Good Visa Run Service - Any Recommendations?

[mockingbird]

Hi all,

Can anybody recommend a good visa run service from Pattaya? I already have a 3 entry tourist visa, so just need to border hop.

Thanks

[MTH]

1st Class Visa Runs from Queen Vic Soi 6 and Five Star Visa Runs from The Sportsman soi 13 are the most comfortable to go with, they only use 6 chair mini vans, but are also the most expensive 2,500 Baht. You can Google both for more information.

[Darrel]

I dont have to use them now (thank you, retirement extension ) but when I did I found Cambodia Inter in Soi Buakow to be very reliable and the cheapest at about 1700B.

Cant see the point of paying more.

[rak sa_ngop]

I dont have to use them now (thank you, retirement extension ) but when I did I found Cambodia Inter in Soi Buakow to be very reliable and the cheapest at about 1700B.

Cant see the point of paying more.

The price is now 1800 baht.

I went there with a friend 2 days ago and found that the young guy in the office is the most abrasive and unpleasant Thai I have met for a long time. He could not or did not even want to read a large scale map of Pattaya to determine the address of our hotel (which was marked with an 'h' symbol). Just kept barking out and gesticulating 'what is the address'. He should be working for British Rail!

But if you can take a bit of rudeness I believe the morning pick-up and actual visa run service turned out OK.

[Darrel]

I just took a calling card in with me.

I suspect that if I had to deal with the sort of people that the chap in that office sees, I would probably end up knifing most of them.

Is there much worse in the world than the average long-staying Pattaya farang who doesn't qualify for a visa extension?

[MTH]

I dont have to use them now (thank you, retirement extension ) but when I did I found Cambodia Inter in Soi Buakow to be very reliable and the cheapest at about 1700B.

Cant see the point of paying more.

I pay more because I like the comfort of having my own chair, they also show movies in the van, so there is something to do on trip, while you’re just sitting there anyway. I did use one of these cheaper visa run companies once, the van was full, think we were 10 persons in the back, not the most pleasant trip I’ve done.

Each to his own though, as the fourth trip could be considered “free” if you’re going with the cheaper ones. On the other hand, the more expensive ones have loyalty cards, so you do get some discount from them as well. Can’t remember the actual setup for these, as I too am so lucky that I don’t have to use them anymore, but I think the effective price will come out to 2100 per trip if utilized correctly.

[bartender100]

1st Class Visa Runs from Queen Vic Soi 6

I second that one , very helpful on giving advise as well, leave 6:45am back by 3pm, very well organised at the border

[Satcommlee]

I would recommend 1st Class Visa Runs at the Queen Vic on Soi 6.

It's probably the most expensive at around 2500 Baht but with only 6 seats in the bus it is very comfortable and well worth the extra money.

1700 Baht Visa runs buy you the same bus but crammed with around 12 people (sometimes even 2 + Driver in the front). Imagine being sandwiched between two Heavy Weights..

Edited January 15, 2012 by Satcommlee

[lonewolf99]

I struggle to think if there is any thing much worse than the mini bus mad dash border runs in Thailand.

Like all the others I have done it consisted of thundering South East mostly on the wrong side of the road, especially on blind bends and brows of hills.

I noticed that the driver had at least 20 passports he was "hand carrying". I paid 1800 Baht to be taken to a small cafe at the Thai side of the Cambodian border, where a young girl was handed all the passports including the fist full from the van driver. She zipped off up a hill into Cambodia for about an hour and came back with them dully stamped. We then got back into the van and headed back.

I never set foot over the border. The only people who did were buying Viagra / Ciallis, cigarettes and whisky with dead reptiles in the bottle.

I just wonder how much "extra" it costs to just hand in your Passport at the agency in Pattaya and not actually go and suffer the madness of nearly becoming another statistic on the road death count.

But, I suspect Thai Visa does not allow this sort of information to be broadcast on the net......?

