My Mostly Good Experience at Savanakhet Dec.11 to Dec.12, 2014 for Non-O Marriage Multi

[Shaunduhpostman]

Last week did my annual foray for a 1 year Non-O marriage, happy to say all went without a hitch.

Documents and items requested by the officer were:

1. Passport

2. Copy of Passport Page

3. Copy front and back side of wife's national ID card

4. Copy front and backside of marriage certificate

5. Copy of pages from wife's tabien ban (Govt. house ownership book)

6. Original marriage certificate.

7. 5000 baht (actually he didn't ask for it and I had to remind him)

-None of the copies were signed and oddly they didn't ask us to do so. No request for proof income.

-Processing is now same day rather than a wait till the next day for pick up in the afternoon.

Other items and notes:

1. New embassy site has been opened in Savanakhet. They have quit the old site near the center of town for a new maximum security looking building about 3-4 km away, so less convenient. 100-150 baht by samlor from the old "downtown" area of Savankhet is what I paid. Locals said it should be 80 baht, but couldn't get any interest from any drivers to go for that price.

2. The bus from Mukdhahan over the border to Savanakhet is 50 baht. Last year they seemed to be operating as a parcel delivery service as well with the floor space of nearly all seating occupied by all manner of boxes. This year none of that. Makes the journey faster, less police checks and stops to deliver things en-route.

3. Going from Laos to Thailand the bus drivers will not wait for non-ASEAN people to clear Laos immigration. So, I wouldn't leave my bags on the bus or entrust it to be stowed below in the bus luggage compartment. Most of the people on the bus are Lao and so obviously they do not have to fill out papers, wait for processing from Laos immigration. That process doesn't take long at all, 20 minutes, but I suppose it is a bit much to ask all 40 Laos passengers to wait for the 3-4 gringoes, keks, Japanese who have to undergo processing. After processing you will have to wait another hour for the next bus or if you are in a hurry you can get a samlor into Savanakhet for 200 baht, depending on their desperation and your negotiating skills.

4. Last time I stayed in Savanakhet, in 2013, it was at the Nong Soda guest house. A bit shabby a seemingly totally disinterested sleep deprived manager, but not bad. The place has a nice upstairs patio with a 2nd floor view of the Mekong which was very nice. Great to sit up there with a beer or 6 and watch the evening and the night sky pass. This time I thought I'd try Savanavong Guest House. No view, owner seems to also be the manager, usually nowhere to be found, but when around a nice enough guy, fairly friendly. Cheap, 400 baht a night compared with 600 at the more dilapidated Nong Soda. Room carpets were pretty dirty at Savanavong, but bedding and bathrooms spotless, good AC, television if you are into that seemed functional, tho pretty basic channels. It's all in a redone old Laos-French house as are most of the buildings in the immediate area. Tho no river view, still a good location, near the Chez Boune and other tourist restaurants and stores that have good wine cheeses, snacks, and general items you might need. It's Savanakhet, and there really isn't anything that great available in terms of accommodation or anything at all really. Interesting old 18th-19th century feel to Savanakhet that is a break from the surveillance state just about everywhere else in the world.

A final non-essential, creative writing exercise: a personal reaction to the new embassy and other probably semi-obsessive, semi-off base minutiae about the queing and tense atmosphere in front of the embassy:

