A visa run across the border!

When I applied for my visa for Thailand, I did so from outside the country and was able to secure a three months visa. However, when that visa is coming to an end, it means leaving the country to renew it, a process that is generally known as a “visa-run”.

These are quite common as there are lots of foreigners working in the tourist industry, and as such, there are pre-set tours available to assist. For my first visa-run, I paid 1100 baht (the only time I did a run like this), boarded a minibus in Khao Lak, which made a lunch stop in Takua Pa where we could have some soup, rice, chicken and curry for about 40 baht. Yeah, as we are currently away from the main tourist areas, the prices understandably drop. About two hours later, we arrived in Ranong and made our way to the Ranong immigration office where we had to fight the crowds before we managed to get a stamp in our passport, stating that we had left the country. We later boarded a small boat and travelled for about 20 minutes before we stepped off and onto a new country, Myanmar (Burma).

Here we got our passports stamped and spent a short time wandering along the local market where I purchased a few small items, amongst other a nice sarong of a better quality than what I’ve found in Thailand. Other items that I saw for sale everywhere were cigarettes, Whisky and Viagra, all very cheap.

Once we had spent some money, it was back on the boat, returning to Thailand, attended the immigration office and got our passport stamped again, giving us another month in the country. Then back on the minibus for another 3 hours before I was back in Khao Lak. All in all, I left about 7.30 and returned home at 17.30 that same afternoon. 

I’ve done a few more ‘visa runs’ during my time here but no others were done with a prearranged tour. Instead, I got together with friends, and on one occasion four of us just squished into a two seater vehicle (two of us had to ride in the rear). Once we reached Ranong, after getting our departure stamp we made our way to the pier and found someone willing to take us by long-tail boat. In the end, we paid about 250 baht for a return trip. On this occasion, we only spent about 7 minutes in the country, literally just getting across the border, getting a new stamp and then back to Thailand. 

On my first trip to Myanmar after the Tsunami, the most surprising aspect what that everything appeared intact. If I didn’t know better, I wouldn’t have thought anything had happened as there were nil signs that a Tsunami had happened. 

No matter if you organised it yourself or left with a tour, a visa run always means that you’ve got a long day ahead of you, and the worst of it, it has to be done every month! But, when you consider that I get to spend time in a country as great as Thailand, this is only a small annoyance in the grand scheme of things.