We can now confidently say that, at least for the moment, Ho Chi Minh City—Vietnam’s largest city—is one of the best places to apply for a Thai visa. We didn’t have to wait in long queues, and the process was even completed within a day. Here’s a step-by-step guide to getting it done:
While the Thai embassy in Vietnam is located in Hanoi, there’s a Thai consulate in Ho Chi Minh City where you can handle visa-related paperwork. This is where you need to go to complete the process. If you’re staying in District 1, you can take a taxi there for about 60,000 VND.
Here’s what you’ll need to bring:
The tourist visa fee is $40, allowing for a single entry and a stay of up to 60 days. Once the visa is issued, it is valid for three months, meaning you have nearly a month to enter Thailand from the date of issue.
The fee must be paid in US dollars, so if you don’t have any on hand, you’ll need to get some. Don’t worry — right across the street, there’s a Vietnam Airlines office where you can exchange Vietnamese dong for dollars. The lady at the consulate will let you know about it.
We went in the morning, around 11:00 a.m., and were surprised to find there was no line.
The small office—with a life-sized cardboard cutout of a Thai woman that gave us quite a scare upon entering—and the friendly young woman behind the counter were the only people there, along with the bored security guard stationed at the door.
Once we submitted all the documents and paid the fee, the staff gave us two receipts and told us to return the next afternoon to pick up the visa. It couldn’t have been easier! In Phnom Penh, the process takes a week—so this was a dream in comparison.
The next day, we returned and, as usual, the process was quick—we weren’t there for more than five minutes. We presented our fee receipts and received our passports back, complete with a shiny new 60-day Thai visa.
