double entry visa. best and/or cheapest way to do your run from Chiang Mai?

[B0nkers]

Looking at the map, Burma and Laos both seem close.

Any suggestions on the best way to do a run for the 2nd half of my visa? Flights or road options welcome. Looking for different ways to go about it.

Cheers

[B0nkers]

Oh and also, if I wanted to stay longer is it possible to get another double or triple entry visa right after? Would I need to fly home to do that or can it be done in of of these neighbouring countries ? (If that is even allowed) Do I need to wait until next year or something?

[wisemonkey]

You can do a visa run from Chiang Mai to Mae Sai, can get a mini van that specialises in these runs that take u direct to boarder, you leave 7am and back by 4pm, very simple process.

You can get a new double entry tourist visa from Laos in the Thai embassy in Vientiane. Again easy process but probably need to stay overnight in Vientiane.

[B0nkers]

Thank you so much for the info. That's a much shorter trip than I would have thought!

Is is normal to apply for double/triple entry visa's back-to-back, or is that a grey area of some sort? Do they ever tell you to cut it out? I wonder if it's like Costa Rica where you can essentially become a perpetual tourist as long as you do you due diligence and check in wiht the authorities on time

[northernjohn]

You can do a visa run from Chiang Mai to Mae Sai, can get a mini van that specialises in these runs that take u direct to boarder, you leave 7am and back by 4pm, very simple process.

You can get a new double entry tourist visa from Laos in the Thai embassy in Vientiane. Again easy process but probably need to stay overnight in Vientiane.

Seems like Mai Sai is not always open to visa runs. Lao seems to be consistent with the process but to the best of my knowledge you have to stay over night.

Have heard but not often that a second double entry can be arranged for in Singapore or Phnom Pahang Cambodia. Check on the immigration Visa. They have some very knowledgably posters. Ask about triple entry. My second and third times over here were triple. Just make sure when they stamp you back in they give you the correct amount of days.

good luck

[CMKiwi]

You must be talking about the second entry of your double entry tourist visa. Yes Mae Sai is the cheapest and easiest way to do this. Personally I'd use a green bus instead of those venga buses. They are a bit hairy to ride in as most of the drivers think they are the reincarnation of Colin Mcrae.

You can get 2 double entry visas from Vientiane before they look at you sideways. I did just that before doing the retirement option.

The consulate stamped my passport after the second double entry visa was obtained, informing me to get a 'proper' visa next time as I will likely be refused a further tourist visa

[WorkingTourist]

Yes Mae Sai is the cheapest and easiest way to do this. Personally I'd use a green bus instead of those venga buses. They are a bit hairy to ride in as most of the drivers think they are the reincarnation of Colin Mcrae.

A mini bus full of farangs also feels a lot more cramped than VIP seating on the Green Bus, plus the mini bus have to circle the city to pickup 10 or so other passengers, drop them off on the way back, and the service I tried (once) had a mandatory 20-30 minute stop both on the way out and back, which was at some coffee shop/dried food souvenir shop in the middle of nowhere. Presumably the driver got a commission for this stop.

Edited October 5, 2015 by WorkingTourist

[WorkingTourist]

Seems like Mai Sai is not always open to visa runs.

What do you base that on?

[popje]

Yes Mae Sai is the cheapest and easiest way to do this. Personally I'd use a green bus instead of those venga buses. They are a bit hairy to ride in as most of the drivers think they are the reincarnation of Colin Mcrae.

A mini bus full of farangs also feels a lot more cramped than VIP seating on the Green Bus, plus the mini bus have to circle the city to pickup 10 or so other passengers, drop them off on the way back, and the service I tried (once) had a mandatory 20-30 minute stop both on the way out and back, which was at some coffee shop/dried food souvenir shop in the middle of nowhere. Presumably the driver got a commission for this stop.

What do you mean by green bus ? Do you know any website or name of the company who sell these runs ? I am a fairly large and tall person and I did a trip in a private mini bus and it was okay since I got lucky enough to be seated in front, but I took another mini bus later and even though I was seated in front, I had absolutely no space for my legs, the chairs were way too small, I have never hated a 3 hours ride that much in my life, if I have the choice to pay more and be comfortable I'll do it. My favorite way of transportation so far is the night train but it stop at chiang rai.

[WorkingTourist]

What do you mean by green bus ? Do you know any website or name of the company who sell these runs ?

Green Bus is the company name, here’s the time table for Mae Sai: http://www.greenbusthailand.com/website/en/services/bus/time-table#c4

Price for a V-class ticket (VIP) is 364 Baht and departure is from Arcade Bus Terminal.

