VISA RUN Pailin/Ban Pakard or Ban Laem/Daun Lem which is the better/cheaper option?

[kitenomad]

Hi,

I've done Ban Laem but they overcharge quite a bit nowadays (1700 - 2000 Baht).

Anyone did Pailin/Ban Pakard border run recently?

This border is just 22.5 km South of Ban Laem.

 

Tony

[scubascuba3]

From where?

[Tayaout]

Myanmar is cheaper and faster if in Bangkok. 

[kitenomad]

7 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

From where?

I am currently residing in Pattaya, hence the Cambo option.

[kitenomad]

2 minutes ago, Tayaout said:

Myanmar is cheaper and faster if in Bangkok. 

I am not. I know Kanchanaburi is 950 Baht.

[scubascuba3]

I am currently residing in Pattaya, hence the Cambo option.

Ban Pakard has been fine for me. Prices vary from 2300 to 2900, basically the same trip but with different food thrown in

[kitenomad]

Just now, scubascuba3 said:

6 minutes ago, kitenomad said:

I am currently residing in Pattaya, hence the Cambo option.

Ban Pakard has been fine for me. Prices vary from 2300 to 2900, basically the same trip but with different food thrown in

I wasn't clear, I do the trip myself, I have a car.

[scubascuba3]

Cryptic thread this one. I think the visa cost is US$30 plus I've heard them trying to charge 100 baht for arrival card

[kitenomad]

3 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

Cryptic thread this one. I think the visa cost is US$30 plus I've heard them trying to charge 100 baht for arrival card

There is nothing cryptic about this thread. I've been there many times at the Ban Laem border. It was 1400 baht before but last year I was charged around 1800 Baht. The visa cost + service + the in/out fine (the rule is u have to stay at least one night). Buddy of mine was charged 2000 Baht. For your information it isn't possible to "go get the visa yourself"

 

[kitenomad]

27 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

33 minutes ago, kitenomad said:

I am currently residing in Pattaya, hence the Cambo option.

Ban Pakard has been fine for me. Prices vary from 2300 to 2900, basically the same trip but with different food thrown in

This was a trip to Ban Pakard with a visa run company? I was under the impression that they all went to Ban Laem. Are you sure it was Ban pakard?

[kurtcap]

Drove to Ban Pakkard myself 2 days ago to get a visa exemption, 1700 baht, sat on my ass at thailand side for 20mins waiting then left, easy and cheap

[thecyclist]

From Pattaya, Ban Pakkard is a little closer, and faster as it isn't as crowded as Laem. I have never paid more than 30 $ there, although never done the same day turnaround. They usually ask for 35$,but are not very persistent, especially if you can point to a couple of old Cambodian visas in your passport and say they were all 30.

[ericthai]

On 9/17/2019 at 3:06 AM, kitenomad said:

 For your information it isn't possible to "go get the visa yourself"

 

Sure you can!

 

When I used to do visa runs I always got a Visa for Cambodia from the Embassy in BKK, I used a travel agent which they would pick up my passport get the visa and return my passport with the visa. Then when I did a visa run i didn't have to deal with the guys at the border cheating you on a visa price. 

[kitenomad]

On 9/18/2019 at 8:38 PM, ericthai said:

Sure you can!

 

When I used to do visa runs I always got a Visa for Cambodia from the Embassy in BKK, I used a travel agent which they would pick up my passport get the visa and return my passport with the visa. Then when I did a visa run i didn't have to deal with the guys at the border cheating you on a visa price. 

Stay in context please, I was talking about, doing the visa "yourself" at the border. 

[kitenomad]

On 9/18/2019 at 3:45 PM, kurtcap said:

Drove to Ban Pakkard myself 2 days ago to get a visa exemption, 1700 baht, sat on my ass at thailand side for 20mins waiting then left, easy and cheap

Yes, I've done the same. I never been to Ban Pakkard before so I was just wondering if it was cheaper there (Compared to Ban Laem). But on both crossings they have a "visa service" that charges more than the original price of the visa. I had my visa in 10 min, new road is very good too. 

[kitenomad]

On 9/18/2019 at 5:11 PM, thecyclist said:

From Pattaya, Ban Pakkard is a little closer, and faster as it isn't as crowded as Laem. I have never paid more than 30 $ there, although never done the same day turnaround. They usually ask for 35$,but are not very persistent, especially if you can point to a couple of old Cambodian visas in your passport and say they were all 30.

