Just want you guys to know that I was just in Savanakhet to get another 3 month tourist visa and while there, there were three of us who were denied the tourist visas and there may have been even more people denied. We all had done them many times before without problems. I guess something changed a few days ago which caused the problem.

There may be some sort of limit now on how many you can get in a row or maybe an old rule they are now enforcing again. In any case, two of us got NON-O 3-month visas based on having paperwork with us showing we had family and kids. I was just lucky to have copies of my daughter's birth certificate and my wife and daughters' passport copies as well as the tabien baan copies. They gave me the Non-O on that. A French guy there got the same based on family connections; I guess after getting them faxed to him or somehow proving his relationship. The third guy was planning to get his Thai girlfriend to help him somehow by signing form they had. He didn't have any other paperwork with him but claimed he had a house in Ban Saray. I guess that's on the seashore somewhere.

There was another person there who already had done two tourist visas but was able to get one more without a problem. Not sure if there ever was a limit on tourist visas. I chatted with a tuk tuk driver and he said that it was also getting a bit harder for Lao people to do visas to Thailand. Not too sure about that situation. I'm guessing this all has to do with the recent problems with the Penang consolate and the European consolate visas being stoeln. Just a guess but who knows what's up.

Anyways, I just figured I'd let you know about this. You should bring a copy of a marriage certificate and any other paperwork showing family connections that might help you out, should you run into a problem. If I didn't happen to bring the extra stuff I would have had to waste another day there at least to get something faxed to me. The NON-O visa costs 2,000 baht and you get the full three months stamped on the visa at the border unlike the tourist visa which only gives you the first two months and the third month at an immigration office.

It wasn't that clear to me what they wanted exactly so if anyone has any updates on recent tourist visa requirements or news related to this post it here or a link.