Nightmare at Poi Pet / Thai Border

[Flow]

Hi

Was holidaying in Japan for several months with the idea of obtaining a tourist visa to Thailand there. No tourist visa given to foreigners not legally working in Japan it turns out. So flew into Suwanabhumi without a tourist visa and got 28 days (4 weeks) on arrival. No prob so I thought my intention is a 3 week stay then back to my home country Sweden. Due to one of my in laws getting into a very bad accident I had no option but to stay longer and get another 28 days on arrival. Got in a car with Thai family and was driven to the border crossing. I kid you not, we were still in the car a 500 meter (half kilometer) away from the border before I was spotted by the Cambodian or Thai mafia sitting next to the driver. Bicycles, motorbikes etc chasing our car yelling through closed car windows to my brother in law to stop and follow them to secure a parking space and a visa. My brother in law drove instead to what seemed a Thai government manned parking which was full. They pointed us towards another parking lot also government controlled and free. By that time the car was swarmed by mafia all wanting to "take care" of my visa. I told my brother in law to stay put and let me get the 28 stamp by myself. Needless to say not having any luggage with me it was obvious I was there for a border run and was surrounded by dozens of mafia types all yelling in chorus "visa visa". Ignored them and after a few F yous from them folks I reached Thai imm checkpoint. I was the only one. So that was one smooth exit so I thought. It was not to be. Those same people and new ones were again chasing me. Again ignored them all and went to the Cambodian visa office where I paid 800 Baht and got my visa within 10 minutes. Exiting the visa office I was this time stopped by fake Cambodian police officers I had actually read about those previously in here so ignored them as well. I must admit they did look like real policemen with badges and all that so they could have easily fooled me had I not read the info posted by a member of Thai visa in here. And they too yelled "visa visa". Visa visa? <deleted> I just got one! Proceeded to the Cambodian immigration checkpoint, not a long wait. While standing in the queue waiting for my turn the Cambodian immigration official kept on looking at me. He'd stamp a passport of somebody then look up and stare at me. <deleted>? So, there I was after 5 min or so waiting standing in front of the Cambodian immigration officer. Gave him my passport. He didn't even look at it instead he shouted 100 Baht mister. Having read in here that it's customary to pay a bribe and wanting no problems getting back out of Cambodia I paid up. He asked me the reasons I was in Cambodia after stamping me in I said that I was just doing a border run. He said, good to know, and asked if I wanted and exit stamp too as to save time getting back in. Since I had already paid the bribe and didn't want to pay another 100 Baht just to exit Cambodia I said YES! It was obvious that the mafia had informed him via sms that a no luggage carrying guy was coming his way. Coz none of the people in front of me were asked for a bribe, it was just me, and he said it loud and clear, no shyness or pride from his part. But anyway, that was that and.......woaw......all of a sudden I was a free man, all the mafia had vanished. Great. So, I thought. At the imm check point to get back in the lines were horrific, at several points they had to actually close the building door and let people in groups of 30. Inside it was simply hell. Closed windows and apart from those tiny electric wall fans there were no ceiling fans and the airconditioners were all either out of order or turned off. Extremely rude Thai immigration officers there as well at some point I saw an elderly couple trying to make it to the window to open ii and get some air only to witness a very rude and shameless Thai immigration hooligan jump out of his seat and scare the living daylights out of the couple by yelling at them. There were around 400 people standing waiting in lines in the building and all eyes were on that Thai hooligan, this tells you how loud the yelling was. I waited at least 2 hrs inside that building and believe me having travelled to over 50 countries and crossed hundreds of borders this was hell on earth. In fact the whole experience was a nightmare and to add pain to injury I only got 14 days instead of the 28 days that I thought I would get. And yes I did read lots of threads posted in here but none of them mentioned the 14 days only extension instead of the usual 28 day on arrival stamp I get. So, here I am asking for anyone to PLEASE PLEASE advise. Where can I get a 3 month tourist visa WITHOUT hassle? I don't want to do any border runs. It's a lot of hassle, it's just not for me. Please anyone with updated info on the visa situation (tourist) from the following countries: Singapore, Malaysia (Penang), Laos, Vietnam, Burma. Hassle free and quick is what I am looking for. Adivce, tips etc. appreciated!

Edited November 25, 2013 by Flow

[ubonjoe]

Vientiane Laos does 2 entry visas. KL and Penang Malaysia 1 entry visas. All are about the same and do next afternoon service.

Each entry gives a 60 day entry extendable for 30 days at immigration.

[PoorSucker]

Swedish passport holders gets 30 day visa exempt stamp only at airports.

At land borders they only receive 14 days.

[Bangkok45]

Are you kidding me?! You have made 281 postings and you have never came across the countless threads pertaining to visa on arrival/visa border runs and everything pertaining to it?

Nonetheless, I'm going to reply to your query as to where you can go in order to get that 90 days visa you so needed. The best place to do it is in Vientiane, Laos. You can either apply for single entry or multiple entry tourist visa. FYI, it's actually a 60 day visa that you can apply to have another 30 day extension for 1900 baht at the Immigration in Chaeng Wattana. So that makes it 90 days in total.

Well, it is hassle free in the sense that there are no mafias or taunting touts. Average wait at the Thai embassy is between 1 to 3 hours on application, and 2 to 4 hour on next day collection. But, you can get it done in less than 10 minutes if you know who to go to.

PM me if you want to know. Hope this answer your question!

Edited November 25, 2013 by Bangkok45

[Flow]

Thanks. Never been Laos. Might be interesting to go there (Cambodia....I lost interest). Anyone know of company that does trip, tourist visa etc. tour to Laos form Bangkok? Thanks.

