Nong Khai - Vientiane border runs

[Dancealot]

Hi guys, I'd appreciate any feedback/experiences from you.

I'm from Holland and I have a triple entry tourist visa and am about to do my first run. I choose this border because of the current situation. Now it is unclear to me wether I can extend every entry with Xdays or I can only get 1 Xday extension based on the triple entry visa. (X=15 or 30 I don't know).

If I can get 3 extensions for every entry(which would be good) how do I make this clear to the custom officials in a comprehensive/easy way?

Thank you in advance,

[ubonjoe]

You can get a 30 day extension at an immigration office for all the 60 day entries allowed by your visa. The crossing at a border is only needed to use one of your entries.

But you need to pay attention to the enter before date on your visa. You must do all the entries on or before that date.

[Dancealot]

You can get a 30 day extension at an immigration off for all the 60 day entries allowed by your visa. The crossing at a border is only needed to use one of your entries.

But you need to pay attention to the enter before date on your visa. You must do all the entries on or before that date.

That's very good advice, ubonjoe. The enter-before date is Jan 26 2016. Meaning to me I am allowed to extend the 1st and 2nd entry with 30 days which gets me to february10(in theory).

Accordingly I'll re-enter before Jan 26 using the 3rd and extend that one with 30 days as well. This way I have maximised this triple entry tourist visa.

I'm still looking for stories/experiences on how to make it clear what I want to the customs officials because previously they simply stamped my 2nd entry while I wanted make use of the 30 day extension prior to using the 2nd.

Thanks for your advice, it's appreciated.

Edited September 19, 2015 by Dancealot

[oncearugge]

You can get a 30 day extension at an immigration office for all the 60 day entries allowed by your visa. The crossing at a border is only needed to use one of your entries.

But you need to pay attention to the enter before date on your visa. You must do all the entries on or before that date.

That's very good advice, ubonjoe. The enter-before date is Jan 26 2016. Meaning to me I am allowed to extend the 1st and 2nd entry with 30 days which gets me to february10(in theory).

Accordingly I'll re-enter before Jan 26 using the 3rd and extend that one with 30 days as well. This way I have maximised this triple entry tourist visa.

I'm still looking for stories/experiences on how to make it clear what I want to the customs officials because previously they simply stamped my 2nd entry while I wanted make use of the 30 day extension prior to using the 2nd.

Thanks for your advice, it's appreciated.

You cannot get a 30 day extension at a border.

Extensions are only available from immigration offices within Thailand.

[ubonjoe]

You can get a 30 day extension at an immigration office for all the 60 day entries allowed by your visa. The crossing at a border is only needed to use one of your entries.

But you need to pay attention to the enter before date on your visa. You must do all the entries on or before that date.

That's very good advice, ubonjoe. The enter-before date is Jan 26 2016. Meaning to me I am allowed to extend the 1st and 2nd entry with 30 days which gets me to february10(in theory).

Accordingly I'll re-enter before Jan 26 using the 3rd and extend that one with 30 days as well. This way I have maximised this triple entry tourist visa.

I'm still looking for stories/experiences on how to make it clear what I want to the customs officials because previously they simply stamped my 2nd entry while I wanted make use of the 30 day extension prior to using the 2nd.

Thanks for your advice, it's appreciated.

You apply for the 30 day extension at an immigration office for a fee of 1900 baht. You cannot get one at a border crossing only a new 60 day entry.

With the 30 day extension you can stay for 90 days without leaving the country.

[Dancealot]

Thanks again. I didn't know this. I'm set to go to an immigration office to get the first 30day extension. Then I do the land-border crossing to get the 2nd entry stamped and so on.. and so on...

[Dancealot]

Report:

- Phitsanulok immigration: granted the 30day extension on the 1st entry in about 20 minutes for B1900.

- Thai-Lao friendship bridge, 1 month later: I tried only exiting and entering Thailand on the Thai side of the bridge. The officer insisted I entered Laos first. No discussion but it was worth the try. On the Lao side I played it safe by getting a visa on arrival. All I had to do was fill out two forms and pay 350.000KIP or US$36 because I didn't bring a photo or copy passport. Went back to Thailand and entered using my 2nd entry of the triple entry tourist visa. No charge and good for another 2 months. The whole procedure took 1.5 hours including waiting.

Question: Could I have done the border run whitout the visa on arrival by simply getting my passport stamped and afterwards directly exiting Laos?

[oncearugge]

Report:

- Phitsanulok immigration: granted the 30day extension on the 1st entry in about 20 minutes for B1900.

- Thai-Lao friendship bridge, 1 month later: I tried only exiting and entering Thailand on the Thai side of the bridge. The officer insisted I entered Laos first. No discussion but it was worth the try. On the Lao side I played it safe by getting a visa on arrival. All I had to do was fill out two forms and pay 350.000KIP or US$36 because I didn't bring a photo or copy passport. Went back to Thailand and entered using my 2nd entry of the triple entry tourist visa. No charge and good for another 2 months. The whole procedure took 1.5 hours including waiting.

Question: Could I have done the border run whitout the visa on arrival by simply getting my passport stamped and afterwards directly exiting Laos?

NO!