Visa Run To Poipet, Cambodia

[george]

Interesting and Informative First-hand

Report on Visa Run to Poipet, Cambodia

A locally-based friend of mine made a day trip to the border with Cambodia, and has provided a written account of it. Here it is:

Now there is a daily minibus service to Araniypatet for a turn-around visa run to get a 30-day tourist visa on arrival. This is facilitated by Jack’s Golf, which can be contacted on 02 251 1946.

It is not necessary to book your trip in advance but advisable. Booking 2 days in advance is the best policy. The cost is 2,000 Thai Baht, to be paid once on the bus.

The meeting place is outside the 7-11 on Sukhumvit Soi 12 at just before 7.00 am each morning. It is best to get there at 6.45 to fill in the immigration forms. One passport photograph is required.

The bus leaves at 7.00 am sharp and it is advisable to take a bottle of water with you.

Although the minibus plays movies, it’s best to take some reading material. The trip takes approximately 3 hours to Aranyapatet; this includes a toilet stop. The stop is at a Jet service station and you can get a snack and coffee, and as the minibus is non-smoking you can have a quick cigarette if needed.

On arrival at Araniypatet you will be besieged with lots of children begging for 1 Thai Baht. DO NOT GIVE THEM ANYTHING! This is a ploy to rip your mobile phone off your belt and or pick pocket for your wallet.

Make sure your valuables are secure.

Once across the border you will be directed to one of the casinos immediately beyond for a buffet lunch.

This is for about an hour while visas in Cambodia are processed. The lunch is good, with many choices; Thai dishes take priority. However, there are cold cuts, French bread, and a salad bar. Alternatively, you can have a gamble, should you fancy it.

Then it’s back across the border, mindful of the “child beggars,” and a short wait to be stamped back into Thailand. Time for a last cigarette, then it's back on the bus for the trip back to Bangkok.

The bus stops at another service station about 80 minutes from Bangkok(Soi 12), as it does elsewhere on the way out: a 15 minute break, but this place has a really good coffee shop to the right of the 7-11.

You will arrive back in town around 3.30 to 4.00 pm. The driver expects a tip of 50Thai Baht.

A couple of items the writer omitted, probably because just about everyone who uses this option knows already. First, the official visa fee for Cambodia is 1,000 baht -- but you will get charged 1,100 baht for the "privilege" of exiting the country back into Thailand the same day. Don't argue; if you refuse to pay (as a friend and I did a few years ago), all you get for your trouble -- as we did -- is pointed towards the Thai immigration building, but without an exit stamp in your passport. Then your stuck in no man's land, with nowhere to go. Also, a 30-day visa-on-arrival is free for those nationalities eligible for it.

Recently there have been stories of some people with a long series of back-to-back 30-day visas-on-arrival being refused entry back into Thailand. I've heard that in a couple of cases the Cambodian authorities persuaded the Thai authorities to let the travelers return to Thailand, but if you are in that category, you may want to ask around.

-- http://www.bangkokAtoZ.com 2004-03-28