I know the if I ever have to do it again I will be asking the agency "do I really have to go in the van?" wink wink nod nod know what I mean ?

[Darrel]

I paid 1800 Baht to be taken to a small cafe at the Thai side of the Cambodian border, where a young girl was handed all the passports including the fist full from the van driver. She zipped off up a hill into Cambodia for about an hour and came back with them dully stamped. We then got back into the van and headed back.

I never set foot over the border.

There is no requirement to physically enter Cambodia, and as you say most people dont actually do it.

However when I have done visa runs the main point was that I was leaving Thailand in person and my passport was stamped accordingly by a Thai Immigration officer at the Thai border. They then stamped me back in at the same border point, thus giving me a new period of stay in Thailand. These were the only procedures that were in any way organised on my visa runs. The Cambodian part (which happened in no-man's land between the two borders) was just some girls stamping documents in a cafe with a thousand people milling around.

Given that the whole point of the Thai government insisting that people leave the country before re-entering with a new visa is that they should physically leave the country (so that, if necessary, they can be denied entry on the way back), it seems unlikely that they would let anyone not do this. So I dont understand how you managed it.

Edited January 16, 2012 by Darrel

[RabC]

I struggle to think if there is any thing much worse than the mini bus mad dash border runs in Thailand.

Like all the others I have done it consisted of thundering South East mostly on the wrong side of the road, especially on blind bends and brows of hills.

I noticed that the driver had at least 20 passports he was "hand carrying". I paid 1800 Baht to be taken to a small cafe at the Thai side of the Cambodian border, where a young girl was handed all the passports including the fist full from the van driver. She zipped off up a hill into Cambodia for about an hour and came back with them dully stamped. We then got back into the van and headed back.

I never set foot over the border. The only people who did were buying Viagra / Ciallis, cigarettes and whisky with dead reptiles in the bottle.

I just wonder how much "extra" it costs to just hand in your Passport at the agency in Pattaya and not actually go and suffer the madness of nearly becoming another statistic on the road death count.

But, I suspect Thai Visa does not allow this sort of information to be broadcast on the net......?

I know the if I ever have to do it again I will be asking the agency "do I really have to go in the van?" wink wink nod nod know what I mean ?

I understand where you are coming from but I then ask myself the question, Am I really willing to handover my passport to some hood in Pattaya? If he sells it, looses it whatever you don't have a leg to stand on because you were asking him to do something illegal in the first place.

[bob4you]

I send wife's sister (Filipina) every 15 days to Cambodia, cost B750. Not sure of how many in van, she is petite so never hear complaint about how crowded.

[rak sa_ngop]

I send wife's sister (Filipina) every 15 days to Cambodia, cost B750. Not sure of how many in van, she is petite so never hear complaint about how crowded.

I think you mean every 14 days because the first day of a new 15 day visa occurs on the last day of your old visa, so an overlap of 1 day. Or maybe I am wrong in this?

[MTH]

I send wife's sister (Filipina) every 15 days to Cambodia, cost B750. Not sure of how many in van, she is petite so never hear complaint about how crowded.

Filipinos get visa exempt entry to Cambodia, so that’s a 600+ Baht savings for the visa run company.

[Darrel]

On the other hand, the more expensive ones have loyalty cards, so you do get some discount from them as well. Can’t remember the actual setup for these, as I too am so lucky that I don’t have to use them anymore, but I think the effective price will come out to 2100 per trip if utilized correctly.

That discounted price is indeed reasonable for the extra comfort provided, assuming that you need to use the things often enough to benefit from the discount.

[Orac]

I have been using Five Star from The Sportsman when I have needed to go to the border maybe 5-6 times now - last time was 2300 baht with the discount for booking early. Can't help but feel the quality has gone down a bit recently - the onboard wifi didn't work and the headphones haven't worked the last couple off times as well for the movies. Having said that, the ride was comfortable and breakfast is reasonable.

