First Visa Run

[bkkbaz]

Hi,

I'm a 27yo Brit, taking a break in Bangkok for a while. My quadruple-entry tourist Visa was issued on April 10 2006, and I got my first stamp at Don Muang when I landed here in Bangkok on May 1. It expires on June 29th 2006, so I guess I'd better start thinking about my first Visa run.

Most people seem to go for the all-in-one coach trip to Cambodia, jump over the border for an hour, then back to Bangkok on the same day. Is this the cheapest/easiest approach? Do I just need to turn up at the bus stop with a couple of thousand baht and a couple of passport photos (and my passport, obviously)?

It seems a waste to go all the way to Cambodia just to loiter on the border for a couple of hours. How much would it cost me to fly from Bangkok to say, Phnom Penh instead? Would this still work as a "visa run" if I spent a few days out there? It would be cool if my Thai girl could come along, but she doesn't have a passport so I guess that's out of the question, right?

Oh yeah, my first entry expires on June 29th - can I do the trip on that date, or does it have to be before? And what happens when my 4th entry expires, assuming I still want to stay here? Can I go to a consulate in Cambodia or somewhere to get another quad-entry visa? Or would I have to return to the UK? Or can I just play the 30-day visa-on-entry game until I get bored and want to go home? Has anyone ever been deported for getting too many consecutive 30-day visas?

Thanks, sorry for so many questions :-)

[Crossy]

OK, you CAN get your 60 day stay extended by 30 days by visiting immigration, costs 1900 Baht. However, since you have a quad entry visa which will only be valid for 6 months from date of issue it's not worth bothering.

It's advisable to book your visa run, give them a buzz to ensure that your chosen trip is on. You'll need a passport photo, 2000 for the trip and you're advised to carry 10k an official requirement for entry, never heard of anyone being asked to show it, you may be the first.

Check out the Air Asia website for cheap flights to other cities, any trip out of the kingdom will do as a visa run.

Do remember that any exit / entry will use one of your visa entries even if your previous stamp has not expired.

Always best to go the day before your stamp expires, avoid weekends and holidays and NEVER, EVER, EVER, OVERSTAY, even one day can get you arrested and deported.

Once your visa has expired (assuming you still have money / want to stay), you can buzz down to Penang and get another, double entry no problem, triple, if the man is in a good mood.

[baboon]

OK, you CAN get your 60 day stay extended by 30 days by visiting immigration, costs 1900 Baht. However, since you have a quad entry visa which will only be valid for 6 months from date of issue it's not worth bothering.

It's advisable to book your visa run, give them a buzz to ensure that your chosen trip is on. You'll need a passport photo, 2000 for the trip and you're advised to carry 10k an official requirement for entry, never heard of anyone being asked to show it, you may be the first.

Check out the Air Asia website for cheap flights to other cities, any trip out of the kingdom will do as a visa run.

Do remember that any exit / entry will use one of your visa entries even if your previous stamp has not expired.

Always best to go the day before your stamp expires, avoid weekends and holidays and NEVER, EVER, EVER, OVERSTAY, even one day can get you arrested and deported.

Once your visa has expired (assuming you still have money / want to stay), you can buzz down to Penang and get another, double entry no problem, triple, if the man is in a good mood.

Well put,and I will report on Penang in a few days.

[bkkbaz]

OK, you CAN get your 60 day stay extended by 30 days by visiting immigration, costs 1900 Baht. However, since you have a quad entry visa which will only be valid for 6 months from date of issue it's not worth bothering.

It's advisable to book your visa run, give them a buzz to ensure that your chosen trip is on. You'll need a passport photo, 2000 for the trip and you're advised to carry 10k an official requirement for entry, never heard of anyone being asked to show it, you may be the first.

Check out the Air Asia website for cheap flights to other cities, any trip out of the kingdom will do as a visa run.

Do remember that any exit / entry will use one of your visa entries even if your previous stamp has not expired.

Always best to go the day before your stamp expires, avoid weekends and holidays and NEVER, EVER, EVER, OVERSTAY, even one day can get you arrested and deported.

Once your visa has expired (assuming you still have money / want to stay), you can buzz down to Penang and get another, double entry no problem, triple, if the man is in a good mood.

