I’m on my way to Burma in a mini bus – bouncing up and down, as the man driving is flying down the mainland road, on his mobile phone.
I’m pretty happy living in Phuket. The weather is great and life is just that much sweeter.
Why then, did I feel the need to wake up at 5am and leave my happy home to get into a vehicle with 10 strangers and a maniac behind the wheel, to enter a country I know nothing about?
My first border run.
There’s a pretty long list of nations whose citizens don’t need visa’s to enter Thailand if they are staying for less than 30 days. South Africa is one of them, and tomorrow will be my 30th day here in Thailand. And in order to avoid being fined 500BAHT for each day I stay over my entry permit’s expiration – I needed to do a border run TODAY.
The first thing you’d think (or at least what my good friend Kat thought) when you hear the words ‘border run’ is a dry, arid landscape with terrified people hiding in the bushes and sneaking across the border. “That must be so terrifying,” is what Kat said.
But it’s just a bunch of people standing in line – I presume, to leave Thailand for about 5 minutes, and re-enter with a nice new entry permit for at least 14 days.
Depending on which border you go to.
If you go to Ranong – you will get a 14 day extension. If you go to Penang, in Malaysia, they – apparently, give you 30 days.
I’m going to Ranong.
It’s a given that the latter of which, would be more beneficial as it would give one a longer period of time before having to leave the country again, but I’m not after the 30 day entry permit. I’m after the non-immigrant B visa – which will allow me to stay in Thailand for 3 months at a time, while I look for teaching work. I also NEED to ‘B’ visa before I can get a work permit. For the ‘B’ visa – I need to go to a Thai embassy in another country and get it.
So all I need is 11 extra days before I fly into Singapore to meet up with my friend Mawa (who is representing SA in the world flowboarding cup) and go to the Thai embassy for my ‘B’ visa, which will take a few days.
I’m killing two birds with one proverbial stone.
Prices of border/visa runs vary, depending on what package you take.
You can get a 3 or 4 day deal which will include transport to the border in an air conditioned and very comfortable mini bus, accommodation and food for about 4500 BAHT – which unreservedly exceeds my budget. So I’m on the one day border run.
As far as I know, it’s meant to be a five hour drive to Ranong (but I think our driver may be establishing that we arrive well ahead of schedule), a boat ride across to the border post in Burma and then the same drill, in reverse – back to Phuket.
The price of said one day border run is 1500BAHT. Apparently it includes a breakfast along the way there and a lunch on the way back.
Well, we’re about two hours into the trip, still bouncing along, as ever – and I’m hungry! It’s time to pause this hightail for some necessary human activity – eating and peeing.
An hour later, and we still haven’t stopped. Not that there has been anywhere TO stop, but that’s not the point! Girl’s gotta eat!
Finally, we pull into a gas station about an hour and a half from Ranong. The ‘breakfast buffet’ does not cater for non-flesh eaters, so I decide, instead to load up on junk food from the 7/11. For the next few hours, at least – I’ll be occupying myself with Oreo cookies, Milo drinks and fried seaweed crisps.
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Nicky Vermeulen