What should I know about doing a visa run at Chiang Khong border for an education visa in Thailand?

Thailand Visa Rules Visa Run Education Visa Chiang Khong Border Crossing Immigration Process Visa Exempt Entry

Jun 2, 2022

2 years ago

ORIGINAL POSTER

(Feel free not to post this if it’s not helpful/important information) Yesterday, we successfully did a visa run at the Chiang Khong border crossing into Laos and back. Our education visa was about to expire, so we entered back into Thailand on a visa exempt stamp (which will give us  30 days to apply for our new visa). Immigration was very empty on both sides. It took our family three and half hours to make the whole loop. One hour was just waiting for the shuttle to take us across the bridge. It’s only running about every 30 minutes. The health checks on both sides also added time. I’m not sure what other information would be helpful to share, but I’d be glad to answer questions about our experience.

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TLDR : Answer Summary

A user shared their experience of successfully completing a visa run at the Chiang Khong border crossing into Laos, noting that they returned to Thailand on a visa exempt stamp after their education visa was about to expire. They reported minimal waiting times at immigration, aside from delays due to shuttle timings and health checks. The thread also includes comments discussing the differentiation between a 'border run' and a 'visa run', as well as advice for those seeking to obtain a new education visa.

Ellie *******

Just making a point clear for other members.

We call this type of round trip "Border bounce", to re-enter Thailand on visa-exempt or activate a new entry on a multiple entry visa.

When you say "visa run", it means a trip to another country to apply for a new visa.

A lot of differences between them.

Thank you for the report.

2 years ago

James ********

Comments closed.

2 years ago

James ********

Thank you for your report.

Glad you were able to do the border run successfully.

And hope you get the new Ed visa.

2 years ago

James ********

FYI...added background of yours from a few days ago...

,"We are about to do our first visa run, and I’m a little nervous about it. We’ve been on an education visa at a private language school for one year and would like to get another education visa to keep attending the same school. Based on my limited understanding, our options are 1)leave Thailand, come back on visa exempt, switch to an education visa at our local immigration office (which told us that they could do that) or 2) leave Thailand, re-enter with an education visa which we would hopefully get from a Thai embassy in Cambodia/Malaysia. I’m wondering if anyone has thoughts or advice regarding which option to pursue. Thanks!"

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2 years ago

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James ********

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