How long can I stay in thailand each year just as a "tourist"

[P4K]

so about this this border run thing, the plane tickets to Savannakhet are really expensive. so if I want to do my border run in vientienne and my visa expires on the 7th when should I go? from what I read I dont qualify for the 7 day extension?

[P4K]

how long of a bus ride is it to Savannakhet from chiang mai?

[elviajero]

so about this this border run thing, the plane tickets to Savannakhet are really expensive. so if I want to do my border run in vientienne and my visa expires on the 7th when should I go? from what I read I dont qualify for the 7 day extension?

• If your permission to stay ends on the 7th then you can/must exit on or before that date. Your choice.
• You could get an extra 7 days added to your stay for 1,900 baht but there is little point.

[P4K]

I already got a 30 day extension in phuket so I dont think i can do that but yea I can I get to that place by bus? is it a very long ride?

[expatbrit]

I already got a 30 day extension in phuket so I dont think i can do that but yea I can I get to that place by bus? is it a very long ride?

If you are in Phuket you would be better advised to apply for a tourist visa in Penang.

[P4K]

Im in chiang mai right now

[elviajero]

I already got a 30 day extension in phuket so I dont think i can do that but yea I can I get to that place by bus? is it a very long ride?

I don't know for sure but my guess would be 13 to 15 hours to get to Mukdahan. Then you have to cross the border in to Savannakhet. There is a bus service that takes you over the bridge and to the Savannakhet bus station.

Edited December 2, 2015 by elviajero

[P4K]

fml, can i just overstay until the vientienne embassy is open then go and say I was sick or something or will this cause any problems? Cause to vientienne and back tickets arent to expensive but to this place its like $700+

[elviajero]

fml, can i just overstay until the vientienne embassy is open then go and say I was sick or something or will this cause any problems? Cause to vientienne and back tickets arent to expensive but to this place its like $700+

You will be charged 500 baht for everyday you overstay and if you get caught by the police you could be arrested and held at the IDC pending deportation back to your home country. Planning to overstay is not a good idea. You would be better off getting an extra 7 days for 1,900 baht. You can get an extra 7 days even though you've had a 30 day extension already.

[P4K]

are you 100% sure of that?

[JackThompson]

fml, can i just overstay until the vientienne embassy is open then go and say I was sick or something or will this cause any problems? Cause to vientienne and back tickets arent to expensive but to this place its like $700+

The 7-day extension is much better than an overstay. Even so, you would still have to get over there for a visa a week later, so if $$ is a concern, I'd save the 1900 Baht and make the trip sooner.

If the long-bus ride isn't your thing, you can fly within Thailand to Issan (the East near Mukdahan) - tickets are much cheaper within the country. Then bus to the border (an hour or so). Be out of the country by Monday night (7th - your last day), apply at the Mukdahan consulate on the morning of the 8th, pick up on the afternoon of the 9th and return.

If you do take a bus the whole way, go overnight and take a VIP-bus with only 3 seats across each row; 1 seat is by itself - go to the station the day before, and reserve one of those. Then take a good audio-book and foam earplugs with you - you can sleep through 1/2 the trip.

[ubonjoe]

Topic is going off topic again. Time to end it.

Sevens posts removed that were done after the warning.

[ubonjoe]

fml, can i just overstay until the vientienne embassy is open then go and say I was sick or something or will this cause any problems? Cause to vientienne and back tickets arent to expensive but to this place its like $700+

As I wrote before your best option is to apply for the 7 day extension which in reality is 7 days to leave the country after the application is denied because there is no 7 day extension in the rules. You can get it after the 30 day extension. Immigration do these all the time as a way for people to avoid an overstay.

You should check for flights form Chiang Mai to Udon Thani. From Udon Thani it is short van ride to the bridge in Nong Khai where the crossing to Laos is.. Nok air has a fly/ride service to Vientiane via Udon.

[nigelnigel]

Are visa (visa exemptions) on arrival still only 30 days or has that changed to 60 days? With the almost daily changes immigration makes it's hard to keep up.....thanks!

[ubonjoe]

Are visa (visa exemptions) on arrival still only 30 days or has that changed to 60 days? With the almost daily changes immigration makes it's hard to keep up.....thanks!

A visa exempt entry is still 30 days by air or 15 days by land unless from a G7 country that allows for a 30 day entry..

Since August 29th of last year a visa exempt entry can be extended for 30 days at an immigration office for a fee of 1900 baht.

