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What are the implications of Thai visa regulations for South African passport holders and their ability to obtain visas in Vientiane?

South African passport holder Thai visa regulations Vientiane visa application Consulate policies Visa types Non-B visa Tourist visa

Jul 20, 2018

6 years ago

ORIGINAL POSTER

ATTENTION; South African Passport Holders

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but;

IF you entered thailand on a tourist visa from the thai consulate in Pretoria and it has any thai writing on the visa itself you CANNOT go to Vientiane and get a visa. :/ 

IF you have a visa from the consulate in Pretoria and it has NO Thai writing on it OR you came into the country on a 30 day visa exempt entry stamp you're fine to go to Vientiane for a visa. It's only visas from the thai consulate in Pretoria that have thai writing on them. :( 

This is an example of what it looks like;

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TLDR : Answer Summary

South African passport holders face specific visa restrictions when entering Thailand on a tourist visa from the Thai consulate in Pretoria, particularly if their visa contains Thai writing. Those with such visas are unable to apply for a new visa in Vientiane. However, passport holders with visas lacking Thai writing or those who entered Thailand on a 30-day visa-exempt stamp can proceed to Vientiane for visa applications without issues. This situation has led to ongoing discussions and inquiries among expats regarding visa application procedures and restrictions.

Aninz *****

@Michael ******

did you find a suitable solution?

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Ewuraa *******

I have a Thai writing in my Non B visa from Nigeria too.

I guess I should get someone to explain the writing to me then

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Krishn *********

Following

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Tod *********

ORIGINAL POSTER

Well at least Karin answered my email and forwarded it to Katesuda Thongna who is a third secretary there. We'll see if I get any answers. BUT I want you all to know, I'm tryin' to get to the bottom of it. ;)

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Michael *******

Thank you 🙂!!

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Michael *******

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Antti *********

Judging from the thai writing Tod posted it's about them trying to prevent people from entering Thailand with a tourist visa and then working here illegally. Says something like "If requesting to extend/change visa, consider coming back to home country. Please check the person has sufficient funds for living when entering the country. Currently unemployed."

Coincidentally there was a South-African lady trying to sell her "services" to me a couple of weeks ago, so the fear is not completely unfounded.

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Michael *******

Hopefully I can go to immigration and get a 30 day extension without any hassles at all! Just pay the 1900 baht and get my 30 day extension to at least buy me some time

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Michael *******

wow that’s awesome! As long as I don’t lose any days that would be fantastic! Thank you for all your great help and advice!

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Tod *********

ORIGINAL POSTER

you won't have a problem doing that. Remember you don't need to wait for this 30 day stamp to run down. In bangkok you can apply for an extension when you have 45 days left on your stamp. Seeing as you only have a 30 day stamp you can go anytime and not lose any days, because they add the 30 days to your current expiration date.

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Tod *********

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Tod *********

ORIGINAL POSTER

I just emailed the contact I have for the consulate in Pretoria (Karin) that another poster mentioned in an earlier post.

Let's see if she can shed some light on it. I'll post her answer when I get it.

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Michael *******

it takes ages!

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Tod *********

ORIGINAL POSTER

@Michael ******

plus unlike most countries S/A passport holders can't easily get a new passport. Last I heard it takes like 6 months to get one.

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Michael *******

Thanks so much! So bloody frustrating

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Michael *******

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Bogdan *******

I’m pretty sure it’s a reciprocity thing: you can apply for SA visa only in your home country (or in the country where you have residency) so SA citizens can apply for Thai visa only in their home country. I think it’s fair treatment.

SA embassy in Thailand, Australia and USA refused my visa application while I was travelling around the world and instructed me to go back to my home country to apply for a visa.

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Biff *******

I don't think that is the reason. People applying for visas for the UK have to do that in their country of residence as well. UK citizens can apply for visas for Thailand pretty much anywhere.

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Tod *********

ORIGINAL POSTER

Could be something like that, I know that S/A just recently was added to the list of countries that can't use the thai consulate in Kuala Lumpur (well you can but your visa takes 4 weeks to get approved and then you go back to get it)

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Bogdan *******

don’t know, maybe it took a while for Thai consulates around the world to implement a directive. SA is the only country I know that requires you to apply for visa in your home country or the country where you reside. Similar to METV requirements.

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Tod *********

ORIGINAL POSTER

Then why did it JUST start?

I don't think it has anything to do with that. :/

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Tod *********

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Koos *****************

Any reports on South-africans being denied in Savanakhet?

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Mike ******

@Michael ******

I got a non B in Savannakhet yesterday but I was on a waiver not a visa issued in SA

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Michael *******

apparently one South African who get denied win us yesterday managed to get a visa in Savanakhet but I don’t know how true this is

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Tod *********

ORIGINAL POSTER

none yet but this is just a recent development.

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Tod *********

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Tod *********

ORIGINAL POSTER

I posted this in another group too and someone who holds a brit passport got a tourist visa from the thai consulate in Pretoria (and had writing on it too) but were able to get a Non-B in Vientiane last week.

Maybe it's just S/A passport holders with the writing on the visa, I dunno.

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Tod *********

ORIGINAL POSTER

Just saw another S/A tourist visa with writing on it. but it wasn't what was written on the example I posted :/

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Tod *********

ORIGINAL POSTER

In case you were wondering what that says on the visa

"หากประสงค์ขอต่อ / เปลี่ยนประเภทวีซ่า เรียนสนง. (น่าจะ สำนักงาน) โปรดพิจารณาให้กลับมาต่อที่ประเทศต้นทาง

คาดว่าพำนัก เม.ย. - ต้น มิ.ย. 61

โปรดตรวจสอบการมีปัจจัยยังชีพที่เพียงพอขณะเข้าประเทศ

ปัจจุบัน - ว่างงาน"

thanx

(y)

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Michael *******

My writing was very different, I got it translated by a Thai friend who said it said they should check I have enough funds to stay for 3 months (I took over 20k in cash and they still denied me)

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Mei **********

ยินดีค่ะ

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Mei **********

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Tosca ********

Why is that?

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David ************

The Thai says you teach at a school.

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Mike ******

I got this in Savannakhet yesterday and it has writing on it. No idea what it means??

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Michael *******

yeah exactly that

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Tod *********

ORIGINAL POSTER

OUCH !!! :O

You mean all of you got denied visas at the Vientiane consulate and had to come back in on 30 day visa exempt entries?

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Michael *******

I was with 5 South Africans on the boarder run to Laos. All of us were rejected

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Cody *******

Holy hell that is arbitrary

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Tosca ********

Thanks

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Tod *********

ORIGINAL POSTER

Someone at the thai consulate in Pretoria is writing that on the visas. That's the second one I've seen and I'm sure there's more.

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Amornrat **********

due to unknown reason the Thai Embassy in Pretoria has written on the visa that this visa is for tourist purpose and future visa of any type need to be obtained from home country.

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Amornrat **********

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