List of Visa Run Services?

[pjthefey]

Hi all, is there a list of Visa run services (for Bangkok) somewhere?

At the moment I only know about Bangkok Buddy and Thai Visa Service

Usually my GF uses Thai Visa Service, but we've had a few problems with them from going to the meeting point early but finding that even then the vans had already left (happened two times), and more recently being charged 350 baht more than the prices on the website (happened once). Bangkok Buddy has been OK, but it's a bit farther away from where we live, and much more expensive for ASEAN. One time we used a taxi together which cost 2400 for two people, plus the visa cost (for me) at the border.

What are the other options for going to the border, turning around, and coming back? Seems like there should be quite a few of them. I remember seeing employees of other visa run companies at the border wearing shirts, or badges with some other logo on it, but I haven't been able to find them online.

Edited May 23, 2016 by pjthefey

[johnatong]

There is no list that I am aware of but Mr Google is said to be helpful.

[darrendsd]

I'm surprised you have had problems with Thai Visa Service,, I have used them 4 times and have never had the problems you describe

I'm pretty sure Thaivisa member, "Visarunner" is the owner of TVS, maybe you can drop him a PM telling him of your previous problems?

[gilo]

Must echo Darrendsd as have found Thai visa service absolutely professional and would imagine that the owner would be interested in your experiences. They make it as painless as possible and used them on numerous occasions. I suppose thing can always go wrong but your experiences seem particularly unfortunate.

[darrendsd]

Not sure if the 350 extra Baht you mentioned was on a Vientiane trip? Their website does state that extra money may be asked for if one the vans contains to few people

Also both the Vientiane and Cambodia vans leave at exactly the times stated on the site

[pjthefey]

Not sure if the 350 extra Baht you mentioned was on a Vientiane trip? Their website does state that extra money may be asked for if one the vans contains to few people

Also both the Vientiane and Cambodia vans leave at exactly the times stated on the site

Nope this was for a standard border run to Cambodia and back. It does say there may be an extra charge for less than 5 people to Vientiane, however this was to Cambodia, there were three vans, 6 people in the van she traveled in, and they asked for 1200 baht when the website clearly states 850 baht for ASEAN. Apparently the driver wouldn't turn on the AC either, because I was getting Line messages for the duration that it was super hot inside the van. Maybe they offer different standards of service for Falangs vs Philippine, Laos, Cambodian, etc. citizens?

I personally have only used the service once to go to Vientiane. I tried to use it twice for Cambodia, but both times we showed up 10 minutes before the meet up time, and waited until about 15 minutes after the departure time but no one was around. Later I was told that sometimes they leave early if the van gets full.

My GF has used them probably ten times successfully. She hasn't had a problem until recently.

[visarunner]

we, at TVS, are aware of our shortcoming at the meeting point for the early morning trip to Cambodia.

Usually we have, during the week 2-3 van, per day. The first van usually depart by 4:30am, the second and or third by 5 to 5:15am and in case more people coming a third or fourth van is called n stay there up to 6am. As we have no booking system some people on some days face the problem you mention.

It is also correct that we ask, in case only 4 to 6 people are waiting, a small surcharge to cover the cost for the van.

In case all vans are full and few people are there waiting at Tesco and we have no van anymore we will call another company, Meesuk to arrange a pick up for them, this company operates from 6am onwards.

For the Cambodia trip we use the same regular van for Foreigners and Filipinos, Laotian.

RE the hot air , it may be that the aircon was not cool due to the heat outside and bad maintainance, this we have addressed and ask driver to

clean.

[ryanhull]

I have used these services in the past, all of them... visa buddy was the best for me all in all, well the quickest anyway however I do not see why they want you to meet in busy sukhimvit at 5am with all the drunk people walking around, seems a really stupid place to meet at that time. Plus I noted a few of the people on the van had come straight out of the nightclubs and was steaming drunk, whilst they was cool lads it was a bit much when you have just woke up...

Plus parking ends up costing you alot if your in your own car.

Last weekend I actually drove myself to the poi pet border and to be honest it was a whole lot easier leaving when I felt like it and I was in and out within 20 minutes (giving the guy an extra 100 bhat to VIP me whatever that means)

Parking was 150 bhat right next to the border,

I wont use visa companies anymore unless I am carless for whatever reason as its just easier to use a car, you might even want to rent a car, all in all it was cheaper and less hassle for me, just got to watch out for the scammers dressed as officials.

