Savannakhet SETV

[transam]

3 minutes ago, puchooay said:

Did you not read before you quoted?

 

It clearly states the the gentleman's 20000 cash was accepted. 

 

I too have known tourist visas to be issued in Savannakhet with out the stated requirements.  All within the last month or so. 

Your info source...?

[Doiger]

1 minute ago, puchooay said:

Did you not read before you quoted?

 

It clearly states the the gentleman's 20000 cash was accepted. 

 

I too have known tourist visas to be issued in Savannakhet with out the stated requirements.  All within the last month or so. 

Yes I did read it, I was basing it on first hand experience, I was there less than 2 weeks ago and everyone in front of me in the line that only had cash were point blank refused.

maybe he was lucky that they would have accepted the cash but in reality we will never know as he was refused for not having onward travel.

to be honest if they are accepting cash now then it is a good thing, but it clearly states on the gate of the consulate that it must be a printed bank statement.

[puchooay]

22 minutes ago, transam said:

Your info source...?

The info source about the cash is the post on here. 

 

The info source for tourist visas being issued is an aquaintence's tourist visa in his passport.  Also that he told me 2others were issued when he was there. 

 

Anyone who has been here long enough understands that probably all of the experiences on here are true. 

 

At many consulates/immigration  offices it all depends who you get on the day and how they are feeling. 

Edited February 14, 2017 by puchooay

[BuckBee]

^ would agree is possible they may accept cash on sight (my eye witness experience saw it refused though but as ideally want it for possible border re-entry if come back on visa exempt it makes some sense have it anyway) but: anyone going for setv got be pretty stupid and certainly not worthy of 60 days in thailand if can't whack required docs together as pretty simple unless lack initiative or money and without either of those you a sitting duck in thailand if did get allowed in lol ... biggest problem is people don't do their own due diligence prior to applying and prefer turn up clueless or take advise from complete strangers as gospal . basically put in bit of effort and gumption prior to arrival and it no big drama ...

[RoyDee]

1 hour ago, puchooay said:

The info source about the cash is the post on here. 

 

The info source for tourist visas being issued is an aquaintence's tourist visa in his passport.  Also that he told me 2others were issued when he was there. 

 

Anyone who has been here long enough understands that probably all of the experiences on here are true. 

 

At many consulates/immigration  offices it all depends who you get on the day and how they are feeling. 

So the foreigner must produce all the required paperwork. Don't blame it on the IO whom you happen to face on the day. Forget 'soft touch Thailand'. Those days have gone.

[farang241]

Was at the embassy this morning, I saw quite a few people in front of me having their papers rejected, I assume they applied either single entry tourist or the new multiple entry tourist visa. I can't give specific info as I didn't hear everything, but at least the Philippine girl I talk to briefly in front of me was given a lot of trouble and asked to show 20,000 thb. Personally I applied for a non-o multiple, and had no problems whatsoever, took less than 30 seconds to hand in the papers.

 

 

[blorg]

On 31/01/2017 at 1:38 PM, Lovethailandelite said:

There is no ticket. What part of that do you fail to understand? There is a fraudulent confirmation THAT YOU HAVE PAID IN FULL hence you CANNOT travel and they suggest leaving it to them to pick a destination. 

That's actually not a "fraudulent confirmation" as the ticket exists and is paid for in full, by Fly Onward.

 

Fly Onward then go through the cancellation process after 24/48 hours and get their money back.

 

You can do all this yourself by booking a fully-refundable ticket and then cancelling it later but these are typically quite expensive (several hundred dollars) and you have to wait for some time to get the refund.

 

What Fly Onward offers is to handle all this for you, for $10.

 

But it is actually a genuine, fully paid for ticket with the airline and you can look it up on the airline website or the system the airlines themselves use to validate these tickets and it will register as a fully paid ticket, as that is exactly what it is.

[elviajero]

19 minutes ago, blorg said:

That's actually not a "fraudulent confirmation" as the ticket exists and is paid for in full, by Fly Onward.

 

Fly Onward then go through the cancellation process after 24/48 hours and get their money back.

 

You can do all this yourself by booking a fully-refundable ticket and then cancelling it later but these are typically quite expensive (several hundred dollars) and you have to wait for some time to get the refund.

 

What Fly Onward offers is to handle all this for you, for $10.

 

But it is actually a genuine, fully paid for ticket with the airline and you can look it up on the airline website or the system the airlines themselves use to validate these tickets and it will register as a fully paid ticket, as that is exactly what it is.

At the very least they are obtaining a visa by deception when renting a ticket. You are correct that a ticket exists, but it can never be used (as per Fly Onward's T&C's) and as such you do not have a valid onward ticket to satisfy the condition of getting the visa.You and others can spin it all you like, but if the consular staff new the ticket was rented they wouldn't grant a visa.

 

Buying a ticket that can be used or cancelled or is never used is entirely different to one that can never be used.

 

I doubt anyone would come unstuck when using these tickets to get a visa, but anyone doing so to satisfy an airline or airport immigration is asking for trouble if the con where discovered.

[farang241]

On 2/1/2017 at 1:06 PM, JackThompson said:

It all boils down to money, really.  Money can buy outgoing tickets, a place to stay, etc.  So put an ATM next to the visa-application window, and at checkpoints, and have people print out an "available balance" slip on the spot.  They know it's not fake, because it comes from their own machine.  They can even get some income from the ATM fee. 

