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Running For Your Life

For long-stay visitors the 'visa run' is an essential trip. And can be really quite painless.

For many people living and working on Samui there are various issues that play a major part of island life. And remaining legally in the Kingdom is probably the most important one.

As one of the many foreigners staying here for any period of time, it’s likely that at some stage, due to the restrictive immigration laws, you’ll have to visit a neighbouring country in order to have your passport stamped. Your status, nationality and the type of visa you have will decide how often you need to leave the country. For example, on a tourist visa you’re required to leave the country every 30 days up to a maximum of three times. But with a one year Non-Immigrant B visa you only have to leave every 90 days and then re-apply for a new visa every year. It’s acceptable to visit a border and get your passport stamped for these 30 and 90 day extensions. But for a visa application you have to visit a Thai Embassy or Consulate in another country; Penang is one of the closest consulates that issues visas for Thailand.

This doesn’t apply to everyone; it all depends on your visa type and your personal circumstances. But for many residents, even those that have work permits, houses and businesses, trips to the border and visa applications are necessary.

Some people make the most of the required trip and spend a long weekend visiting bordering countries, such as: Malaysia, Myanmar or Laos. Some even manage to tie their visa extension with a business trip or a longer holiday somewhere further away.

But, for a large number of people, the trip to the border and back is an unavoidable inconvenience. Most just want to get it over with as quickly as possible with the minimum of fuss and intrusion into their chosen lifestyle.

When you live here, or are having an extended vacation, you accept and comply with the Thai law to ensure that your stay is a legal one. But long drives to the border can be time-consuming, tiring and can interfere with commitments on the island. Fortunately, there is help in the form of JSR Travel. This is a company that takes care of all the stresses: the planning and organisation; the driving; and the overall completion of the border or visa run for you. So, not only do you avoid the associated wear and tear on you and your vehicle, but you’ll also be pleased to know that the service will get you to the border and back to Samui on the same day; allowing you to get back to your everyday life as quickly as possible.

The people behind the company are Julie Howard and Khun Prasong Tancharun (better known by his nickname, Song). Julie came to Samui two years ago and started operating Julie’s Visa Run, working as the sister company to the Phuket Executive Visa Company. This was a successful venture offering the day trip in an air-conditioned coach with a toilet and a separate smoking compartment. The concept was a good one. However expensive and regular mechanical issues forced Julie to use minibuses on days when the coach was out of action. The result of this was that the trip could actually be completed far quicker; even allowing for a couple of toilet and refreshment stops during the journey.

Most people preferred the shorter journey time, so Julie and Song decided to set up their own company and continue operating the service using minibuses.

The way the border run works is like clockwork. You choose the day you wish to travel and arrange to be picked up from a point on the ring-road, or meet at the pier in Nathon. On arrival you’re given a ticket for the 6am ferry and are told where to meet the minibus when the ferry arrives in Donsak.

The minibus has 14 comfortable seats. However, if there are over 10 people, JSR provides two buses so that everyone has ample space for the journey.

Once on the minibus, the fully-licensed drivers will professionally share the driving and take you to the border crossing at Wang Prachan in the Satun province. Being located in the stunning Ban Thale National Park you can enjoy great views as you near the Malaysian border, although as time is of the essence don’t expect photo opportunities or too long for dwelling on the scenery.

Having been operating this route for a long time, JSR has made friends and contacts at the border which can sometimes help to speed up the process. It’s all very simple. You are stamped out of Thailand before you walk over the border to Malaysia where you’re stamped in. A short walk around the building brings you to the office where you’re stamped out of Malaysia and back across to Thailand. You receive the relevant stamp in your passport then it’s back on the minibus and away you go.

From start to finish the whole trip is run like a military operation. This is necessary to make sure that the return ferry is reached in time. In fact, the service has become so smoothly run that it’s quite common to catch the 4pm ferry from Donsak and arrive back on Samui in a total journey time of less than 12 hours.

JSR operates this particular border run three times a week: on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays, and the very reasonable price of Bt1,600 includes pick-up, ferry tickets, the minibus journey, refreshments, and drop-off at a point on the ring-road.

There are other options too. Changes to the visa requirements have resulted in some people having to make more regular visits to Penang for visa applications. To accommodate this JSR can operate a visa run to that destination which leaves on a Monday and returns three days later on the Wednesday.

By providing these fast, affordable and competent solutions to your visa and extension needs JSR helps you to remain here legally and maximise your time and enjoyment on the island.