Chiang Mai Visa Run

[Phil_ne_uk]

I’m English from the UK and have a 12 month non Imm multi O visa from Hull which started on 7th April 2005. I’m now staying in Chiang Mai and was told in Pattaya that if a do a final visa run a week or so before the 12 months would expire in April that I would get one more 90 stamp making my visa last a total of 15 months. Is this true?

If so, how late can I leave it before doing the run? 1 week 1 day?

Can anyone please tell me the procedure to go to Mai Sai for the visa run. I read somewhere that you have to show 10,000 baht in cash or bank book to get back in. would a printout showing my UK building society balance be good enough to show?

One more question, are there any visa run companies in Chiang Mai? Or do you have to DIY

Thanks in advance

Phil

[lopburi3]

1. You need to exit/return before your visa expiration date. I would do it the day before the date in passport to be 100% safe.

2. You need 20,000 baht and it needs to be in cash. You may not be asked but that is the requirement for a single person with a visa. The 10,000 is for visa free entry of 30 days.

[PeaceBlondie]

You can check the Chiang Mai or Chiang Rai sub-forums for more info on the visa runs to Mae Sai. I often took one of the mini-vans that you arrange through a tour agency; they're about 800 baht, take all day, include buffet lunch at the golden triangle, and it's door-to-door service with side trips.

[rishi]

PeaceBlondie gave you a sound advice: Go to the Chiang Mai super forum. Click 'search' in the top nav. bar. Enter 'visa run'. You'll be confronted with a wealth of info on the various ways to to get to Mae Sai and further.

[Octaviousbp]

I wrote this a few years back for a seperate forum. Maybe it will help...

Okay, just a disclaimer, this one is boring, but it's information I sure wish I had yesterday.

These are the ins and outs of the Chiang Mai "Visa Run", which is something you'll have to get used if you're in Thailand for any length of time.

A standard "stamp-on-arrival" visa is good for 30 days, unless you're from New Zealand, Korea, or Brazil, in which case it's 90 days.

So if you're gonna be here for more than that, I would advise paying the 10 USD and getting a 60 day Visa BEFORE you come to Thailand. Just go to your nearest Thai embassy at least 2 weeks prior to departure (in case of any complications).

Okay here it is, from Chiang Mai, to Mae Sai, to Tachileik, Burma.:

1) Take the city bus from the Arcade Bus Terminal to Mae Sai, the one I took left at 9:15am. The cost is 171 Baht, and the duration is roughly 4 hours. There is a brief stop in Chiang Rai.

*Important* Buy your return ticket at the bus station for the 3:30pm return bus to Chiang Mai right away! You don't want to get there at 3:25 and find out there sold out, and you are stuck in Mae Sai for the night. Small risk, but better safe than sorry...

2) Upon arrival in Mae Sai, hop a sawng-taew heading for the border crossing, BUT DON'T GO TO THE BORDER!!! I made this mistake on some erroneous advice. You must go to THAI IMMIGRATION, roughly 2km's before the border, to get your DEPARTURE STAMP.

3) Once you get the stamp, you are allowed to leave the country, so head to the PASSPORT INSPECTION booth at the border crossing.

4) When that is cleared jump on through, over the bridge, and head to Burmese customs. There, you pay 250 Baht, or 5 USD, and obtain your 1 day Burmese Visa. You hand over your passport, they give you a pink slip, you keep the slip, they keep your passport.

5) Snap a few pix, and turn around, cause your bus leaves in half an hour! (This is of course if your sole purpose of the trip is to obtain a new visa, and not to site-see, in which case, you'll have to spend the night in Mae Sai, or Chiang Rai...)

6) Head back to Burmese immigration, pickup your passport after five minutes, (much to the amusement or disproval of the workers there, depending on their mood) and head for Thai Immigration.

7) Fill out another pointless arrival card that is identical to the first one you filled out when you first arrived in Thailand, get stamped with your shiny new 30 day Thai visa, and you are set.

8) Hop a sawng-taew back to the bus station (5 baht). No need to panic about a seat, cause you did the smart thing and bought a return ticket upon arrival. Grab a beer for the last 10 minutes you'll have to wait before your bus leaves, because you sure as hel_l are gonna need it since you've been on a bus for 5 hours already, and you're about to spend another 5 on it again.

9) Arrive back in Chiang Mai by 8 o'clock with only one day wasted...

Once again, sorry about the boring post, but if this info helps just one person... it was worth it.

[rishi]

Octaviousbp hits the nail with the details except for item 2):

2) Upon arrival in Mae Sai, hop a sawng-taew heading for the border crossing, BUT DON'T GO TO THE BORDER!!! I made this mistake on some erroneous advice. You must go to THAI IMMIGRATION, roughly 2km's before the border, to get your DEPARTURE STAMP.

Things have changed about a year ago. Nowadays, you don't have to go to the Immigration office and you don't have to provide two copies of the datapage of your passport. You simply just go straight to the border and hand over nothing but your passport and its attached departure slip.

Edit// I forgot to mention that charges have gone up a bit, but nothing to worry about.

Edited March 17, 2006 by rishi

[lopburi3]

The normal 30 day stamp on arrival is not a visa (it is called a tourist visa exemption). New Zealand receives the normal 30 days; not 90. The cost is well over $10 for a tourist visa (as mentioned). Also as mentioned border procedures have changed. You are also more likely to be requested to show funds (10k cash for 30 day stay or 20k cash for visa entry for single person).