thinking of going to Thailand, Singapore and Burma next summer

CorkMan

I have the most difficultly in the visa process for Thailand. Do I have to apply in advance? I read on wikitravel that most EU countries can enter on arrival, but I am not sure if Ireland is in this list.

If you think I will have problems with the other two, please inform me.

Chris P. Bacon

You get a 30 day visa on arrival in Thailand so no need to book in advance,unless your staying longer than the 30 days then you will need to

CorkMan

Is there a minimum requirement, like showing 20,000 baht?

Chris P. Bacon

Nope,when you get there immigration will stamp the 30 day visa in your passport thats it no need to show or declare anything

shazkea

CorkMan wrote: »

I have the most difficultly in the visa process for Thailand. Do I have to apply in advance? I read on wikitravel that most EU countries can enter on arrival, but I am not sure if Ireland is in this list.

If you think I will have problems with the other two, please inform me.

Singapore is fine too - just fill out a landing card and get the waiver/visa at the desks. Don't loose the white visa card they give you to keep as you need on it exiting the country. You could have alot of hassle otherwise!
As previous posters have said Thailand is straight-forward too. Unfort I don't know about Burma as I haven't been.

killbillvol2

The situation with Myanmar (Burma) changes regularly so keep an eye on it. The simplest thing is to get the visa in Bangkok. It's about $30 for 30 days. At the moment you have to enter and leave the same way, e.g., Bangkok-Yangon-Bangkok. You can't go into Yangon and exit north into China, for example, which is a bit of a pain. But that might change - they're even thinking of having an ould election for the crack!

As previous posters said, Thailand and Singapore issue stamps at the point of entry, both 30 days. Assuming you leave Thailand for Burma and return to Thailand you'll get a new 30 day stamp.

CorkMan

Is Thailand OK during the moonson season? I intent to travel up to Chiang Mai, Nong Khai, etc. Basically a lot of the country.

Todd Gack

You won't need a visa for Thailand (if 30 days and under and arriving by air - it's only 15 by land) or Singapore (30 days), Myanmar was visa on arrival for $30 for 28 days but as mentioned already is changeable so keep an eye on any official sources.

cooker3

Question, what be optimal?
I think I will likely be staying greater than 30 days but the 60 day tourist visa is €40 which seems somewhat costly. Would it be better to just go for 30 day visa and opt for renewal or just bite the bullet and get the big visa?

Chris P. Bacon

Todd Gack wrote: »

You won't need a visa for Thailand (if 30 days and under and arriving by air - it's only 15 by land) or Singapore (30 days), Myanmar was visa on arrival for $30 for 28 days but as mentioned already is changeable so keep an eye on any official sources.

Im sorry but your wrong its not 15 days if arriving by land,its 30 days no matter if you arrive by land,sea,or air.

cooker3 wrote: »

Question, what be optimal?
I think I will likely be staying greater than 30 days but the 60 day tourist visa is €40 which seems somewhat costly. Would it be better to just go for 30 day visa and opt for renewal or just bite the bullet and get the big visa?

You could do a visa run while on your first 30 day visa thats just crossing the border into Laos and getting your visa stamped for another 30 days,but tourist fees are free now until next march,if you got that price off the Thai consulate in Dublin then there website hasn't been updated in a long while,have a look at this one all the info is there http://www.thaiembassyuk.org.uk/newversion/visa/visa_main.html

Todd Gack

Richie Cranium wrote: »

Im sorry but your wrong its not 15 days if arriving by land,its 30 days no matter if you arrive by land,sea,or air.

No, that's you, I'm right, it's 15 days if arriving by land, it was 30. http://www.mfa.go.th/internet/document/ChartVisa.pdf.

It's also in bold on the link you provided in the tourist visa exemption section.

Richie Cranium wrote: »

You get a 30 day visa on arrival in Thailand so no need to book in advance,unless your staying longer than the 30 days then you will need to

Also this isn't a visa, just an entry stamp, you can obtain a visa for stays of longer than 30 days.

Chris P. Bacon

Todd Gack wrote: »

No, that's you, I'm right, it's 15 days if arriving by land, it was 30. http://www.mfa.go.th/internet/document/ChartVisa.pdf.

It's also in bold on the link you provided in the tourist visa exemption section.

I stand corrected.



Also this isn't a visa, just an entry stamp, you can obtain a visa for stays of longer than 30 days.

It is a visa because it gives you an entry date and an exit date,its not just an entry stamp,all a visa is anyway is a stamp.

killbillvol2

Richie Cranium wrote: »

It is a visa because it gives you an entry date and an exit date,its not just an entry stamp,all a visa is anyway is a stamp.

It's not a visa. Irish passport holders don't require a visa to enter Thailand "for tourism purposes". Stop talking through your arse.

Chris P. Bacon

killbillvol2 wrote: »

It's not a visa. Irish passport holders don't require a visa to enter Thailand "for tourism purposes". Stop talking through your arse.

Excuse me but im not talking through my arse,if you look at the stamp in the passport which i just have done,you will see that it says "visaclass W30",so that sounds like a visa to me.

killbillvol2

Richie Cranium wrote: »

Excuse me but im not talking through my arse,if you look at the stamp in the passport which i just have done,you will see that it says "visaclass W30",so that sounds like a visa to me.

"According to the Interior Ministerial Announcements dated 1 October B.E. 2545 (2002), 20 December B.E. 2545 (2002), 18 October B.E. 2547 (2004) and 6 May B.E. 2548 (2005), passport holders from 41 countries and 1 special administrative region - Hong Kong SAR - are not required to obtain a visa when entering Thailand for tourism purposes and will be permitted to stay in the Kingdom for a period of not exceeding 30 days on each visit."

