Doing my own visa run

[lanzalad 128]

Doing my own visa run

The other day it was puang’s friends birthday and I had already planned on doing my own visa run to Cambodia in the truck as I wanted to see how it all went and what would the costing be without using a visa company.

Puang had planned a night out with her friend jes and her boyfriend and me but I wasn’t really up to a heavy night out and I was told by many that the immigration at the border will not be open this weekend so I changed it for today as I was down to my last few days and I didn’t want any problems.

So I was happy to hear from puang the we would heading down to the beef eater in soi Diana then just a few drinks after… well a few drinks lead to a few more and we all ended up in the buffalo bar till midnight, I felt pissed and I know puang was too as when it was time to wake up this morning at 4am she just couldn’t get out of bed and wanted to sleep longer.

Well we managed to leave 30 minutes later than planned which is good for puang, I stopped at a fuel station so we could get a few things for the journey and fill up with fuel.

So after fueling up just to see how much it would cost me I took a photo of the pump.

i always remember filling up in the uk and it costing me £1.40p per litre and here in thailand its only 56p per litre..

so we was on our way by 5:30 am and it was a clear run all the way to the Cambodian border, they was some cracking views along the way so we took a few shots while we was on the move.

we got there around 8:30 am and i was the only falang there and there was just a few Thai's and Cambodians crossing with there market stuff.

so i headed to the departure window and done in 20 seconds then on to cambodain immigration 1300 baht and 1 photo and my passport, he told me 20 minutes and everything will be done and then i said we need some shopping so a guy jumps up and leads me and puang to a mini bus and takes us into cambodia to a shop that sells everything duty free same as in the airports.

i picked up 400 ciggs for 360 baht which would have cost me 1320 in thailand so i guess i saved 1000 baht just on the ciggs but the fuel cost was less than half a tank which is around 700 baht, so I'm 300 baht up when you off set the ciggs to the fuel.

So my total spend was 2360 baht, ok i didn't save any money as such but i was the driver and not the passenger and i also saved in time, i would say a good 3 hours and by 9am we was on our way back heading for Pattaya and i was back in my condo by mid day.

here's a few shots of the border

[papillon 695]

Good report. Did your girl need a passport or was her I.D. card enough?

[MM 6,562]

Thanks for giving a nice journey story and alternative to the minivan border runs.

 

I've not had to do border runs so I'm not that familiar with the border crossings...never heard of Ban Pakkad before.

 

Damn, I hate that they use a whole page in the passport.

[cbrib 354]

I remember years ago doing a border run with just me and a friend. We took off in his truck and programmed the gps for Aranya Prathet / Poi Pet border crossing. Was the fastest and most enjoyable visa run i had ever done. I don't do them anymore but if i did have to for some reason i would definitely drive myself.

[biggles 509]

Great photos again, thanks. Do Cambodian immigration give u a visa insert that takes up,a full page or just use rubber stamps?

[jacko 8,578]

Great photos again, thanks. Do Cambodian immigration give u a visa insert that takes up,a full page or just use rubber stamps?

Take a look at the picture above... it takes a whole page and gets stuck in your passport.

[lanzalad 128]

This page on the left was my combodian visa and the page on the right has two stamps for my entry and exit in and out of cambodia.

 

 

On this page you will see the exit and re-entry stamp for Thailand

 

 

so all in all its a full page visa plus two thai stamps and two cambodian stamps.

 

 

 

[tombon 111]

What is the average cost of using a visa company? Also on your re-entry into holiday how many days visa do they give you?

[lanzalad 128]

What is the average cost of using a visa company? Also on your re-entry into holiday how many days visa do they give you?

 

The cost can be done for as little as 1800 baht in and old type mini bus no food nothing then going up to 2500 baht for a good seat breakfast dinner and 9 hours on the road.

 

if you don't have any visa and its just a stamp you will get 30 day as its just changed and it use to be 15 days

[jacko 8,578]

 

The cost can be done for as little as 1800 baht in and old type mini bus no food nothing then going up to 2500 baht for a good seat breakfast dinner and 9 hours on the road.

 

if you don't have any visa and its just a stamp you will get 30 day as its just changed and it use to be 15 days

If you carry a passport from a G8 member state.

[mike_asia 1]

Nice report

[teelack 8,359]

Thanks for the report. I never stop learning from this site. I had no idea that there was a border crossing there.

[Idefix 2,275]

The cost can be done for as little as 1800 baht in and old type mini bus no food nothing then going up to 2500 baht for a good seat breakfast dinner and 9 hours on the road.

Inter-Cambo on Soi Buakhao is still at 1'800 baht, they use brand new minibus, total travel is usually 6-7 hours, and price include a food and drink at a big petrol station on the way back. :-)

 

Except if you are 3 or 4 to share a car, it's far cheaper and faster to use this kind of visa run company.

Edited April 21, 2014 by Idefix

[lanzalad 128]

Inter-Cambo on Soi Buakhao is still at 1'800 baht, they use brand new minibus, total travel is usually 6-7 hours, and price include a food and drink at a big petrol station on the way back. :-)

 

Except if you are 3 or 4 to share a car, it's far cheaper and faster to use this kind of visa run company.

 

how is it far faster ?

 

A friend of mine used that one and they pick every one up and you can be an hour sat there just collecting people and when he used them the last time it left pattaya at 9am after collecting everyone he got back to pattaya at 4;30 and he said it was the worse visa run he has ever done.

 

as far as it goes i do stop off for drinks and to pay a visit to the wc but i do feel better to be behind the wheel than some crazy thai driver... :-)

Edited April 21, 2014 by lanzalad

[Idefix 2,275]

how is it far faster ?

 

A friend of mine used that one and they pick every one up and you can be an hour sat there just collecting people ...

I used to ask to get it at their office. It made the turn of near hostels before and at about 7:00 it was their last stop at their office before "running". I usually was back at 2 PM

 

I don't make visaruns anymore (thanks) but know people who continue to use this agency. Agree that you should not take a minibus who pickup at hotels. You can easily lost 1 hour, at start and at arrival!