October 16th, 2006, 13:03
Had a very tricky 30 minutes or so today whilst on my Nong Khai - Laos Friendship Bridge visa run !
Just to put you guys in the picture i always have used the services of a very friendly tour operator/travel agent to run me over the bridge & back to Nong khai whilst on laos visa runs!
It's just been convenience of it really, as they fill all the forms in and on many occasions have skipped past horrendous queue's etc.
so for the additional 300 baht or so it cost me i felt it was great value for money.
Anyway I turned up at their office this morning and was greeted exactly as i have been each time i have presented myself there over the past 3 years or so!
I Handed over my passport along with passport photograph & the fee.
One of the girls filled out the paperwork as they usually do & i just signed them, we set off for the 1 kilometre journey to the immigration checkpoint in one of their company vehicles.
From the moment i arrived at their office to arriving at the immigration checkpoint on the Thai Side of the border nothing at all was said to me that would have led me to believe that today was going to be any different in anyway shape or form from the countless other times i have done exactly the same visa run.
we arrived at the Immigration checkpoint (Thai Side) no more than 5 minutes after leaving the office & Although there was a strong military presence in evidence it seemed to be business as usuall, certainly with respect to folk leaving the kingdom!
Whilst travelling over the bridge my courier handed me my passport along with some $$$$$$
WTF i thought as this was the first time this had happened! They usually deal with all the stages visa run & i just followed like a lamb in thr past!
I asked her what she was doing handing me everything, And politelypointed out i had already paid her company for her services to handle all this for me?
I was me with a swift & sharp CANNOT! nothing more nothing less, again i thought WTF! But decided just to keep cool and deal with the rest of the usually painless visa run myself!
Arrived over the bridge at the Laos immigration checkpoint & was directed towards a window. where i was handed a couple of forms i needed to fillout!
One of which was identical to one i had already signed after being filled out for me in the couriers office in Nong Khai!
So me being the LAZY ASS i am! I filled out one of them & switched the other for the identical one i had prepared earlier!
I handed both forms along with my fistful of dollers & sat down waiting for my visa into Laos to be processed!
After maybe 5 minutes i was beckoned back to the window and was quizzed on whether i had come alone or was using the services of an agent!
(He had oviously seen the X's on the form that was filled out for me & i had only signed)
I said i was alone & was not using an agent!
At this point i knew i had a problem, but didn't yet realise just how severe it could have become!
After maybe another 10 minutes had passed i was approached by another immigration officer & was then escorted to a small office within the main building.
I was confronted by two male & one female immigration officers, one of the men shouted at me "YOU USE AGENT" to which again i totally denied.
They pointed at the X's on the form that was pre filled out for me, and again said "YOU USE AGENT FOR VISA"
Again i totally denied it.
Another couple of minutes passed whilst they chatted amongst themselves, then the female officer approached me & explained they were refusing me a visa into Laos as they believed i was using a the services of a visa agent/courier!
My heart just sank at that statement, as it seemed i was now caught in a terrible situation everyone hopes they will not find themselves in! NO MANS LAND!
I cannot get into laos as they are refusing me a visa!
I cannot go back to Thailand, as although i have officially left, i have not yet arrived in another country!
I decided to plead with whom i hoped would be the officer most willing to listen & hopefuly offer me a way out of this nghtmare! "THE FEMALE OFFICER"
I came clean with her & explained i indeed had used a service i had used for the past 3 years with no problems!
I also explained i was completely unaware that any legilation had changed regarding the use of such services on Laos Visa runs.
I also explained my thai wife & 2 year old daughter were patiently waiting for me back in nong khai, & would be totally unaware of what was happening & i had no way of contacting her.
She then left the room came back a couple of minutes later with my passport complete with Laos Visa. THANK GOD!
NEXT TIME NOT USE AGENT WAS HER PARTING WORDS TO ME!
although it had only been maybe 20/30 minutes, Words just cannot describe my relief on getting my passport back & Visa!
I genuinly had no idea anything had changed re using services such as these!