Looks like you can buy online, I normally buy at the Arcade Bus Terminal, but their website lists more than a dozen ticket counters around Chiang Mai.

[northernjohn]

Seems like Mai Sai is not always open to visa runs.

What do you base that on?

Mainly on reports I have heard on Thai Visa over a period of time.

As for the tourist Vans. I did that years ago. It seemed that they are not always happy to give you the time there. The first one was fine I went in and did a little shopping just inside the Burmese border. The second time the guide went with me and did not allow me any time to look around. Take the green bus more conferrable and a little bit of time to shop around.

Edit

I just saw where the OP is tall. We have used another bus at the Arcade it was around 600 baht. It had two seats on one side of the aisle and one seat on the other side of the aisle. The leg room was so much that my 5 foot 8 inch frame had to stretch it's self to put it's feet on the foot rest attached to the seat in front of me.

Edited October 5, 2015 by northernjohn

[CMSteve]

Its all in the terminology.

Mai Sai is good for a border run. Meaning you simply need to exit and re-enter the country (cross a border) to start your next visa or exemption

A Visa Run is generally in reference to going to a Thai Consulate outside the country to apply for a new visa. You can not do this in Mae Sai/Tackilek as there is no Thai consulate.

Seems like Mai Sai is not always open to visa runs.

What do you base that on?

Mainly on reports I have heard on Thai Visa over a period of time.
As for the tourist Vans. I did that years ago. It seemed that they are not always happy to give you the time there. The first one was fine I went in and did a little shopping just inside the Burmese border. The second time the guide went with me and did not allow me any time to look around. Take the green bus more conferrable and a little bit of time to shop around.

Edit

I just saw where the OP is tall. We have used another bus at the Arcade it was around 600 baht. It had two seats on one side of the aisle and one seat on the other side of the aisle. The leg room was so much that my 5 foot 8 inch frame had to stretch it's self to put it's feet on the foot rest attached to the seat in front of me.

[WorkingTourist]

Seems like Mai Sai is not always open to visa runs.

What do you base that on?

Mainly on reports I have heard on Thai Visa over a period of time []

I think I read your comment too fast. You mean Mae Sai is not too keen on giving people back-to-back visa waiver stamps, right?

The OP though appears to have a double-entry visa so there should be no issue for him at Mae Sai.

[B0nkers]

Yes, so 2 part question I guess.

1. I have a double entry Visa. So first part is the best way to do the border run in order to utilize the 2nd entry.

2. Second question is once both of my 2 month stays are over with, what would be involved to start the whole process over again. ie: Do I need to go back home to Canada and re-apply, or can that be done closer here at a consulate in a bordering country.

And good points on the height issue, lol. I'm 6'1" and go absolutely batty if stuck in the middle seat on a coach flight for 10+ hours :/

Trip here was 18.5 hours total, transferring in Beijing. Had an isle seat for the first flight and cool neighbours, second flight wasn't full and found a full 3 seats to stretch out and sleep

[wisemonkey]

Yes, so 2 part question I guess.

1. I have a double entry Visa. So first part is the best way to do the border run in order to utilize the 2nd entry.

2. Second question is once both of my 2 month stays are over with, what would be involved to start the whole process over again. ie: Do I need to go back home to Canada and re-apply, or can that be done closer here at a consulate in a bordering country.

And good points on the height issue, lol. I'm 6'1" and go absolutely batty if stuck in the middle seat on a coach flight for 10+ hours :/

Trip here was 18.5 hours total, transferring in Beijing. Had an isle seat for the first flight and cool neighbours, second flight wasn't full and found a full 3 seats to stretch out and sleep

1 Since you already have the visa, you just need to exit and enter at any point on the boarder with a post. Mae Sai being the closest and easiest, its simple process get a bus to Mae Sai, cross the check point, get your stamp and come back to the bus back to chiang mai. There is no issues with this at all, you will never be denied a stamp with a valid visa.

2. Same goes as in my first response to you, go to Laos to Vientienne, easy process to get another double entry tourist visa, no need to go all the way back home at all.

Take this from someone who has done both these things within the last 2 months.

[popje]

OP, not sure when you go but when you do, let me know how it was and what bus you took exactly, I am 6"1 as well.

[WorkingTourist]

1. I have a double entry Visa. So first part is the best way to do the border run in order to utilize the 2nd entry.

Be aware that you can get a 30 day extension for your tourist visa though it costs 1,900 Baht (or thereabout).

