We Want To Fly This Sunday But Have No Visa Yet!

[Antsaar]

My wife and I want to book our tickets for Bangkok this sunday but dont have our visas yet! We planned to travel to London on Friday, go to the Thai Embassy get our Visas, and then stay in London till Sunday and fly out. We have now found out that applying in person is the only way to get the visa, but it takes 2 DAYS to process!!!???? Not including weekends. We want to fly with Emirates via Dubai, as this is the cheapest way.......But all flights after sunday increase by £200-£500!!!! We are 41 (f) and 45 (m) and plan to backpack around thailand on a tourist visa, then border hop.......We want to see Laos, Vietnam & Cambodia etc aswell. We dont plan on returning back to England untill October 2013. All this Visa imformation is doing our heads in!!! Different sites say different things....... Can anybody help??? Can we get our Visas in time.......and do we only need a Tourist Visa??

Many thanks!!

Edited November 28, 2012 by SeaVisionBurma
Edited to standard forum font

[Antsaar]

By the way.......We live on the Isle of Wight in Southern England!!!!

[lopburi3]

Believe honorary consuls in Liverpool or Hull and perhaps other places can issue at time of application but failing that you are allowed 30 day visa exempt entry into Thailand. The only issue is airline who may require you to purchase an outbound ticket to somewhere within that 30 day time period. You could online buy such a ticket to Kuala Lumpur or Penang or Singapore for discount price and use for a visa obtaining trip if you decide to spend more than 30 days in Thailand.

[Antsaar]

Thanks for the quick reply...... Its looking like a postal application, Special Delivery, to Hull tomorrow then? Just hope they can get it back to us for Friday or Saturday morning?!! Then I suppose we can shoot up to London Saturday ready for 7am Gatwick sunday morning!! Only problem here is the Hull application pack download is rather dodgy!! It seems to overlap and downloads in word!! We are confused about Tourist Visas and Multi entry visas??:/

[LuckyLew]

What passport do you hold?

If you have UK passport you do not need visa in advance

Get 30 day stamp on arrival, ....

Then when you travel to Laos or Cambodia you can apply

for a tourist visa there

[Lite Beer]

If they don't have an exit ticket within 30 days they need a Visa from UK.

[lopburi3]

I would not trust mail service this close - you have waited too long to use anything but personal application or do as we have suggested and arrive on 30 day visa exempt entry but be aware airline may not let you board without an onward ticket so you must allow time to buy or have in advance. You can easily obtain a tourist visa for a longer stay in a Consulate in Laos, Malaysia or other nearby country during the 30 day stay.

[Antsaar]

What passport do you hold?

If you have UK passport you do not need visa in advance

Get 30 day stamp on arrival, ....

Then when you travel to Laos or Cambodia you can apply

for a tourist visa there

Yes we have UK passports.......But we wasnt planning on leaving Thailand after 30 days....... What if we dont get a stamp as our return flight is not untill October 2013??

Edited November 28, 2012 by metisdead
: Oversize font re-sized to normal.

[CWMcMurray]

Would just come to Thailand without any visa... With UK passport you can get a 30 day visa exempt entry stamp upon arrival

Although you may need to have a plane ticket leaving Thailand , but that is easy enough...

Just hop on line to Air Asia / or other airline website and buy a one way ticket to neighboring country

Which seems like a non issue, as you say you also plan to go to neighboring countries already

So stay in Thailand through New Years.... Then go to Laos or Cambodia and explore for as long as you like...

Once ready to come back to Thailand get a double entry tourist visa in that country and with extensions and a border run that can cover you for almost 6 months if do e correctly

After 6 months , you will surely ready to go and explore one of the other countries in the region. Or if 3 months is enough, the. Single entry tourist visa

Then go explore another country for a couple months and then when ready apply for another tourist visa before coming back to Thailand

By doing the above.. Should no have any visa issues

Edited November 28, 2012 by CWMcMurray

[Antsaar]

I would not trust mail service this close - you have waited too long to use anything but personal application or do as we have suggested and arrive on 30 day visa exempt entry but be aware airline may not let you board without an onward ticket so you must allow time to buy or have in advance. You can easily obtain a tourist visa for a longer stay in a Consulate in Laos, Malaysia or other nearby country during the 30 day stay.