[nigelnigel]

Thanks for the info UBONJOE

[Tom Cahill]

There's several options. There's the simple option but that has a downside. Then there's the other options, which have many more downsides. The question is: how long do you think that you want to stay there?

Border runs seem cheap and easy, but they actually can end up costing you a lot as even on the busses, there's paying out for all kinds of stuff and boredom speinding to take into account. They will let you do two without any problems usually. However if you go away for a while, you'll not get any real preferential treatment, over just border hopping over a short period.

Your visa will probably let you extend, so you can go to an immigration office and get an extra month for not too much money, so you'll get three months for the effort and price of three + the difference. Get some passport photos done before and keep them, as they charge you there, and for these parts it's extortionate.

If you want to get the easiest extension, you should get onto the train network and get the train from BK to KL, but get off at Penang. That's a very good option for you. You can border run at the border at Padang Bassar, but if you want to stay longer, I'd go to Penang.

In Tulia Street in George Town (you will get off the train at Butterworth, which is integral to the ferry terminal to Penang Island), there are many places that will do you a visa, which will take a day or two. You hand it in in the morning (before 10.00), then you pick it up at 16.00, or, should I say they'll pick it up, so you just have to kill time there. Sometimes there's hitches with this process or you get up late or something, but overnight train (there's two per day) passes the border at around 07.00-08.00, so you may be able to get there and get it in that day, but I'd not count on it, as the border's about two hours from Butterworth, and the ferry and all that's going to take a little bit longer, but it's not a big trip and you can get a taxi so you won't have any trouble with baggage being hauled all over the place.

Malaysia costs more than Thailand, but off Tulia Street there's a place called The Budget Guesthouse (between the two conveneice stores, near the fancy cafe called The Mug Shot, near Crystal Guest House and Banana Guest House (both of which will do the visa service, have air con and internet), which is about £3 per night. They accept Thai money there as well.

The simple option, which a lot of people do, is you just overstay and plan to pay the fine at the point of visa check when you leave. That's no problem and it saves you all of the messing about. There's a lot of scams here and in Malaysia where they deliberately mess your entry and exit up to get fines, and they rely on fear of 'getting in trouble' to extort money out of people. They did this to me once, so I'd got a visa, but despite them taking the card with my stay details and pretending to stamp me out of Malaysia and then again into Thailand, they didn't do any stamps. This is impossible to be an accident as they should have told me to go back to the Malaysian point at the Thai part, but didn't, took my arrival slip and set me up for a fine.

The fine is capped at THB20k, which is less than £400, so if you don't want to go out of the country to explore or anything like that, I'd say you need to consider that option. They do not care one jot if you've got the money to pay.

However, Thais are gossipers. They don't normally know the visa rules, but the ones in tourism areas do often. You need to keep this totally to yourself, or you'll hear them rabbiting on about pat-errr-portsz-ttt all of the time, and they will be trying to work out how much they'll get to tell the immigration police (but again, they're not in most areas). You can in theory be impounded if you're caught by these people, but don't worry as they don't want to catch you, as they want to get the fine on the way out. Most of them don't have any idea how any of this works, including almost all of the police, so unless you get in some major bother, or someone you're with does, as then they'll start doing some checking and want to see your details and will go through them properly. Most people in this country don't have passports, as when they travel in the adjoining countries, they just skip the border or get a day pass, where they only need their ID cards.

It's all about perspective. If you want to sit on a bus, all squashed, sweating, having to watch your stuff (as they steal), and all of that stuff, and being messed about potentially and regularly at ever juncture, and all of the money you'll end up spending, then do the run, but if you want to stay and hang about, I can help you with some advice to get places to stay cheap in a load of places, and you'll keep your costs down, and no one will bat an eyelid.

[elviajero]

are you 100% sure of that?

101%

[JLCrab]

If the OP's visa expires on the 7th then my suggestion would be to get a bus to Nong Khai or Udon or a flight to Udon ASAP and cross into Laos at Nong Khai before that date and be prepared to hang out in Vientiane until the Visa section opens at the Thai Embassy.

And since the gent is bucking up on a big holiday weekend, he may very well have to take the bus as the air seats may all be gone -- and I mean ANY bus.

