My experience with Vientiane ..

[Rob4]

I thought after the help i got here I will share my experience.

So it worked like this :

 

1. We booked 2 weeks in advance   appointment

2. Arrived with 60 signed pages from school for our ED. (pretty complicated process)

3. Our line number was 174. At 8:30 there is a big line outside, opened at 9:00am (got multiple offers to buy a line#/forms/etc)

4. Go in, and sit outside, a woman will hold a paper with numbers, start with #1-100 means all first 100 can start right away

5. Finished first 100 within 30 minutes, then she show 1-200 (for the lates to still be able to get in)

6. first station she checked your line number ONLINE, and that you have a full application in hand.

7. next station a small line to give the guy in the counter your papers, he took a deep look in them, and recheck in his list your line number and name, and signed on your application your line number and his signature with a yellow mark (!)

 

Go pick up on Monday (applied on Friday), come back with your line number and same process exactly, same length. (pay only now)

 

I did see some rejections, mostly for locals who tried to speak with the officer, which was nice and sent them to bring more documents. 

 

We got what we needed, and left this boring city right from there with a taxi (200-300THB to border)

 

Conclusion - you can't really buy a slot illegally , their process is efficient and fast, they still reject people.

 

On border - they DO ASK many questions, not me, but others. They stopped a Russian guy and asked him a lot , he was worried.

 

BTW

They ask your Laos visa print, and Laos entry stamp print.

[JackThompson]

Thanks for the report.

 

4 hours ago, Rob4 said:

At 8:30 there is a big line outside, opened at 9:00am (got multiple offers to buy a line#/forms/etc)

4 hours ago, Rob4 said:

Conclusion - you can't really buy a slot illegally

We have at least one other report from someone who did buy a slot at the front for same-day use.  Sounds to me as if it is still going on, and they manage to get on the "official list."

 

4 hours ago, Rob4 said:

they still reject people.

Yes, w/o correct paperwork or, for a Tourist Visa, if you have an "remark stamp" on an old Tourist Visa in your passport.

 

4 hours ago, Rob4 said:

On border - they DO ASK many questions, not me, but others. They stopped a Russian guy and asked him a lot , he was worried.

So far, at that entry point, no reports of rejected-entry if one has a valid-visa - or if entering Visa-Exempt, (for those who qualify) not 2x land-border Visa-Exempt entries in the same calendar-year. 

 

Some countries have bilateral agreements, including Russia, so hard to tell what was going on there.  Personal history (overstays, etc) might also be factors.

Edited April 12, 2019 by JackThompson

[JackThompson]

@Rob4  One thing I noticed in your website, "... Links to all the Thai Embassies in the world. You can apply for a SETV in any of these locations"  is not correct.  This was stated earlier in the doc as well. Change it to "most" and you'd be OK.

 

In some countries it is impossible (Japan) unless you have residency there.  In others (India) it can be very difficult, due to the use of a 3rd party handling the applications.

Edited April 12, 2019 by JackThompson

[visarunner]

with the same amount of staff they were able to handle up to 600 people before, now they limit at 200. They increased their own workload and loss of revenue is up to THB400000 or around USD12500. Taking into account that millions come here on free visa on arrival (usual THB2000/head) this must be one of the biggest money burning machines currently. Amazing Thailand.

[thecyclist]

I thought that the advance online booking system was designed to do away with queuing up: From your report I gather that all it does is limit the lines to a hundred people. 

[Danthai]

Anybody report doing Multi O to visit wife and what problems their might me flying back to Bangkok?

[JackThompson]

49 minutes ago, visarunner said:

with the same amount of staff they were able to handle up to 600 people before, now they limit at 200. They increased their own workload and loss of revenue is up to THB400000 or around USD12500. Taking into account that millions come here on free visa on arrival (usual THB2000/head) this must be one of the biggest money burning machines currently. Amazing Thailand.

That was the "official" revenue.  Given the price-quotes at the gate to get w/o an appointment, the "unofficial" revenue must have skyrocketed.

[JackThompson]

3 minutes ago, Danthai said:

Anybody report doing Multi O to visit wife and what problems their might me flying back to Bangkok?

You won't get a Multi Non-O in Vientiane.  That would be Savannakhet (or HCMC, Hanoi, or Penang - close by). 

 

No reports of denials-of-entry with Non-O Multis at the Bangkok airports (yet).  They seem to be able to keep the detention-cells full with tourist-entries, for now.

 

The only known problem entry point for Non-O-MEs (so far) is Poipet/Aranyaprathet.

Edited April 13, 2019 by JackThompson

[ubonjoe]

2 minutes ago, Danthai said:

Anybody report doing Multi O to visit wife and what problems their might me flying back to Bangkok?

No problems reported when a person had a valid non-o visa to use for entry.

Where do you plan on applying for one? Vientiane does not do multiple entry visas.

[SEtonal]

2 hours ago, visarunner said:

with the same amount of staff they were able to handle up to 600 people before, now they limit at 200. They increased their own workload and loss of revenue is up to THB400000 or around USD12500. Taking into account that millions come here on free visa on arrival (usual THB2000/head) this must be one of the biggest money burning machines currently. Amazing Thailand.

 

How was their workload increased?

[edwardandtubs]

So it sounds like if you are number 150 or something when you book online, you can turn up at about 10am on the day and still be served. At what point do they refuse serving the stragglers?

[edwardandtubs]

So I booked one of the last appointments. I'm planning to show up at around 10am. Do you think I'll have any problems? 

[Rob4]

You can go at 10am because every time she change numbers, she starts from 0 (0-100, 0-140, 0-200) , to let those who late come in.

Anyway once inside the line is not strike, which means as long as your appointment is today, it doesn't really matter where you are in the line, you can just approach them and show your paper.

 

 

 

[edwardandtubs]

On 4/25/2019 at 9:36 AM, Rob4 said:

You can go at 10am because every time she change numbers, she starts from 0 (0-100, 0-140, 0-200) , to let those who late come in.

Anyway once inside the line is not strike, which means as long as your appointment is today, it doesn't really matter where you are in the line, you can just approach them and show your paper.

 

 

 

Thanks, that was just the information I needed. Maybe when they say you must arrive 30 minutes early, that means 1130 at the latest for the 0900-1200 appointments. I'm sure they don't want everyone crowding outside their building at 0830.

[edwardandtubs]

Just to confirm, no need to queue up at 0830 with the lemmings. I got there at around 11 and it all went very smoothly and I get the same queue number for tomorrow.