Its looking like we wont get the flight on Sunday then.....Have to apply by post and hope a cheap flight comes up on a later date! This is great imformation though....Thankyou all!

Edited November 28, 2012 by metisdead
: Oversized font resized to normal.

[Antsaar]

Would just come to Thailand without any visa... With UK passport you can get a 30 day visa exempt entry stamp upon arrival

Although you may need to have a plane ticket leaving Thailand , but that is easy enough...

Just hop on line to Air Asia / or other airline website and buy a one way ticket to neighboring country

Which seems like a non issue, as you say you also plan to go to neighboring countries already

So stay in Thailand through New Years.... Then go to Laos or Cambodia and explore for as long as you like...

Once ready to come back to Thailand get a double entry tourist visa in that country and with extensions and a border run that can cover you for almost 6 months if do e correctly

After 6 months , you will surely ready to go and explore one of the other countries in the region. Or if 3 months is enough, the. Single entry tourist visa

Then go explore another country for a couple months and then when ready apply for another tourist visa before coming back to Thailand

By doing the above.. Should no have any visa issues

That sounds like a great idea........But how much would the ticket be to a neighbouring country? Also, how would we get the ticket on time? Would we have to pick it up at the Airport?

Edited November 28, 2012 by metisdead
: Oversized font resized to normal.

[2008bangkok]

it's to soon to get a visa from embassy, so it boils down to this, would you rather use the extra 250 to pay for more expensive flight or get the cheaper flight come over to Thailand and after 30 days visit Laos for 3 days to get a double entry tourist visa.

Seems a easy choice 2 me

[fatfather]

Planning a one year trip but not thinking about visa issues? Strange.

Fatfather

Sent from my HTC Desire HD A9191 using Thaivisa Connect App

[Antsaar]

Planning a one year trip but not thinking about visa issues? Strange.

Fatfather

Sent from my HTC Desire HD A9191 using Thaivisa Connect App

I know it seems daft that we didnt sort the Visa issue....... Just really believed we could walk straight in at London and get it done. We are handing the keys back on our house (mortgage) and have basically just finnished selling everything and emptying it!(the house) Decided that the time was right to finally go! Got the money, and backpacks are packed!! Searched for a flight and it came up that SUNDAY was only £1,094 for the 2 of us.....One stop at Dubai.....Plus we would arrive in time for the Kings birthday on the 5th!! Yes, we should of done more research on the Visa issue......But different sites told us different things!!

[CWMcMurray]

Would just come to Thailand without any visa... With UK passport you can get a 30 day visa exempt entry stamp upon arrival

Although you may need to have a plane ticket leaving Thailand , but that is easy enough...

Just hop on line to Air Asia / or other airline website and buy a one way ticket to neighboring country

Which seems like a non issue, as you say you also plan to go to neighboring countries already

So stay in Thailand through New Years.... Then go to Laos or Cambodia and explore for as long as you like...

Once ready to come back to Thailand get a double entry tourist visa in that country and with extensions and a border run that can cover you for almost 6 months if do e correctly

After 6 months , you will surely ready to go and explore one of the other countries in the region. Or if 3 months is enough, the. Single entry tourist visa

Then go explore another country for a couple months and then when ready apply for another tourist visa before coming back to Thailand

By doing the above.. Should no have any visa issues

That sounds like a great idea........But how much would the ticket be to a neighbouring country? Also, how would we get the ticket on time? Would we have to pick it up at the Airport?

Just go the airlines website and click on the link to buy ticket.. Chose flights.. Then put in your credit card details... Then confirm all... And on the las page you will get confirmation of ticket... Just show this when checking in for your flight to Bangkok

Airline will accept as this is how most people buy plane ticket now a days.... It's been many years since I have had an actual printed ticket

[Antsaar]

it's to soon to get a visa from embassy, so it boils down to this, would you rather use the extra 250 to pay for more expensive flight or get the cheaper flight come over to Thailand and after 30 days visit Laos for 3 days to get a double entry tourist visa.