The semi vaguely horrendous mob of applicants will probably be 70 percent of your actual visa application stress which is probably minor in Le Grande Scheme of Things, but still I wish it were a bit more pleasant. Anyone could see how it easily could be more of pleasant experience, but it is probably not in anyone's job description to make it that, so there you go. I hark back to days gone by when at the old embassy site, the nice pleasant old quaint Laos mansion 'neath a shady stand of teakwood trees, the shrieks from the colonial monsieur's beatings of the servants but a century old memory with nary an echo to be heard wafting through the casuarinas today and you the visa applicant were spared the fight and flight or submit and quit provocation of the 21st century surveillance state glare of the 6 CCTV cameras and 15 foot high steel bar cage surrounding the bullet proof neo-brutalist steel and glass building of the new embassy. And there you are or aren't and decide to apply in Jakarta instead, out in the sun out on the pavement with a mob of Lao, Russians, Khazaks, Uzbhekis, Chinese drunk farang etc. not interested in queuing and waiting to pounce on the door as soon it is opened. Well, maybe it is just that time of the year or something, but there were probably 5-8 times the number of applicants as I saw in October 2013 at the old embassy. A large vaguely unruly sprawling throng a full hour and half before opening, people were tense, a good number drunk and drinking. The New World surveillance order atmosphere of the new embassy likely goes a ways toward bringing out the worst in many, particularly anyone fresh out of prison from back home, as that was the feeling you got that day waiting to pick up your application, that you are waiting or even fighting to get back into prison. What a cruel world it is beyond the borders of Thailand that we go through all this. So you can hardly blame many of the applicants for drinking. The new embassy is now a similar but smaller mob scene to Vientiane embassy to suffer through, tho not quite as bad a scene that I once routinely encountered at the Vientiane embassy. For example, at Vientiane in 2009, on one separate visit I saw 2 separate and unrelated fist fights among applicants waiting to apply and a person who fell and was even somewhat trampled when they opened the gates and the crowd stormed the application window. Some negligent stuff was going on at Vientiane in 2009. The worst embassy I have been to in my travels to 25 countries and counting. None of that this time at Savanakhet, but it was a bit tense, there was a confrontation at one point between a big Aussie guy and two hot shot Lao guys who pulled up and a hot young Lao woman who was too hot for anything less than the front of the line upon arrival. A middle aged tho big and tattooed Aussie kept motioning for them to get to the back the queue and they looked at him and smiled like, you try and do anything about it and you are finished. He wisely backed down just before they were about to lose their faces and he allowed them to reamain and cut ahead of 100+ people. To be fair, It was actually questionable as to whether there was a queue, very ambiguous down to the mix of nationalities and the various conflicting cultural notions about what constitutes waiting in a line. Or perhaps that most people are not much more considerate than cows in this kind of situation. Most people tried to make a go of queuing but the tactic for the Russians, Kazaks and Lao seemed to be to approach groups of their own nationality already in the line and standing circles and afix themselves to the outside of the groups so the queue is gradually completely corrupted having disintegrated into a oblong shaped herd of people. This would be all well and fine, we could just then quit and go elsewhere and wait, concluding there's no queue, just a mob scene, so why bother, but the people in the nationality circles feeling guaranteed of a place in the queue, the fort being held by their country men would wander off have a beer next door at Uncle Volodya's Drinketeria and Visa Fill Out Services (have som tam as well) or what have you and before you know it there'd by a queue again then they're back and drunker and happier and dizzier, and it's back to there being a semi-queue. The guy behind me, clearly Chinese and not Lao was tapping me to move and let him ahead of me. He kept calling out to the Lao guy in front of me, "Phi! Phi!" The guy ignored him and i wouldn't move but he peristsed for 20 minutes or so trying to cut ahead of just one person, myself. He had cut in front of 75 people and gotten in front of the Russian not paying attention. Thai Embassy not interested to smooth things over for people and organize the situation outside the embassy before the doors open which is not surprising. Perhaps longer opening hours would defuse things, but I suppose that is expensive. An hour for pick up only. In a nutcase shell, the atmosphere at the new digs is utlitarian and 21 st century prison facility-like and I really think it doesn't help people to behave. I'll take the old place anytime, way more relaxing, even if you did have to wait till the net day for pick up.

[thaibreaker]

Thanks for sharing, mate

[recom273]

Yeah, something could be done with the queue. I had a similar experience. I got there way too early and managed to squeeze through the gate in fifth position as the Thai uni student was whispering in Thai for everyone to walk in an orderly fashion to the counter.

At 2 meters from the window, an Asian teacher put her heel down, and moved from 6th to 5th, whilst simultaneously signaling for her 10 colleagues to pass up their paperwork and loiter next to her.

I'm usually above this, but I had to point out how she was qualified to teach morals and guidance to children when she couldn't wait 30 seconds for a single applicant to hand in his papers and she made some kind of excuse and graciously allowed me to take her position.

So your not alone, It happens everyday I'm sure.

The way I usually deal with these occasions is to organize all the paperwork beforehand then turn up without a care, 30 minutes before closing, it worked for the pickup.

[Bangkok Barry]

I agree with the final sentence above. It seems that for some bizarre cultural reason Asians like to flock to a place at dawn and cause a crush, whereas if you do it Western style and show up in mid-morning the queue has dwindled to nothing. Sad that the old place has gone. Very laid back, with the visa office seemingly set up in the kitchen!

Interesting tip re accommodation. I used Savan Vegas because my wife knows someone who works there on the management side, but it's a pretty poor place. When I do my visa run next March I'll look for somewhere else for sure.

[NoshowJones]

Yes, I am just back from Savanakhet, Immigration officers very friendly, and no hassle of any kind, got my non O marriage visa, and my thanks to Ubon Joe for his help in that.

I don't want to put a dampener on things, but be careful getting the bus from Mukdahan bus station to Savanakhet, the bus I was on did not wait for myself and two others at the Laos end after we stamped in, and we got on a minibus, was charged 100 Baht for only two or three Ks to the Thai Embassy, a complete rip off, and beware of the tuk tuks at Mudahan bus station, also rip off merchants.

[Shaunduhpostman]

Additional point about the bus from Mukdhahan, they will leave you at the Lao side without waiting for you to finish with Lao immigration procedures, however, you do not have to pay for another ticket if you are willing to wait nearly an hour for the next bus.

I have not bothered with Savan Vegas, I guess there were enough bad reviews to put me off and I think it is double the cost as the centrally located guest houses in Savanahkhet, some of which are OK for a night or two, Savanavong and Nong Soda are two places that I've used.

Good Luck to us all and our visa situations in 2015!

[chondan]

Hi all

I really liked the old site in Svkt for doing visas. I stayed in the Savan Ban Hao in town. Nice place and close to everything. I really like Svkt. it is laid back and the people are nice. I like the 7 restaurant on the main road. The owner is a nice guy and he helped me a lot. Chondan