... and have some photos available 2" x 2" made in Chiang Mai for the Lao Visa at the bridge

Edited December 3, 2015 by JLCrab

[ubonjoe]

If the OP's visa expires on the 7th then my suggestion would be to get a bus to Nong Khai or Udon or a flight to Udon ASAP and cross into Laos at Nong Khai before that date and be prepared to hang out in Vientiane until the Visa section opens at the Thai Embassy.

And since the gent is bucking up on a big holiday weekend, he may very well have to take the bus as the air seats may all be gone -- and I mean ANY bus.

... and have some photos available 2" x 2" made in Chiang Mai for the Lao Visa at the bridge

Could you please give a reason for yor sugesstion.

Did you read my earlier post about the consular secton being closed.

The next day he can apply is the 14th.

[JLCrab]

Yes -- even if he got a 7-day extension today at the Chiang Mai immigration his day reprieve would still mean he would have travel to Vientiane or Savanakhet during a holiday period. He would be spending 1900 baht on the 7 day. I have never been there but have read that a day at CNX immigration is no picnic

So if he left this weekend for Nong Khai and crossed over into Lao he would only have about a week to hang out in Vientiane before he could get a visa.

If the OP is now or tomorrow will be at CNX immigration then it is all moot point. However, with the crunch before the holiday, I guess it is still possible he might not be able to even get a 7-day wonder having waited until the last minute.

Edited December 3, 2015 by JLCrab

[NickJ]

If I was young and liked the area I would spend my time in a few places a year. A few months here a few in Cambodia and Vietnam.......create your own circuit. While home once or twice a year get the correct visas.

[P4K]

There's several options. There's the simple option but that has a downside. Then there's the other options, which have many more downsides. The question is: how long do you think that you want to stay there?

Border runs seem cheap and easy, but they actually can end up costing you a lot as even on the busses, there's paying out for all kinds of stuff and boredom speinding to take into account. They will let you do two without any problems usually. However if you go away for a while, you'll not get any real preferential treatment, over just border hopping over a short period.

Your visa will probably let you extend, so you can go to an immigration office and get an extra month for not too much money, so you'll get three months for the effort and price of three + the difference. Get some passport photos done before and keep them, as they charge you there, and for these parts it's extortionate.

If you want to get the easiest extension, you should get onto the train network and get the train from BK to KL, but get off at Penang. That's a very good option for you. You can border run at the border at Padang Bassar, but if you want to stay longer, I'd go to Penang.

In Tulia Street in George Town (you will get off the train at Butterworth, which is integral to the ferry terminal to Penang Island), there are many places that will do you a visa, which will take a day or two. You hand it in in the morning (before 10.00), then you pick it up at 16.00, or, should I say they'll pick it up, so you just have to kill time there. Sometimes there's hitches with this process or you get up late or something, but overnight train (there's two per day) passes the border at around 07.00-08.00, so you may be able to get there and get it in that day, but I'd not count on it, as the border's about two hours from Butterworth, and the ferry and all that's going to take a little bit longer, but it's not a big trip and you can get a taxi so you won't have any trouble with baggage being hauled all over the place.

Malaysia costs more than Thailand, but off Tulia Street there's a place called The Budget Guesthouse (between the two conveneice stores, near the fancy cafe called The Mug Shot, near Crystal Guest House and Banana Guest House (both of which will do the visa service, have air con and internet), which is about £3 per night. They accept Thai money there as well.

The simple option, which a lot of people do, is you just overstay and plan to pay the fine at the point of visa check when you leave. That's no problem and it saves you all of the messing about. There's a lot of scams here and in Malaysia where they deliberately mess your entry and exit up to get fines, and they rely on fear of 'getting in trouble' to extort money out of people. They did this to me once, so I'd got a visa, but despite them taking the card with my stay details and pretending to stamp me out of Malaysia and then again into Thailand, they didn't do any stamps. This is impossible to be an accident as they should have told me to go back to the Malaysian point at the Thai part, but didn't, took my arrival slip and set me up for a fine.

The fine is capped at THB20k, which is less than £400, so if you don't want to go out of the country to explore or anything like that, I'd say you need to consider that option. They do not care one jot if you've got the money to pay.

However, Thais are gossipers. They don't normally know the visa rules, but the ones in tourism areas do often. You need to keep this totally to yourself, or you'll hear them rabbiting on about pat-errr-portsz-ttt all of the time, and they will be trying to work out how much they'll get to tell the immigration police (but again, they're not in most areas). You can in theory be impounded if you're caught by these people, but don't worry as they don't want to catch you, as they want to get the fine on the way out. Most of them don't have any idea how any of this works, including almost all of the police, so unless you get in some major bother, or someone you're with does, as then they'll start doing some checking and want to see your details and will go through them properly. Most people in this country don't have passports, as when they travel in the adjoining countries, they just skip the border or get a day pass, where they only need their ID cards.

