How to get a Thai Tourist Visa from Thai Embassy in Kuala Lumpur

First, why you need a Tourist Visa:

• If ever you suspect that you may stay in Thailand longer than 28 days, please do yourself a favour and get yourself a Tourist Visa done before hand prior to your entry to Thailand. This will save yourself the hassle of getting an extension- where most people would have to visit the border of Mae Sai (border to Myanmar) and pay 500baht  just to get another 14 days extension.  Trust, me, I’ve gone through the hassle a number of time- it is just not worth it. So, avoid the hassle- if you are going to be there even one day extra, get the visa done first. If you are a Malaysian, it is free- you just need to spend one morning session to do the visa and one afternoon session to collect.

If you are going to the Embassy via public transport, you can take the Putra LRT that stops in Ampang Park LRT station. From there, it will take about 15 to 20 minutes walk to reach the Thai Embassy. The Embassy  is located opposite Holiday Inn hotel.

Address:

206, Jalan Ampang, 50450 Kuala Lumpur.

Visa Application: 9.30am to 11.30 am (Monday – Friday)

Visa Collection (next working day): 2.30pm to 4.30pm.

Thai Passport and Legalization: 9.30am to 4.30pm.

Lunch time: 1pm to 2.30pm.

Closed on Saturdays, Sundays, Malaysian public holidays and Thailand public holidays (therefore before you go, you need to ensure that the weekday that you are going does not fall on a Thai/Malaysia public holiday as the embassy will be closed).

What to bring for Tourist Visa:

• one recent passport size photo (taken within the last 6 months- you need to look the same as the one in the photo)
• your passport (ensure if your passport is going to expire in about 6 months’ time, renew it before going to do your visa)
• it’s better to know the name, address and phone of the person/ hotel in Thailand that you are staying because when you fill up the form, the information is required

Take note that when you want to do your visa, you need to go on weekdays in the morning- from 9.30am to 11.30am. Try to go early in case the queue is long.

Don’t go in the afternoon- afternoon is only for visa collection. Sometimes those who are not aware and come to do their visa in the afternoon gets turned away.

Once you reach there, register at the guardhouse and show him the documents (photo and passport), he will let you in and give you a form. When you reach the office, fill up the form and take a number. Take note that the number machine will print 2 copies of the same number. You need to keep both numbers.

When your turn comes, go to the counter and submit your documents. The staff will go through the documents and once everything is on order, the staff will give you a slip and clip your waiting number (the one you took from the machine) and ask you to collect your visa the next working day.

You submit visa application in the morning. When you collect on the next working day, it is in the afternoon from 2.30pm to 4.30pm. You need to present the collection slip and your number when you collect it the next day. The approved visa comes in a form of a sticker that would be stuck on your passport.

Visa Validity

Malaysians and most countries can enter Thailand and stay in the Kingdom of Thailand for a total of 28 days without a visa.  When you get your visa, you need to enter within 3 months of the date the visa is issued. For example, if you did your visa was approved in 1 August, you would need to enter Thailand by 1 November or by end of October (the last date to enter will be printed on the visa). If you enter later than that, the visa would be void.

Validity of the Visa when you enter Thailand

When you enter to Thailand, instead of the usual 28 days (30 days if you enter via Survanabhumi airport), you will get an additional about 30 days- that makes it about 58 days. Example, if you enter Thailand on 31 July, the immigration officer will chop on your passport that you are admited till only 28 September. You may be surprised because you may think the visa is supposed to last for 3 months- then how come the admission is only about 60days?

Actually, you will be only allowed an extra 30days if you have the visa. If you want an extension, you need to visit an office in Bangkok (or there’s another in Chiang Mai, if I am not mistaken) to extend for another 30 days (so total you can remain in Thailand for about 3 months). For that, I’ve not done it before- usually, when it expires, I will just come back to Malaysia and the next time if I want to go and extend, I will do the visa again.