Seems a easy choice 2 me

Sounds easy the way you say......... But can we really do that.....Our flight return from England is Oct 2013........Thats of course if we do get the flight on Sunday??!?

[beano2274]

Just fly, but before you do, book an airticket with Airasia to anyone in the area outside of Thailand, for both of you, but before 30 days are up, then use it if you want to or bin it, this way you do not need a visa to enter Thailand.

[2008bangkok]

Just fly, but before you do, book an airticket with Airasia to anyone in the area outside of Thailand, for both of you, but before 30 days are up, then use it if you want to or bin it, this way you do not need a visa to enter Thailand.

I don't even think you need to do that just come over as you are, I'd they want to see your return flight show then the 2013 flight you will be fine.

My advice is this, if your traveling through Asia for almost a year your gonna have plenty of issues like these just go with the flow man, it will be fine.

[Antsaar]

Just fly, but before you do, book an airticket with Airasia to anyone in the area outside of Thailand, for both of you, but before 30 days are up, then use it if you want to or bin it, this way you do not need a visa to enter Thailand.

Where would we pick the tickets up from? Just looked it up on Air Asia website...... It would cost us £77 for a one way ticket to cambodia for both of us........But we need an adress for the tickets? No good them sending the tickets to England. We dont have an adress in Thailand....We just plan to hit the Khao san Rd on arrival!! We dont have an exact plan.....We just want to go where the flow takes us.

[CWMcMurray]

They don't send paper tickets.... Almost nobody still uses paper tickets anymore...

Just buy on line and print out

http://booking.airasia.com/

Just go to the above website... Pick your flight, step 5 is payment... Once paid at step 6 they will show you the confirmation of booking number and itinerary...

You just print this out and show it at the time of check in for the air Asia flight...

Couldn't be any easier

Edited November 28, 2012 by CWMcMurray

[beano2274]

Just fly, but before you do, book an airticket with Airasia to anyone in the area outside of Thailand, for both of you, but before 30 days are up, then use it if you want to or bin it, this way you do not need a visa to enter Thailand.

I don't even think you need to do that just come over as you are, I'd they want to see your return flight show then the 2013 flight you will be fine.

My advice is this, if your traveling through Asia for almost a year your gonna have plenty of issues like these just go with the flow man, it will be fine.

without a visa or a ticket out of Thailand within 30 days of arrival they might not get on the plane at Gatwick!!!!!!!!!!

[beano2274]

Just fly, but before you do, book an airticket with Airasia to anyone in the area outside of Thailand, for both of you, but before 30 days are up, then use it if you want to or bin it, this way you do not need a visa to enter Thailand.

Where would we pick the tickets up from? Just looked it up on Air Asia website...... It would cost us £77 for a one way ticket to cambodia for both of us........But we need an adress for the tickets? No good them sending the tickets to England. We dont have an adress in Thailand....We just plan to hit the Khao san Rd on arrival!! We dont have an exact plan.....We just want to go where the flow takes us.

paper tickets are available from Airasia, read the website, print them out and hey presto done

[Daewoo]

The requirement for entry to Thailand on a 30 day 'visa exempt' stamp is that you can show an onward ticket within the 30 day period... THey don't check in Thailand, only the check in counter for the airline, because if they let you fly to Thailand and you are refused entry, the airline has to pay a big fine...

This is what I would suggest -

* Arrive at the airport early, try to check in without mentioning anything... you might get boarded without any problem... see if you can bluff them by saying you have a ticket but haven't printed it, or that you will be going to Laos by road on a certain date...

* If they won't give you a boarding pass, go to an internet cafe (or use your laptop/smartphone) and buy a ticket online out of Thailand, within 30 days...

* I've had to do this before, just represented to the checkin counter and been boarded without problem... just arrive nice and early so it isn't too stressful...

Consider buying a flexible ticket to a country you wish to travel to, or just the cheapest ticket that will allow changes (for a fee) and then after you arrive change the dates to a time you do want to go there...

You will need to cross a border out of Thailand (probably to Laos) and can apply for a multiple entry tourist visa at that time...