It's all about perspective. If you want to sit on a bus, all squashed, sweating, having to watch your stuff (as they steal), and all of that stuff, and being messed about potentially and regularly at ever juncture, and all of the money you'll end up spending, then do the run, but if you want to stay and hang about, I can help you with some advice to get places to stay cheap in a load of places, and you'll keep your costs down, and no one will bat an eyelid.

lol damn this is all so confusing I dont really get it haha, you know Im in chiang mai right? why go all the way to penang? I just came from phuket a week ago? and i dont get that part with the 20k baht fine can you re-explain that?

Edited December 3, 2015 by P4K

[P4K]

fml, can i just overstay until the vientienne embassy is open then go and say I was sick or something or will this cause any problems? Cause to vientienne and back tickets arent to expensive but to this place its like $700+

The 7-day extension is much better than an overstay. Even so, you would still have to get over there for a visa a week later, so if $$ is a concern, I'd save the 1900 Baht and make the trip sooner.

If the long-bus ride isn't your thing, you can fly within Thailand to Issan (the East near Mukdahan) - tickets are much cheaper within the country. Then bus to the border (an hour or so). Be out of the country by Monday night (7th - your last day), apply at the Mukdahan consulate on the morning of the 8th, pick up on the afternoon of the 9th and return.

If you do take a bus the whole way, go overnight and take a VIP-bus with only 3 seats across each row; 1 seat is by itself - go to the station the day before, and reserve one of those. Then take a good audio-book and foam earplugs with you - you can sleep through 1/2 the trip.

if I wanna do the flight-bus option which airport do I go to? from chiang mai to where?

[P4K]

fml, can i just overstay until the vientienne embassy is open then go and say I was sick or something or will this cause any problems? Cause to vientienne and back tickets arent to expensive but to this place its like $700+

As I wrote before your best option is to apply for the 7 day extension which in reality is 7 days to leave the country after the application is denied because there is no 7 day extension in the rules. You can get it after the 30 day extension. Immigration do these all the time as a way for people to avoid an overstay.

You should check for flights form Chiang Mai to Udon Thani. From Udon Thani it is short van ride to the bridge in Nong Khai where the crossing to Laos is.. Nok air has a fly/ride service to Vientiane via Udon.

I found a flight to udon thani on dec 8 and back dec 9 (both flights just 1 hour) for $170. For the 7th its almost twice as much and the first flight is 25 hours lol. So If I overstay by one day will they make a big deal at the when I cross into laos? and how long is the van ride?it takes me straight to vientienne?

p.s the multi quoting for me is glitched so my bad for so many posts

Edited December 3, 2015 by P4K

[P4K]

man everyone giving me answers from all over the place lmao im sooo confused

[P4K]

What is the cheapest way (that doesnt involve at 10+ hour bus ride) for me to do this border run given my visa expires on the 7th? My budget for this border run is $300 (the cheaper the better). Given this what is my best option?

Also when Im doing this border run do I need to take my luggage with me? I have 1 huge luggage and a carry on. Can I just leave them both here at my place in chiang mai?

ignore my previous posts I just need answers to these last 2 questions

Edited December 3, 2015 by P4K

[csabo]

so about this this border run thing, the plane tickets to Savannakhet are really expensive. so if I want to do my border run in vientienne and my visa expires on the 7th when should I go? from what I read I dont qualify for the 7 day extension?

Stop saying border run when you mean visa run. Border run is an in out hop most commonly at a land crossing for an exemption entry or follow up entries on a multiple entry visa.

[ubonjoe]

If you go to Vientiane on the 8th you will have to wait until the 14th to apply for the visa. The consular section will be closed until then.

You have a choice of the 7 day extension or doing a border run to Chiang Khong for a new visa exempt entry. Or go to Savannakhet for the visa.

[salim94]

U better stay 3 month in thaï than go Another country stay 1 month and apply for visa and back thaï for Another 2 or 3 month in thaï.

Dont wait u have problèm with immigration' when immigration sée u out thailand for 1 month 90% will allow u back but if u go out thaï for few day and back . what its call almost back to back also . u can be reject