zznoname

It's impossible to get the same day turn around. Didn't see it, but maybe if you can prove your luggage is waiting at the airport along with your departure ticket.

Visa applicants are packing in the place. Still only 4 people working and according to them, putting in 10 hour work days to catch up.

Last year the agents could have been called brusque, this year, that's gone. Because they are swamped, it seems they are just trying to get the job done.

Prices seem arbitrary (2,500 Baht each) to me (mostly because there not posted anywhere or on the internet). We'd paid 2,500 Baht for a one day turn around. They wanted us to come back next week. You can feel their pressure as Friday approaches.

Everyone is asking for same day, all denied. If your pick up time is 16.00 you better believe it's going to be 16.00 with the people in back frantically working to get the visas done.

When the counter window is empty, while waiting, the visa people begin to process visas there.

You can get your photos taken at 200 baht.

Ahuch

3500 Baht? My visa on arrival (as a Canadian Citizen anyways) was $19 USD plus a $45 USD stamping fee at the airport for a single entry. I think it was slightly more depending on the different types of visas, but it also saved a significant amount of hassle.

http://www.vietnamvisacorp.com/ was the agency I ended up going through and I have no hesitation to recommend them to anyone else. ^

zznoname

2.500 Baht each. Thanks for the heads up.

5khours

Do Visa on Arrival. So much easier. I also use www.vietnamvisacorp.com. They can turn it around in 30 minutes if you pay extra for a rush job. Lot of other reliable service providers as well.

zznoname

Yes and you have the paper thing in the states also. But many do not go that route and instead go the the embassy in BKK.

5khours

I know, but I can't see any reason why you would go to the Embassy.

jiejie

Well, if one is entering Vietnam overland, most nationalities need that Vietnamese visa in advance and pasted in the passport, although Bangkok is not the only Embassy option for getting it in-person.

zznoname

Hey, I'm so "old fashioned" I didn't send my USA passport in to renew, instead going to the "Chicago Office" and paying big money extra. Sure won't do that 10 years from now.

I would have done the loose leaf thingy in the states, but that's extra work. Going to the embassy is a fun BKK project. Well.. at least till they made it a two day thing.

I mean, it's the least complicated. Go somewhere, drop it off, hang around the park, eat something then pick it up. Like laundry.

You like services, cool. For the most part (used 'em once in Siem Reap 1998 for Vietnam) I don't need 'em.

But who knows? Said that once about smart phones. Ops!

5khours

Don't think there are many travelers going overland from Thailand into Vietnam. Pretty poor roads through Laos and Cambodia.

Try the VOA route. It takes maybe 3 minutes to fill in the blanks on the website and then maybe a minute to print the form when it comes back by email.

Ahuch

Sounds like he already has his Visa for this time around, but I agree. I flew on Vietjet last month and it was something like $81 with taxes BKK-SGN. Flights all sort of blend in together for me nowadays but I believe there was even a decent meal and beverage service!

zznoname

You surprise me. Just trying to help out.
"Poor roads?". The roads have never been better and the number of travelers coming to SEA have never been higher.
There are all type of people crawling around everywhere over here.
Besides, who wouldn't LOVE to travel overland from Thailand to Vietnam?

Also.. You might be mistaken about VOA, it's a process that is much more complicated than dropping off your passport at the embassy.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g2...rival.Voa.html

jiejie

Vietnam prerranged VOA is certainly fine for people flying by air and may be easier/more convenient than traditional advance-procured visa for many people.

As to your first statement above, you are not really in touch with realities are you? There are gaboodles of travelers (foreigners) doing overland routes especially from Thailand to Cambodia to Vietnam. For one thing, it's more interesting and for another, also much cheaper if one is on an extended trip to SE Asia. Roads mostly aren't bad and between PP and HCMC, quite good. Just because this is not your style of travel (as evidenced from your other FT posts), doesn't mean that it's not a common scenario.

whackyjacky

I haven't done the other routes in years, but the roads on the coastal route Trat - Koh Kong - Sihanoukville - Kampot - Kep - Ha Tien (though recently improved Shv-Kep) still suck. The problem is that it takes forever from the Thai border to Sihanoukville. Just an all day uncomfortable ride on buses, minibuses, & taxis. Unfathomable delays at border crossings & negotiating with thieving officials just adds to the charm. I live in Shv and have a great friend on Koh Chang ! I bus up to PNH, fly to BKK, taxi to Victory Monument, minibus to KC & believe it or not, this is way easier ! It looks so d*mn close on the map though ! If you go to the embassy in BKK, make sure the dates on your visa are correct. They've run scams in the past. They're closed like 1 & 1/2 or 2 hrs for lunch too.

5khours

I'm sure they have never been better. The problem is that they still aren't very good.

I would if it wasn't so long and uncomfortable.

Done it 8 times in the last year (both HAN and SGN) and never a hitch or a glitch.

The problem is the Thai border to PP, and road travel is one of my styles of travel. I've done tens of thousands of miles in rural SE Asia. Just after hearing the stories of road travel in Cambodia from others (including my wife and daughter), this one's not for me. But.... that wasn't the subject of my post.... it was the number of people traveling overland from BKK to VN of which I asserted there were relatively few. There are probably 1500 to 2000 plane seats a day mostly full from BKK>SGN. Be curious to see how many FT readers on this board have done BKK>SGN by road. Ever wonder what the F in FT stands for.

IAN-UK

I don't like wading into opinion driven discussions, but based on my experience of the VOA system, it's absolute simplicity to use and costs upwards of only $10 more than the visa fee: takes up ten minutes of your time to set up, and you get to keep your passport!

Even those who can't follow the (very simple) instructions given by visa faciltators seem to be helped out by the agents at SGN.

The major complaint seems to come from those who don't like their names appearing on a list with others. Lord knows why, they're going to have those details collected many times by individuals when they're in-country.



As for overland, I think think the time factor lies heavy on most decisions. I've done BKK REP by land, and PNH SGN by bus. But not on the same trip: I think you'd welcome a rest between sectors. The latter one is by far the easiest, but I believe you need a visa in your passport for that frontier. If I were in Bangkok and wanted to get to Saigon, I'd fly.