Well put,and I will report on Penang in a few days.

Thanks to both of you, I'll look at air fares and hotel costs in Phnom Penh, and whether I decide to do the border-hop or the longer trip, I'll head out the day before expiration!

[visarunner]

Not limit yrself to Phnom Penh only.

If you choose a daytrip to Cambodia with a Visa Run Company you are safe with the companies mentioned in other topics.

Need further info pls feel free tp PM me.

Edited June 13, 2006 by visarunner

[thankuverybig]

hello,ive been doing the 30 day visa run for years.the cheapest place to renew your 30 day visa is burma.either ranong,mae sot or mae sai.

all are 500 baht.

in ranong you have to get a scheduled boat across,from a pier,just down from the thai immigration office.

in mae sot you can get a 10 baht sawntaew from the town center to the thai immigration post & then its a walk over the freindship bridge to burma.where you pay 500 baht for the 2 stamps (entry & exit) & also 5 baht for a photo copy of your passport.no photos are needed, & you can either spend the day in mywaddi or come straight back to the thai immigration for your thai entry stamp.

mae sai /tachilek is the same,you can spend a day in tachilek.

if your not interested in a 30 day visa,then the above could be of no use whatsoever,other than it gave me something to do.

Edited June 14, 2006 by thankuverybig

[Phil Conners]

BEWARE OF PICKPOCKETS!!!

As you get out of the visa bus you will be surrounded by a sea of kids begging for money, some trying to hold an umbrella over your head for tips ... if you have any values anywhere accessible they will find it and take without you noticing!

[bkkbaz]

hello,ive been doing the 30 day visa run for years.the cheapest place to renew your 30 day visa is burma.either ranong,mae sot or mae sai.

all are 500 baht.

in ranong you have to get a scheduled boat across,from a pier,just down from the thai immigration office.

in mae sot you can get a 10 baht sawntaew from the town center to the thai immigration post & then its a walk over the freindship bridge to burma.where you pay 500 baht for the 2 stamps (entry & exit) & also 5 baht for a photo copy of your passport.no photos are needed, & you can either spend the day in mywaddi or come straight back to the thai immigration for your thai entry stamp.

mae sai /tachilek is the same,you can spend a day in tachilek.

if your not interested in a 30 day visa,then the above could be of no use whatsoever,other than it gave me something to do.

Hi, actually renewing a 6-month quad-entry visa - each entry is 60 days, not 30.

Burma/Myanmar might be cheaper, but isn't it a lot further than Bangkok? I still have to get to the border, remember :-)

[sweetbear]

Recently did the run to Cambodia with "Quick visa run". Compared to Ranong it was a breeze. Nice roomy bus, good movies, helpful staff. They even filled out most of the paperwork for me. Spent about 20 mins at the border, did some shopping for cheap cigs and booze.

[BongBong]

Recently did the run to Cambodia with "Quick visa run". Compared to Ranong it was a breeze. Nice roomy bus, good movies, helpful staff. They even filled out most of the paperwork for me. Spent about 20 mins at the border, did some shopping for cheap cigs and booze.

This might be a silly question, where to find this service?

[Michael W]

hello,ive been doing the 30 day visa run for years.the cheapest place to renew your 30 day visa is burma.either ranong,mae sot or mae sai.

all are 500 baht.

in ranong you have to get a scheduled boat across,from a pier,just down from the thai immigration office.

in mae sot you can get a 10 baht sawntaew from the town center to the thai immigration post & then its a walk over the freindship bridge to burma.where you pay 500 baht for the 2 stamps (entry & exit) & also 5 baht for a photo copy of your passport.no photos are needed, & you can either spend the day in mywaddi or come straight back to the thai immigration for your thai entry stamp.

mae sai /tachilek is the same,you can spend a day in tachilek.

if your not interested in a 30 day visa,then the above could be of no use whatsoever,other than it gave me something to do.

Hi, actually renewing a 6-month quad-entry visa - each entry is 60 days, not 30.

I think they'd give you a new 60 day stamp since they'd see the tourist visa your departure card is stapled to.

