Last week it was that time again to do another Thai visa run. After spending 90 wonderful days in the Kingdom, I had leave the country for an hour, only to be allowed back in without question only to repeat the process again in 3 months. Such is the hassle with visas when traveling, just a stupid rule all over the world to make money (*shakes fist at the Illuminati*), but no worries, it's not like I have a real job or anything.
Thai visa run by minibus
Since I wanted a quick in and out (that's what she said) Thai visa run, I decided to use Bangkok Buddy, for 2,500 baht they take care of your Thai visa run. They even heard you like sheep from one point to the next, making the whole process a doddle, allowing you to focus on messaging girls on Thai Friendly or play Line (famous messaging app in Asia). From Sukhumvit Soi 12 just outside Korea town, they ask you to meet up at 4:30am. You need to bring the following:
You hand everything to the nice looking lady sitting down on the chair and she fills in all the paperwork, while you wait and enjoy the 'refreshments' on offer. The minivans were pretty spacious and clean, it even had leather seats and decent aircon. It took around 4 hours to get to the border with a one pit stop. At the border my 'guide' directed me where I need to stamp out. After I crossed into Cambodia, he took my passport, give me a buffet voucher and told me to visit the casino and shoot the dice.
Poipet Casino
I had a quick look at the food at the buffet and thought to myself, not even once. I walked back out and headed to the casino. Gambling is legal in Cambodia by the way and they have a few casinos right on the border. They had blackjack, baccarat, roulette and some other crazy Asian games I've never heard of. I cashed in 1,000 baht of chips and made my way to the roulette table. As I placed my bets all I heard from other players was"durka durka durka farang farang duka durka", was kind of fun. Everyone at the table was friendly enough.
In England, the croupiers are pretty fast and you usually get about one spin every minute or so. Here it took them around 15 minutes to spin the kunt once, I am not exaggerating either. I was there for just over 30 minutes and in that time I managed to place 4 bets ( I was two tabling). Go figure.
AsI did my Thai visa run on a Sunday, the waiting time was longer than I would have liked. I entered Cambodia around 9:15am and was ushered by my 'guide' around 11am that it was time to go. As I was queuing to get let back into the Promise Land, this took around an hour waiting in line. Even though I have 3 tourist visas in my passport and a bunch of 30 day stamps, the immigration officer didn't ask any questions and let me past and gave me a cheek wink.
It took another 4 hours to get home and from start to finish it took around 12 hours. I think if I went Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday it would have taken a lot less time.
Bangkok Buddy visa service
You can do a Thai visa run yourself and it works out slightly cheaper but I think for the service and peace of mind, Bangkok Buddy is a good option. They are cheap and they do everything for you, the price also includes the fee for the Cambodian visa which is $20. The staff were friendly and nice, everything went smoothly, was legit and I have no issues with the service. Wb/10.
If I was ever to do another Thai visa run I would use these guys for sure. No problems and very professional.
