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Floridathunderstorm · 14-04-2009, 09:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by peterpan

I have not got a tourist visa before, as they are free thats what I will get one come next Monday.
Is there any supporting documents required ?
I can get 2 x 60 days, and can activate the 2nd 60 days within Thailand, do I have to pay for this ?

From someone who just went through this.

The documentation that you need for the Thai Consulate in Vientiane is:

* A completed official Visa Application Form, from the Thai Consulate in Vientiane. You have to obtain this document upon arrival at the consulate. Or, if you are able to download it on your computer. Just make sure it's from the Royal Thai Consulate in Laos and not the standard application form that is provided by the Thai Consulate or Embassy on their website. (I made the mistake of downloading the standard application and filling it in prior to arrival. Had to re-do it when I got to the consulate as they do not accept the standard form.)

* Two Passport Size Photos. (These will be glued to the application form upon arrival at the consulate. The consulate provides the glue. You have to do the gluing. I would suggest that you bring your own gluing stick, from office depot, as 500 people are sharing eveything all at once at this consulate. )

* A copy of your Passport - face page only. (this is important as they were turning away people who did not have a copy of their Passport and making them go and make a copy.)

* Your original Passport.

** Don't attach any other additional paperwork, forms, or copies of anything. Only the above is necessary and required. Additional paperwork just clutters up their processing.

Make sure that you check the Tourist Visa block on the aopplication. It will ask you for your intended stay. I put 60 days. However, I would imagine that you can put anything you want in that block. 90 days, 120 days, etc. The Consulate will give you the maximum days that are applicable with their Tourist Visa policies regardless. Maybe you will get more than 60 days depending upon your situation.

I have no idea about extending a tourist visa in-country. Some people say it can be done. The Thai Immigration office that I called, prior to going to Laos, stated that a Tourist Visa could only be extended out of country. Maybe they were talking about my 30 permission to stay stamp when I originally arrived at airport, which may not be able to be extended in-country. I understand that they don't call this type of entry stamp a Toursit Visa, per se, but a Permission to Stay stamp.

As far as going across the Friendship Bridge in Nong Khai, between Thailand and Laos, you only need a filled in Departure Card, for the Thai Immigration and a filled in Arrival Card, for the Laos Immigration. I had filled in a Visa application with Passport Photos, prior to arriving at the Laos Immigration Border Crossing Post. However, they just threw those back at me. All they wanted was the filled in Arrival Card , $35 US dollars or 1,500 Thai Baht, and your original Passport. It is obviously cheaper to pay them in US Dollars. Upon returning back across the border to Thailand you will only need the filled in Laos Departure Card and your original Passport. For thai Immigration you will only need your filled in Thai Arrival Card and your original Passport. By the way, there is no fee for your Thai Tourist Visa at the consulate in Laos. To encourage tourism the consulate has waived all fees for a couple of months. Maybe 3 months.

Luckily, I do not have to do this all again as I am departing back to the States May 5th. This will probably be my last trip to Thailand as I'm getting too old for all of this nonsense. If the Thai government wants to encourage foreign tourism they should figure a way to give more than 30 days at the airport upon arrival. Most people should get at least 6 months or 1 year. But, then again, their partners in crime at the borders would not be able to rip off the very tourists that they are trying to encourage. Go figure!!!!