Cheers

[Rayk]

we, at TVS, are aware of our shortcoming at the meeting point for the early morning trip to Cambodia.

Usually we have, during the week 2-3 van, per day. The first van usually depart by 4:30am, the second and or third by 5 to 5:15am and in case more people coming a third or fourth van is called n stay there up to 6am. As we have no booking system some people on some days face the problem you mention.

It is also correct that we ask, in case only 4 to 6 people are waiting, a small surcharge to cover the cost for the van.

In case all vans are full and few people are there waiting at Tesco and we have no van anymore we will call another company, Meesuk to arrange a pick up for them, this company operates from 6am onwards.

For the Cambodia trip we use the same regular van for Foreigners and Filipinos, Laotian.

RE the hot air , it may be that the aircon was not cool due to the heat outside and bad maintainance, this we have addressed and ask driver to

clean.

The question I have for ypu is this.

Last month I used your service to Vientiane as I have done the last 3 times.

Have always been satisfied.

Normally we would get to the Embassy and then get taken to the Nakhonesack hotel.

However last time after we entered Laos we were taken to the Embassy and then taken to a different hotel for breakfast prior to going to the Nakhonesack hotel.

After spending all night in a van and then going through immigration and then the Embassy I didn't like the idea that I was being forced to go to a different hotel for a breakfast I didn't even want.

All I wanted to do was sleep.

Btw: You need to inform your drivers the roads are not a racetrack.

Edited May 24, 2016 by Rayk

[darrendsd]

we, at TVS, are aware of our shortcoming at the meeting point for the early morning trip to Cambodia.

Usually we have, during the week 2-3 van, per day. The first van usually depart by 4:30am, the second and or third by 5 to 5:15am and in case more people coming a third or fourth van is called n stay there up to 6am. As we have no booking system some people on some days face the problem you mention.

It is also correct that we ask, in case only 4 to 6 people are waiting, a small surcharge to cover the cost for the van.

In case all vans are full and few people are there waiting at Tesco and we have no van anymore we will call another company, Meesuk to arrange a pick up for them, this company operates from 6am onwards.

For the Cambodia trip we use the same regular van for Foreigners and Filipinos, Laotian.

RE the hot air , it may be that the aircon was not cool due to the heat outside and bad maintainance, this we have addressed and ask driver to

clean.

http://www.thaivisaservice.com/

Your website states that your vans depart at 5am, not 4 30

Also the possible surcharge is stated for the Vientiane trip not the Cambodia trip

Maybe you need to change the wording on your site?

[visarunner]

I have used these services in the past, all of them... visa buddy was the best for me all in all, well the quickest anyway however I do not see why they want you to meet in busy sukhimvit at 5am with all the drunk people walking around, seems a really stupid place to meet at that time. Plus I noted a few of the people on the van had come straight out of the nightclubs and was steaming drunk, whilst they was cool lads it was a bit much when you have just woke up...

Plus parking ends up costing you alot if your in your own car.

Last weekend I actually drove myself to the poi pet border and to be honest it was a whole lot easier leaving when I felt like it and I was in and out within 20 minutes (giving the guy an extra 100 bhat to VIP me whatever that means)

Parking was 150 bhat right next to the border,

I wont use visa companies anymore unless I am carless for whatever reason as its just easier to use a car, you might even want to rent a car, all in all it was cheaper and less hassle for me, just got to watch out for the scammers dressed as officials.

Cheers

Good for you, but not everyone has a own transport. Bangkok Buddy Office is in Soi12 and there4 convenient to pick up from Korean Town. In the past Visa Run was a good business, at peak times "Jack Golf" had, daily, two VIP buses full and what better place to pick up customers straight from party or from Nana area where most of them stayed. Times have changed and each company is struggling and had to adjust. We never liked 5am, in the first years we used 7 to 7:30am, Philip from Ekamai even 9:30am, each company had there own customer, departure time and pick up place. Last year, after the bomb, they closed the borders for two weeks and after opening everyone had to decide. Tanya of Bangkok Buddy decided to keep 5am, but reduced her schedule. Philip canceled the trips and we, TVS, changed, officially, to 5am. As we have many Filipinos they like even earlier trips (before we had even midnight trips), hence we have van ready for 4 or 4:30am, main trip should be 5am, but for convenience we have often trips or van waiting up to 6am. No one is perfect, but we believe that our set up is convenient for most customers. Individual booking are still possible. In the past we also picked up people, arranged different meeting places and times to accomodate groups, etc, but people are unreliable hence we changed back to a fixed meeting place.

