Visa run please help

[stuccy]

first i like to say hello to all the people in the forum, im new to the board.

i would like to ask a few question if posible, i been living in thailand for 2 yr now, the way i did my visa was going through a lawyer in bangkok, he take care of all my visa need, ofcourse it is a tourist visa, double entry, 2 month stay each and extend 1 month, so its like i get 3 month stay for each entry, the whole thing cost me around 10k+ for the double entry tourist visa, and extra 1.9k baht for the extention, also 4k extra for the second entry fee, well it a long proccess. im holding a US pasport.

_first when i cross the combodia border and return to thailand, i know that i will get a 30day stay, can i still get an 30day extension, that mean when i enter thailand i won't have a visa but only a 30day permit stay, can i still extend 30 more day so that make it 2 month total stay

_second if i return to thailand on a 30day stay from combodia  can i do a visa apon arrival at the bangkok counselor, i know there are no counselor at the check point so you cannot do a visa apon arrival, there are only immigrant office, i don't think they will do it.

_finally anything that you like to add is a helpful and thank you.

or you can contact me at [email protected] maybe i can call you up and ask a few question, im now in bangkok

[dr_Pat_Pong]

Are you 50 yrs or older....not married to a Thai...and got 800,000 baht that can go into a bank in Thailand ? Do you suspect that border crossings might have bad stamps ?

[stuccy]

Are you 50 yrs or older....not married to a Thai...and got 800,000 baht that can go into a bank in Thailand ? Do you suspect that border crossings might have bad stamps ?

no im not over 50, and no im not married to a thai, money wise im pretty stable

Do you suspect that border crossings might have bad stamps ?

i don't quite understand you, all i want is to cross border and re-entry, like above what i explain.

[Guest IT Manager]

I would carefully take the passport, wash it and take it to the US Embassy and apologise for your stupidness but "I wash it, my gf forget in my pocket, etc" and ask for a new one.

Then I would stop trusting the lawyer cos baby yo is a sucker.

Apologies for my tactless 3 chang language.

Stuccy dear, most others will understand what I just said. Trust me.

[stuccy]

i understand wat you are saying, that is a good chunk of money that im wasting, at first i didn't know what to do or how to stay in thailand longer, but as time past by i realize i can do it on my own, that is why im asking so much question, all i need to know is

when i cross the combodia border and return to thailand, i know that i will get a 30day stay, can i still get an 30day extension, that mean when i enter thailand i won't have a visa but only a 30day permit stay, can i still extend 30 more day so that make it 2 month total stay lol

[dr_Pat_Pong]

A bit hard here IT...be kind, and try to advise ole Stuccy willya ?  A fellow countryman of yours I think. Stuc is headed down the pathway of ruin unless he gets guidance.

[dr_Pat_Pong]

a wanderer's 30 day walk pass is extendable for a maximum of 10 days.

[Guest IT Manager]

Sorry Doc, my wife read your post while I was on a toilet break. She has just beaten me with a piece of bamboo with a nice chicken soup in a bag ( for that idiot Gfukt). I am going to PM Stuccy and apologise.

A wet, scalded with chicken soup ######

BTW he is American I suspect. No. Not a countryman.

[stuccy]

thank you dr_Pat_Pong, for the info, so you mean i will get only 10day extention when the 30day stay is up, i guest the 30day extent only work for enter with visa.

another question, if i enter thailand with a 30day permit can i do a visa apon arrival in bangkok, like i say i know there are no counselor at the border only immigration office.

thank again for the info.

[dr_Pat_Pong]

Stuccy....make it easy....get a visa from a Thai Embassy or Consulate  at home.

[dr_Pat_Pong]

So sorry IT....mea culpa mea culpa    

[Axel]

stuccy, are you for real? You had a visa for 2 months, extented for 1 month and you stayed for 2 years. Did you leave the country after each ninety days and what did the lawyer actually do for you. Are there chops in your pp showing you entered at certain date? If so and you entered yourself, fine. If you  did not enter yourself, could be trouble.

###### was lucky the chicken soup was not frozen....

You paid 10 K for what? Let's assume your pp is clean and

you entered yourself every time and now you want to go to Cambodia. No problem! The borders are manned by immigration officials and these guys are authorized to give you 30 days. That is a visa-exempted entry, you do not need a counselor for this. Before the 30 days are over you can apply for an extension of max. 10 days at the immigration office for 1.9 k as fee, after that you must leave. Go than to another country and get a visa if you want to come back, you don't need a lawyer neither for that.

If you have entry-chops in your pp but did not leave the country yourself and came back....aaaah, IT than might be right after all, wash it in chicken soup...

[stuccy]

Stuccy....make it easy....get a visa from a Thai Embassy or Consulate  at home.

im in bangkok at the mommemt, when you say home, what did you mean

[lopburi3]

In your home country.  With a US Passport that would be the USA.