[ubonjoe]

There is several companies doing the run if you don't mind being jammed into a van for 14 hours.

You can do yourself. Easy way is to fly to Udon Thani and then by van to bridge in Nong Kai. Nok Air has fly/ride service to Vientiane via Udon.

Or overnight sleeper berth on train.

Have a look at reports here: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/189375-latest-reports-of-getting-a-visa-in-the-region/

[overherebc]

I go to Poipet regularly, 3 or 4 times a year, and have never experienced anything coming close to that. I just ignore anyone trying to talk to me, smile and walk on.

Get there early in the morning wander through the Thai side and exit, pay the 800 for the visa and slow walk down the Cambodian side, do the in-out and back to Thailand.

Never had to tell anyone <deleted>> you on either side

[Flow]

Good to hear you had a better experience than mine. FYI I never used the F word with anyone, reread my original post.

[LuckyLew]

Savannakhet Laos is also an option

many threads on TV with vise run reports

[ubonjoe]

Are you legally married to a Thai?

If yes you could get a 60 day extension to visit your wife at an immigration office.

[asiaexpat]

OP, your post indicates you have Thai family, so I suggest you use the relationship (wife, child) to obtain a 60 day extension at your local immigration office.

[Tomtomtom69]

I go to Poipet regularly, 3 or 4 times a year, and have never experienced anything coming close to that. I just ignore anyone trying to talk to me, smile and walk on.

Get there early in the morning wander through the Thai side and exit, pay the 800 for the visa and slow walk down the Cambodian side, do the in-out and back to Thailand.

Never had to tell anyone <deleted>> you on either side

The Poipet border is notorious for annoying pests though - the vast majority are of course Cambodian. Back in late 2011, on my first visit to Poipet in a long time (I had been there prior to that trip at least twice going to Poipet and once coming back so that was my 4th visit) a Cambodian guy approached me and my friend to try and "help" us take 100kg of agricultural produce across the border to Cambodia. Of course we didn't need his help as I had no problem communicating with the Cambodian cart guys in Thai (most of those guys are bilingual and I'm fluent in Thai). However, this pest kept bugging us until I had to tell him: "we're good - we don't need you" and so he finally left. Of course if we had let him boss us around he would have charged us for it. Fortunately the visa thing was not an issue for me as I got myself a 6-month multiple entry extension in order to make multiple trips between Thailand and Vietnam for our business without applying for a new visa.

[davejones]

Can you please re-write using paragraphs.

[Mooner]

Thought most countries were getting 30 days even at borders. Sure it was on here a couple of weeks ago.

[OJAS]

Thought most countries were getting 30 days even at borders. Sure it was on here a couple of weeks ago.

Only applies to G7 countries, of which Sweden is not one.

To avoid encountering similar grief in the future, the OP might wish to consider obtaining a multiple-entry 60-day tourist visa from the Thai Embassy in Stockholm before setting off on his Asiatic travels. Details at http://www.thaiembassy.se/en/visa/types-of-visa/36

Edited November 25, 2013 by OJAS

[PoorSucker]

Thought most countries were getting 30 days even at borders. Sure it was on here a couple of weeks ago.

Only applies to G7 countries, of which Sweden is not one.

To avoid encountering similar grief in the future, the OP might wish to consider obtaining a multiple-entry 60-day tourist visa from the Thai Embassy in Stockholm before setting off on his Asiatic travels. Details at http://www.thaiembassy.se/en/visa/types-of-visa/36

There are no Multiple entry tourist visa.

You can get a single, double or triple entry tourist visa.

Multiple entry is only available for non-immigrant visas.

[Sceptict11]

Thought most countries were getting 30 days even at borders. Sure it was on here a couple of weeks ago.

Only applies to G7 countries, of which Sweden is not one.

To avoid encountering similar grief in the future, the OP might wish to consider obtaining a multiple-entry 60-day tourist visa from the Thai Embassy in Stockholm before setting off on his Asiatic travels. Details at http://www.thaiembassy.se/en/visa/types-of-visa/36

There are no Multiple entry tourist visa.

You can get a single, double or triple entry tourist visa.

Multiple entry is only available for non-immigrant visas.

The Royal Thai Embassy, Stockholm actually states on their web site...............................

"There is no multiple entries for tourist visa"

[OJAS]

Thought most countries were getting 30 days even at borders. Sure it was on here a couple of weeks ago.

Only applies to G7 countries, of which Sweden is not one.

To avoid encountering similar grief in the future, the OP might wish to consider obtaining a multiple-entry 60-day tourist visa from the Thai Embassy in Stockholm before setting off on his Asiatic travels. Details at http://www.thaiembassy.se/en/visa/types-of-visa/36

There are no Multiple entry tourist visa.

You can get a single, double or triple entry tourist visa.

Multiple entry is only available for non-immigrant visas.

The Royal Thai Embassy, Stockholm actually states on their web site...............................

"There is no multiple entries for tourist visa"

Oops, missed that one!

So presumably the OP would require a double-entry at least tourist visa from home for future similar trips, would he? If I have inferred correctly from ubonjoe’s advice at post #4 on the thread at http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/684254-problems-with-hull-consulate/, he would, in effect, be unable to use a single-entry visa obtained in Stockholm were he to holiday in Japan for several months before moving on to Thailand, as he has done on this occasion.

Edited November 26, 2013 by OJAS

[ubonjoe]

He would only have 3 months to use a single entry visa. A 2 or 3 entry should have a 6 month validity from most embassies and consulates.