border run - cross to nomans land then back?

[WorldFun]

Yo!

 

just crossed over to burma at mae sai & it was a hssle free experience although quite boring & uneventful at the marked in there

 

anyway given the procedure as I saw it I was thinking have anyone ever done or considered a border run to paid visa neigbours like cambodia, laos or burma, but NOT actually buying the visa or entering the country - just stamping out of LOS turning around & stamping in again the next minute thus getting the new stamp although these days that is merely 15days unless a visa/extension is had?

 

clearly at mae sai it seems very easy while e.g. at more popular exit points like poipet I would guess that Thai immigration may not 'allow' an exit/entry without having been in another country meanwhile? but the standard way of buying cambodia visa of 1000bt just to turnaround 1min later or for burma case 500bt & they'll even retain the passport although allowing 14days in limited zone but fuck all to do there I guess!

how abt nongkhai - again viable I think & there visa is an outrageous 1500bt for most nationalities although the beer laos or carlsbergs or bin xxx reds may be worth it

 

so staying on track what seem the best border run these days I guess flights to vientiene, penang, kl, hk, sg, rangoon the usual favorites with their usual pro/cons, but overland options now mainly for non bkk residents such as cambodia for pattaya/koh chang/rayong dudes or laos for north isan lovers or burma for chain rai, phuket etc long stayers?

 

BTW got a for me new stamp next to entry stamp saying 'WALK' maybe a specific mae sai (burma) thing or visa run passport carriers prevention thingy???

[bust]

or for burma case 500bt & they'll even retain the passport although allowing 14days in limited zone but fuck all to do there I guess!

 

That's news to me. I thought the set-up at Mai Sai was the same as Mae Sot....as in day trip only out by 5.00 pm

 

Can do the same thing in Mae Sot (in and out in a minute) although I always take te time to wander through the markets as I find them fascinating.

 

Usually a friendly soccer match going on at the park at the end of the market place.

[Mekong]

so staying on track what seem the best border run these days I guess flights to vientiene, penang, kl, hk, sg, rangoon the usual favorites with their usual pro/cons, but overland options now mainly for non bkk residents such as cambodia for pattaya/koh chang/rayong dudes or laos for north isan lovers or burma for chain rai, phuket etc long stayers?

 

 

Aranyapathet-Poipet Border run round trip can be made in less than 6 hours from BKK including getting Cambodian visa at Aranyapathet, using ones own car, I did the trip last August when I cancellled the old business visa.

 

It takes a damn site longer for Pattaya residents to go to the Hat Lek - Koh Kong Border crossing so I don't understand why you assume that overland crossing is an option for Pattaya residents and not BKK.

[robaus]

Pattaya minibus visa runs use the Pong Nam Ron/Daung crossing near Chanthaburi - a fairly quiet and hassle free border point. About 6.5 hours door to door if I recall... 1750 baht all incl at a little travel agency on Soi Bukhao near Sutas Court (100 baht cheaper than elsewhere)

 

Just a word of warning. Be very discreet if you buy any Vitamin V/Cialis etc in the Cambodian duty free shops. I heard that Thai customs are fond of shakedown scams if they search the minibus.

 

[WorldFun]

bust/robous, 14days in 'the zone' was what the 'burma visa' stated. however my main point as no one seem to consider is whether the purchase of visa & entry to neighbor country is at all needed to get a new Thai entry stamp? E.g. if by air one does not need to leave the transit area before returning to LOS airport in order to get a fresh (30day) stamp, so why buy the cambodia visa & up the border run price with 30USD just exit to 'transit' & re enter???

mekong, my mistake I guess it boils down to the good old how far / how long path we don't want to enter thus I guess I wrongly assumed Pattaya is more convenient to a border post than BKK...

 

[robaus]

>>if by air one does not need to leave the transit area before returning to LOS airport in order to get a fresh (30day) stamp, so why buy the cambodia visa & up the border run price with 30USD just exit to 'transit' & re enter???

 

... we had this same debate a few years ago re Bangkok airport.

 

How do you get from the departure lounge to arrivals immigration without breaking the law?

Even if you manage that, wouldn't your exit Thailand details 30 minutes previously show up on the arrivals immigration computer?

Wouldn't you be wasting a ticket? In the previous debate, one punter suggested feigning illness to get a re-entry and refund on your ticket.

Do you know of anyone who has actually tried any of the above?

