Thailand, Cambodia & Vietnam

Hey Vickers

You can find many threads answering similar questions on this forum. It will help you if you spend some time browsing them and also browsing the Asia blogs. Reading about other people's experiences doing the same journey will tell you a lot about places to stay and see. The route you are proposing is a common one that a lot of people are doing.

For visas: You may need to get a Thai visa from Ireland as it looks like you won't have a return ticket within 30 days. If you have this you can get a visa on arrival at the airport in Bangkok which will give you 30 days in the country. Without a return ticket or a visa you may have some problems being allowed on the plane in Ireland. You can get a 60 day visa from the nearest Thai consul to you.

You can get the Cambodian visa on the border or at the airport, depending on how you enter the country. You can then arrange the Vietnamese visa in Phnom Penh. The embassy there is the quickest one to get a visa from. You must have a visa before you go to Vietnam as you can't get one on the border.

As for travel between places, you can do it overland easily. Travel agents in all the tourist areas arrange onward travel. You can also fly cheaply within South East Asia. Check out Air Asia, Jetstar Asia and Tiger Airways for some idea of destinations/prices.

Hope this helps

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Thailand - easy. Get the visa on arrival. No problem.

Cambodia - I highly recommend getting your visa beforehand. Yes, you can get it at the border, but the border agents will try to charge you more for it. It's a scam that everybody is aware of, but the agents do it anyway. Happened to me. Turned out to be a funny story, but the lesson was get the e-visa beforehand.

The short story is the visa costs US $20 at the border, and e-visa is US $20 + a $5 processing charge, so $25. At the border, they'll make up all sorts of stories to try and force you to pay more. The one I got was that they only accept "Thai Baht" at the border where I was crossing. Not true. Pay the $5 extra online and avoid the hassle. If you're looking for a 'traveling story' get your visa at the border.

This is the official Cambodian E-Visa website - http://www.mfaic.gov.kh/evisa/

I used this website. It takes 3 working days or less (mine took 1 day) and should cost $25. Have to upload a passport-sized photo and actually print out the paper with the visa and digital photo on it. The receipt for payment does not work (as I sadly learned after literally sprinting back and forth across the Thai-Cambodia border).

Vietnam- you MUST get the visa beforehand. I used this site: http://www.myvietnamvisa.com

It's legit. Follow the instructions. Vietnam is funny about their visas. Organized enough that you have to get it beforehand, but disorganized at the airport. Follow the instructions, print out everything you can, and bring passport photos for them. It'll work, but be prepared to wait in a disorganized huddle at the airport to get your passport back with the visa on it.

Best recommendation - keep a humorous attitude about all the things you have to do. Smile, laugh, enjoy the ridiculousness, and whatever you do, don't get frustrated at all the hoops you have to jump through. It's part of the fun of traveling to developing (and undeveloped) countries. Be nice to everybody who helps you, because nobody likes dealing with unhappy people. This is how I was eventually able to get into Cambodia.

Hope this helps a little,
Kuno Reply to this