What should expats know before applying for a tourist visa at the Thai consulate in Phnom Penh?

most consulates are turn it in one morning pick it up the next afternoon. Only PP is squirrelly ...

There are reports that both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh now ask for some if not all of the "3-proof-ofz".

Not necessarily

@S**

,

MANY thai consulates in the area are not that hard to get a tourist visa from IF you meet the conditions they have for you to apply.

If you're up for a challenge try it (y)

You're right the agents seem to have higher success than you pushing your own paper there.

I think you're gonna hafta try to enter and see what happens. I've never seen a visa stamped like that before except at the thai consulates in india.

@R**

, They're the ONLY thai consulate that has that time frame :/

David, at most of the thai consulates, IF your application isn't gonna fly they won't even take your paperwork. They just send you on your way :/

David, which lets them issue the visa, then void it and keep the $40USD fee ;) :O

@R**

, ALL Those reports were from the southern border crossings but there were a couple from Poipet too.

The northern borders with Lao are all fine as of now

@Fr***

, Those southern border crossings are getting worse and worse.

I wonder if those people who had the tourist visas also had the proof ofs that can be requested at the border.

@Tom ****

That's not a bad agent to "push paper" for thai visas in Phnom Penh IF you're in Siem Reap, but it's a little outta the way for people who are already in PP ;)

Jeremiah, there was a report on this group a while back by someone who used the Lucky Lucky Motorcycles Shop in PP to get a visa for thailand (there're a visa agent in addition to a moto-rental company ;) ).

They got their visa back in a day (instead of three days.

I think the agents there have a much higher success rate than people who do it on their own.

That would be my advice ;)

@R**

, if you hold a TE card/visa and are in Bangkok, Chiang Mai or Phuket, they do your 90 day reporting for you too..

@R**

, I remember the article, but I'd believe Pattaya Weekly about as much as I believe the TAT as far as what's gonna happen. :O I guess we'll find out in August ;)

@Rob***

, It's NOT all that hard for someone to pull a 6 month METV from a thai consulate in their country BEFORE they wash up here. Right now that's about the longest visa type available to people under 50, not married to a thai, not legally working here or not studying here.

@R**

, I'm agreeing with you as far as all the immigration offices AND all the entry points sharing a data base NOW (y). However as recently as 2009 IF you entered by a land border your entry history was NOT put into any data base until you went to apply for an extension of stay at an immigration office, because NONE of the land borders were tied into the immigration data base..

As far as the E-Visa system alleged to be in the works ;) , I'm of the mind it will be like the mythical 10 year visa touted a while back by the TAT, yet which there hasn't been a peep about since. :O

@R**

, Surprisingly the immigration office and the thai consulate are run by completely different gov't agencies.

One is a division of the Royal Thai Police and they handing visas/extensions INSIDE the country.

The other is run by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and they sell visas OUTSIDE the country.

I also know exactly what an immigration office sees on the computer screens when you do a 90 day report, when you file for a yearly extension of stay and when you stamp into the country

Before 2006 there was NO central data base which showed entries/exits into the country anywhere except the airports (that started in 2005),

BUT

now all the entry points are tied together. Changing passports might work to get a tourist visa from a thai consulate. However, when you stamp in, even on a new passport, your entry data from the old passport comes up on the screen.

The thing is thai consulates CAN'T see your visa history because there is NO database for that.

That's why getting a new passport works when people have one filled with tourist visas.

All a consulate does is page thru your current passport looking at the stamps and visas for thailand.