if you change 1,000 baht.  This will not easily fit in your wallet, and you don't want that many notes in your pocket.

6) Pay an entry fee into Laos - 10 baht.

7) The tuk tuk drivers want to take you into Vientianne for 250 baht.  You want them to do it for less than 80 baht.  If it's raining, or if you're a coward, you might be able to get a taxi for 100 baht, but this would be a shame, as the white knuckle tuk tuk ride is part of the whole Vientianne experience.  Your tuk tuk driver will stop to pick up other passengers along the way, and then do his best to get you all killed.  Have fun.

8) Assuming you survive all the way to Vientianne, ask the driver to drop you at the Thailand Visa / Passport office so you can get your bearings.  Keep saying "Thai" and "pass-a-port" a lot while miming a passport stamping.  He'll get it.  The Visa Office is open from 08.30 - 12.00, Monday to Friday for the receipt of visa applications.  As such, it should be possible to apply on the day you arrive, but in practise, it almost certainly isn't, as the queues are enormous.  

10) The Saylom Yen Guest House (214246) has rooms from 6 US dollars...  200 - 250 baht without air conditioning, 430 baht (ish) with air conditioning, and it's close to the Thai Consulate.  To find it from the Consulate, turn left at the Lao Viet Bank, go past two internet shops, and turn left again.  The cafe on the corner serves vile coffee and excellent bread, and is popular with ex-pats.

If the Saylom Yen is too grotty for you, try the the Hotel Chalernchai nearby.  500 baht for aircon and cable TV, apparently.

Syri guesthouse also comes highly recommended.

11) The best advice has always been to arrive at the Visa office at least an hour ahead of closing time, but since the guards now take 1,000 baht bribes from queue jumpers, it is now suggested that you either start queuing at about 06.00 if you don't want to pay the bribe.  It is possible to queue from 08.00 and still not be seen by 12.00.

Fill in the application form supplied by the touts (you will need two photographs) but do not accept their offer to help (for a fee).  Join the queue at the consulate entrance.  Punters are admitted ten at a time, and then they take a number.  If you don't have a number by 12.00, you'll probably have to come back the following day.  As such, I recommend you don't even bother to try beginning the application process until the day after you arrive.

A Non Immigrant B Visa costs 500 baht.

11)  Return to the Visa office the following day, and be prepared for a long queue again, before collecting your visa at around 13.00.

12) Take a tuk tuk back to the Thai - Laos friendship bridge.  Try to find someone to share with to split the cost.

13) Spend your spare kip in the Duty Free Shop.

14) Take a free taxi to the bus station, not a 20 baht bus to Udon.

15) Take a tuk tuk to the train station.  20 baht a head.

16) Last I heard, the train to Bangkok leaves at 19.15.  If you have time to kill in Nong Khai, try the suprisingly nice bar amonst the ramshackle roadside shops and cafes opposite the station (assuming it hasn't been destroyed by flooding).  It sells beer which is cold and food which is edible.

Thing To Do In Vientianne

1) Eat.  Vientianne has more restaurants than it knows what to do with.  Navigate by the fountain circle, where the posh restaurants are.  The Kop Chai Deu Restaurant  and Bar on Setthathirst is fairly good.  The Italian was closed when I was there, and I'm still waiting for someone to give me a report.  The French Cote d'Azur Restaurant, on Th Fa Ngum, near the river, comes highly recommended, especially for steak lovers.

2) Explore.  You can get anywhere in Vientianne fairly quickly on foot.

3) Find me a decent map.  I lost mine.

4) Er...  that's it.