The Thai embassy in Vientiane is a good option when it comes to renewing your Thai visa. As I explained in my " 5 Reasons to Visit Vientiane" post , the capital of Laos is easily accessible from anywhere in Thailand. In our case, I also chose our guesthouse so that we could easily get there.
Heuan Lao GH was only 2 km from the Thai consulate , so we could easily walk there early in the morning. It was a great opportunity to soak up the morning atmosphere. We were applying for a student visa (non-immigrant ED), so we brought the documents provided by the school and various other required documents, a list of which is below:
Documents required to apply for a visa:
- Passport valid for at least 6 months + photocopy (main page + previous visas if you have any)
- A form to fill out
- 1 passport photo
- Acceptance letter from the establishment in Thailand issued by the institute, in my case a language center to learn Thai but it can also be a university or even a company receiving an intern.
- Pay 1 Baht (approximately €900), knowing that this amount is non-refundable if your visa application is refused for any reason.
It's a fairly easy and quick process if you have everything prepared in advance, which was my case. When I arrived, I took the form in question, filled it out, there was practically no queue. I stuck the photo and hop, gave everything and paid. All that's left is to come back within 48 hours (generally, except weekends and public holidays of course)
Knowing that during a first visa application you will be entitled to 90 days, this is normal, the extension giving the right to 1 year must be done in the country where you will have to pay a renewal fee of 1900 Bahts (otherwise it would be too easy to have 1 year directly…;-)
If you renew your tourist visa for Thailand, it is relatively the same process.
Here is the route to take from the Heuan Lao guesthouse hotel to the Thai consulate:
The above photo of the consulate is from Benjamin Williams' blog , used with his kind permission.
After the "I fill out the paperwork" stage, we were free to visit. The priority now was to book a bus to go to Vang Vieng, because if I'm going to come to a country and get a visa, I always say to myself why not visit a little. We'll find one for that same afternoon.
Since the journey is rather long, the earlier we arrive, the more we will see there, so ok for the afternoon bus. Which left us only a few hours to visit Vientiane. For my part, it was not very inconvenient because I would still have time when I came back from Vang Vieng (after having collected my passport) while Jitima will have to go back to work.
