Thai Visa Info needed

Factual Questions
1

Hi,

My stupid, but lovely, sister and her boyfriend are going travelling between March 16-June 16th around South East Asia. She announced today that she hasn’t even looked at if she needs a visa for anywhere or not.

Uh-Oh I thought.

She is flying in and out of Bangkok, and after the first month in Thailand they are going to Laos, Cambodia and possibly Vietnam.

They both live in the UK so am I right in thinking they can enter all the countries as tourists without needing to apply for any visas before they leave?

My sister is worried about going in and out of Thailand in particular.

Any advice is much appreciated :slight_smile:

P.S
I’m kind of looking straight at Siam Sam when i ask this, but instead of just pming him I’d thought i’d ask everyone!

2

Assuming they are UK citizens: Foreign & Commonwealth Office: Travel advice by country (specifically, look at the Entry Requirements for each country)

According to that site:
Thailand needs no visa.
Laos’s requirements change too often; contact an embassy.
Cambodia and Vietnam will both require visas.

3

To expand on this, Laos currently requires visas for UK citizens, but such visas are issued on arrival if arriving by air or overland from Thailand over the Friendship Bridge (the border crossing closest to the Lao capital Vientiane). Your sister could apply for a Lao visa in advance, but personally I would not bother unless I was planning to cross into Laos at some small border crossing. The main purpose of these visas is really to allow the Lao government to collect some foreign currency from incoming tourists, so your sister is not going to have any problem getting a visa on arrival - as long as she can hand over the cash for the visa, the Lao immigration officials will happily glue the visa into her passport and let her into the country.

Cambodia also requires visas for UK citizens, but again, visas are mainly an excuse to collect some foreign currency and are consequently easy to obtain on arrival.

Vietnam is the only country you mention for which I would recommend that she applies for a visa in advance, at a Vietnamese embassy or consulate. Vietnam supposedly operates an electronic visa scheme which in theory should allow your sister to obtain the visa online in advance; but I have heard mixed reviews of the reliability of this system, so I would recommend that she simply obtains a visa in advance at a Vietnamese embassy or consulate (in the UK, Thailand, Laos, or Cambodia). She should allow for 3-4 days to get the visa, unless she is willing to pay extra for express service.

For Thailand, UK citizens do not need visas for stays of 30 days or less. The visa-free stay can be extended by 10 days at immigration posts inside Thailand. Alternatively, she could simply leave Thailand before the end of the 30 visa-free days, spend a little bit of time in Laos or Cambodia or Vietnam, and return to Thailand again at which point she will get either another 30 days of visa-free stay (if arriving by air) or another 15 days of visa-free stay (if arriving and by land). The Thai immigration officials won’t mind granting her additional visa-free periods of stay unless she does this over and over again for 90 days, at which point they would require her to get a proper visa. A final possibility is for your sister to simply overstay her visa-free period. She is not supposed to do that, and she would have to pay a fine; but again, the Thai immigration officials won’t really mind (as long as she smiles and pays the fine without arguing). I know people who routinely overstay their Thai visa-free periods simply because they cannot be bothered to apply for visas or extensions.

So, to summarize, your sister won’t have any problems provided that she is a UK citizen, but tell her to get the Vietnamese visa in advance.

4

Not much to add to the good advice already here. UK and EU passports have a pretty easy time in Southeast Asia, but yes, I would get the Vietnamese via ahead of time. The Vietnamese Embassy in Bangkok is easily accessible, on Wireless Road, close to a couple of Skytrain stations over on Ploenchit Road.

Thailand does require a visa, it’s just that you don’t have to get it ahead of time; they have what is called “visa on arrival.” And I believe you can get a longer visa for Thailand if you get it ahead of time than if you just show up. There has been talk of eliminating visa fees for the next couple of months or so in a bid to entice tourists back into Thailand after last year’s debacle with the airport closures. That would save about 1000 baht (US$28), although truth be told if saving just 28 bucks is what it takes to persuade people to visit Thailand, I’m not sure they’d have enough money to live on, cheap as it is here.

