Getting Visas to Southeast Asia in Bangkok

Despite the heavy competition from Singapore, Bangkok is the main entry gate to Southeast Asia; as such is the most natural place for arranging visas to the neighbor countries. Over time, I learned the best ways of getting those. Here are a few tips.

Cambodia

There is little doubt Cambodia offers the most comfortable visa issuing process in the area (except – of course – for those countries like Thailand that offer visa on arrival). A one month visa costs a flat twenty dollars fee; despite the visa being issued also at the entry points, I strongly recommend doing it directly at the embassy in Bangkok. On the border, the immigration office play games with the exchange system (they would accept the twenty dollars fee only in Thai baht and use an outrageous exchange rate). If searching for more justifications, then I’ll mention the fact that the embassy is on 185 Ratchadamri Road, midway between two major shopping areas of Bangkok and that if applying in the morning it returns the passport in the afternoon. This is the fastest way of getting such a visa. That means the time in between can be spent in some of the best shopping malls in the world.

Hence, the best approach is to reach directly the Cambodian Embassy. Getting there from the lottery building on Ratchadamnoen Road - the wide avenue south of Khaosan Road - is easy, take bus 511 (air conditioned) or bus 2. Leave the bus as soon as the boxy World Plaza complex appears at the right side, where the two Skytrain lines meet.

There, one of the train lines turns south to Ratchadamri Road; follow it southwards on the left side of the road for some five to ten minutes and the low building of the Cambodian Embassy will appear at the left. Another option is turning left from the junction into Ploen Chit Road, climbing into the Skytrain's Ploen Chit Station and travelling with it southwards one station.

Vietnam

Vietnam offers rather expensive visas, which discriminate between country of origin (of the traveler) and also by country of issue (of the visa).

The best strategy to get the Vietnamese visa is to start early and get it while in Bangkok. Due to the magic powers of the traveling agents in Khaosan Road, this visa is one of those which is less expensive to arrange through them than in the relevant embassy (at 83/1 Wireless Road); thus, leave them the passport and go for a couple of days to the beaches in Pattaya while it gets ready.

Other option is to issue the visa in Phnom Penh. There the situation is different: getting it through the travel agencies is more expensive than directly at the embassy; both are more expensive than the Khaosan Road agents.

Laos

Laos visa policies are unpredictable. As of the last couple of years, the visas issues by this country have risen dramatically in price, which depend on the traveler’s country of origin. Some travel agencies operating on Khaosan Road offer better prices than the embassy, because they make mass-issuing (they collect a lot of passports and go to the embassy with all of them at once).

However, I performed once the procedure through the embassy (at 502/1-3, Soi Sahakampramoon Pracha Uthit Road, Wangthonglang) and found it simple and straightforward. The only difficult was the awkward location, which is very far away from Bangkok’s center.

China

China adopted a differential set of prices for its visas, discriminating between country of origin (of the traveler) and also by the country of issue (of the visa). This results in a very complex reality.

My experience is that in Thailand, their Chiang Mai consulate is slightly cheaper than the embassy in Bangkok (at 57, Rachadapisake Road, Huay Kwang). However, both are more expensive than the visas issued in Laos; there, the consulate in Luang Prabang is less expensive than the embassy in Vientiane. Thus, if planning to travel overland from Thailand to China through Laos while entering China by its backdoor in Xishuangbanna, then delaying the visa until reaching Laos is recommended. Otherwise the differences in prices are too small to demand action; buy it from wherever to take the flight into the Middle Kingdom.

The following comment usefulness depends on the way the reader plans his trips. If much serendipity is kept there, and the path of the trip is almost random, then I do recommend issuing a short thirty or sixty day’s visa. Simply, China for first timers is unpredictable. You may be swept away by Xian or willing to get away from the awful food as fast as possible. Hence, enter, take a few looks and then decide. If you want to stay more, then a wonderful option for extending the visa exists. I do not mean entering the nearest PSB police station and applying for the extension, but exiting the country to Hong Kong or Macau. Those being special zones, work under a separate system of visas. Thus, whenever crossing from mainland China to one of them an exit stamp is applied to the passport; once on the other side there are plenty of travel agencies specializing in the issue of new visas to China – cheaper and faster than everywhere else.

Myanmar

Myanmar is a complicated country for visas, since there exist two completely different types. The embassy (at 132, Sathorn Nua Road) should be reached only for getting visas allowing the visiting of the interior parts of the country (Yangoon and Mandalay for example).

If wishing to visit one of the border towns along the Thai border while renewing the Thai visa in the process, then the process is simple: reach the border pass with your passport and crispy notes of five and ten dollars (fees change unexpectedly there). These visas are good only for the town next to the border cross and usually are good only for the same day, though sometimes they are offered for longer (up to two weeks, though the idea of staying in such villages for a whole fortnight is scary).

Singapore and Malaysia

These two countries offer visa on arrival to most travelers that have enjoyed that in Thailand. Thus bothering with the embassies is not necessary. With the clear exception of somebody like me that cannot enter Malaysia. If some Malaysian immigrations officer reads this entry and is ready to make an exception for me, I invite him to contact me. I’ll be thrilled to visit Malaysia.

Crispy, Crispy

An annoying characteristic of some immigration authorities (Cambodian and Burmese are notorious for that) is their exclusive acceptance of brand new (or nearly so) dollar notes. Folded, marked or otherwise slightly damaged notes would not be accepted. It is recommended also to pay with the exact amount; big denomination notes are not easily accepted. Paying with Thai baht is not a good alternative since the exchange rate applied by the immigration authorities are simply outrageous.

From journal Encounters in Bangkok