You see, the roads in my home state are some of the most shabbily built in the U.S.� They are thin, depth wise, and yet the weigh limits for freight trucks in the state are some of the highest in the nation.� Therefore, every year, during the summer months, road crews swarm the damaged streets like a pack of hungry dogs to a discarded piece of food on Beach Road.�

The reason that these roads are cheaply made, in my opinion, is because Michigan, was once the car capital of the world.� Now many of the enormous car manufacturing plants are gigantic 20^th century ghost towns.� The once great car producing city of Detroit has been reduced to poverty and the photographic nirvana for artists interested in urban decay.

Therefore, rebuilding of the roads each year helps keep people employed in one of the U.S.�s worst unemployment rate states.� In turn those road warriors buy new cars built in Michigan, as it is almost taboo to own anything other than a Big Three automakers car there.� Two years later that same car, having been punished by the shoddy roads, will most likely need mechanical work, or will be traded in for another car, thereby ensuring the never ending cycle of Michigan economics.

The same can be said of Thailand�s visa runs.� Refining the system to be more efficient is likely a ridiculous statement to Thai officials and to the thousands of Thai�s employed in some capacity of visa run services.� Consider your passport a road, the stamp in it, a car, and Thailand a supremely more beautiful and

desirable Michigan.

That explanation seemed to bring my mother around to the idea behind the visa run.� I didn�t explain to her, however, that there are different types of visas one can obtain, for the sake of my own sanity.� Don�t get me wrong, I love my mom, but she doesn�t need to know everything.�

The most common visa one can get is the entry visa.� For most people, simply entering Thailand allows you to stay for 30 days.� Once that time is up however, it�s time to either go home, or for those wishing to stay in Thailand for longer, it�s Visa Run time.�

There are a number of different ways to make a visa run.� The most inexpensive and legal way to do this is to book a visa run trip with a local visa run service.� The cost ranges from 2000 to 2500 baht and it usually takes about eight hours of one day.�

Note: There are behind the scene services that will take your passport for you and get it stamped.� These black market services are highly illegal and not recommended as those involved in, or paying for services of, are equally punishable by law.

For those individuals unfamiliar with Visa Run trips, here�s what you should expect on a one day trip to the new Baan Laem border checkpoint:

On the day of your trip, you�ll be picked up at an established pickup point.� This is usually early in the morning between 6:00 and 7:00 a.m.� Some visa service companies will come to your residence.� And others even have afternoon trips that return in the evening.� Be sure to bring two visa style photos which you can get at almost any photo shop here in Pattaya for a few hundred baht.� Remember also to bring a pen for signature purposes.

From Pattaya you�ll travel to the Cambodian border via a minibus.� Typically there is an assistant on the bus who will take both photos and your passport.� This person does this to fill out all of the paper work you will need at the border.�

Sit back and enjoy the onboard movie, read a paper or sleep and around three hours later you�ll be at the border.� You can expect to stop once for refreshments and a bathroom break along the way, usually at a full service gas station with plenty of food options.&nbs