Thailand...Visa on arrival

Don't laugh at me. "Visa on arrival" is a big thing for me. Imagine yourself getting off the plane and walking out of the immigration with a visa stamped in your passport. All done in a matter of minutes. No queuing in front of the consulate. No handing over the passport to the consulate and waiting anxiously for it to come back. Isn't it so convenient?

I envy Europeans when they walk into US by flashing their passports. Similarly, I envy Americans who walk into Europe. I get angry too. Everyone wants to sell their stuff in India. Our strength in billions count when everyone wants to sell. But what about free movement into their country? Well, that is not part of the deal! But, all hope is not lost. There are a few countries where Indians can get a visa on arrival. Thailand is one of them. To be frank, this was the major deciding factor. The beaches came second.

I have already passed through three airports in a span of a week. The international airport in Bangkok was the fourth and also the least impressive. For the visa on arrival, there were two lines - the normal and the express. The normal line was not even moving that I had to switch to the express line. The difference was a markup of 20% in terms of processing fees. The positive being express means express. The entire process completed within a minute.

That also make me wonder. They could raise the visa processing fees to that of the express fees, keep the express efficiency and do away with the normal line!

Tags: Travel,Thailand,Visa


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