Anybody able to make a comparison between 5 star and 1st class???

[MTH]

I have been using Five Star from The Sportsman when I have needed to go to the border maybe 5-6 times now - last time was 2300 baht with the discount for booking early. Can't help but feel the quality has gone down a bit recently - the onboard wifi didn't work and the headphones haven't worked the last couple off times as well for the movies. Having said that, the ride was comfortable and breakfast is reasonable.

Anybody able to make a comparison between 5 star and 1st class???

I used to use Five Star, but a few years ago they were full on the day I wanted to do the run, I continued on to Queen Vic and got a seat on the 1st Class bus. After that I continued using 1st Class, main reason was that their head sets were in better shape, otherwise I’d say the service is the same, comparable breakfast, and a similar snack offered after the border crossing. Both provide you with a bottle of water before the run and one more bottle after the border crossing. After returning to Pattaya, I think Five Star offer a drink in the pub for filling out their survey, 1st Class offers a few free lunch choices, but no drink included. Both are now going to Ban Pakard/Prum which is a smaller and faster border crossing than Ban Laem/Pailin.

[lonewolf99]

Darrel / Rab C

All the previous border runs I have done I always went across a rickety bridge and spent an hour in a buffet restaurant inside a Casino where no one played any games but Cambodians slept at the tables. Baan Laem ???

This last visa run I had to do last year I used a travel agent off Beach Road on Soi 13 not sure if it was 13/1 13/2 ?? There were 3 agency shops in a row and I decided to go in all of them and ask the price the cheapest was 1800 which I handed over with my passport so they could make a photocopy and they picked me up promptly at 0600 at the Condo next day.

We were taken to a different border crossing from the rickety bridge / Casino one. Once through the Thai side of Customs we walked a few yards there was a small broken down little building used as a shop cafe with a few broken concrete tables where the drivers did there "paperwork". Any one wanting to go "shopping" for Viagra were invited to take Cambodian mini vans to go up a hill to a large new looking building about 400 yards away. If you did not want to go shopping you could sit at the cafe which I chose to do.

As for handing my passport to just anyone - no bleeding chance mate.

I saw no males or pretend women in any of the agency shops so felt sure they were legitimate. The fact the driver of the van had so many passports with him could have been a sideline of his own ??? and had nothing to do with the booking agent...but as I said earlier it would be nice to know what it costs not to actually go ? because I really did not go abroad...just had a Pepsi and a snack....and waited for the paperwork to be done.

But when I get enough of a money pot for myself I will be going down Darrel's route and get the retirement visa.

[Hikage]

Another vote for 1st Class Visa Runs.

Very comfortable van and about as hassle free as you can get. The girl at the counter where you register was friendly and helpful. Definitely worth the extra you pay.

Bring your mobile entertainment device though. The movies shown were pretty lousy B movies.

[MTH]

All the previous border runs I have done I always went across a rickety bridge and spent an hour in a buffet restaurant inside a Casino where no one played any games but Cambodians slept at the tables. Baan Laem ???

Most likely Baan Laem/Pailin, just as you cross over the bridge, there are a few windows on the left where they handle the Cambodian visas. About 50m to the right is the closest tax free shop. When I’ve been there on organized visa trips, we’ve always just hung out around where they do the Cambodian paperwork, maybe walked over to get some booze or smokes in the tax free shop. Wait on the Cambodian side have been around 20-30 minutes, I’ve never been to that casino. So did you wait so long there due to being fed at the casino?

We were taken to a different border crossing from the rickety bridge / Casino one. Once through the Thai side of Customs we walked a few yards there was a small broken down little building used as a shop cafe with a few broken concrete tables where the drivers did there "paperwork". Any one wanting to go "shopping" for Viagra were invited to take Cambodian mini vans to go up a hill to a large new looking building about 400 yards away. If you did not want to go shopping you could sit at the cafe which I chose to do.