I had to pay 1700 with the "special visa service" 

[scubascuba3]

I had to pay 1700 with the "special visa service" 

so not a big saving over the border run bus i get which is 2300 including lunch

[jobsworth]

A Cambodia visa can cost anything from $20 to $40 depending on how you do it. Online is best 'cos it doesn't use any space in your passport. Or you can buy a Cambodia visa at the border.

The Pailin/Ban Pakard Thai Khmer border can be reached by public transport. Take a bus to Chantaburi. Then just keep saying Pailin Cambodia and you will be directed to another big bus which runs north. You will be put off by the roadside from where a song thaew will take you to the border.

Edited September 21, 2019 by jobsworth
spelling

[kitenomad]

1 hour ago, jobsworth said:

A Cambodia visa can cost anything from $20 to $40 depending on how you do it. Online is best 'cos it doesn't use any space in your passport. Or you can buy a Cambodia visa at the border.

The Pailin/Ban Pakard Thai Khmer border can be reached by public transport. Take a bus to Chantaburi. Then just keep saying Pailin Cambodia and you will be directed to another big bus which runs north. You will be put off by the roadside from where a song thaew will take you to the border.

I have my own car. The price was 1700 baht with the "special visa service". Online visa is NOT accepted at this border crossing. 

[kitenomad]

2 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

3 hours ago, kitenomad said:

I had to pay 1700 with the "special visa service" 

so not a big saving over the border run bus i get which is 2300 including lunch

It's actually more expensive when u drive yourself (fuel around 1000 Baht). However, driving yourself beats sitting in minibus. Those days are long gone for me. 

[thecyclist]

What exactly do you mean by 'special visa service'.? 

[ericthai]

7 hours ago, kitenomad said:

Stay in context please, I was talking about, doing the visa "yourself" at the border. 

You never said at the border!

[BritTim]

7 hours ago, thecyclist said:

What exactly do you mean by 'special visa service'.? 

It has been over two years since I did a border bounce at Ban Pakard. As I recall, at the time I did it, these were the possibilities:

• Get an all inclusive 1,700 baht deal which involved the Cambodian visa, in and out stamps (same day return) and no need to actually cross over to the Cambodian side. I am guessing that this is the "special visa service" referred to, and those offering it can be quite convincing that you cannot do it any other way.
• Ignore the touts on the Thai side, and cross over to get the Cambodian visa and stamp in/out yourself. The official visa on arrival window will accept US$30 in clean, undamaged notes after briefly requesting more. For same day return, you may well need to fork over an additional 200 baht or so (to get the Cambodian officials to waive a law mandating overnight stay) though I was able to avoid this.
• Using a visa run company that does everything for you (again, no need to cross into Cambodia) I believe the company pays about 1,400 baht all in. The rest, after transport and any provided snacks is the company's profit. It is a legitimate option, as the best public transport options to Ban Pakard are not well publicised. Also, as usual at borders, there are scams to catch out the inexperienced.

[thecyclist]

3 hours ago, BritTim said:

It has been over two years since I did a border bounce at Ban Pakard. As I recall, at the time I did it, these were the possibilities:

• Get an all inclusive 1,700 baht deal which involved the Cambodian visa, in and out stamps (same day return) and no need to actually cross over to the Cambodian side. I am guessing that this is the "special visa service" referred to, and those offering it can be quite convincing that you cannot do it any other way.
• Ignore the touts on the Thai side, and cross over to get the Cambodian visa and stamp in/out yourself. The official visa on arrival window will accept US$30 in clean, undamaged notes after briefly requesting more. For same day return, you may well need to fork over an additional 200 baht or so (to get the Cambodian officials to waive a law mandating overnight stay) though I was able to avoid this.
• Using a visa run company that does everything for you (again, no need to cross into Cambodia) I believe the company pays about 1,400 baht all in. The rest, after transport and any provided snacks is the company's profit. It is a legitimate option, as the best public transport options to Ban Pakard are not well publicised. Also, as usual at borders, there are scams to catch out the inexperienced.

