Vientiane: Triple Entry Tourist Possible?, Hours of Embassy Operation, SIM Purchase and Flooding

[davevi]

I have four questions about a Visa run I am making this week to Vientiane.

Is it possible to get a triple entry tourist visa in Vientiane?

How early does the embassy in Vientiane open?

Internet is super-slow everywhere I have been in Vientiane, is there benefit to buying a SIM from 7-11 in Vientiane for data access on my mobile?

I will be driving my car from Chiang Mai to Udon Thani. Should I have concerns about major road access due to flooding between CM and UT?

Thank you!

[CMSteve]

No triple entries

9am for visa apps(usually closer to 9:15)

If you are staying on the river, maybe a Thai 3G would be useful. don't know what the 3G is like in Laos. The True Cafe has pretty good internet as well.

Have no idea about the flooding situation.

[CMKiwi]

I just returned from a visa run on Friday, actually left Chiang Mai on Wednesday and crossed over to Vientiane on Thursday. We (GF and I) drove all the way to Nong Khai and hit Typhoon Nagi (I think thats what it was called) about 3 hours out of CM.

Had no problems or any sightings re flooding. On the way back my GF wanted to go a different route via Korat (Her home town) and we did see a bit of flooding in some parts of the town but nothing serious.

As for the Thai Consulate, its open Mon-Fri 0830-1130 for visa application. All applications take not less than one day to process so you have to overnight in Vientiane. Collection time is from 1330-1530 the following day. I applied for a double entry visa (2000 baht) and recieved it the following day with no problems. A friend we knew was there the same day but they would not give him a double entry...not sure why, but he was also red stamped and advised to leave Thailand after his visa has done its dash. Perhaps he's been doing the double entry too many times?

We were lucky (Dependant on your point of view) as there was some festival happening down in the main tourist area near the Mekong River. Very much a party atmosphere with stalls set up either side of the street. Some good bargains to be had if you can put up with the over-agressive style of marketing!

Cant comment re the internet as I tend to stay away from it when on these little 'jaunts' across the border.

Have a great trip and good luck

[lannarebirth]

Used to be able to get a triple entry in Xiamen. Took about three days though.

[davevi]

Thanks.

Two follow-up questions to the board...

What does "red stamped" mean?

I applied for an received a double-entry in Vientiane six months ago. I trust that another double-entry won't be a problem?

Any insight anyone?

Thank you.

I just returned from a visa run on Friday, actually left Chiang Mai on Wednesday and crossed over to Vientiane on Thursday. We (GF and I) drove all the way to Nong Khai and hit Typhoon Nagi (I think thats what it was called) about 3 hours out of CM.

Had no problems or any sightings re flooding. On the way back my GF wanted to go a different route via Korat (Her home town) and we did see a bit of flooding in some parts of the town but nothing serious.

As for the Thai Consulate, its open Mon-Fri 0830-1130 for visa application. All applications take not less than one day to process so you have to overnight in Vientiane. Collection time is from 1330-1530 the following day. I applied for a double entry visa (2000 baht) and recieved it the following day with no problems. A friend we knew was there the same day but they would not give him a double entry...not sure why, but he was also red stamped and advised to leave Thailand after his visa has done its dash. Perhaps he's been doing the double entry too many times?

We were lucky (Dependant on your point of view) as there was some festival happening down in the main tourist area near the Mekong River. Very much a party atmosphere with stalls set up either side of the street. Some good bargains to be had if you can put up with the over-agressive style of marketing!

Cant comment re the internet as I tend to stay away from it when on these little 'jaunts' across the border.

Have a great trip and good luck

[scd]

No triple's in South East Asia. Been like that for a while now.

[CMKiwi]

Red stamped can mean a few things, but in general (Or so I am led to believe) it is a warning to both the visitor/tourist and immigration. In this particular case, I think it was a warning to the individual that immigration are seriously looking at his 'extended' stay in Thailand. Immigration may be suspicious that he is not abiding by the purpose of his visit i.e A tourist does not normally stay for years and years, therefore they presume that he may be working illegally.

This is all pure conjecture.... should he return to Vientiane and apply for another visa he MAY be denied one.

He showed me the stamp and its all rather vague but I took it as a warning. If it was me Id go to another country for a few months or return to my home country and let the dust settle before returning to the Land of Smiles.

As for your situation, I dont believe a second double entry visa will be a problem. My last visa run was my second double entry visa... no problems at all.

[elektrified]

Thanks.

Two follow-up questions to the board...

What does "red stamped" mean?

I applied for an received a double-entry in Vientiane six months ago. I trust that another double-entry won't be a problem?

Any insight anyone?

Thank you.

Red stamped means you abused the tourist visa and aren't really a tourist so the Immigration Officer stamps your passport in red ink "no more tourist visa" or something to that effect.

Hard to say if it will be a problem. It is entirely up to the Immigration Officer. I was last there with a friend about a year ago. He was applying for a single-entry tourist visa but was denied. The Immigration Officer looked through his passport for what seemed like 30 minutes. He had many different kinds of expired visas in his passport. His business had recently failed and WP cancelled. He also had some previous Non-Immigrant dependent visas in there. The Immigration Officer told him that he was clearly not a tourist but an ex-pat looking for an alternate way to stay. Denied.

If you are clearly a tourist and have not abused the tourist visa requirement, then you should not have a problem. But again it depends on the Immigration Officer and what kind of mood he/she is in that day.

[davevi]

Thanks for that. My US Passport is pretty clean, not too much vagueness or strangeness in there so I think I will likely be good to go.

If I default to getting only a single entry Visa I can still likely work with that.

On a related note... In looking at threads here on this topic and the Thai embassy in Laos there are several references to a "lady" at the Laos immigration booth. She's very difficult to deal with and appears to look for any reason to deny anything presented to her. I'm going to try to avoid her this time around. Last time I was handing my paperwork to the nice man behind the window when she intercepted it after an employee entered the room just at that moment and asked the man a question. That's when I got to see her not nice side.

Some things are all luck of the draw.

Red stamped can mean a few things, but in general (Or so I am led to believe) it is a warning to both the visitor/tourist and immigration. In this particular case, I think it was a warning to the individual that immigration are seriously looking at his 'extended' stay in Thailand. Immigration may be suspicious that he is not abiding by the purpose of his visit i.e A tourist does not normally stay for years and years, therefore they presume that he may be working illegally.

This is all pure conjecture.... should he return to Vientiane and apply for another visa he MAY be denied one.

He showed me the stamp and its all rather vague but I took it as a warning. If it was me Id go to another country for a few months or return to my home country and let the dust settle before returning to the Land of Smiles.

As for your situation, I dont believe a second double entry visa will be a problem. My last visa run was my second double entry visa... no problems at all.