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Home » Reader question » Reader question: Bicycle tour through Thailand and Laos and a visa
Reader question: Bicycle tour through Thailand and Laos and a visa
Dear readers,
Coming January 23, I will fly to Chiang Mai with a friend of mine to make a cycling tour through Northern Thailand, Northern Laos and back to Northern Thailand. The first 26 days in Thailand, then 26 days in Laos and the last 18 back in Thailand.
What about our visa?
A stamp on arrival in Chiang Mai, valid for 30 days, or apply for a visa at the embassy in The Hague? Do you have to be able to prove that you have a return ticket or not? According to the website of the embassy in Essen, yes. I can't find anything about this on the Dutch website.
Then the second problem: when we return to Thailand, do we get a stamp for 15 or 30 days? I can't find any info about that on either website!
Thanks in advance for your response.
Yours faithfully,
Peter
Upon entering Thailand you will receive an arrival stamp (no visa) with which you can stay in Thailand for 30 days. As soon as you cross the border to Laos you will receive the departure stamp, which ends your stay in Thailand. You can buy a visa at the Laos border office. That will cost you, if you have a Dutch passport, 35 US$, or the equivalent in Thai baht (earlier this year it was 1.600 tbh, three days ago it was 1.450 thb - I'm in Luang Prabang now). In any case, I got it as appropriate as possible, I got 8 US$ back on the 2.000 thb I paid with… You get a nice full-page visa sticker for your passport and an arrival stamp.
When you leave Laos you get another departure stamp, and at the Thai border for Thailand another thirty days arrival. Previously you were given 15 days on return by land, but that is now 30 days, newt as on arrival at an airport. So you're on the right track in terms of planning. And if you already have that planning so accurate, then you have already booked a return ticket, don't you think...? I've never been asked about it, but I thought that's for the airline to vouch for.
Thank you very much for your clear response!
I don't think you need a visa if you leave Thailand within 30 days. However, if you come back to Thailand by plane after visiting Laos, you can stay in Thailand again for 30 days without a visa. However, if you come by road, I think you can only stay in Thailand for 9 days without a visa.
Leo, so a namesake, responds by saying: 'If you come by road, I think you can only stay in Thailand for 9 days without a visa'. Wrong information, Leo is much better off not responding at all than communicating something 'according to him'. As the other responses show, the correct information is that you can stay in Thailand for 30 days after entering Thailand, including both the day of arrival and the day of departure. By the way, Peter, I assume that you just purchased a return ticket. So your question about this is unclear. In principle, upon arrival in Thailand, the immigration officer can ask for the return ticket at the airport, but in practice this is extremely rare. However, when departing from the Netherlands, the airline may determine that your return flight takes place later than 30 days. In some cases, this could be a formal reason not to allow you to board the flight. In fact unjustified because in Thailand you also have the option to extend your visa-free period of 30 days by 30 days, but some companies are rigid in that regard. To be absolutely sure, you should contact the company in advance by email, asking about their policies and explaining your itinerary. Since you have probably prepared this trip meticulously and already know when you will enter Laos, it may be advisable to book your first hotel stay there online, so that you can make it plausible that you will leave Thailand after 26 days. Wish you a nice holiday with lots of cycling pleasure. Watch out for dogs, in Thailand but certainly also in Laos, it's suffocating!
Since 1 January 2017 you also get a 30-day visa-free stay overland.
Do not forget to fill in such a form of arrival and departure card at the Laos border. That form is the same if you go to Thailand and get it on the plane to fill out before the plane lands. I went to Laos the day before yesterday to visit Vientiane.
It is beautiful there and the food is slightly more expensive than in Thailand. The currency is in Laos KIPS…which is about 250 kips for ฿1. So a Laos sandwich with filling costs ฿8 so 2000 kips
What I don't hear about is that there is a chance that the airline company in the Netherlands will refuse to take you because you cannot demonstrate that you are leaving Thailand within 30 days. It is always checked whether you have a valid visa if you go on a longer holiday: the airline is responsible.
There are 3 options:
Call your airline, present it, and receive an email confirmation that you can travel
To be on the safe side, get a tourist visa (valid for 60 days)
Book online a super cheap flight from Bangkok to Phnom Pen or Laos, you can usually just cancel later.