But this means you can effectively be here 6 months and only do a single trip to Mae Sai (and two trips to immigration).

And also, you might ask about a triple entry visa the next time you go.

[northernjohn]

Seems like Mai Sai is not always open to visa runs.

What do you base that on?

Mainly on reports I have heard on Thai Visa over a period of time []

I think I read your comment too fast. You mean Mae Sai is not too keen on giving people back-to-back visa waiver stamps, right?

The OP though appears to have a double-entry visa so there should be no issue for him at Mae Sai.

Like I said I got the reports from Thai Visa admittedly not a good source of information.

On my second visit to Thailand I had a 60 day triple entry visa. At the 30 day mark I went to Mai Sai and had no problem. When I got home I noticed they had only given me 30 days instead of 60. I took it to the Chiang Mai immigration and they told me I had to go back to Mai Sai to get it fixed which I did with out any problem from them.

I mention this so that people check their visas for the proper date.

I didn't really mind as I was new in Thailand and took the time to see a little bit of the local life there. It was varied. Coffee growing to Gardens and a visit into a Chinese community left there by the Chinese when they were going to Taiwan.

I just had diner with a friend who lives there and he was telling me that the immigration staff is changed every year that is why there have been different policies. One I remember was only giving 15 days. Also there used to be a special permit you could get that did not require a reentry permit. That is no more.

Just warning again check the date when you get it back. No matter what border you use..

[WorkingTourist]

Like I said I got the reports from Thai Visa admittedly not a good source of information.

On my second visit to Thailand I had a 60 day triple entry visa. At the 30 day mark I went to Mai Sai and had no problem. When I got home I noticed they had only given me 30 days instead of 60. I took it to the Chiang Mai immigration and they told me I had to go back to Mai Sai to get it fixed which I did with out any problem from them.

I mention this so that people check their visas for the proper date.

Likely this happened because you forgot to write the visa number on the entry form, so you just got a regular visa waiver stamp, as they missed that you had a real visa.

I just had diner with a friend who lives there and he was telling me that the immigration staff is changed every year that is why there have been different policies. One I remember was only giving 15 days. Also there used to be a special permit you could get that did not require a reentry permit. That is no more.

Again with the hearsay People from a G7 country can get a 30 day visa waiver stamp when crossing a land border, the rest only get 14 days (30 days when coming in via an airport). So the guy who only got 15 days most likely had no visa and was not from a G7 country.

Not being keen to give out back-to-back visa waiver stamps started around August last year, where it was dictated from above, that Thailand would start to crackdown on misuse of the visa system.

I don’t understand the permit thing you talk about. You say you once could get a permit that would allow you to not obtain another permit, effectively sounds like the same, and can you even get a reentry permit on a tourist visa? The double/triple entry is effectively a visa that allows one or two reentries.

That said, there have been talks about introducing a new multi-entry tourist visa where you can go in and out of the country as many times as you want, for the duration of the visa period.

[northernjohn]

Like I said I got the reports from Thai Visa admittedly not a good source of information.

On my second visit to Thailand I had a 60 day triple entry visa. At the 30 day mark I went to Mai Sai and had no problem. When I got home I noticed they had only given me 30 days instead of 60. I took it to the Chiang Mai immigration and they told me I had to go back to Mai Sai to get it fixed which I did with out any problem from them.

I mention this so that people check their visas for the proper date.

Likely this happened because you forgot to write the visa number on the entry form, so you just got a regular visa waiver stamp, as they missed that you had a real visa.

I just had diner with a friend who lives there and he was telling me that the immigration staff is changed every year that is why there have been different policies. One I remember was only giving 15 days. Also there used to be a special permit you could get that did not require a reentry permit. That is no more.

Again with the hearsay People from a G7 country can get a 30 day visa waiver stamp when crossing a land border, the rest only get 14 days (30 days when coming in via an airport). So the guy who only got 15 days most likely had no visa and was not from a G7 country.

Not being keen to give out back-to-back visa waiver stamps started around August last year, where it was dictated from above, that Thailand would start to crackdown on misuse of the visa system.

I dont understand the permit thing you talk about. You say you once could get a permit that would allow you to not obtain another permit, effectively sounds like the same, and can you even get a reentry permit on a tourist visa? The double/triple entry is effectively a visa that allows one or two reentries.

That said, there have been talks about introducing a new multi-entry tourist visa where you can go in and out of the country as many times as you want, for the duration of the visa period.

