Doing Vientiane Visa Run Today

Just wanted to post my 2 cents' worth of info regarding my VR today to the new Thai Consular Office in Vientiane. From my guest house I used a tuk tuk to go to the old consul location to have my passport pages copied, then used the same tuk tuk to go to the new location ... paid 50 baht A previous post here listed the road name of the new location .... sorry, I forget. There is an info booth at the main gate of the new consular office. I got my application form and a number from the clerk there and she motioned me inside the compound to the waiting area where I filled out the form and returned it to her for affixing my 2 photos to the form. I went back to the waiting area and she soon collected a group of us and escorted us to the main building nearby where we all went inside to nice air conditioning and had seats. I was soon called to the front and was reminded that I need to bring a statement from the American Embassy next time verifying my monthly pension. I then stepped to the right immediately and paid my 1000 baht and out the door I was .... finished. I did have my Thai girl friend with me which may have helped in securing another tourist visa. It seems that as long as I could verify monthly pension income, I would have no problem with using tourist visas in the near future (knock on wood). I made no pretense as to being a tourist on the application form. I stated I was supporting a Thai national, namely my girl friend, and that I was also staying in Thailand for health reasons. No BS. Will return tomorrow afternoon to get my visa anc back to Pattaya via Bangkok. In summary, the consular office may have moved a little further away from most guest houses, but the long waiting lines were gone today for me. Everything was very organized and straight-forward .... what a relief. And love that ceiling in the main building!!!!