Koh Phangan - Ranong visa run report

[gezginrocker]

The 1st entry of my 2 entry tourist visa was expiring on July 13, so I decided to go Ranong to activate my 2nd entry. I thought doing a day trip would probably be impossible, so I decided stay for a night at Ranong. I'm sharing a summary of my recent visa run, in case it helps especially budget travelers & citizens of 3rd world countries.

PREQUESTIES:

A photocopy of your passport

A new, crisp 10$ bill (If you'll be able to keep it crisp all the way to Ranong)

Outbound ticket from Thailand (Just in case, if you're from a 3rd world country)

Hotel reservation or card (Just in case, if you're from a 3rd world country)

20,000 baht in cash (Just in case, if you're from a 3rd world country)

At Raja ferry ticket booth in Koh Phangan it says 650 baht for ticket to Ranong, but I thought I can do it for cheaper. I decided to go with the 10.00 am ferry, which was probably not a very good idea, as I will explain later. The cost of the ticket was 210 baht for the ferry & 100 baht for the bus to Surat, 310 baht in total.

When we arrvived at Surat Thani, they dropped us at the Raja ferry office. Talat Kaset bus terminal was a short walk away. I found the minivan departure point for Ranong, but they told me last minivan was full. Probably I should have taken the 7.00 am ferry instead of 10.00 am. I just sat there trying to figure what to do next, and luckily more people that wanted to go Ranong came by one by one. After about 1.5 hours, there was enough people to fill the van, so we began our journey. The ticket was 190 baht.

We arrived at Ranong when it was dark. I was thinking of using the songtaew go to my hotel, but decided to take the motorbike taxi. He said 60 baht & I accepted. First hotel I tried was Rattanasin Hotel on Ruengrat Road, which had good reviews, but unfortuntely it was full. So I walked down to the Sintavee Hotel, and got a room for 240 baht. It was a typical Chinese hotel, but one of the better ones. I stayed at much worse Chinese hotels, so it was ok for a night. Also there was a night market & 7-Eleven/Tesco nearby.

The next morning I woke up at 7.00 am and took songthaew number 3 from in front of the hotel. Its last stop was Saphan Pla, the fishing port providing the link to Kawthoung. I went straight to the immigration office. Because I'm a Turkish citizen & there was recently an attack at Thai consulate in Istanbul, I was expecting bad treatment from the officers, and unfortunately I was right.

I was the first guy arrived, and the moment officer realized I was a Turk, he started asking questions. First he asked if I'l come back to Thailand the same day. Then he asked me if I have an outbound ticket from Thailand. I told him that I will me going to Bali in September but he wanted to see the ticket. Because I didn't have it with me, I asked him if I can use their PC. He accepted, so I found the ticket & printed out. But still he wasn't convinced, although the ticket had a confirmation number, he was asking me if it is only a reservation or confirmed ticket. After that he asked me if I am a muslim. I said no, he wanted to know which religion I belonged to, and I said I like Buddhism. At this point I was beginning to get angry, he had no right to ask those kind of questions, but I stayed calm. Then he asked where I was staying in Thailand & what I was doing. I told him I was staying at Ko Phangan & having a holiday. There was an expired ED visa on my passport, so he asked me if I know Thai, I spoke some basic Thai I learned. He also asked me if I have 20,000 baht with me, and I said I don't have it but I have a credit card. After about 10 mminutes of interrogation, he probably got bored with me, stamped my passport & let me go in a rude way.

When I was out, first I bought a new and crisp 10$ bill from the bold fellow with earrings. I bought it for 500 baht, more than the normal price. There are banks nearby selling notes from the normal rate, but because it was very early, they were not open yet.

Afterwards a man approached me for the boat. First he asked for 500 baht, I said 300 baht & he accepted. He send me to a boat with Burmese people inside. But after waiting for about 20 minutes, the boat still didn't depart so I got outside the boat & jumped into another one which was about to depart. It was full of Burmese & I was the only farang. Everything went smoothly & we went to Burma. I gave the boat guy 100 baht.

After the pier when you turn right, there is the white Burmese immigration building. I handed them my passport, photocopy of passport & 10$ bill, so they stamped me in and out. Then I went back to the pier, saw another boat departing. The boatman asked me where am I going, I said Thailand, he asked me how much I will give, I said 100 baht and he accepted.

We went back to the Thai immigration, but I was nervous because the immigration guy mentioned 20,000 baht before. There were other farangs in front of me at the que & I asked them if I can borrow the money just to show the immigration & a kind French guy gave me 20,000 baht. Luckily the first immigration officer wasn't there, there was only a trainee girl & another officer instructing her. Everything went smooth, they stamped me in & didn't ask me to show the money.

After giving back the money to the French guy, I took songthaew number 6 from immigration to the bus station. I got on to the minivan departing at 11.00 am for Surat. After arriving at Surat, the minivan driver dropped me at Raja office. I bought the ticket for the bus departing at 4.00 pm, which was for the 6.00 pm ferry. And finally at about 8.30 pm I was back at Ko Phangan, with 2 months stay on my visa.

COSTS:

Ko Phangan-Surat Thani bus/ferry ticket: 310x2=620 baht

Surat Thani-Ranong minivan ticket: 190x2=380 baht

Moto from bus teminal to hotel: 60 baht

Hotel: 240 baht

Songtaew: 15x2: 30 baht

Boat to Burma: 100x2= 200 baht

Burmese visa: 500 baht

TOTAL: 2030 baht

Edited July 14, 2015 by gezginrocker

[thrilled]

I always travel early I'm the morning.I usually go to agoda or one of those sites and book A hotel.I quit looking for A hotel,I don't

Enjoy it.Thanks for the heads up.

[phuketrichard]

u got took

the boat /seat is 50 baht each way LOL

Cheapest i have gotten my own boat for myself and gf is 400 baht r/t

Next time just use any bank to buy a $10 before u depart wherever u are

Edited July 15, 2015 by phuketrichard

[Too]

I know a Dutch couple were asked to show 20,000B or 500 Euros

when they came back to Thailand from Myanmar through Ranong

for the 2nd entry on a double-entry tourist visa, so you should get

ready for that.

[50shadesoffreckles]

Do any of you know if it is still possible to go to Burma from Ranong and get a 15 day visa exemption stamp on you way back to Thailand? Thanks