The visa situation in Laos is good right now. And tomorrow (Thursday), there will even be a new train service between Thailand and Laos, the first one ever, from our Nong Khai in the Northeast to Thanaleng Station outside of Vientiane, the Lao capital, a short hop. I would be careful about traveling overland between Vientiane and Luang Prabang, as there have been some bus attacks. We’ve only ever flown into Luang Prabang. The Lao Embassy in Bangkok is rather difficult to get to, so check ahead of time about visas, but I believe visa on arrival is the norm right now. In fact, there are lots of agencies in Nong Khai that will handle the visa for a fee.

The Cambodian Embassy used to be in a great spot in central Bangkok but recently moved out by the Lao Embassy. Should not be a problem with visa on arrival for Cambodia, though.

Malaysia and Singapore are both too easy; don’t even think about getting a visa ahead of time. Malaysia MAY be a problem if there’s any evidence of travel to Israel, but I think they’ve chilled out; they used not to let Israeli citizens in, but I believe that’s changed.

EDIT: You mentioned a month in Thailand. I’m on an annual non-immigrant visa myself, so I’m not always up on the tourist visas, but I believe the standard now is 30 days when flying in to Thailand but only 15 days if coming in overland. I would call the local embassy just to ask. Extending a tourist visa in-country costs 1900 baht ($53), so it’s worth knowing ahead of time exactly how long the visa will be good for. But I’m sure it’s at least 30 days.

5

My Lonely Planet guide lists a Thai Embassy in London and consulates in Birmingham, Cardiff and Liverpool.

The telephone number of the embassy in London is listed as 020-7589-2944. Their website is here. And sure enough, here’s a notice there that says: “All foreigners who apply for Tourist Visa at the Royal Thai Embassy and the Royal Thai Consulates, including eligible foreigners who apply for Visa on Arrival at designated checkpoints, will be exempted from Tourist Visa fee from 5 March to 4 June 2009.”

6

That is all really helpful thank you, I will pass it onto her. I went to Thailand and Laos in 2005 but couldn’t remember what I did about visas.

Thank you again :slight_smile:

7

I did the same thing two years ago - UK passport, flew into Thailand then through Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos.

We were issued visas on arrival at the airport in Bangkok. We picked up a Vietnamese visa from the embassy in Bangkok. Cambodia and Laos we got visas on arrival pretty easily. Be careful about some of the visa lengths though - I remember the Vietnam visa we got was pretty tight, around 10-14 days, and you have to pay extra to stay longer. Laos may have been quite short as well.

8

Just a “heads up.”

I know of some people just this year that didn’t have their visa for Vietnam in order. The airline would not let them fly out of Bangkok to Vietnam. They got hung up for a day or two.

Get the Vietnam visa ahead of time.

9

I mentioned not going to Luang Prabang overland from Vientiane. But I hear going there by river from northern Thailand is a nice little trip, although we’ve not done it ourselves.

And when I say we’ve only ever flown into Luang Prabang, it was from Thailand, not a domestic flight. Under no circumstances should anyone fly Lao Airlines, which does all of the domestic flights. Many, if not most, if not all, Western countries issue strong advisories against flying them domestically. There is a high chance of death. I recall one horrific incident 8-1/2 years ago when a domestic Lao Airlines flight – it was still called Lao Aviation back then – made its routine crash, and the sole survivor had to walk three days through the jungle with a broken arm to find help.

They do seem to be okay for international flights, though, and we have flown Lao Airlines from northern Thailand to Luang Prabang with nary a problem. The standards have to be higher for international routes.

10

You need a Vietnamese sponsor for a visa to Vietnam. This can be a travel agency located in the country. She should talk to a travel agent and budget some time for her passport to be sent to the consulate with documentation of her sponsor for her visa.

11

I was talking to my sister yesterday and passing all of this on and she has one worry (which I don’t think she needs to worry about but…)

She is worried that she needs some kind of proof that she will only be in Thailand for 30days. Because she is going onto the other countries overland she doesn’t have any kind of proof of this as her flight ticket home is on June 16th. She is worried they won’t give her the visa because of this. I told her not to worry, they won’t ask for any kind of proof she will be leaving the country within 30days…they will just issue her the visa. Am I right in saying this?

12

Unless it’s changed in the last two years this isn’t true. We went to the Vietnamese embassy in Bangkok and were given a visa directly, they never mentioned sponsors.

About needing proof for only being in Thailand for 30 days, we didn’t have any proof that we’d only be there 30 days and it wasn’t a problem. I don’t think they even asked us.

13

For US citizens (I assume its the same for Brits):

No visa required for Thailand.

