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Why does nobody talk about the $5 notebook trick that saved my visa run in Chiang Mai?
Last week I was sitting at a cafe in Chiang Mai and overheard a guy telling his friend he got turned away at the Myanmar border because he couldn't show proof of onward travel. I had a similar scare 3 months ago when I showed up at the Thai immigration office with just my phone and no printed documents. Now I carry a tiny $5 notebook where I write down every address, booking number, and phone number for the next 2 weeks of travel. When the officer asked where I was staying after Chiang Mai, I flipped to the page and pointed, no scrolling, no dead battery, no stress. It also helped when my phone died in a tuk tuk and I needed the guesthouse wifi password. Does anyone else keep a paper backup like this, or am I the only one still scared of getting stuck at a border?
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ryanh777d ago
A paper notebook saving a visa run is the most Chiang Mai thing I've read all week, right up there with people claiming mango sticky rice fixes jet lag. Phones die, wifi lies, and border guards do not care about your cloud backup, so yeah, the notebook is doing more work than most travel apps. Mine lives in my day bag next to a pen that barely works, which is still better than a dead screen at passport control.
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