Hi

I need a Single entry tourist visa and I am considering either Penang or Laos but at the moment my preference is Penang as I quite fancy visiting anyway.

If I arrive in Penang early Sunday evening when would you suggest booking my return flight to Bangkok for?

Do you have any suggestions on where to stay and any reputable visa agents who could sort my visa out upon arrival.

Any advice appreciated.

Thank you

http://bananapenang.com/main/

They will handle all the details without issue.....and stay a few days...well worth it !

You apply on Monday morning before 11am and pick-up Tuesday afternoon at 2pm

You should be able to make the 1645 A/A flight if you're on your toes or the 1720 Jetstar flight.

Banana Tours and Guesthouse at 326 Chulia Jalan in the heart of historic George town are a one-stop shop who will do everything for you for a modest fee.

Google and phone them about making the flights - it's 45 mins to the airport.

Thanks for that.

Yes it's the Airasia flight on the Tuesday at 1645 that I'm hoping for all being well.

I'll contact Banana. I've heard these mentioned a few times before. Any suggestions on where to stay that is not too far from them?

Thanks again.

Thanks for that.

Yes it's the Airasia flight on the Tuesday at 1645 that I'm hoping for all being well.

I'll contact Banana. I've heard these mentioned a few times before. Any suggestions on where to stay that is not too far from them?

Thanks again.

Banana is also a guest house..you can stay right there

I have spoken to two Visa agents - one told me "around 14:30" and the other "around 15:00" for passport pickup the following day. I do not think this will give me sufficient time to reach the airport for the 16:45 AirAsia flight back to Bangkok. What are your thoughts, any experiences?

If you book a taxi for 2.30 pm at the Tour agents office, pay a little waiting time, be first in the queue, you should be at the airport on a weekday before 3.30 pm.

No problem for a 4.45pm flight with AirAsia.

Take carry-on only, pre-print your boarding passes, and they'll page you if running late.

Or book A/A there and Jetstar back if you need an extra 25 minutes.

Just booked the flights.

If I pickup the visa at say 14:45 I should be at the airport by 15:30. That's fine as the flight is 16:45 and I'll checkin online and I will be without luggage. Fingers crossed I make it!

Good idea going to Penang. It's a lovely place. But the Thai consulate there is ........ think of a very bad word.

I couldn't agree less.

The Thai Consulate outdoor visa section is scruffy but it's far more efficient than many Thai Immi offices.

Just to confirm I have now completed my first visa trip (to Penang) and everything went very smoothly. Here is a mini-report:

I traveled from DMK to Penang on the AirAsia flight on Wednesday (13:35pm). Upon arrival at Penang Airport I took the bus to Georgetown (2.70 MYR). The hotel where I stayed was called "Cintra Heritage House" located on Lebuh Cintra, just off the main Chulia Street and a basic single room cost 100 MYR/night. At 9am Thursday morning I walked to Banana Guesthouse on Chulia Street and handed in my passport with two photos. All that I was required to do was to fill my address and sign in two places on the visa application form. The cost was 150 MYR for the SETV and 40 MYR service fee for Banana to arrange everything. The next day just before 14:30 I picked up my passport, jumped in a taxi and made it to Penang airport with plenty of time to spare.

Penang itself isn't a bad place for a couple of days so overall the visa trip was very easy and I had a nice few days away.

Any questions let me know

Anybody got a third one? I have two already, 2015 three was fine but you never know.

Brad, you could have gone @ 14:00 to the thai consulate. Didnt have to wait until 14:30. They open @ 14:00 for pickup.

I personally think its worth it to spend the extra day, but it can be done (bus/minivan or air). The intl train #36 is too late...

This travel guide would have helped: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/879418-guide-travelling-to-george-town-penang-and-back-to-thailand/

Glad it worked out.

-----

Anybody got a third one? I have two already, 2015 three was fine but you never know.

Can get SeTV visa 3 times back to back at Penang. Unsure about 4th time. I think you need to go to a different consulate after that to 'reset' your visa. Maybe other members can confirm this?

I have never seen the Thai consulate and I have been using penang over vientianne for at least 10 years.

You will need sto stay 2 nights, but which 2 nights is dependant on your flights, some flights are not daily. IE firefly from samui.

As an example, you should fly in sunday or Monday night, I would suggest chuilia mansion, new rooms, excellent internet and flat screen and free sunset drink on roof, I think around 1500. Some people complain about the mosque net door, but you can request rooms on the other side. Besides I like the prayers, especially from the roof while overlooking the Georgetown sunset.

On chulia are both bananna and Jim's place, I use Jim as a result of a long-standing assocoation he has with Koh Phangan residents, but while his service is excellent, his shop lacks any pretence in that it is rather run down, his clients are word of mouth so he doesn't keep up appearances like bananna.

In any case it is best to submit documents the night before, both are open late to accommodate this - though I would confirm this over the Internet, Jim is available for chat on facebook and will respond immediately to confirm. Provide them with your phone number in case there is an issue and that's it.

They submit your docs in the morning and your passport comes back the following afternoon. If your flight is early (penang samui leaves around 2pm) you can submit your itinerary and, for an extra thousand, they will get you your documents before noon. In Jim's case his staff will then drive you to the airport.