[stuccy]

yes i can do that go home and make a visa and return, but the thing is the flight is way to long, flying to US cost 20-30k baht, if i have to pay that much why don't i just pay my lawyer 10k baht and get it over with.

people you all have it all wrong, let me explain one more time,

im under the age of 30, i do not work in thailand, i'm financial stable, i have a good lawyer that take care of my visa for me, and i do trust me lawyer cause he a well know lawyer in bangkok, i don't do my visa in sadoa, i have been doing business with him for 2 year now, i have not have any trouble about my visa for the last 2 yr i been here in bangkok, i even go to extend for 30day extra after every 2 month, and the papper work is fine and legal, yes the lawyer might cost some money, but atleast thing goes well, trouble free.

at the moment i want to try new method of doing my visa on my own, without the lawyer invole, if something might go wrong i could always return to the lawyer, i know that all you have to do is cross border and come back to thailand and you get 30 day permit stay, the point is i want to get a visa or a multiple visa, not just 30day stay

*dr_Pat_Pong has answer one of my question for me, (with a 30day entry with out visa you can only extend 10 more extra day)

*second- when i cross border and return to thailand and got a 30day stay without visa, can i go to bangkok immigrantion office and make a visa on arrival? if(if) can that mean i will have 1 or 2 month stay plus i will extend for another 30day.

i want to see if i can do the visa cheaper than my lawyer does

*third- if anybody that have been doing visa run before and want to share the experience, please feel free to share it with me, so that i know what to and what not to do, and which border you cross and which border to saty away from  

*one important info i like to know, crossing to "Lao" border there is a city near the border call (Luang Pra Bang) is there a counselor office there or any place in that city that i can make a tourist visa.

thank you

[memyselfandi]

You apply for a long stay tourist visa at an embassy outside the borders of Kingdom of Thailand.

Closest would probably be to take a train down to Malaysia or a plane to Singapore (closer and cheaper than a flight to US).

Read previous post on trips to Penang and Georgetown...

Get a a 2*2,  or a 3*3 or whatever you can get hold of, but apply for a multiple entry visa.

Get back to Thailand. And get your visa stamped and have a nice time in Thailand for the days you have got approved.

BUT BEFORE your 2 or whatever months is gone/expired, go to Cambodja/Malaysia/Singapore and back to Thailand and get 2 or more months on your existing multiple entry visa.

At the Cambodjan border pay 1000 bath to get a Cambodjan Visa, go to Cambodja. Play al little in the casino or go to the toilet over there. But get back to Thailand border before 17.00 when the border close.

Before those 2 or more months expire, do another trip and get a new extension.

So what do you get from this.....

2*2*2 so about 6 months total in Thailand. But able to stay about 2 months in a row.

3*3*3 is about 9 months total in Thailand, and staying about 3 months in a row.

What I would like to know is the Cambodjan border fee....

Is it not supposed to be $20US, but from my calc the 20US is not 1000 bath.

What if I want to pay with a $20US bill?? Anyone done this and got away with it??

Ok it's not big money but I'm curious if someone done it?

[marcchiesa]

Visa Run Photocopy Passport

----------------------------

I was in thailand for 6 months leaving the country every month to get a new tourist stamp.  I returned home for 6 months and now I have been back in Thialand for 2 months.  Since I have been back i did a visa run to Poipet. When I re-entered Thailand I got taken aside by the immigration guy and he photocopied my passport before giving it back to me.  My second visa run was to Myanmar (Mai Sai crossing). I was asked why I had  so many stamps for Thailand in my passport and what my business is in Thailand.  It seems that they are now cracking down on the visa runs and asking a lot of questions.  I am living in Thailand and looking for work (other than teaching English) which I understand is illegal if you are on a 2 month tourist visa but no mention of this if you get the one month stamp.  I just tick "tourist" on the form which isnt un-true because I spend a fair amout of time touring around.

I don't know what I should say to these immigration guys, I want to work here but I also  have an income from back home so I don't need to work and can support myself financially. I am worried I might get stuck in Myanmar with a 1 day Burmese visa and not be allowed back into Thailand because they think I might be dodgy.  As far as I can tell Mai Sai is the best bet for visa run from Bangkok. Return on the bus is under 1000 baht, the 1 day burmese visa is about $5 and you get to stock up on really cheap chinese stuff  Also you have the excuse for leaving Thailand that you are on a shopping trip (1 day visa).  The next alternative seems to be KoKong or Poipet which are both complete ####-holes. After you bribe the officaials to stamp your passport, pay for visa, give money to the beggars etc you are looking at over 2500 baht including travel expenses.

Is the visa run now more difficult because of all the APEC bu*****t? Is it going to slacken off afterwards?

[dr_Pat_Pong]

I really think the toughen up is here to stay, and likely to toughen more. The 30 day permit is said to be being reduced to 15 days, and a limit as to the total time spent in Thailand without a proper visa.

