Sorina Galea🌐 Google Review

3 years ago

★★☆☆☆

“For anyone considering doing a visa run to Penang, Malaysia I am giving a detailed overview of my recent experience with Easy Way Visa in Koh Samui. Pros and cons - to apply for a 60-day Thai visa you have to book a group minibus trip to The Royal Thai Consulate in Georgetown, Malaysia. The minibus departs from Koh Samui every Tuesday - price 11000-12500baht (consular fees included) - the trip to Georgetown lasts 3 full days (3 nights). The minibus leaves Koh Samui on Tuesday 6am, arriving back on Friday 8am - expect a lot of sitting, short toilet & snack breaks, pack a travel pillow and a hooded jacket to wear in the minibus as the a/c ventilation can be too much - our driver spoke little to no English, he was unable to answer any of our questions and gave very little guidance in Sadao border checkpoint. Just follow him and you'll be fine. - expect a 30min-1hour line at the Thai departure passport check in Sadao. If you overstay your visa the fine is 500baht/day - Thai officers are civilized and respectful, they DON'T threaten with imprisonment or deny your right to re-enter the country, unlike some of the fearmongering statements spreading misinformation online. - after crossing the border to Malaysia we were taken over by a Malaysian minibus, heading straight to Georgetown - we reached Georgetown on Tuesday 7pm and were invited in the office of the Malaysian visa agency for a final document check. They asked for many additional proofs and unnecessary changes in our papers (that had no backup in the official Thai Visa Application Procedures) in exchange for some money - so better make sure you know the legal requirements by heart and don't be afraid to say NO to their intimidating demands! - we spent 2 nights at the 2-star Grand Inn hotel (clean, cosy, good wifi, rather noisy, awful breakfast) right in the midst of Georgetown's busy area. The best part is you can visit many tourist attractions by foot for one full day on Wednesday. - we were accompanied to the Royal Thai Consulate at 7am on Wedsneday morning and had to wait in line until office hours start. Visa application hours are short 9:30-11:00 and many people travel here from around Asia for visa, so make sure you arrive early to the Consulate to submit your passport and visa registration documents. - visa processing time is 24h and upon receiving our passports back on Thursday we departed towards the Thai border. - expect a 30min line at the Thai arrival passport check in Sadao. The officers might ask detailed questions about your destination in Thailand or the length of your stay to check your tourist status. - we arrived at Donsak pier at 8pm too late to catch the last ferry to Samui, so we spent the night at a nearby budget room (clean, a/c, a little moldy, no hot water). - the next morning we took the 6am ferry to Nathon. Overall recommendations: I am giving this service 2* because they showed very little care for our safety or wellbeing during the trip: the drivers were speeding beyond speed limit, no proper lunch breaks, we were kept in the dark about the next step of the journey, the language barrier was a real problem, the Indian visa agency in Malaysia made use of offensive manipulation tactics to get more money from us. Completely unacceptable!!! Final note! If you're short on time or cannot afford a 3-day trip, you can opt for 1-day VOA trip from Koh Samui scheduled every Monday - price 3500-3800baht”