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Question about SE Asia; what do I need?

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  • 23-04-2014 9:28pm
    #1
    80s Child
    Registered Users Posts: 1,059 ✭✭✭


    Heading to SE Asia (Thailand, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia) on the 10th of July for 6 weeks, I'm just wondering what visas, shots etc we will need before we go and what timeframe we need to get them in.
    Thanks in advance!


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    #2
    Graham_B18C
    Registered Users Posts: 8,620 ✭✭✭Graham_B18C


    Pop to your tropical medical place and they'll tell you what's needed for the places you're going to. I had to get a few tetanus shots, Typhoid and something else. We didn't bother with the rabies shot though. We got our shots over about a month or so. They last 12 iirc so maybe pop in someone soon to get the ball rolling.

    The only place you'll have to organise a visa in advance for is Vietnam. If you're in Bangkok for a few days you can sort it out there. Pop to the Vietnam embassy early and it'll be ready the following afternoon. It cost us 2500 baht for a 30 day visa to be ready in 24 hours. It costs 2000 if you can wait 4 days. There's travel places that'll do it for you but it obviously costs more, doing it yourself is very painless. Visa for Cambodia is $25 at the border and I think Laos is $30. Have a few passport photos handy as you may need them at some borders.


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    #3
    80s Child
    Registered Users Posts: 1,059 ✭✭✭80s Child


    Graham_B18C wrote: »
    Pop to your tropical medical place and they'll tell you what's needed for the places you're going to. I had to get a few tetanus shots, Typhoid and something else. We didn't bother with the rabies shot though. We got our shots over about a month or so. They last 12 iirc so maybe pop in someone soon to get the ball rolling.

    The only place you'll have to organise a visa in advance for is Vietnam. If you're in Bangkok for a few days you can sort it out there. Pop to the Vietnam embassy early and it'll be ready the following afternoon. It cost us 2500 baht for a 30 day visa to be ready in 24 hours. It costs 2000 if you can wait 4 days. There's travel places that'll do it for you but it obviously costs more, doing it yourself is very painless. Visa for Cambodia is $25 at the border and I think Laos is $30. Have a few passport photos handy as you may need them at some borders.

    Cheers Graham, that's perfect!!


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    #4
    Graham_B18C
    Registered Users Posts: 8,620 ✭✭✭Graham_B18C


    No worries :)

    Forgot to add, the price for some of the shots is pretty steep. From what I can remember it cost us about 250 quid each all in. Oh and our doctor tried to sell us these malaria tablets that were 3.50...EACH!!! We opted for the ones that were 40c each! I forget the name of the ones we got but I've been warned by some family members to avoid Larium, my uncle took them while in India and was in bed for a few days because of them, hallucinating and everything. He's convinced malaria wouldn't have been as bad!!! :D


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    #5
    Gatica
    Registered Users Posts: 3,299 ✭✭✭Gatica


    We got a pre-authorisation form for Vietnam online at
    www.starvietnamvisa.com
    . Takes about 5 working days max to get it or you can opt for faster processing, but you'd need to fly in and know what date you'll be entering as you can only enter on the date of the visa or later and leave within a month of the visa date.
    I didn't think Cambodia did visa on arrival, maybe the rules have changed. We got an e-visa online, supported by only a limited number of entry points.
    In Laos it was visa on arrival and Thailand has a visa exemption for Europeans.

    There's a load of vaccines you can get for SE Asia, but you don't always need all of them. TMB doctor assesses your risk factors depending on your route, length of stay and planned activities. We found them very good and cheaper than GPs.Plan to start your course of vaccines at least 6 months before travel if possible, as depending on what vaccines you get, some require a spread out course of injections.
    We opted for rabies shots as there is minimal chance of getting timely treatment if you happen to potentially get it anywhere remote, and there are a load of strays in most of SE Asia.


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    #6
    Gatica
    Registered Users Posts: 3,299 ✭✭✭Gatica


    80s Child wrote: »
    Heading to SE Asia (Thailand, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia) on the 10th of July for 6 weeks

    Sorry, just noticed you're already travelling in July. I think you can get accelerated course for some injections, but you're not 100% immunised. Just visit a clinic ASAP.
    Have a great time!


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    #7
    Graham_B18C
    Registered Users Posts: 8,620 ✭✭✭Graham_B18C


    Tis the same if you get the Vietnam visa in Thailand or Laos, you have to choose the date you want it to start. Was ok for us as we had flights booked for that day.

    Europeans aint exempt for Thai visas though, you're given a free 30 day visa when you fly in and a 15 day one if you arrive by land. We had to pay 1900 baht each to extend our Thai visa for 7 days because of this. That much nearly would have paid for the flight back to Thailand rather than a miserable 20 odd hour bus!!! :D


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