Visa Run

[durhamboy]

Hi, anyone know if it is possible on a visa run to exit Thailand at a land border e.g. Laos and re-enter Thailand without going into Laos thereby saving the ridiculous Laotian visa fee and the hassle of going in.

Thanks

[lopburi3]

Yes it may be possible but not legal as requirement is that exit stamp from another country and entry without that stamp would be considered illegal entry and you could be arrested and deported if found out (used to be front page notice on Immigration website - as a person could be refused entry and have to return and that would be what happened).

[Upnotover]

No it is not possible.

[LuckyLew]

No, cannot be done

[bbbbooboo]

Hi,i am a NZer male aged 58 yrs and in an effort to avoid having to go the Thai embassy in Vientiane and endure participating in that process of visa extension etc I did this. I went to the Nongkai border, got stamped out of Thailand, on the bus over the bridge, stamped into Laos(1800 baht)walked around the other side and stamped out of Laos, back on the bus over to Thailand and stamped back in.Ironically I got 30 days(usually 15 days at a land crossing I think).As other responders have stated there is probably no way to avoid the Laos fee but if you want to avoid Vientiane this might be the way to go and it's cheaper too

[lopburi3]

Do not stay longer than 15 days if that is your normal visa exempt entry time. You will be subject to overstay at 500 baht per day regardless of the stamp if it is in error.

[overherebc]

No, cannot be done

Just to add that I have seen a few people being sent back to enter Cambodia and exit before being allowed into Thailand at Poipet

They do check.

[IMA_FARANG]

Well if you have a valid souble-entry or a multi entry visa it is possible to do a visa border run to Laos, but you can't avoid the Lao visa.

If you have some kind of a legal multi entry visa you do a border run where you

1. Exit Thailand....making sure you get that exit stamp in your passport.

2. Walk into Laos...entering Laos and getting that visa.

3. Turn around, exiting Laos and getting an exit stamp form Laos.

4. Then re-enter Thailand, geting an entry stamp on the next valid entry of your double entry or multi entry visa.

Nothing at all illegal about that, although the immigration at the border may not have seen that procedure before. Their supervisor however SHOULD be aware that what your doing is legal...hopefully he or she will.

No need to spend any more time in Laos than what you require to need to get that visa in your passport

But that's all dependent of you having the double entry or multi entry visa with at least one valid entry left.

If you use Laos however....they're going to insist on that Laos visa anyhow.

If you're willing to go through the Malaysian border then you will find that most Europeans...and certainly the U.K. and U.S.A. nationals can get a visa on arrival to Malaysia,,,,no cost I believe...and only takes a small space for the stamp in your passport....not a full half-page.

But that's another subject.

[ubonjoe]

Hi,i am a NZer male aged 58 yrs and in an effort to avoid having to go the Thai embassy in Vientiane and endure participating in that process of visa extension etc I did this. I went to the Nongkai border, got stamped out of Thailand, on the bus over the bridge, stamped into Laos(1800 baht)walked around the other side and stamped out of Laos, back on the bus over to Thailand and stamped back in.Ironically I got 30 days(usually 15 days at a land crossing I think).As other responders have stated there is probably no way to avoid the Laos fee but if you want to avoid Vientiane this might be the way to go and it's cheaper too

It would only be cheaper if you only need the 15 days you should of gotten.

At 1800 for one entry to get a single entry tourist visa (it is in no way an extension) would only cost 1000 baht which would give you a 60 day entry. So paying for only one Lao visa still leaves 4400 Baht (after deducting 1000 baht for visa) to pay for a hotel meals and etc. that it would cost do do the 4 border crossings needed to get the 60 days.

[durhamboy]

Many thanks for the replies - kinda thought that you couldnt do it. A friend of mine did a visa run to Cambodia and the company he used got his entry in and out of Cambodia (Poipet) without him actually going in!!!!!!! Still had to pay the visa fee though.

I went to Cambodia last time and instead of paying $30 visa fee I had to pay $40 as the bus company took us to a "Cambodian Consulate" on the Thai side (glorified restaurant actually) where they said this is for express service and the border queues are "very long" !!!!!!!!!