[stuccy]

thank you marcchiesa for sharing your visa run, quite interesting, i think Myanmar border is a bad border to cross, reason is drug trade, all those yabba seem to come from that part of the country

in Laos there is a city call (Luang Pra Bang) does anybody know if there is any thai counselet there.

[dr_Pat_Pong]

In Laos there's only the Thai Embassy in Vientiane, and a Consulate in Savannakhet.

[stuccy]

thank you for the info dr_Pat, maybe one of these day i'll take you out for Oishi Buffet    :laugh:

[alykev8892]

Hi stuccy ....

If I understand what you have said here correctly, you have been using a lawyer to get your new tourist visas for you rather than your leaving the country yourself to do this. And you have been going to a local immigration office to get the 30 day extensions? Do you actually have exit and entry stamps in your passport to "show" you have been leaving Thailand to do these tourist visas yourself? Contrary to your belief, if you have NOT been leaving Thailand to get a new tourist visa yourself, this is very much ILLEGAL and it may catch up with you if and when the time comes that you physically do an actual visa run. Have you read elsewhere in this forum what happens to other foreigners who have used visa agents to get their visas for them? It does not matter if your friend was a lawyer ... still not legal unless you have physically left Thailand to get the tourist visa yourself. Unless you can be 100% sure that your passport was sent out of Thailand and has all the appropriate exit and entry stamps to "show" you had left Thailand along with your passport for all these visa "runs", I would recommend you lose that passport and get a new one and do it the legal way and be sure to NEVER entrust your passport to anyone else for visas. You may very well wind up in the immigration detention center. I am also an American and have been here since August 2001 and I have been going to Vientiane, Laos, every single time doing my own visa runs. If you want information on my Vientiane visa run let me know. My gut feeling right now is you are going to be stopped at immigration when you actually leave Thailand yourself .... based on my understanding of what you said here about the lawyer doing your "visa run" for you. Best wishes.

[Khun ?]

It sounds like he may be ok. They would check for bad visas

when he gets his extensions. The lawyer has been paying whatever the visa runs cost ?7000 baht and pockets the rest.

As long as it was put on the computer each time he should have no problem. If he does admit to not doing the visa renewals on his own he may have problems. Ask the lawyer

as most likely you have been entered as leaving and returning each time the lawyer had the visa done. You do not save much doing on your own but you would be legal that way. Getting out of town may be a good thing ever 3 months

anyways. Good luck and maybe IT may have some chicken soup for you if you enjoy a few nights in the monkey house.

[stuccy]

i understand exactly what you're telling, bangkok is a city of money, and money talk,10-15k is not a small chunk to spend  on visa run, is who you know and not what you know

It sounds like he may be ok. They would check for bad visas when he gets his extensions

you are absolutly correct, you would not pass imigration if the visa is fake, all my extention are done in bangkok, not out in the booney.

you under estimated the power of lawyer, when i say lawyer i don't mean the one that run their bussiness in a shop-house, i don't deal with those people. high profile lawyer have access to almost anything and everything, they might be expensive but they do wonder, and everything they do is legal with(with) a little twist

i have a question? how many of you actually live in bangkok, i know most of you live in the booney somehwere, like phuket, pataya, etc..

if you want a real deal bangkok is the place to do business, not in the booney.

there is a phrase that say: i know a friend, that know a friend, that know the priminister      

[Axel]

i have a question? how many of you actually live in bangkok, i know most of you live in the booney somehwere, like phuket, pataya, etc..

if you want a real deal bangkok is the place to do business, not in the booney.

there is a phrase that say: i know a friend, that know a friend, that know the priminister  

Sorry, I cannot help you, as I live in the boondocks of

Krungthep Mahanakhon Bovorn Rattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilokpop Noparathatchathani Burirom Vdomratchaniveymahasathan Amornipiman Avatarnsathit Sakkathattiya-avisnukarmprasit or short Krungthep,

BTW, I heard from a friend of a friend whose friend is a lawyer, that they still can visit you even if you have to serve time because of their mistake.  

[Charlie]

Hi stuccy,

I understand that it is an offence to go through a third party to do your visa run. The law in Los, clearly states that you must do it yourself...... you must be physically there. I am not a lawyer, but I was a law student with London External.

I can tell you this. You and your so called learned friend have definitely committed an illegal act..... ( if found out, or if there is an investigation in the near future, or the case may be.) . Good luck to you.

BTW, how old are you ?. And have you heard of " monkey houses " over there ? I am giving you this good advice in good faith. All the best.

Regards,

charlie  ???

[dr_Pat_Pong]

Lucky for ole Stuccy that he knows everything.  So, so, luckier that he isn't ensconced in the boonies

[Khun ?]

Stuccy

If someone knows you have money and it is in Thailand they can cause you problems or help you  in return to get some of it. So if your over stay comes up the next time at the boarder

it may cost you a bit to get the next one. It is the way of life there.