gregchambers Posted August 24, 2004 Report Share Posted August 24, 2004 so the crackdown hasn't happened yet, anyway just did the Laos friendship bridge run, in and out same day no problems for me on one year multi entry, leave every three months nor my friend on a 30 day tourist visa both with lots of Thai stamps in our UK passports don't know where the hordes of Euro tourists came from, took an hour to get past the Laotian checkpoint - smarmy git gave me a nasty look even though it was my mate who did all the loud mouthed whinging about the delay, he was desperate to get back to his beer in Thailand hope that helps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrX Posted August 25, 2004 Report Share Posted August 25, 2004 Hi greg, I wonder if I am the only one who feels the the tone of your post is (how shall I put it?)... a little inflammatory. I have visited Lao many times via the Friendship bridge and have always found the people working there courteous and efficient. As for the crackdown....well I do not pretend to be a visa pundit..but I understand that if the immigration folk dont have reason to believe you are not a bonafide visitor everything is ok. Why dont you just let us know when there are problems and for the rest let sleeping dogs lie.... All IMHO of course Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Khun_Kong Posted August 25, 2004 Report Share Posted August 25, 2004 Romp- Sounds like GC is talking about the rumours regarding non-issuance of multiple, back-to-back, short stay visas. Can't remember where all the traffic was on this issue, here, Thaivisa.com or maybe both. I think people have also spoken of some long waits and maybe some minor Immi corruption there Doesn't really sound too inflammatory. I think he actually spoke well of everything, except for his whiney friend. Maybe I'm just in a good mood tonight! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gregchambers Posted August 25, 2004 Author Report Share Posted August 25, 2004 Well, I am not a great fan of Laos - you can't legally have sex with the gals and the guys are viciously nationalistic except when they think they can get some sex off any Thai gals you have in tow. Complete waste of space as far as I am concerned and I get bored by Vientienne after five minutes these days. The visa crackdown was supposed to be on people who did visa runs for more than six months - immigration checking that funds come from outside Thailand. Not a problem as I don't work here and my rental income from the UK is 60k a month and they want proof of 40k - it is just a matter of documentation but if no-one tells you and you don't have any on you, you supposedly get a ten day visa and then a year's ban. As this can f..k up a lot of lives, I would imagine that it is reassuring for board members to know that it is still business as usual. Also confirmed by a visa agent I was talking to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Hippie Posted August 25, 2004 Report Share Posted August 25, 2004 I was just in PoiPet, saw tons of people getting stamped out of Thailand, walking to Cambo, getting stamped in, back out and stamped back into Thailand no problem... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Encore Posted August 26, 2004 Report Share Posted August 26, 2004 GC >Well, I am not a great fan of Laos - you can't legally have sex with the gals and the guys are viciously nationalistic except when they think they can get some sex off any Thai gals you have in tow. Complete waste of space as far as I am concerned and I get bored by Vientienne after five minutes these days.< good, in that case i don't have to bump into you there. 'can't legally have sex with the gals' some would consider that a plus. partly because of this policy, a fairly poor country has so far managed to avoid becoming a hotbed for sex tourists. They value their culture and reputation as a 'non-sextourism' destination, and that's their choice. Of course, P4P is available to those who look carefully, but because of their laws most falang decide not to. Of course, a falang that arrives with a woman in tow who looks like an obvious Thai P4P worker, will get some looks. Just like a young falang woman who is dressed in appropriately. just like you may get looks if you visit a small conservative town in your own country with a young woman identifiable as a tart in tow. If you read about Lao history over the past 100 years, you may understand a bit about the source of their nationalism. They've been occupied, exploited, oppressed, manipulated and bombed to smithereens by a few large outside powers. They've since gained their independence of these powers, and are jealously guarding it. good on them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 26, 2004 Report Share Posted August 26, 2004 Not to be outdone by LOS, Laos decided they need closing hours too. It's 11pm now I believe! They also have police shake downs of people still on the roads late at night much like in Bangkok. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrX Posted August 26, 2004 Report Share Posted August 26, 2004 Hi greg guess I owe you an apology since you seemed to have kicked off a lively thread! About the Visa thing...understood from a few months ago that where the immigration officer had grounds for suspecting a visitor was illegally working he/she could inquire and require evidence of where funds came from.....somehow this was linked to a computer system in Bangkok though I cant for the life of me see why!!!.....My experience at Friendship bridge recently mirrors yours..I am on a 4 entry tourist visa ( valid one year) which seemed kosher to the powers. My point about sleeping dogs was based on a) the belief that todays tolerance is no guide to tomorrow's repression and my perception that your post subtexted a (spiteful?) glee that you had got away with it once again!..BUT I hasten to add that you have effectively refuted all spite ( lives are indeed fucked up by capricious immigration officers!) and other posters appear to agree with you.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
think_too_mut Posted August 27, 2004 Report Share Posted August 27, 2004 >partly because of this policy, a fairly poor country has so far managed to avoid becoming a hotbed for sex tourists. They value their culture and reputation as a 'non-sextourism' destination, and that's their choice. Make Thai Airways have only 1 plane (instead of 86 or more), imagine Don Muang with 2-3 flights a day (small planes), withdraw 3800 multinational companies that have offices and factories in Thailand and you can get that "policy" working too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Hippie Posted August 27, 2004 Report Share Posted August 27, 2004 Laos is cool. For the record, you cannot "leagally" have sex with the girls in Thailand either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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