Help With 60 Day Visa

[runk40]

hello all,

been looking through many websites and feel its just best to post as too many conflicting answers

me and my girlfriend both from england are currently in chang mai and our 30day visa's run out on the 24th of this month, we were looking to get the 60 day tourist visa by doing a visa run to Vientiane, my questions are:

is the 60 day visa currently still free from Vientiane?

is this the best and easyest place to go from chang mai?

and if we get the 60 day visa will we be allowed another 30 day visa on arrival after?

i guess we have to pay for the laos $30 visa at the border?

please any help or suggestions are very appreciated.

regards

[Lite Beer]

Tourist Visas are free until the end of March.

You can get a double entry if you want.

Each entry can be extended at Immigration for a further 30 days. 1,900 Baht.

It is a Visa Exempt Entry not a Visa on Arrival.

Yes you need to buy a Laos Visa to enter. 1,500 Baht.

[yeoldesage]

Tourist Visas are free until the end of March.

You can get a double entry if you want.

Each entry can be extended at Immigration for a further 30 days. 1,900 Baht.

It is a Visa Exempt Entry not a Visa on Arrival.

Yes you need to buy a Laos Visa to enter. 1,500 Baht.

Can Austrailian passport holders get a 60 day Tourist Visa? And how long would the extention be if they re enter via the Chiang Kong enty point, I heard it was only 15 days.

YOS

[lopburi3]

The extension of a tourist visa is done inside Thailand at an Immigration office and costs 1,900 baht and would be 30 days. You do not obtain an extension by exit/return. That would only provide a visa exempt entry which by land would be 15 days.

[Sophon]

Can Austrailian passport holders get a 60 day Tourist Visa? And how long would the extention be if they re enter via the Chiang Kong enty point, I heard it was only 15 days.

YOS

Yes, Australians can get a 60 day tourist visa. When you enter via Chiang Kong you will get 60 days if having a valid tourist visa, and 15 days if you have no visa (using a visa exempt entry). If you have a tourist visa you will get 60 days no matter how or where you enter Thailand.

It sounds like maybe you think what you receive when you arrive without a visa is a tourist visa? In reality it's a visa exempt entry (entry without a visa), and on such you get 30 days if entering via an airport and 15 days if entering via a land border.

Sophon

Edit: Just to make it clear, you cannot get a tourist visa at the border when entering Thailand. You have to apply for the tourist visa at a Thai consulate (outside Thailand) before travelling to Thailand.

Edited December 14, 2010 by Sophon

[betico1]

advice please,

i have a double entry tourist visa (ie 2 blocks of 60 days). i arrived in thailand on oct 27th so the first visa expires on Dec 25th. If for example i did a one day overland visa run on the 23rd would i get those 15 days before my second block of 60 days commences? maybe just easier to apply for a 30 day extension at immigration. I take it there is no problem applying a little bit in advance as long as they add the extra 30 days from the date when the visa expires and not when you apply. is the extension done there and then or do they hold your passport until it is processed?

many thanks

[Lite Beer]

If you did a border run before 25th Dec you would use your second entry and receive 60 days.

If you applied for a 30 day extension at Immigration a few days early you would not lose any days. At most offices you would get your passport back immediately. 1,900 Baht fee.

[happyrobert]

I've been to Vientienne twice and found it abysmally boring and tiresome. The lines at the consulate are long and hot . I invested about five hours, much of it standing in the heat with a hundred other people, and talking to unsmiling consulate officials who either did not speak English, or did not want too. The hotel was expensive for what I got and the food was unmemorable. On both trips, I found nothing of interest to do while waiting other than sit at the western bar everyone knows and drink draft Beer Lao, which is pretty tasty.

You might consider Saigon. Alhough half the distance, the flight from Chiang Mai to Vientienne is more costly than one from CM to Saigon because only one carrier takes you there. And the total trip time is not much different due to a layover for a few hours in Luang Prabang. In Saigon there is lots to do and see, the food is excellent and all in all it is cheaper, believe it or not, than Vientienne or Phnom Phen. The air-conditioned consulate was empty and the lady who took my ap was friendly and spoke excellent English. Single or double entry visas are free. My total time invested at the embassy was less than ten minutes over the two days. You'll need to get a Vietnam visa in advance, which is simple and quick as opposed to waiting in line on arrival at Laos. I wrote about my trip at:

http://www.thaivisa....63#entry4083563

Edited December 15, 2010 by happyrobert