This is the first time I’ve had to do this and was a little daunting at first.

In UK the Thai Consulate issue a one entry, a two entry and three entry tourist visa for travel to Thailand. In another article I posted about how to calculate your dates correctly for a single “stay”, basically for 30 day visa use http://www.timeanddate.com/date/dateadded.html but don’t forget that your first day is your arrival day (not the next day!), so use timeanddate.com to add 29 days.

So what about a more complicated example, for instance two entry tourist visa with 30 day extensions at immigration (1900 baht gets you an extra 30 days for visit to local immigration office – total 6 months, well “180” days.

2-aug-2013 – (arrive Thailand) First entry – 60 day visa (add 59 days)

30-Sep-2013 – 30 day extension (add 29 days)

29-Oct2013 – Second entry – 60 day visa (add 59 days) (BORDER RUN Cambodia)

27-Dec-2013 – 30 day extension (add 29 days)

25-Jan-2014 (Now you have to leave !)

So for each “stay” don’t forget to subtract one day. In this example a total of 176 days can be used in timeanddate.com to give you a leave-on date.

It’s worth noting that the immigration office may be closed on a date you wish to get an extension (Opening hours in Jomtien are Mon-Fri). According to this post on thaivisa.com http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/510105-tourist-visa-extension-saturday/ there’s no penalty if your date falls on a holiday as long as you go to immigration the next available working day. However it also goes on the say it’s better to go to the immigration office in advance and they will start the extension from the expiry of the current “stay”. From what I know about overstaying I’m inclined to agree.

Another option – The same trip could be done with a three entry visa, which would mean you’d have to do two border runs to cambodia.

Cost wise there isn’t much in it, for six month stay :

Two entry –

Cost at Consulate in UK £50+£10 return fee+£10 to send them your passport = £70

Two Extensions – 1900 THB @ 46/£ = £83

One Border Run Cambodia 2000 THB @46/£ = £44

Total = £197

Three entry –

Cost at Consulate in UK £75+£10 return fee+£10 to send them your passport = £95

Two Border Runs Cambodia 2000 THB @46/£ = £88

Total = £183

So slightly cheaper with the triple entry by £14, which I think I will do and spend my savings on first class border run (2500 THB), they have less people on the bus and the service is better, or so I’ve heard (and no I don’t work for them !)

As far as I could find looking online the Cambodian/Thai border doesn’t close for public holidays (http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/319076-border-run-cambo/) but this post is quite old. There was very little information elsewhere. So my assumption is that it’s possible to do a Cambodian border run 365 days of the year.

In conclusion, for each leg of your “stay” don’t forget to subtract one day when using the timanddate.com calculator. It’s slightly cheaper to get a three entry visa and do two border runs, but that’s two days “wasted” in a mini-bus. The advantage of the two entry visa is a single border run, but it’s slightly more expensive and time spent at immigration will depend on how busy they are on the day.

Happy travels …

Charisma