Hi,

I just signed up. I'm not new to to Thailand but it's been a few years since I've been here.I'm an American from Tennessee. My reason for joining is to keep up with what's going on with visas. I'm here now on a VOA, but I hope to stay til it's spring time back home,so I'll need to do at least one visa run,seems like the rules are changing quickly these days. Everything I read before I came was that I had to have a return or onward ticket so I bought one to Kuala Lumpur but nobody asked me for it at the airport. In fact nobody said anything except to look at the camera while they took my photo. Easiest border crossing ever.

Edited December 5, 201510 yr by Rob13

Welcome.

If you are from America you should have been able to obtain a visa exempt entry, why did you go VOA ?

The embassy said they needed at least 2 weeks to process the visa maybe longer, just seemed easier to do the VOA and get a 60 day visa later on. Is visa exempt entry different then VOA

Edited December 5, 201510 yr by Rob13

If you are from America you should have been able to obtain a visa exempt entry, why did you go VOA ?

Is visa exempt entry different then VOA

A US citizen will be shooed away from the VOA booths at the airport

Definitely a visa exempt entry, just showing passport at the checkpoint and getting stamped for 30 days.

Mixing up "VOA" with visa exempt seems impossible to eradicate.

VOA is for a dedicated list of 19 (?) countries and gives 15 days only.

Edited December 5, 201510 yr by KhunBENQ

Visa rules and regs are really hard to understand here. I went through the visa on arrival line at the airport. They gave me a 30 day stamp. Guess I don't know what the official title is. I hoping that I can pick up a 60 tourist visa in Malaysia over New Years

I thought the 15 days was for land crossings and 30 days was for airports.

Edited December 5, 201510 yr by Rob13

No reason to worry.

What you (as most western travelers) have not noticed:

on your way from the plane to the immigration checkpoint booths there is a dedicated "Visa On Arrival" "office" before you reach the immigration checkpoint.

I went through the visa on arrival line at the airport

-> Immigration checkpoint / passport control

The people from the dedicated countries have to apply and pay for an explicit visa (stamped or sticker in passport) and it costs a fee.

Edited December 5, 201510 yr by KhunBENQ

I hoping that I can pick up a 60 tourist visa in Malaysia over New Years

I thought the 15 days was for land crossings and 30 days was for airports.

Kuala Lumpur seems one of the worst consulates for getting a visa in the region.

US citizens (G7 countries) get 30 days at the airport as well as at the land border.

All other nations (eligible for visa exempt) get only 15 days at land borders.

(rules for land border have changed twice "over the years", 15 for all, then back to 30 days for G7 countries)

Edited December 5, 201510 yr by KhunBENQ

Visa rules and regs are really hard to understand here. I went through the visa on arrival line at the airport. They gave me a 30 day stamp. Guess I don't know what the official title is. I hoping that I can pick up a 60 tourist visa in Malaysia over New Years

I thought the 15 days was for land crossings and 30 days was for airports.

A lot of people incorrectly call a visa exempt entry a VOA.

The first thing you can do is apply for 30 day extension of your 30 day entry at an immigration office for a fee of 1900 baht.

I would avoid going to Kuala Lumpur for the single entry tourist visa. They are unpredictable for their requirements to get a visa.

Penang Malaysia or Vientiane Laos would be a better choice for getting the visa.

That's the one. Complicated rules but when you get here they just breeze you through. Pays be a gringo with some pesos to spend.

If Kuala Lumpur is bad for going for a visa where would be a good place?

How much did you pay for the KL ticket

Ticket to Kuala Lumpur was a hundred bucks, Penang sounds like a good spot ,maybe I can change it. Sounds alot easier and a nicer place anyway.

My ticket into BKK was only 575, that seemed pretty cheap to me,coming from half way round the world

Edited December 5, 201510 yr by Rob13

You if you want a helluva fun do a visa run via minibus to Penang...

Ticket to Kuala Lumpur was a hundred bucks, Penang sounds like a good spot ,maybe I can change it. Sounds alot easier and a nicer place anyway. ...

If you like trains, and are not in a hurry, you could keep your flight, see the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur, then take a train trip to Penang (Butterworth Station), stay for a night or two and get your visa while there, then take the train on into Thailand.