This would be Ban Pakard/Prum, just after stamping out of Thailand there is a small shack where you wait for your paperwork to be handled. You can pick up some tax free stuff there too, if you don’t want to take the van up the road, bought some smokes for a friend last time I was there.

but as I said earlier it would be nice to know what it costs not to actually go ? because I really did not go abroad...just had a Pepsi and a snack....and waited for the paperwork to be done.

I guess you didn’t really go abroad in the sense of entering another country, but you did leave Thailand. The shack were you had your Pepsi would be the so called “No man's land”, that exists between many borders. I assume you had to stamp out of Thailand by yourself and also stamp back in again.

[lonewolf99]

MTH - correct in your assumptions and place names. The Casino deal was fairly civilsed. We were there about an hour at most and walked back over the rickety bridge to be stamped into Thailand. Surrounded by bare arsed, bare footed kids demanding "10 Baht Papa".

On my last run, a small girl was selling sticky rice for 10 baht - no one else bothered to ask me for money. None of the expats bought or gave her money. So when no one was looking I slipped her 50 baht and told her to keep the sticky rice. In my head I thought that bit of kindness should be rewarded with at least a 4 million Baht win on the Thai Lottery......and Guess what !!!

I never won.

[MTH]

Lonewolf, I’m surprised you didn’t win the lottery, isn’t that what karma's all about?

Yes, Ban Pakard is much nicer than Ban Laem, less people and much fewer beggars. But guess that’ll eventually change as more visa companies are going there.

[Orac]

MTH - correct in your assumptions and place names. The Casino deal was fairly civilsed. We were there about an hour at most and walked back over the rickety bridge to be stamped into Thailand. Surrounded by bare arsed, bare footed kids demanding "10 Baht Papa".

On my last run, a small girl was selling sticky rice for 10 baht - no one else bothered to ask me for money. None of the expats bought or gave her money. So when no one was looking I slipped her 50 baht and told her to keep the sticky rice. In my head I thought that bit of kindness should be rewarded with at least a 4 million Baht win on the Thai Lottery......and Guess what !!!

I never won.

On my last couple of trips to Ban Pakard I have noticed a young girl selling the sticky rice and also seen several farang slip her some money - assuming she is there every day either she or whoever is looking after her must make a fair bit. The lack of other kids there compared to other crossings suggests this lucrative spot is carefully guarded.

[Darrel]

I slipped her 50 baht

Many people in Thailand need to do hard and/or unpleasant work for several hours to earn this much. People should consider this before giving money away as it doesn't encourage anyone to do a proper job.

Generally I dont think it is sensible to give money away to people loitering in areas where there are many foreigners.

[patroller]

Is there much worse in the world than the average long-staying Pattaya farang who doesn't qualify for a visa extension?

Yes, the average long-staying Pattaya farang that "can't see the point in paying more".

[lonewolf99]

Hi Darrel

I thought long and hard before I handed over that 50 Baht.

I see more and more beggars on the streets of Pattaya that were not there 6 years ago. Some hideously crippled. But you have to ask the question. How did they get to where they are on the street if they cannot walk? Normally dumped by an able bodied accomplice / relative is the answer. So I am not keen on giving them money.

I traveled through North India and have been on the streets of Calcutta and never handed over a single Rupee. Why? Most of the cripples come from an Indian state where mutilating children to send out on the streets is common practice and its a big money business. If you do hand one beggar money, you can get mobbed by dozens of others wanting to know why you never gave them money instead.

Giving money to the small sticky rice seller for me was a one off.

I thought better she keeps making money from selling sticky rice than getting on a bus to Pattaya beach and selling herself.

Sorry, this is now off topic ref Visa runs.

[Darrel]

Is there much worse in the world than the average long-staying Pattaya farang who doesn't qualify for a visa extension?

Yes, the average long-staying Pattaya farang that "can't see the point in paying more".

Ah, the return of the newbie stalker.