[visarunner]

we, at TVS, are aware of our shortcoming at the meeting point for the early morning trip to Cambodia.

Usually we have, during the week 2-3 van, per day. The first van usually depart by 4:30am, the second and or third by 5 to 5:15am and in case more people coming a third or fourth van is called n stay there up to 6am. As we have no booking system some people on some days face the problem you mention.

It is also correct that we ask, in case only 4 to 6 people are waiting, a small surcharge to cover the cost for the van.

In case all vans are full and few people are there waiting at Tesco and we have no van anymore we will call another company, Meesuk to arrange a pick up for them, this company operates from 6am onwards.

For the Cambodia trip we use the same regular van for Foreigners and Filipinos, Laotian.

RE the hot air , it may be that the aircon was not cool due to the heat outside and bad maintainance, this we have addressed and ask driver to

clean.

The question I have for ypu is this.

Last month I used your service to Vientiane as I have done the last 3 times.

Have always been satisfied.

Normally we would get to the Embassy and then get taken to the Nakhonesack hotel.

However last time after we entered Laos we were taken to the Embassy and then taken to a different hotel for breakfast prior to going to the Nakhonesack hotel.

After spending all night in a van and then going through immigration and then the Embassy I didn't like the idea that I was being forced to go to a different hotel for a breakfast I didn't even want.

All I wanted to do was sleep.

Btw: You need to inform your drivers the roads are not a racetrack.

Nakhonesack is owned by people close to Laotian Government Officials. We have no booking system and happy if customer choose us. Nakhonesack is usually empty and we can get easily all 70-80 rooms if required, but sometimes the Laotian Government tell the Hotel that on "next" day they need that room or even the entire hotel. Means we have to move to other places, I understand the communication in such an event is not good. We are sometimes told by 9pm that early morning the hotel is not available to us. While it looks easy to organise such tours it is an everchanging challenge. You, as a customer, should not have an inconvenience due to that, but in such cases we have no choice. Thank you, re driver, please let me know plate number, while we use always same driver, we sometimes have to change as the schedule for trips does not allow to use same driver all the time.

[Rayk]

we, at TVS, are aware of our shortcoming at the meeting point for the early morning trip to Cambodia.

Usually we have, during the week 2-3 van, per day. The first van usually depart by 4:30am, the second and or third by 5 to 5:15am and in case more people coming a third or fourth van is called n stay there up to 6am. As we have no booking system some people on some days face the problem you mention.

It is also correct that we ask, in case only 4 to 6 people are waiting, a small surcharge to cover the cost for the van.

In case all vans are full and few people are there waiting at Tesco and we have no van anymore we will call another company, Meesuk to arrange a pick up for them, this company operates from 6am onwards.

For the Cambodia trip we use the same regular van for Foreigners and Filipinos, Laotian.

RE the hot air , it may be that the aircon was not cool due to the heat outside and bad maintainance, this we have addressed and ask driver to

clean.

The question I have for ypu is this.

Last month I used your service to Vientiane as I have done the last 3 times.

Have always been satisfied.

Normally we would get to the Embassy and then get taken to the Nakhonesack hotel.

However last time after we entered Laos we were taken to the Embassy and then taken to a different hotel for breakfast prior to going to the Nakhonesack hotel.

After spending all night in a van and then going through immigration and then the Embassy I didn't like the idea that I was being forced to go to a different hotel for a breakfast I didn't even want.

All I wanted to do was sleep.

Btw: You need to inform your drivers the roads are not a racetrack.

Nakhonesack is owned by people close to Laotian Government Officials. We have no booking system and happy if customer choose us. Nakhonesack is usually empty and we can get easily all 70-80 rooms if required, but sometimes the Laotian Government tell the Hotel that on "next" day they need that room or even the entire hotel. Means we have to move to other places, I understand the communication in such an event is not good. We are sometimes told by 9pm that early morning the hotel is not available to us. While it looks easy to organise such tours it is an everchanging challenge. You, as a customer, should not have an inconvenience due to that, but in such cases we have no choice. Thank you, re driver, please let me know plate number, while we use always same driver, we sometimes have to change as the schedule for trips does not allow to use same driver all the time.

Thank you for your reply.