If they ask for proof of funds I usually just show them my platinum AMEX, the limit on that thing is probably more than the house they live in. Never had any issues with that, but I can complain the AMEX annual fees are quite high.

 

[juice777]

If they ask for proof of funds I usually just show them my platinum AMEX, the limit on that thing is probably more than the house they live in. Never had any issues with that, but I can complain the AMEX annual fees are quite high.
 

They said no to the guy in front of me who showed his credit card. Also I read somewhere probably on this Thread that other people got knocked back with just a credit card. But well done for showing of.

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

[BuckBee]

6 minutes ago, farang241 said:

If they ask for proof of funds I usually just show them my platinum AMEX, the limit on that thing is probably more than the house they live in. Never had any issues with that, but I can complain the AMEX annual fees are quite high.

 

∆ that won't work at savannakhet or few other places, evidence has to match what requested, no option supply what you think suitable .

Edited February 16, 2017 by BuckBee

[farang241]

1 minute ago, BuckBee said:

∆ that won't work at savannakhet or few other places, evidence has to match hat requested, no option supply what you think suitable .

My bad, I meant at the border if immigration wants to see proof of funds, the AMEX works very well, I've been in that situation only once in 15 years, because I was doing the in/out too much (yeah I also thought they were referring to my sex life which is none of their business) but they were talking about the number of times I've re-entered without a visa. The Amex platinum made it easy for me to convince them I'm not some poor English teacher wannabe loser who can't afford a visa and they let me in again.

 

 

[elviajero]

12 minutes ago, farang241 said:

If they ask for proof of funds I usually just show them my platinum AMEX, the limit on that thing is probably more than the house they live in. Never had any issues with that, but I can complain the AMEX annual fees are quite high.

 

That's not a reliable way to satisfy the requirement for getting a visa or entering the country.

 

The IO wouldn't have clue what your credit limit is or how much you have available!

 

A bad example for anyone else to follow.

[farang241]

6 minutes ago, elviajero said:

That's not a reliable way to satisfy the requirement for getting a visa or entering the country.

 

The IO wouldn't have clue what your credit limit is or how much you have available!

 

A bad example for anyone else to follow.

Already clarified it's not for visa purposes, but if you get asked at the border/airport, they are very happy to see a platinum card, and they will completely change their attitude. Tust me, poor teachers would never be able to get anywhere near a card like this... LOL

 

[elviajero]

21 minutes ago, farang241 said:

Already clarified it's not for visa purposes, but if you get asked at the border/airport, they are very happy to see a platinum card, and they will completely change their attitude. Tust me, poor teachers would never be able to get anywhere near a card like this... LOL

 

The requirement is to have 10K/20K in cash or travellers cheques. If you don't have that a credit card is not going to stop them denying entry when looking for a reason to deny entry.

 

The fact that flashing your credit card worked for you doesn't mean it would work for you again or anyone else.

 

Poor teacher or egotistical platinum credit card holder it is best to have cash or travellers cheques.

[jonw8uk]

9 hours ago, farang241 said:

Already clarified it's not for visa purposes, but if you get asked at the border/airport, they are very happy to see a platinum card, and they will completely change their attitude. Tust me, poor teachers would never be able to get anywhere near a card like this... LOL

 

Do you have a platinum card by chance?

 

[steve187]

1 hour ago, jonw8uk said:

Do you have a platinum card by chance?

 

i think he does. but not available for teachers here

[JackThompson]

A few days ago, I had a similar experience to what others reported.  I had all the correct documents, and they scrutinized these carefully.  These included copies of my 1-year rental agreement, long-standing Thai bank account with well over the minimum, and an air-ticket out of the country.  I also had proof-of-payment for last month's, rent, and originals of all documents, which were not needed - but could be requested (and have been of others).

 

My flight was 80+ days out, and as I truthfully reported my proposed entry date as the next day, I was worried this might be a problem, as it was beyond the initial 60-days the visa confers - but it was accepted.  I assume the routine 30-day extension was taken into consideration.  It would have been a bummer to have to purchase a throwaway ticket just to qualify on the flight-requirement. 

 

Others in line reported being denied the day prior, and having to make printouts of bank-statements, etc, to apply that day.  Note that this consulate re-opens at 2PM - not 1PM like Vientiane for the 2nd-day pickup of your visa and passport. 

 

To kill time, you could go visit the large mall built just down the street - but, unfortunately, it is almost entirely vacant.  There is an OK grocery store in there, though.  The vendor across the street from the consulate with the little plastic chairs and tables sells those delicious little pork-patties on a stick and fresh, soft sticky-rice.  Further up the street a street-vendor was selling roasted bananas. 

 

After retrieving your passport, go to the bus-station and get the ticket to Mukdahan.  This ticket covers the trip to the border, across the bridge, and from the Thai-side to the Mukdahan bus station.  Ignore the lying TukTuk drivers on the Laos side of the bridge, telling you that you cannot get back on your bus to continue your journey.  In fact, my primary warning to anyone going to Laos, is to plan to deal with Tuk-Tuk drivers who are, in my experience, without exception, ruthless, lying, racketeers.