Visa Extension In Mae Hong Son City

[oceanm5]

I got my visa in Vientiane and was stamped for two months and told I could extend for one more month. I am wondering is an additional full month added no matter how long one applies before one's expiration, or does one lose days? I am now in Mae Hong Son city but plan to leave here as soon as I get my extension tomorrow, so I will be applying a week before the actual expiration.

Also, could someone recommend the best way to get to the immigration office? I am newly arrived in Mae Hong Son and staying in a place which is about a 20 minute walk from town, but so far as I can see transportation doesn't exist here. Even after spending one day in the main town area I have only ever seen one tuktuk.

I would like to get my extension at the immigration office tomorrow morning and then take a bus to Pai afterwards. If anyone who knows this area or who has done an extension here before can recommend the most convenient way to do this, I'd appreciate it.

[lopburi3]

You do not lose any time by doing the extension of stay early - it runs from current permitted to stay date.

[msg362]

As far as I recall, the immigration is at the north end of town on the way to Soppong/Pai. If you are in the centre of town you can walk there in 5-10 minutes. Walk back to the bus station in 5 minutes

Edited August 19, 2012 by msg362

[Maestro]

This is the latest information I have about the map location of the Mae Hong Son immigration office.

https://maps.google....3a84b5e9fdc3ac4

Seems to be in a forest.

msg362, is that location still correct?

[moe666]

The immigration office is on one side of town and the bus station on the other. If you ride the local bus it will stop at a few places on its way out of town. If you can figure where the bus stops get your extension and walk to one of the bus stops and wait. It is good to know when the bus runs so you do not spend all day at a stop. The transport in mae Hong Song is a pain typically rent a scooter for a day or two.

[msg362]

This is the latest information I have about the map location of the Mae Hong Son immigration office.

https://maps.google....3a84b5e9fdc3ac4

Seems to be in a forest.

msg362, is that location still correct?

It's about right!!! It's actually on the main road (1095) just at the edge of town heading towards Pai. Can't miss it, no need to leave the main road ( unless they have moved it into the forest to deter Farangs!!)

[Maestro]

Thank you. I've remembered now to activate photos on Google maps and see two photos of the immagration office where my marker is, and one photo of the road marker km 207 where the short side road leading to the building turns off. A memory comes back of a post a couple of years ago mentioning that road marker and attaching a different photo of it, with the member's motorbike also in the picture.

http://www.panoramio.com/photo/47593624

http://www.panoramio.com/photo/47593995

http://www.panoramio.com/photo/47593993

By this time the OP, oceanm5, will already have been to the immigration office for his extension of stay and I hope he had no problem finding it.

[colinneil]

Immigration office is just outside mae hong son pass city gate it is on the left hand side of the pai road, up a very steep road, if you need tuk tuk go to the market thats where you will find them, good luck with immigration officers they bare absolute ar...oles. had several problems with them, i will not pay tea money.

[oceanm5]

A stroke of luck: when I pointed to the immigration office on my map, the owner of the guesthouse asked her daughter to take me there.

It was some distance from the new bus station and the roads are very hilly (I suspect walking there would have taken me about an hour). The office itself is perched on the top of a hill, and the road leading up to it is incredibly steep (the top of the hill where it is located offers a panoramic view of the Mae Hong Son area). I personally wouldn't recommend walking this route for any but diehard walkers who are impervious to tropical heat. It would be worth renting a motorbike in town to go here, even if you used it for nothing else.

I didn't have any problem with the immigration officers. They were friendly and helpful. It may have helped that I had a Thai there with me to address them and explain my situation. The only snag I encountered was that I arrived at 11am and they left for lunch before processing my form, so I had to return again at 2pm to pick up my passport. Obviously better to get there at 9am when they open, for those who, unlike myself, can manage to get out of bed that early!

Now that I am in Pai I find myself appreciating Mae Hong Son more, because it is so much less touristy. Good place for anyone who wants to get away from it all and just relax somewhere quiet. Very few tourists and nothing really happening there. Maybe I will return again, or look for someplace inexpensive to stay on the outskirts of Pai, away from the tourist area.

Edited August 21, 2012 by oceanm5