TOTALLY OFF TOPIC:
Ban Laem "Border Bounce"
I had the chance to go with a large "visa run/border bounce" company to the Ban Laem border with Cambodia yesterday.
It's about a 4 hour car ride (much longer if it's a mini-van). The border is dead quiet other than produce, freight and local traffic (cambodianz and thaiz).
In fact we were the only three foreigners I saw during the 90 minutes we were there.
I did not need to cross the border, but the Dutch guy that needed to already had his thai pass approved before we went. No issues stamping out, getting into Cambodia, getting the visa on arrival, getting stamped in, getting stamped out and then coming back to the thai side.
On the thai side you take an ATK test (150 baht) and wait for the results before you can stamp back in AND they check your thai pass and proof of insurance.
He got stamped back in on a 30 day visa exempt without any issue. It should be noted this person was NOT here on endless covid extensions. They had previously worked here on a Non-B and then gotten ONE covid extension. They had no issues and were not questioned at the border when stamping in.
NOTE: IF you have many many covid extensions your mileage may vary.
One interesting thing, when we were driving away, the owner of the visa run company got a call from the thai immigrations who said, NO MORE out/in the same day, and that they were enforcing the old rule of you must spend a night in cambodia.
Now whether that is going to be a policy at ALL the border crossings with Cambodia/Thailand or just this one OR if it was just a fluke, no one knows and I think it's gonna take more people hitting the border for a bounce out and back to really know how they're going to do it.
This is an FYI post ONLY
I apologize that it is not thai VISA related :O :/
I didn't post it to get into a pissing match on what the policy is to get in and out of Cambodia by land.
I posted it to let people know that a border bounce is indeed possible at this time with the land borders of Cambodia
TLDR : Answer Summary
This post provides insights into the border bounce process from Thailand to Cambodia at the Ban Laem border. It describes the experience of a traveler who successfully completed a border bounce with minimal issues after receiving a Thai pass and insurance proof. The post mentions the requirement of an ATK test upon returning to Thailand and the potential new rule enforcing an overnight stay in Cambodia for future border bounces, as communicated by Thai immigration. The post serves as both a personal account and a caution regarding changes in border policies.
