BootsnAll Travel Network



Visa run

Travel is hard at this time as it’s Chinese New Year & the new middle class there is using their new found wealth to do just like us & travel to the beach (got the last berth on the train from Bangkok that gets you near Phuket for 4 days).

Didn’t have a room reservation as figured would rely on the touts at the bus station but there were none so in talking with taxi drivers decided to head for the beach at Patong instead of staying in town as prices were high but found at the beach they were outrageous due to the Chinese New Year (same caliber of room as I had in Pattaya is 4x the money) so 2 days & I’m outta here!

Pattaya wasn’t my kind of town & the beaches were NOT nice, here in Patong they are better but still of the “cattle pen” type & typically Asian where they just throw their garbage in the water, took a walk on the beach this morning & it was pretty gross. Guess I got spoiled in Cuba & on Boracay in the Philippines!

Did take a tour today which included a boat ride to James Bond Island (where scenes from the man with the golden gun were shot in 1974) which was pretty cool.

As when entering Thailand by land Canadians (& most others) only get a 15 day visa & as my course is 4 weeks I have to make a visa run to apply for a 60 day tourist visa. From here Kula Lampur is the closest Thai Embassy. So off on the morning bus for Hat Yai which is as far as I booked today as the Chinese are making travel during the holiday difficult (but better than Vietnam where I was warned it stops).

With any luck should be in KL in a couple days then a couple days to get the visa & tour a bit then return to Koh Samui via “The Jungle Railway” with a couple days to spare before school starts Mar first



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7 responses to “Visa run”

  1. Pinamimi says:

    wild eh Dave….When i had fludan and we dealt with china – February was always a difficult time for us to try to reach our suppliers! lol…

    You’re going to love Kula lampur – my friend Anne stayed there for a month and her parents lived there for over 1yr and they just loved it 🙂
    Can’t wait to hear about your classes..and homework!!LOL
    have fun Dave!

  2. Dave says:

    Arrived in KL around 20:00 tonight with no hotel reservation as thought the bus stopped at bus station–silly me –got dropped off in the middle of a traffic island somewhere near downtown—walked to the nearest hotel which was full but the bellman took me a block to another one that had a room & he REFUSED a tip, Yep think am going to like it here LOL

  3. Radek says:

    I found a good site for hotels, its run by Priceline (meaning its legit)…and has guaranteed lowest prices :

    http://www.agoda.com

  4. Radek says:

    Dave, are you sure about the 15 day limit for Canadians??? From what I read, Canada is part of a list of 42 countries whose citizens do not need a visa for Thailand and can stay for up to 30 days without a visa. There is a list of 21 countries that require a visa on arrival limited to 15 days, but Canada is not on that list.

  5. Dave says:

    I never checked hotels before going to Phuket & have used Priceline in the past but find Boots, LP & Hostel World/International cover most destinations.

    I can guarantee that Canadians automatically get a passport stamp for 30 days upon arrival in Thailand by air (have done that twice) BUT when entering by land the stamp is only for 15 days (have one of those).

    For Canadian tourists wishing to stay more than 30 days a 90 day visa, that must be renewed at 60 days is available (was free until today Mar 4) but must be obtained outside the country. Therefore the visa run to KL for the nice shiny full page visa sticker, same as Russia, India, Mongolia & Vietnam while the full page ones for Laos & Cambodia are available at most border entry points. Work permit is a whole other ball game but apparently pretty much painless in London where I will be next Sept anyway!

  6. Radek says:

    ahhh, thats it, thanks for clearing it up, you got me scared for a while, but seeing as we are arriving by air, the 30 day limit will suit us, though the 15 day one had we arrived by land would have been problematic!

  7. Dave says:

    Fine for overstaying is 500 Baht/day about $16.00 so not the end of the world for a couple days but adds up if overstaying too long!