Okay, that's what it means. Although I have done Ban Pakkard at least a dozen times, I have never noticed any 'touts' (special visa service as it is referred to in this thread) at this particular crossing (plenty of them in Poipet). That might be because I always cross by bicycle, and the touts know from experience that cyclists in general don't fall for any border scams, or simply because Ban Pakkard, being a rather quiet border, doesn't attract scamsters. 

Not so sure this law mandating overnight stay really exists:Probably something Cambodian border officials 'invented' as another 'source of income' for this aggressively corrupt bunch (Hadlek/Koh Kong being ten times worse than Pailin in this respect) 

[law ling]

The one time I did that crossing on my own: public transport was difficult and time consuming (not the OP's concern) and a lot of corrupt extra charges on the Cambo side (which should concern the OP). Well done that some report being able to resist the Cambo-side corruption - but I'm timid by nature and buckled under the pressure of being barked at by uniformed Cambo IO officers. Used the mini-van services after that.

[thecyclist]

4 minutes ago, law ling said:

The one time I did that crossing on my own: public transport was difficult and time consuming (not the OP's concern) and a lot of corrupt extra charges on the Cambo side (which should concern the OP). Well done that some report being able to resist the Cambo-side corruption - but I'm timid by nature and buckled under the pressure of being barked at by uniformed Cambo IO officers. Used the mini-van services after that.

Yes, the older IO at the VOA office on the Cambodian side, who has been there for years, is extremely rude, loves to bark orders at you, probably a barang/farang hater, but he is not very persistent in his demands for 'extra charges' :never waited longer than 5 minutes, but loves to throw your passport back at you to express his displeasure at not being allowed to rip you off. 

[kitenomad]

5 hours ago, thecyclist said:

Okay, that's what it means. Although I have done Ban Pakkard at least a dozen times, I have never noticed any 'touts' (special visa service as it is referred to in this thread) at this particular crossing (plenty of them in Poipet). That might be because I always cross by bicycle, and the touts know from experience that cyclists in general don't fall for any border scams, or simply because Ban Pakkard, being a rather quiet border, doesn't attract scamsters. 

Not so sure this law mandating overnight stay really exists:Probably something Cambodian border officials 'invented' as another 'source of income' for this aggressively corrupt bunch (Hadlek/Koh Kong being ten times worse than Pailin in this respect) 

I did ignore the touts one time many moons ago (8 years or so) like I did back in the days at Klong Yai border (or any other border). However, the Cambo immigration refused to help me and pointed at the tout who followed me. This was at Ban Laem. That's why I posted the question. 

[kitenomad]

2 minutes ago, thecyclist said:

Yes, the older IO at the VOA office on the Cambodian side, who has been there for years, is extremely rude, loves to bark orders at you, probably a barang/farang hater, but he is not very persistent in his demands for 'extra charges' :never waited longer than 5 minutes, but loves to throw your passport back at you to express his displeasure at not being allowed to rip you off. 

55555, my experience was they completely ignored me and pointed at the tout who followed me. The overnight stay seems to be mandatory so I rather pay the few extra Baht then not being allowed back to Thailand (for the night). I think there was some report on TV of someone who had to stay for the night.

[kitenomad]

14 hours ago, ericthai said:

You never said at the border!

I did but you cherry pick my quote.

 

My original answer was:

There is nothing cryptic about this thread. I've been there many times at the Ban Laem border. It was 1400 baht before but last year I was charged around 1800 Baht. The visa cost + service + the in/out fine (the rule is u have to stay at least one night). Buddy of mine was charged 2000 Baht. For your information it isn't possible to "go get the visa yourself"

 

Context!

 

However, getting the visa before hand is a very good tactic, Eric! Kudos!

 

 

[phuketrichard]

On 9/18/2019 at 8:38 PM, ericthai said:

Sure you can!

 

When I used to do visa runs I always got a Visa for Cambodia from the Embassy in BKK, I used a travel agent which they would pick up my passport get the visa and return my passport with the visa. Then when I did a visa run i didn't have to deal with the guys at the border cheating you on a visa price. 

and what did you pay the agent to  do all this??
I've never paid at any Thai/Cambodian border more than the asking price ($20 years ago and now $30)

But usually use Koh Kong or Osmach

Edited September 22, 2019 by phuketrichard