Does anybody have any further information or had the same experience of late?
up2ubar on www.thaivisa.com (http://www.thaivisa.com)
Just to put you guys in the picture i always have used the services of a very friendly tour operator/travel agent to run me over the bridge & back to Nong khai whilst on laos visa runs!
It's just been convenience of it really, as they fill all the forms in and on many occasions have skipped past horrendous queue's etc.
so for the additional 300 baht or so it cost me i felt it was great value for money.
Anyway I turned up at their office this morning and was greeted exactly as i have been each time i have presented myself there over the past 3 years or so!
I Handed over my passport along with passport photograph & the fee.
One of the girls filled out the paperwork as they usually do & i just signed them, we set off for the 1 kilometre journey to the immigration checkpoint in one of their company vehicles.
From the moment i arrived at their office to arriving at the immigration checkpoint on the Thai Side of the border nothing at all was said to me that would have led me to believe that today was going to be any different in anyway shape or form from the countless other times i have done exactly the same visa run.
we arrived at the Immigration checkpoint (Thai Side) no more than 5 minutes after leaving the office & Although there was a strong military presence in evidence it seemed to be business as usuall, certainly with respect to folk leaving the kingdom!
Whilst travelling over the bridge my courier handed me my passport along with some $$$$$$
WTF i thought as this was the first time this had happened! They usually deal with all the stages visa run & i just followed like a lamb in thr past!
I asked her what she was doing handing me everything, And politelypointed out i had already paid her company for her services to handle all this for me?
I was me with a swift & sharp CANNOT! nothing more nothing less, again i thought WTF! But decided just to keep cool and deal with the rest of the usually painless visa run myself!
Arrived over the bridge at the Laos immigration checkpoint & was directed towards a window. where i was handed a couple of forms i needed to fillout!
One of which was identical to one i had already signed after being filled out for me in the couriers office in Nong Khai!
So me being the LAZY ASS i am! I filled out one of them & switched the other for the identical one i had prepared earlier!
I handed both forms along with my fistful of dollers & sat down waiting for my visa into Laos to be processed!
After maybe 5 minutes i was beckoned back to the window and was quizzed on whether i had come alone or was using the services of an agent!
(He had oviously seen the X's on the form that was filled out for me & i had only signed)
I said i was alone & was not using an agent!
At this point i knew i had a problem, but didn't yet realise just how severe it could have become!
After maybe another 10 minutes had passed i was approached by another immigration officer & was then escorted to a small office within the main building.
I was confronted by two male & one female immigration officers, one of the men shouted at me "YOU USE AGENT" to which again i totally denied.
They pointed at the X's on the form that was pre filled out for me, and again said "YOU USE AGENT FOR VISA"
Again i totally denied it.
Another couple of minutes passed whilst they chatted amongst themselves, then the female officer approached me & explained they were refusing me a visa into Laos as they believed i was using a the services of a visa agent/courier!
My heart just sank at that statement, as it seemed i was now caught in a terrible situation everyone hopes they will not find themselves in! NO MANS LAND!
I cannot get into laos as they are refusing me a visa!
I cannot go back to Thailand, as although i have officially left, i have not yet arrived in another country!
I decided to plead with whom i hoped would be the officer most willing to listen & hopefuly offer me a way out of this nghtmare! "THE FEMALE OFFICER"
I came clean with her & explained i indeed had used a service i had used for the past 3 years with no problems!
I also explained i was completely unaware that any legilation had changed regarding the use of such services on Laos Visa runs.
I also explained my thai wife & 2 year old daughter were patiently waiting for me back in nong khai, & would be totally unaware of what was happening & i had no way of contacting her.
She then left the room came back a couple of minutes later with my passport complete with Laos Visa. THANK GOD!
NEXT TIME NOT USE AGENT WAS HER PARTING WORDS TO ME!
although it had only been maybe 20/30 minutes, Words just cannot describe my relief on getting my passport back & Visa!
I genuinly had no idea anything had changed re using services such as these!
Does anybody have any further information or had the same experience of late?
up2ubar on www.thaivisa.com (http://www.thaivisa.com)