If I Want To Go To Mae Sai For The Day Do I Need A Double Entry Tourist Visa?

[telstrareg]

I'm about to apply for a tourist visa at the Brisbane consulate in Australia. I plan to stay in the Kingdom for 3 months (2m + 1m extension). If I go for a day trip to Burma at Mae Sai will I be able to re-enter Thailand OK on a single entry tourist visa or do I need to get a double? Also I'm assuming it makes no difference whether I go to Mae Sai during the first 2 months or during the 1 month extension.

BTW can apply for my 1 month extension at the immigration office that is near the airport in Chiang Mai?

[Mario2008]

For a small daytrip of a few hours no re-entry permit is required and you do not need a double entry tourit visa. Just inform immigration of your intention and they will give you a day pass.

More info: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/147481-mae-saitachilek-border-info/

[chris1970]

if your going to burma for the day it's cheaper for you to get a double tourist visa instead of the extension,

also there's a chance your tourist visa will be voided when you leave thailand and when you re-enter thailand you may only end up with a 14 day allowed stay stamp.

if you are going to extend in chiang mai the office if close to the entrance to the airport - 1900 baht , 2photos required and takes half a day to process,

[telstrareg]

Hmm, so one member says no problem, the other says there is a chance my tourist visa will be voided. decisions, decions

Also, I'm assuming that if I choose to do a double entry and do the second entry at Mae Sai, it will take considerably longer to process than getting a day pass?

[Mario2008]

Gaining entry witha double entry tourist visa won't cost more time than a day pass, might be the other way around.

However, a double entry tourist visa would cost 2,000 baht (1,000 baht per entry in local curency, so might be a bit more), while a 1 month extension costs 1,900 baht. So if you plan to visit Burma after the first month of your stay, a double entry might be cheaper and more convienient as you don't need to visit immirgation for the extension. (2,000 baht as opposed to 2,900 baht for 1 entry plus extension).

[chris1970]

another option is to apply for a single visa from your home country and when you first come to thailand not use the visa straight away (don't fill in the visa number on the arrival card and if the officer says do you want to use your tourist visa say no and just say 30 days) and you'll get a free 30 day entry, when that runs out you can goto tachilek for the day and when you come back into thailand activate the tourist visa .

at mai sai there's an office on the left hand side maybe 1 kilometer before the border ? thai people go in there to get a letter made when they want to goto burma - maybe it's available for foreigners also but i haven't done it.

why do you want to goto tachilek for the day ? are you in the area anyway ? because its a long way from chiang mai and there's not much there other than a market close to the border, it's a nice mountainous area but if your just planning a day trip from chiang mai to burma and back to chiang mai on the same day it's quite tiring.

best of luck,

chris

[chris1970]

processing a visa at a thai border is very easy basically its all done with the arrival card if you don't have a visa then leave the visa number open and they stamp you with a 30 day entry by air or a 15 day entry if land crossing , if you have a visa in your passport then fill in the arrival card with the visa number added and they will stamp you in with 60 days allowed stay.

only takes a few miniutes at mai sai because never long queues.

[Mario2008]

another option is to apply for a single visa from your home country and when you first come to thailand not use the visa straight away (don't fill in the visa number on the arrival card and if the officer says do you want to use your tourist visa say no and just say 30 days) and you'll get a free 30 day entry, when that runs out you can goto tachilek for the day and when you come back into thailand activate the tourist visa .

at mai sai there's an office on the left hand side maybe 1 kilometer before the border ? thai people go in there to get a letter made when they want to goto burma - maybe it's available for foreigners also but i haven't done it.

why do you want to goto tachilek for the day ? are you in the area anyway ? because its a long way from chiang mai and there's not much there other than a market close to the border, it's a nice mountainous area but if your just planning a day trip from chiang mai to burma and back to chiang mai on the same day it's quite tiring.

best of luck,

chris

Immigration not always allows this, so it is unsure.