From your own link

I've looked at a a number of stamps on my passport and I can't read the Thai handwriting on any of them. Congratulations on reading Thai.

Chris P. Bacon

killbillvol2 wrote: »

"According to the Interior Ministerial Announcements dated 1 October B.E. 2545 (2002), 20 December B.E. 2545 (2002), 18 October B.E. 2547 (2004) and 6 May B.E. 2548 (2005), passport holders from 41 countries and 1 special administrative region - Hong Kong SAR - are not required to obtain a visa when entering Thailand for tourism purposes and will be permitted to stay in the Kingdom for a period of not exceeding 30 days on each visit."

From your own link

I've looked at a a number of stamps on my passport and I can't read the Thai handwriting on any of them. Congratulations on reading Thai.

No need to congratulate me on reading Thai,its actually in English,and its even stamped in red on a number of mine.

geecee

Its not a visa - it is "permission to stay"
And as other posters have said you only get 15 days at a land border
(this was brought in to stop criminals and lay abouts from remaining in thai land ad finitum

A visa is fundamentally a document (affixed into the passport) issued to a foreigner by the Thai government allowing said foreigner to travel to the Kingdom and normally be granted permission to stay for a prescribed period. Visas can only be obtained outside of the Kingdom from a Royal Thai Embassy/Consulate (usually). A visa has a validity period which denotes the period within which the visa may be used to apply for entry. The validity period is NOT the length of time you will be permitted to stay in the Kingdom using said visa.

A ‘permission to stay’ stamp is entered into your passport upon arrival into the Kingdom. Whatever visa you hold, you will always receive this stamp. It will include the date of entry and date when you MUST leave the Kingdom or make alternative arrangements. The ‘length of stay’ will be dependent on what type of visa one holds.

losthorizon

I wonder should you actually go to Burma? As far as I know many villages have been razed to the ground to make way for tourists. The villagers arent even compensated. They have a terrible military dictatorship there.

killbillvol2

losthorizon wrote: »

I wonder should you actually go to Burma? As far as I know many villages have been razed to the ground to make way for tourists. The villagers arent even compensated. They have a terrible military dictatorship there.

That's the 64,000 dollar question.

Many Burmese people I've met say you should go as it's good for the local people to interact with foreigners. They stress that you should use privete hotels/guesthouses rather than the govt ones and also avoid using the official transport. Thyis ensures that the majority of money you spend there goes into local hands.

Others will say they'd prefer if foreigners boycotted the country completely to put pressure on the junta. Their big issue though is with "package tourists" whose every move is choreographed and almost all of whose money goes directly to the government as they stay in govt hotels, use the govt travel agency etc. (There was an article in the Irish Times recently where the correspondent basically sailed down the Irawaddy in a cruise ship gawking at the peasants). They have less of an issue with independent travellers.

At the end of the day, it's up to each individual. The Lonely Planet has a good list of why and why not and their forums are a good place to get current info.

Board-in-work

'Visa' on arrival is valid for 30 days if you fly into Thailand. You can do a visa run (do a side trip somewhere cheaply). if your'e doing a visa run, it's an idea to take some passport photos with you to Thailand - they come in handy.

To get your visa on arrival all you have to do is fill out a landing card that the hosty hands out on the plane. The only confusing thing i've seen here is that it asks you which hotel you're staying in. I've seen this hold up the queue, with lots of tourists being asked where they are staying. Just have any hotel in Thailand in mind and write it down. On my last trip over - most of my queue ended up 'staying' in the same hotel as me. odd that.

CorkMan

I heard the average monthly wage in Burma is 32 euros. Does this mean the stay would be extremely cheap? Like €50 for staying a week there?

magentas

€50 should be fine for the week. I don't know the ins and outs of burma wasn't there for long but it's more complicated than other S.E.Asian countries.
You will have NO PROBLEMS with Thailand. If it is a thing you will be there for more than 30 consecutive days cross border into Cambodia or Laos if you're up north and get it re-newed.
When are you heading off?
Chiang Mai is one of my favourite cities and Pai is just beautiful.

Yag reuoY

I'm wondering if anyone could help me clarify the following Thai visa situation:

I have booked a 6 month return ticket from London to Bangkok. I plan on spending no more than 30 days in total in Thailand-- my intention is to travel around Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos.

My question: will I need a visa due to my ticket being 6 months and therefore exceeding the 30 day limit, or is it not necessary as long as I exit Thailand within 30 days?

I've heard of airlines turning away passangers without Visa arrangements, so I want to make sure I don't fall down this potential pitfall.

I really would appreciate it if someone could clear this up for me. :pac:

magentas

Yag reuoY wrote: »

I'm wondering if anyone could help me clarify the following Thai visa situation:

I have booked a 6 month return ticket from London to Bangkok. I plan on spending no more than 30 days in total in Thailand-- my intention is to travel around Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos.

My question: will I need a visa due to my ticket being 6 months and therefore exceeding the 30 day limit, or is it not necessary as long as I exit Thailand within 30 days?

I've heard of airlines turning away passangers without Visa arrangements, so I want to make sure I don't fall down this potential pitfall.

I really would appreciate it if someone could clear this up for me. :pac:

No you don't need to worry. I had same travel plan spent one month in thailand then went to cambodia, vietnam and laos back into thailand. then burma and back to thailand again.
Each time you enter a country you will have your passport stamped with a new visa allowing you to stay for minimum 30days
Likewise when you exit a country that visa expires but is easily renewed by re-entering.
The countries you are visiting will be hassle-free on an Irish passport.