It was now mid-November and I was back in Bangkok, with the important task of obtaining a new visa for China. I would be starting to head back to Belgium in early December, and crossing China was going to be a crucial part of that journey, which would be impossible without a new visa. And so I did some research to figure out how exactly to get a Chinese visa in Bangkok as a foreigner.
Procedure
The Chinese visa application in Thailand was a bit different from when I did it in Belgium. Back then, I could use an invitation letter from my Belgian friend in Beijing, which meant that I didn’t have to account for any of my transportation or overnight stays within the country, except for the ones involving the border crossings. This time around, as Beijing was not part of my route on the way back, I couldn’t use the invitation letter and so the Chinese consulate would need proof of every single overnight stay and every single train ride I would take.
So there I sat in my hostel in Bangkok, making all my hostel and train reservations, planning everything out for the 11 days that I would spend in China in order to get closer to Europe. I went to a nearby copy center to have it all printed out for me and walked back into my hostel with a bunch of paperwork. I’ll admit: it’s not exactly what you’d like to be doing while travelling but on the other side it also felt exciting because it was part of such a big challenge for me.
An early version of my notes in which I was trying to figure out my route into China
When I had everything ready, I headed over to the Chinese consulate and handed in my application. I was a bit scared because of one weak part in my application: I could not book ahead my bus ride that would take me across the Laotian border into China. They accepted my papers though, and told me that I had to wait four days before I could come and – hopefully – pick up my visa. Waiting was no problem at this point for me. My travel boyfriend was on his way from Vietnam to Bangkok.
Killing the waiting time on Koh Samed
Those days waiting for my Chinese visa were actually some of the happiest days of my entire trip. I reunited with my travel boyfriend in Bangkok and the very same day, we met up with my uncle who happened to be in Bangkok at the same time. This is the very same uncle whom I met up with in Moscow when I was three days into my trip, I kid you not. This guy travels the world for his job but also privately and our paths crossed twice! This time, it was even more special since I brought some special company. We had amazing food at a great restaurant and it turned out to be an absolutely memorable evening which I cherish to this day.
But we still had four days of waiting in total before I could pick up my Chinese visa and travel onwards through Thailand, and we were not greatly excited to be spending them all in Bangkok. Suddenly I had a brilliant idea: 4 hours away from Bangkok is an island named Koh Samed where mostly expats like to go to, in order to get away from the hustle of the big city. We did just that and spent some amazing time lazying at the beach and discovering the island on a motorbike. Living that Southeast Asian travel life to the fullest, really.
The beach on Koh Samed
Meeting one of the locals on Koh Samed 😉
Pick-up
When the waiting time was over, I headed back to the Chinese consulate in Bangkok to pick up my visa. After waiting there for a while, there it was! Not only was it a lot cheaper than the one I got in Brussels (around €40 this time, compared to €126,5), but also, what a great step towards completing my challenge of making it back to Belgium overland!
More about the overland trip to China:
From Thailand to China: the unlikely overland route through Laos
More about travel in China:
How I travelled through alienating places in western China
Crossing China from north to south in 10 photos
More about Thailand:
Beyond the expectations: the ‘famous’ north of Thailand
Travel friendships blooming in southern Thailand
More about obtaining travel visas in Belgium and abroad:
How my overland travel mission almost ended in Kazakhstan
Visa hassle
Morgane's Travel Tales 
8 thoughts on “Getting a Chinese visa in Bangkok”