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ResourcesVisa & Immigration LawThailand Immigration LawThai Visa Runs to Phnom Penh "In Fashion"?

Thai Visa Runs to Phnom Penh "In Fashion"?

Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing Thai Visa Runs into Cambodia. For those who are unaware, a Visa Run as opposed to what I call a Border Run is something where you go over to another country to get a Thai Visa and then return in order to maintain longer term status here in Thailand. 

I thought about making this video after reading a recent article from the Pattaya Mail, that is pattayamail.com, the article is titled: Phnom Penh updates: Visa runs and tourist news. So under the subheading: Getting a new Thai Visa, quote: "Hopping into Cambodia for a Visa Run is back in fashion. The Thai Embassy in Phnom Penh can be skipped by using a good agent, several of which are found on Riverside, the tourist district technically known as Sisowath Quay. This avoids having to make a prior appointment at the Embassy and risking failure, a far from unknown phenomenon it appears. Mr. Keo Song, director of LMN Travel and Tours, said, ‘We can obtain 60-day tourist entry to Thailand promptly and cut down on the waiting period for Non-Immigrant Visas.’ It is no secret that the Cambodian Immigration Authority actually prefers agent usage.” So whether or not Visa Agent usage is preferred over there, I have dealt with Visa Runs to Cambodia for years now. In fact, even after I became Thai I have assisted people in person in processing through, mostly in a Business Visa context, processing through the Thai Embassy in Phnom Penh. 

Long story short, yeah Phnom Penh is a pretty popular destination for Thai Visa Runs mostly due to geographic proximity and quite honestly it is one of the more reasonable Thai Embassies in the region to deal with; there are Thai Embassies and Consulates that can be less than easy to deal with. I am not saying Phnom Penh is easy but it tends to have a more straightforward attitude when dealing with these kind of cases. The thing to keep in mind is these type of runs are not a foregone conclusion. There's no real guarantee with respect to whether or not something is going to play out a certain way but yeah again and we talked about this with Thailand Pass having ended, many of the travel restrictions being lifted, it's not particularly a shock to see that so-called Visa Runs are now "back in fashion".