Visa required for Cambodia. Can be obtained on arrival. Can be obtained online ahead of time. Cost $25 US.

Vietnam requires a visa. It can be obtained from the VN embassy. You no longer need to send in your passport. A copy will suffice. Forms can be downloaded from the embassy website. Cost $65 US. Good for 30 days. If leaving and reentering get a double entry visa.

Laos. I don’t know.

14

Again, a visa IS required for Thailand, it’s just that you can get it on arrival. But you can also get it ahead of time, and getting it ahead of time usually affords you a slightly longer time period. There are 41 different nationalities, including most of Europe, Australia, New Zealand and the US, that the government allows in without a prearranged visa, a status they do call “visa exemption,” but this is actually the old visa on arrival and so is often mistaken as not needing a visa. But it is a 30-day visa they stamp into your passport.

I’ve not heard of this, but it does sound similar to the old proof of onward travel that many countries say they require but usually don’t check on. That is usually in the form of showing a plane ticket for outbound travel. This is not much of a problem, but now that I think of it, I have heard of some people refused entry in the past because they had no outward-bound ticket. Highly unusual, though, and seems to correspond to certain crackdowns on people coming in to work illegally. I don’t think I’ve heard of this happening for a long time now. Again, call the embassy in London and explain the situation to them; I’m sure they can put your mind at ease. They’re pretty desperate for tourists at the moment, so I don’t think anyone’s prepared to be a hard-ass right now.

15

Oh, and BTW: Your sister and her boyfriend will be here at THE hottest time of the year, so tell them to prepare for some pretty intense heat. March and April are the height of our hot season, and it really gets scorching in April. Earlier this week it already felt like April, so I think we’re in for a very hot April this year once it does come around. April routinely sees above 40 degrees Celsius ever day and not much lower at night. These last couple of days, though, the temperature’s dropped back down to merely hellish levels, but I don’t expect that respite to last. Since we’ve had no rains to speak of for several months now, it’s not going to be as green as it is at other times of the year. If they’re here until mid-June, they may see some rains, though, as the rainy season starts around that time, give or take a month.

Of course, when the rest of Thailand is miserably hot, the beaches make for a good destination.

16

Say, here’s a heads up for your sister and boyfriend, since I imagine they’ll include Cambodia as well. As I wrote in the Cambodian Overview thread:

Good news here for anyone planning to visit Angkor Wat. Greater flexibility in the 3- and 7-day tickets. You no longer have to use them on consecutive days. No change in the US$20 single-day tickets, but the $40 3-day tickets can now be used to visit on any 3 days in one week, while the $60 7-day tickets can be used to visit on any 7 days in one month. Even if you plan to visit only four or five days, it’s obviously worth it to buy the 7-day ticket pricewise. We’ve found five days about right for a visit, but many linger for a week or longer. Anything less than four days, especially if it’s your first time, feels too rushed. Some private companies will actually take you around in half a day, and that’s just crazy!

(And I would add to that: Be sure to take some extra passport photos with them for lamination into the pass. If they forget, they’ll take a photo there, but it costs extra. The Angkor Wat passes complete with personal photo make great souvenirs.)

17

Oh, and the 2009 King’s Cup Elephant Polo Tournament will be held in Chiang Saen, a little town on the Mekong River up in the northern province of Chiang Rai. March 23-30.

I wouldn’t miss that if I were them. Sadly, my recent shoulder problems has sidelined me from playing again. :frowning:

18

You might buy a fully refundable ticket out of Thailand within the 30 days. If you get a visa in advance it can allow 60 days, but be sure to get 2 entries. Also, you will need a passport picture for the visa-on-arrival in Laos. Have several handy… they are always useful.

19

You’ll need a photo for just about any visa. It’s always good to keep several with you. Just about any film-developing shop in Thailand will take them for you. Four for 100 baht (US$2.75) is the standard price.

20

Thank you Siam Sam, and everyone, for your really helpful advice. I have given my sister and her boyfriend the link to this thread so they can read it themselves.

When I told my sister about some of the things you guys have said her responses have ranged from (in a typical teenage fashion) ‘‘oooooo’’ to ‘‘yesssssssss, yessss, yaaaayyy’’…so thank you!

My sister has travelled around Thailand and Laos before on her own when she was 16, but she doesn’t seem to remember much from then!