Visas for SE Asia??

oopsiedaisy

Hey Guys, heading to SE Asia for round 5 weeks the end of July and this whole visa thing has me really confused!!! Plan is flying into Bangkok, then heading up to Chiang Mai for a few days...then spending the next 3 weeks or so doing Laos/Vietnam/Cambodia before heading back to Thailand for the rest of the trip, maybe a week and a half or whatever (Yeah I know its gonna be hectic!).
As far as I know we can get visas for Laos and Cambodia on the border but Im just wondering whats the story with Thailand and Vietnam?? What sort of visas should we get and how would you go about getting them?? Id really appreciate any advice ye can give me!! Thanks!:D

wallpaper12

3 weeks for Laos Cambodia and Vietnam?? You have got to be joking, no way in hell are you going to be able to do that. In 3 weeks you can do Laos and Cambodia OR Vietnam not both.

oopsiedaisy

Sorry Wallpaper suppose I wasnt really clear...Not planning on spending time in Laos but Im assuming we'll have to get some sort of a visa to travel through en route to Vietnam?? Looking at about 2 weeks in Vietnam and around a week in Cambodia. I know its a ridiculously short time but we're starting work in sept so trying to squeeze in as much as we can!

wallpaper12

Its a pity to miss out Laos as in my opinion and a lot of other peoples it is the best country in SE Asia.
For Vietnam you have to get a visa in advance you can get them in a day from Vientiene Laos definately and I would imagine this is also the case with Bangkok and Phnom Penh. You can also get one from London before you go but its much more expensive and you are very restricted with dates. There is also a visa on arrival but this is only available if you arrive in certain airports and it doesnt seem like you are doing that.
The Thailand visa is a bit complicated but I will try and explain best I can and you can make whatever decision you feel is best. You are eligible for a free 30 day on arrival which is fine as you are leaving the country within 30 days but your flight home leaves 5 weeks later and you dont have any proof of leaving thailand within 30 days so technically you should arrange a paid 60 day visa in advance where you send your passport to thai embassy in Dublin. So you have to make the decision here, the chances of you being asked at the airport of proof of leaving the country within 30 days is very very slim but the chance is still there and also some airlines mightnt let you board if your flight home is more than 30 days and you dont have a visa. Its very complicated.
Im guessing then your crossing over by land from Cambodia at the end? You only get 15 days at land crossing but since you only have a week and a half at the end you should be fine

So you're giving about 16/17 days total to Thailand and 3 weeks to the rest?
I think you should skip Vietnam if you're sticking with that schedule.. You'll get a lot more out of Laos and Cambodia in that time than you will powering it through Vietnam while missing everything in it. Vietnam needs a minimum of 3 weeks in most people's opinions so I'd honestly skip it and come back at a later date.

Third_Echelon

I spent 3 weeks in Vietnam alone... Needs that amount of time. I was solely going there, so I just sent my passport off to the Vietnamese Embassy in London.

The friends that I was travelling with did the same thing, but An Post lost the bag with their passports in it, so they had to get new passports and do the visa on arrival option when we landed into Hanoi Airport. You had to make arrangements for this beforehand though. There are some companies that do it. Took about 15 minutes to get it upon landing. As others mentioned, not all airports/entry points do this. Hanoi had it alright. I would imagine Saigon/Ho Chi Minh would have it too...

killbillvol2

Third_Echelon wrote: »

I spent 3 weeks in Vietnam alone... Needs that amount of time. I was solely going there, so I just sent my passport off to the Vietnamese Embassy in London.

The friends that I was travelling with did the same thing, but An Post lost the bag with their passports in it, so they had to get new passports and do the visa on arrival option when we landed into Hanoi Airport. You had to make arrangements for this beforehand though. There are some companies that do it. Took about 15 minutes to get it upon landing. As others mentioned, not all airports/entry points do this. Hanoi had it alright. I would imagine Saigon/Ho Chi Minh would have it too...

And Da Nang. Those were the only three where you could do it. Haven't checked lately.

hoopla87

wallpaper12 wrote: »

The Thailand visa is a bit complicated but I will try and explain best I can and you can make whatever decision you feel is best. You are eligible for a free 30 day on arrival which is fine as you are leaving the country within 30 days but your flight home leaves 5 weeks later and you dont have any proof of leaving thailand within 30 days so technically you should arrange a paid 60 day visa in advance where you send your passport to thai embassy in Dublin. So you have to make the decision here, the chances of you being asked at the airport of proof of leaving the country within 30 days is very very slim but the chance is still there and also some airlines mightnt let you board if your flight home is more than 30 days and you dont have a visa. Its very complicated.

thank god i read this thread! im heading over to asia at the end of july - arriving in bangkok before going to the islands then continuing on to cambodia, vietnam, china, hongkong etc. im going to be travelling for over 3 months and will be flying home via bangkok! I had read somewhere that we were visa exempt as irish nationals and didnt think any more of it. crap. seems i need proof that i'm leaving thailand to go to cambodia....... and the visa's just got more complicated. woop!
While i'm on here i've been advised that its possible to get a vietnam visa in either bangkok or phnom penh while i'm there and also a chinese visa in HCMC - anyone had any relatively recent experience doing this???

killbillvol2

hoopla87 wrote: »

thank god i read this thread! im heading over to asia at the end of july - arriving in bangkok before going to the islands then continuing on to cambodia, vietnam, china, hongkong etc. im going to be travelling for over 3 months and will be flying home via bangkok! I had read somewhere that we were visa exempt as irish nationals and didnt think any more of it. crap. seems i need proof that i'm leaving thailand to go to cambodia....... and the visa's just got more complicated. woop!
While i'm on here i've been advised that its possible to get a vietnam visa in either bangkok or phnom penh while i'm there and also a chinese visa in HCMC - anyone had any relatively recent experience doing this???

Bangkok is your one stop shop for visas. You can get the Vietnam visa in a day if you need to. Chinese visa takes 4 days but can be done in 2 (for more money). Any decent travel agent will sort you out.