I wouldn't necessarily recommend it, but you can overstay your 30 days stamp... At the airport when leaving, the fine is (I think) 200baht/day up to a maximum that comes into play after about 3 months I think... the problem is, if for any reason you get caught outside of an immigration exit point, you can find yourself in a world of trouble...

[Antsaar]

They don't send paper tickets.... Almost nobody still uses paper tickets anymore...

Just buy on line and print out

Liking it! We last flew in Feb 2010....to Turkey! Paper tickets! We been through hell on earth since then!!......Lost our jobs.......and have cashed in all our savings....and sold everything in the house......We now have the money to travel for a year....still on a shoestring....and we are going to worry about everything else when we come back....

[lopburi3]

Overstay is 500 baht per day and you are subject to arrest if found out. Cambodia is not normally a good place to obtain a Thai visa as only single entry available and will normally take 4 days to obtain. Vientiane provides two entry visas and they and most other Consulates issue visa next workday afternoon. But if you just want to see Cambodia for awhile it should be fine.

[Daewoo]

You just print this out and show it at the time of check in for the air Asia flight...

Couldn't be any easier

You don't even need to print it... the ticket will be emailed to you, show the check in chick the ticket on your phone, or download the Air Asia app, and show them the ticket using that...

[Antsaar]

The requirement for entry to Thailand on a 30 day 'visa exempt' stamp is that you can show an onward ticket within the 30 day period... THey don't check in Thailand, only the check in counter for the airline, because if they let you fly to Thailand and you are refused entry, the airline has to pay a big fine...

This is what I would suggest -

* Arrive at the airport early, try to check in without mentioning anything... you might get boarded without any problem... see if you can bluff them by saying you have a ticket but haven't printed it, or that you will be going to Laos by road on a certain date...

* If they won't give you a boarding pass, go to an internet cafe (or use your laptop/smartphone) and buy a ticket online out of Thailand, within 30 days...

* I've had to do this before, just represented to the checkin counter and been boarded without problem... just arrive nice and early so it isn't too stressful...

Consider buying a flexible ticket to a country you wish to travel to, or just the cheapest ticket that will allow changes (for a fee) and then after you arrive change the dates to a time you do want to go there...

You will need to cross a border out of Thailand (probably to Laos) and can apply for a multiple entry tourist visa at that time...

I wouldn't necessarily recommend it, but you can overstay your 30 days stamp... At the airport when leaving, the fine is (I think) 200baht/day up to a maximum that comes into play after about 3 months I think... the problem is, if for any reason you get caught outside of an immigration exit point, you can find yourself in a world of trouble...

OK.....This is great also!! Sorry if Im being so thorough....... So if I purchase my tickets to Thailand for Sunday 2nd .....and also purchase the Air Asia tickets ONE WAY to Cambodia, departing on the 31st of December for £77.....You think the airline (Emirates) will accept this? If we dont decide to fly on December the 31st, can we then still nip over to Laos after our 30 days, get a multi entry Visa, and come back into Thailand?? Where do we get the visa for Cambodia & Laos??

[lopburi3]

Both Laos and Cambodia visas are available at border points/airports and for Cambodia also by email for selected entry points. If you intend to make plans for a longer stay you can obtain from there Embassy in Bangkok.

[Antsaar]

All brilliant advice.......Thankyou! I think we will phone Hull in the morning .....and pop into the local travel agents and see if they have a decent application form for Hull, or can print one. Maybe the flights with Emirates will go down to the price on the 2nd December at the beggining of next week?......Or to flights just get more expensive at this time of year........Just want to be legite!! and GO!!.........Getting to old for this...lol! We got the money, the desire and the want. We are basically squatting our house!! Sold the bed yesterday so sleeping on the floor, and cooking on a campstove!! Just us and our Berghaus's left....and a bank account!

[Antsaar]

Both Laos and Cambodia visas are available at border points/airports and for Cambodia also by email for selected entry points. If you intend to make plans for a longer stay you can obtain from there Embassy in Bangkok.

So your saying just book and go??........With the £77 flights to Cambodia after 30 days??