All very painless.

Brad, you could have gone @ 14:00 to the thai consulate. Didnt have to wait until 14:30. They open @ 14:00 for pickup.

I suspect he picked his passport up at the bananna office. There is no need to go to the consulate.

As I said, pick up can also be arranged at 11am by the agents for a fee. They bring back the expedited passports before noon after submitting the next batch of visa applications.

I have never received my passport later than 12:30.

Brad, you could have gone @ 14:00 to the thai consulate. Didnt have to wait until 14:30. They open @ 14:00 for pickup.

I personally think its worth it to spend the extra day, but it can be done (bus/minivan or air). The intl train #36 is too late...

This travel guide would have helped: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/879418-guide-travelling-to-george-town-penang-and-back-to-thailand/

Glad it worked out.

-----

Anybody got a third one? I have two already, 2015 three was fine but you never know.

Can get SeTV visa 3 times back to back at Penang. Unsure about 4th time. I think you need to go to a different consulate after that to 'reset' your visa. Maybe other members can confirm this?

Thank you very much!

I have never seen the Thai consulate and I have been using penang over vientianne for at least 10 years.

.......

They submit your docs in the morning and your passport comes back the following afternoon. If your flight is early (penang samui leaves around 2pm) you can submit your itinerary and, for an extra thousand, they will get you your documents before noon. In Jim's case his staff will then drive you to the airport.

All very painless.

So let me just confirm. There is a standard fee of about 400-500 baht for the agent to run your passport to the Thai Penang Consulate on one business day morning and back the next business day afternoon after 14:30.

But if you want the passport back earlier (by 12:30 the next day vs 14:30), you have to pay an extra 1000 baht on top of the 500 baht normal agent fee? Do I understand this correctly?

What a cash cow for them. But to be fair, Penang consulate is very efficient.

I have never seen the Thai consulate and I have been using penang over vientianne for at least 10 years.

.......

They submit your docs in the morning and your passport comes back the following afternoon. If your flight is early (penang samui leaves around 2pm) you can submit your itinerary and, for an extra thousand, they will get you your documents before noon. In Jim's case his staff will then drive you to the airport.

All very painless.

So let me just confirm. There is a standard fee of about 400-500 baht for the agent to run your passport to the Thai Penang Consulate on one business day morning and back the next business day afternoon after 14:30.

But if you want the passport back earlier (by 12:30 the next day vs 14:30), you have to pay an extra 1000 baht on top of the 500 baht normal agent fee? Do I understand this correctly?

What a cash cow for them. But to be fair, Penang consulate is very efficient.

No one is forced to use an agent.

I have never seen the Thai consulate and I have been using penang over vientianne for at least 10 years.

.......

They submit your docs in the morning and your passport comes back the following afternoon. If your flight is early (penang samui leaves around 2pm) you can submit your itinerary and, for an extra thousand, they will get you your documents before noon. In Jim's case his staff will then drive you to the airport.

All very painless.

So let me just confirm. There is a standard fee of about 400-500 baht for the agent to run your passport to the Thai Penang Consulate on one business day morning and back the next business day afternoon after 14:30.

But if you want the passport back earlier (by 12:30 the next day vs 14:30), you have to pay an extra 1000 baht on top of the 500 baht normal agent fee? Do I understand this correctly?

What a cash cow for them. But to be fair, Penang consulate is very efficient.

that has been my experience, and it certainly is very convenient where, like firefly between samui and penang flights leave every other day. that 1000 baht helps you avoid an extra 2 nights waiting for the next flight out

So let me just confirm. There is a standard fee of about 400-500 baht for the agent to run your passport to the Thai Penang Consulate on one business day morning and back the next business day afternoon after 14:30.

But if you want the passport back earlier (by 12:30 the next day vs 14:30), you have to pay an extra 1000 baht on top of the 500 baht normal agent fee? Do I understand this correctly?

What a cash cow for them. But to be fair, Penang consulate is very efficient.

that has been my experience, and it certainly is very convenient where, like firefly between samui and penang flights leave every other day. that 1000 baht helps you avoid an extra 2 nights waiting for the next flight out

I only wish that the consulate offered the rush service directly. But where's the fun in that? Then you could take the int'l train. I suppose you could use the agent also. But I think it is more for non-imm visa (1000 baht agent runner fee + ???? for rush service). In the instance of the train, it is only an extra day.

No one is forced to use an agent.

That is correct for regular service, which is normally the next business day afternoon pickup. I do it myself when I go, and I use the RapidPenang bus + some walking so it is quite cost effective.And when picking up the passport, it is still possible to catch the 15:00 Hat Yai van or 16:45 Air Asia flight Penang >> Bangkok. I normally have time, so it's no big deal to wait an extra day and crash at a bunk pad for 200-350 baht and take the #36 train back to Thailand.

But HooHaa does prove that a proper agent may be useful if you are time crunched (rush service) or just want to free up your days (standard agent runner service). To take a taxi one way to consulate is 150-200 baht and you have to go twice; so that's 600-800 baht anyway. I've also witnessed an application runner skipping the line at the consulate to drop off several large stacks of visa applications with photos, fee, etc already stapled in correct order; it's quite a popular option.