Burma/Myanmar might be cheaper, but isn't it a lot further than Bangkok? I still have to get to the border, remember :-)

It is a lot further, particularly by overnight bus or train. If you don't mind spending 2200 baht for airfare, AirAsia flys Bangkok-Chiang Rai. They have early morning departures from BKK with afternoon and evening returns from CEI. From Chiang Rai it's a 90 minute bus ride to Mae Sai, so potentially you could make the visa run a day trip. One apparent advantage of going to Burma, if I understand thankuverybig, is it seems (correct me if I'm wrong) they just use small entry/exit stamps which together take up no more than half a passport page. This is as opposed to Cambodia which in addition to the stamps also uses a full passport page sized visa sticker which of course uses a whole additional page. This may be entirely of no consequence to you but for those whom visa runs are now a part of life, conserving passport pages helps to reduce the hassle factor a bit.

[Eugen]

From BKK the easist way to do a Borderrun is to Cambodia and I would choose one of the operators going to Ban Laem/New Border.

From HuaHin you do the run down to Ranong.

To Mae Sot it is a very long way and should be considereded only as an extended weekendtrip.

The Chiang Rai trip is also a nice two/three day trip .

[Maestro]

I think they'd give you a new 60 day stamp since they'd see the tourist visa your departure card is stapled to.

Michael, this comment of yours is wrong and confusing.

1. bkkbaz has a tourist visa valid for 4 entries and has so far used 1 entry. He knows that on each entry he will get a stamp for 60 days (he said so in post #8). Your saying now hat you think he will get a new 60-day stamp is apt to create uncertainty. This is unnecessary, because it is a fact that he will get a 60-day stamp.

2. When entering Thailand, there will be no departure card stapled to the tourist visa in his passport. He will fill out an new arrival/departure card and on the arrival section of this card write the visa number, and on this basis the immigration officer will know to look for the visa in his passport and to give that 60-day stamp.

---------------

Maestro

Edited June 16, 2006 by maestro

[bkkbaz]

I think they'd give you a new 60 day stamp since they'd see the tourist visa your departure card is stapled to.

Michael, this comment of yours is wrong and confusing.

1. bkkbaz has a tourist visa valid for 4 entries and has so far used 1 entry. He knows that on each entry he will get a stamp for 60 days (he said so in post #8). Your saying now hat you think he will get a new 60-day stamp is apt to create uncertainty. This is unnecessary, because it is a fact that he will get a 60-day stamp.

2. When entering Thailand, there will be no departure card stapled to the tourist visa in his passport. He will fill out an new arrival/departure card and on the arrival section of this card write the visa number, and on this basis the immigration officer will know to look for the visa in his passport and to give that 60-day stamp.

---------------

Maestro

Thanks maestro, cleared that up before I could even ask :-)

[Africa]

hello,ive been doing the 30 day visa run for years.the cheapest place to renew your 30 day visa is burma.either ranong,mae sot or mae sai.

all are 500 baht.

in ranong you have to get a scheduled boat across,from a pier,just down from the thai immigration office.

in mae sot you can get a 10 baht sawntaew from the town center to the thai immigration post & then its a walk over the freindship bridge to burma.where you pay 500 baht for the 2 stamps (entry & exit) & also 5 baht for a photo copy of your passport.no photos are needed, & you can either spend the day in mywaddi or come straight back to the thai immigration for your thai entry stamp.

mae sai /tachilek is the same,you can spend a day in tachilek.

if your not interested in a 30 day visa,then the above could be of no use whatsoever,other than it gave me something to do.

Hi... I have another Question following this post.: do u need to have any kind of visa for Myanmar in your passport to enter to Myanmar for this "day trip" or you can just simply go to the border with your passport and cross the border for the purpose of visa extension. thanx

[thankuverybig]

hello,you dont need any myanmar visas for the day trip into burma.you just get your entry stamp at the burmese immigration,have youre little day in the border town (obviously you cant travel deep into burma)& then just come back well before 5.30pm to get the exit stamp then walk across to the thai post for your thai entry stamp.& youre 30 days.

the burmese immigration posts take 500baht.& yes it is right that you get small entry & exit stamps.

the thai immigration now seem to be asking for youre phone numbers & address in thailand,but this is just a procedure (terrorism etc)& not a personal thing.