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Hi all,
I need to do a visa run, in the next few days. I have an occasion to go to Pailin, and crossing the border there would be nice since it seems like as a Canadian I will not need a visa to enter Thailand. I am currently on a single entry Tourist visa extension (and I had to pay overstay to get it).

I guy from an agency told me I might have problems at the boarder, and be force to stay in thailand for some time, etc.

Can somebody tell me if there is really problem there, etc.?

Minor details: I'll be going with a relative (Khmer) who will wait for me. All I need is one month visa, and crossing the border is really the only way at this point (I spare you the story).

thanks a lot!

jefjef wrote: ↑Mon Mar 04, 2019 5:46 pm Hi all,
I need to do a visa run, in the next few days. I have an occasion to go to Pailin, and crossing the border there would be nice since it seems like as a Canadian I will not need a visa to enter Thailand. I am currently on a single entry Tourist visa extension (and I had to pay overstay to get it).

I guy from an agency told me I might have problems at the boarder, and be force to stay in thailand for some time, etc.

Can somebody tell me if there is really problem there, etc.?

Minor details: I'll be going with a relative (Khmer) who will wait for me. All I need is one month visa, and crossing the border is really the only way at this point (I spare you the story).

thanks a lot!

You can sometimes get grief at either border post if you don't stay a while so I would not literally turn round and come back. go early ciemmback late with a bag of shoppping and should be no prblem

That's really useful, thank.
So not make it too obvious I'm there for the run, just to be safe.
I guess I can get a coffee and shop in the market there with USD, right? Maybe even Khmer money?

jefjef wrote: ↑Mon Mar 04, 2019 8:29 pm That's really useful, thank.
So not make it too obvious I'm there for the run, just to be safe.
I guess I can get a coffee and shop in the market there with USD, right? Maybe even Khmer money?

If u look poor, they can ask for 10,000 baht and a ticket out, Its. a real small border. Telling them ur just gong back to Cambodia wont work.
$$/Riel, not accepted in Thailand. I have used the Pailin border more than a few times but always with my own car to enter Thailand, very easy, nothing there.
Closest town is Pong Nam Ron

I would even bring 20000 Baht (or the equivalent in USD) with me when entering Thailand just to be safe.
Perhaps look for a hotel name in Chantaburi to put on the arrival form. You could even stay there for a night.

Pailin / Prum is likely going to be OK, but just in case.

Also, you can only enter Thailand visa-exempt twice a year via a land border.

Please let us know how it goes.

Safe travels.

no reason to got to chan, Pong Nam Ron has a few small resorts/GH's,( all under 500 baht) small market and some market food at night

Gosh, that's getting scary... I dont mind bringing money and look wealthy, but it now looks like I'd better go for the Bavet border (vietnam). Difference is I need to get a visa first (2 days + 40$) because I am Canadian. I was hoping that Pailin would make all this easier, but not..

So i guess I'll get a bus/taxi going to Han Oi and return ticket the same day. A guy at an agency told me the company would be OK dropping me at the border so I can catch the early afternoon bus back in Cambodia instead of going all the way to Han Oi. Does that looks like a sound alternative? (I am currently in PP).

I'm a bit surprised that there are not (or very little) local companies offering visa runs... I guess the need was not there until recently?

PS: Pailin, I was going with a Khmer relative who would have dropped me at the border so I can cross by foot, etc. And then wait for me or come back to pick me up and drive to town where I can catch a bus to PP. From what I am reading, this wont look good in Pailin... (I haven't been in Thailand in 3 years).

Thanks again!

You may be confusing Hanoi with Ho Chi Minh City

The route you intend to choose (Pailin) is not very popular because:

- it's a hassle to go there (Pailin border) and come back
- it might be a hassle at the border (both leaving and coming back)
- it's limited to two crossings a year
- flying to Bangkok is much more convenient (80 USD up return if you plan in advance) and not crazy expensive as it used to be

I posed this question to a Khmer friend who has a travel agency just off the riverside. If I were to do a visa run, as a UK citizen, he assured me all I would need to do is head to the VN border, enter VN on a 15 day free visa, go for a coffee, exit VN, re-enter Cambodia. I asked him if the border control people would question me and he said “no.. why would they?”

Of course as a Canadian you may not be entitled to the 15 day free visa but disregarding that fact and just looking at same day re-entries it would seem feasible. Hell, if I am bored this weekend I may even take a ride out to the border to try it...it’ll only cost me the gas there and back (multiple entry Cambodian visa + free 15 days in VN) and it’s a ride out worst case I have to crash at a g/h overnight and head back Sunday morning.