My friend lives in Mai Sai and he used to be able to get some sort of a paper that allowed him to pop over the border with out a reentry permit or a multi entry permit. They have done away with that. He now has to go to immigration and get a permit to reenter. that s not Thai Visa rumor that is from the mouth of a fellow who has lived there ten years.

I think the visa laws are about to change with the start up of I believe it is called ASWAN. Not sure of the name but supposed to be up and running by the end of the month.

[WorkingTourist]

My friend lives in Mai Sai and he used to be able to get some sort of a paper that allowed him to pop over the border with out a reentry permit or a multi entry permit. They have done away with that. He now has to go to immigration and get a permit to reenter. that s not Thai Visa rumor that is from the mouth of a fellow who has lived there ten years.

I see, so this would be for a day trip into Myanmar, and you would likely be in Myanmar without actually being “stamped out” of Thailand.

When I first crossed the Mae Sai border I was initially confused because everybody but me could go through some line where they did seem to just have a white paper, but I was steered through a “real” immigration office.

I assumed that special rules applied to the locals, as they might cross the border semi-daily for work or bringing over merchandise, but I never investigated it further, but sounds similar to what your friend had.

[CMSteve]

Thais and Burmese can get a day pass/ticket to cross from the local immigration office. Think it is 20B.

I think he's reffering to the old VIP system where you could pay a couple hundred baht and they would not stamp your passport. Seems like those days are over.

My friend lives in Mai Sai and he used to be able to get some sort of a paper that allowed him to pop over the border with out a reentry permit or a multi entry permit. They have done away with that. He now has to go to immigration and get a permit to reenter. that s not Thai Visa rumor that is from the mouth of a fellow who has lived there ten years.

I see, so this would be for a day trip into Myanmar, and you would likely be in Myanmar without actually being “stamped out” of Thailand.

When I first crossed the Mae Sai border I was initially confused because everybody but me could go through some line where they did seem to just have a white paper, but I was steered through a “real” immigration office.

I assumed that special rules applied to the locals, as they might cross the border semi-daily for work or bringing over merchandise, but I never investigated it further, but sounds similar to what your friend had.

[northernjohn]

My friend lives in Mai Sai and he used to be able to get some sort of a paper that allowed him to pop over the border with out a reentry permit or a multi entry permit. They have done away with that. He now has to go to immigration and get a permit to reenter. that s not Thai Visa rumor that is from the mouth of a fellow who has lived there ten years.

I see, so this would be for a day trip into Myanmar, and you would likely be in Myanmar without actually being stamped out of Thailand.

When I first crossed the Mae Sai border I was initially confused because everybody but me could go through some line where they did seem to just have a white paper, but I was steered through a real immigration office.

I assumed that special rules applied to the locals, as they might cross the border semi-daily for work or bringing over merchandise, but I never investigated it further, but sounds similar to what your friend had.

some thing like that I never did it but my friend did it.

You can no longer do it.

[B0nkers]

About to book a seat on the green bus. Do I need to pack everything up,the same as though I was leaving the country to go back home... or is it safe to leave my stuff here and just take a day bag?

[TheAppletons]

About to book a seat on the green bus. Do I need to pack everything up,the same as though I was leaving the country to go back home... or is it safe to leave my stuff here and just take a day bag?

Are you living in a tent or in a room with a lock on the door?

[B0nkers]

Condo, lol. I guess the question is... do I need to worry about there being any chance they would not let me in again for the 2nd Visa? If I show up with only a small bag, would they be ticked off with a farang assuming he is entitled to return to their country to a point where he didn't even bother to bring his suitcase?

I do not think it would go over well if a person left their belongings in the US with the assumption they can return. Using that as an example, among many other countries who are strict and trained to presume everyone wants to immigrate rather than simply visit.

[WorkingTourist]

Condo, lol. I guess the question is... do I need to worry about there being any chance they would not let me in again for the 2nd Visa? If I show up with only a small bag, would they be ticked off with a farang assuming he is entitled to return to their country to a point where he didn't even bother to bring his suitcase?

Your passport will show when you last left Thailand, so luggage or not, they will know that you spent less than a day in Myanmar.

But as long as you have a visa, you should not have any issues entering Thailand. Its when you want a visa waiver stamp that you might be submitted to scrutiny. Those with a visa should already have been vetted by the embassy.

[jobin]

Well say, if i pop up to Mae Sai and cross over to MM, Tachileik town and stay for a day, will that enable me to avoid my next 90 day report?

I have multi-rentry, retirement extension in USA passport.