 

I have never crossed into Burma from Thailand, but at land border crossings I have used when travelling alone at Koh Kong and Poipet, the Thai authorities have specifically asked to see an exit stamp from Cambodia. At Hak Lek/Koh Kong once Thai immigration actually tried to charge a tea money fee of an extra 100 baht because they thought I was doing a same day visa run, when I had in fact just spent 5 days in Cambodia. I think immigration are aware of the possible shortcut you outline above. Let us know if you are ever successful in attempting it.

 

I'm not trying to start an ex Pattaya visa run is quicker than ex Bangkok visa run argument. But out of curiosity and mythbusting I'd like to know exact times door to door, like for like.. minibus, private car... comparative crowds, delays and hassles at different border crossings etc.

 

I live in Pattaya because I love the place (not because of any relative visa run convenience) and wouldn't give you tuppence for Bangkok - I avoid it like the plague.

 

We've had that debate many times too.

 

[WorldFun]

yeah I was aware the exit/entry stamp debate must have been on numerous times before, but couldn't easily find it.

Anyway I guess border immigrations look for other countries stamps/dates & if not found or in the same day may start to ask questions or even deny entry!

However as an example in Poipet one is able to visit the 'border casino's' without entering Cambodia or is that perhaps only (allowed) for Thais?

so best bet is probably to allow the time/money for a comfy 'weekend trip by air' or else the usual border runs such as again poipet casino bus or other 'tours'.

as per mekong the return trip by private car is as little as 6hours from bkk including the hassles at poipet while if I ever needed an overland run I'd be sure to head back to nong khai although I would like at least 1 best 2 nights for that (to make it a comfortable isan/lao weekend trip) at least double as long trip surely not doable in 1 day

[Mekong]

Last time I made the trip was August this year on a Friday morning.

 

From my front door in Bangkok (Yannawa District) to Aranyapathet is 245 KM, I live less than 1 KM from expressway entry ramp so not stuck in BKK traffic. Head north then follow expressway onto Highway 7 (BKK-Chonburi Motorway) to Chanchoengsao. Take Hwy 314, Hwy 304 and then Hwy 359 till it joins 33 at Sa Kaew.

 

I left home just after 6 AM and was at was in the market at Aranyapathet having a coffee whilst getting my Cambodian visa sorted out by approx 8:20, admittedly when traffic and conditions allowed my speeds were above the posted speed limits :smirk:.

 

Visa took 15 minutes and exit line from Thailand was short but this may have been due to the Preah Vihear Temple dispute which was at its height at the time, I was in no mans land by 8:45. I paid a cambodian official via my visa Mr Fix-it 1,000 Baht to jump on his motocyc and take my passport to the Cambodian checkpoint at Poipet and 10 mins later I got my passport back with the requisite entry and exit stamps from Cambodia crossed the road and straight through Thai immigration.

 

Approx 9:10 I was in the car driving back to BKK and was back home at about 11:45. Okay, not a typical border run for a tourist but it is doable for an expat with own car, knows the routes, can get by in Thai and is prepared to pay a little tea money. I have never done a border run from Pattaya using private transport and the last time I did it on an organised tour was probably 1999 so I cannot make comparisions.

 

But if you care to check out Jack Golf website they advertise the BKK express trip as an 8 hour round trip and the easy trip as 9 hours, whereas Pattaya visa run is a 10 hour round trip, I have never availed to these services so I cannot confirm or deny if the times stated are correct.

[waerth]

The Jack Golf touringcar is actually quite comfortable!

[robaus]

Thanks for the details of private car visa run. 5 hours 45 minutes pretty good.

 

>>About 6.5 hours door to door if I recall [on my Pattaya>Daung minibus visa run]

... well, I recalled wrongly didn't I? More like 7.5 hours.. pickup was 7am not 8am as I previously thought.

 

I was lucky enough to be last to be picked up and first to be dropped off, which saved me time, but the run also included.. a 15 minute snack break going and a 30 minute "free meal" break returning, plus duty free shopping while the visa run staff took care of the paper work, and a 15 minute delay because one bloke hadn't paid his overstay fee.

 

You're right when you say "It takes a damn site longer for Pattaya residents to go to the Hat Lek - Koh Kong Border crossing " but the new Pattaya to the Daung crossing by a minibus visa run company is certainly on a par with if not slightly faster than the equivalent minibus 8 hour Bangkok to Poipet run.

 

But mai ben rai. We live where we want to live, and for now at least a visa run is a necessary hassle however long it takes. Why on earth the government don't come up with some creative solution that is a win win for the farang, the environment, and the goverment coffers.... TIT.