[idea1979]

I will be going to Thailand/Malaysia/Singapore trip for 10 days starting 25 Dec 09 till 4 Jan 10. With Family (3 people)

Now I want most out of this tour so I want you to help me out/ check your references/share your experiences/word of wisdom etc. Any input will be useful.

Dos/Don’t

What to buy when/where (in cities- on airports etc)

What/how much to carry ? (cloth types, electronic like camera/video cam – in case I want to buy stuff out there ..)

What to skip in tour and use somewhere else in same city?

Especially currency needs ! shall I stick to CC or carry dollars? Where to get them cheapest in pune (foreign exchange)? <I can carry max 2000 US $ per head>

How to shop wisely from point of view of best deals and getting it duty free (quantity, amount of goods.etc.)


ETC.



Also sharing all tour plan for your reference and advice.




Dec 24 10.30pm aprx flight from Mumbai to Bankok.
Air Ways used: Thai.

Day 1 is Dec 25, 2009 and there on.


[FONT=&quot]Thailand[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Day 1 : Bangkok - Pattaya, Nong Nooch Village, Alcazar Show[/FONT][FONT=&quot]
Arrive at Bangkok. Proceed to Pattaya. On arrival visit Nong Nooch Village for Thai Cultural show, Elephant show, Tropical Garden, Orchid Garden and Pottery Garden. Enjoy Spectacular Alcazar show in the evening.

Day 2 : Pattaya - Coral Island, Para sailing, Mini Siam, Thai Massage
Enjoy Speed Boat Ride, Para sailing, Coral formations by Glass Bottom Boat and swimming in the crystal clear blue waters of Pattaya. Visit Mini Siam and marvel at the Miniatures of the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, Bridge on the River Kwai, Golden Stupa, Pimai Khmer Sanctuary, Eiffel Tower, Statue of Liberty, London's Tower Bridge, Trevi Fountain etc. Relax yourself with Scientific Thai Massage.

Day 3 : Pattaya, Gems Gallery - Bangkok, Chao Phraya River Cruise
Visit the Biggest Gems Gallery in the world. Proceed to Bangkok. On arrival free time for relaxation. In the evening enjoy Chao Phraya River Cruise with dinner and live music.

Day 4 : Bangkok - Safari World, Shopping
Full day fun and excitement at Safari World, visit Marine Park, enjoy Orangutan Boxing show, Sea Lion show, Hollywood Cowboy stunt show, Dolphin show and Spy War show. Explore wildlife like Giraffes, Zebras, Tigers, Lions and many more at Safari Park. Free for shopping at MBK - one of the famous shopping malls in Bangkok.

Day 5 : Bangkok - City tour, Sky Baiyoke, Shopping
City tour includes the 'Golden Buddha' followed by Principle Buddha and Reclining Buddha. Enjoy magnificent view of Bangkok from the revolving observatory deck of Thailand's tallest hotel-Sky Baiyoke. Later enjoy shopping at Indra Square.


Malaysia [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Day 6 : Bangkok - Kuala Lumpur - Genting Highlands [/FONT][FONT=&quot]
Flight to Kuala Lumpur. On arrival at Kuala Lumpur proceed to Genting Highlands. En-route visit to Batu Caves. Travel by Asia's longest and fastest Cable car to Genting Highlands. Try your luck at famous Casino de Genting in the evening.

Day 7 : Genting Outdoor Theme Park
Enjoy various rides like Space Shot, Go-Karting, Roller Coaster, Jurassic Park, Merry Go Round, Space Mountain, Mini Train Ride, Flume ride and Flying Dragon at Genting Theme Park. Visit the Snow World at the Indoor Theme Park in the evening. Evening free for leisure activities.

Day 8 : Genting - Kuala Lumpur - City tour, Shopping, Putrajaya by night
Proceed to Kuala Lumpur. Enjoy magnificent view of city from the Observatory Deck of the K. L. Tower, photostop at Petronas Twin Towers, Visit to Suria KLCC which located at the feet of the Petronas Twin Towers. During city tour view King's Palace, Dataran Merdeka Square, National Mosque, National Monument, Cricket Field and High Court Building. Free time for shopping at Sungie Wang Plaza. Visit Putrajaya – the Administrative capital of Malaysia by night.


Singapore [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Day 9 : Kuala Lumpur – Singapore: Shopping, Night Safari[/FONT][FONT=&quot]
Proceed to Singapore by coach.Arrive at Singapore. Free time for shopping. Visit Night Safari in the evening, take a Tram Ride, see Creatures of Night Show and enjoy dinner in the unique environment of Night Safari.

Day 10 : Singapore - City Tour, Sentosa Island
City tour includes Orchid Botanical Garden, Singapore river boat, the statue of Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, the Parliament House, Suntec City, Fountain of Wealth, City Hall, Orchard Road, Swiss - the tallest hotel in Singapore. Experience the Cable Car ride from Mt. Faber to Sentosa Island. Visit Images of Singapore - The Pioneers of Singapore, The Surrender Chambers, Festivals of Singapore and wax works. Visit the 4D Magix show. See Underwater World and admire the rare species of the marine world. Take a thrill of Luge Ride, an unique experience. Enjoy the 'Songs of the Sea show' in the evening. Take a mono-rail ride from Sentosa to Vivo City.

Day 11 : Departure from Singapore
Board the flight for your hometown. Tour Concludes.[/FONT]

[ASHISHPALLOD]

Wow!!
I also need info about Kl and Singapore.
Now, waiting for posts on this thread.

[idea1979]

Thats great Ashish. I am also eagerly waiting for inputs. My tour planning cant complete with this :-)

[SS-Traveller]

For Thailand you might want to check out details in this thread. 5 days in BKK and Pattaya would be more than enough. Restrict your shopping to BKK, don't bother spending more at PTY.

Shopping in KL, IMO, is a tad more expensive than in Thailand. Butik Bintang in KL is the area we did our shopping in.

And one-and-a-half days in Singapore seems to be a very rushed trip for covering the sights of that place. You're probably going to be on your feet 14 hours at a stretch. Don't miss out on at least a couple of hours at Mustafa, the shopping destination for one and all in Singapore.

[ASHISHPALLOD]

Originally Posted by idea1979

Proceed to Singapore by coach.Arrive at Singapore.

Going to singapore by coach means wasting lot of valuable time on foreign land.
avoid coach and go by flight. flight rates are damn cheap. i have booked kl singapore flight for as low as rs 448 only for date of 28/2/2010.

edit: flight tickets for 3/1/2010 are available for rs 1050 only.

Originally Posted by SS-Traveller

Butik Bintang in KL is the area we did our shopping in.

Any particular place @ bukit bintang though there are lot of malls?
Our group will stay at a hotel at bukit bintang.

[Lukeskywalker]

Day 3 : Pattaya, Gems Gallery - Bangkok, Chao Phraya River Cruise
Visit the Biggest Gems Gallery in the world.

This can be totally avoided, this is just a gimmick by tour operators to promote sales of products which are a total rip off.

Free for shopping at MBK - one of the famous shopping malls in Bangkok.

Again it is just another large mall, nothing different unless you have specific things you want to look for.
Indira Market is a huge flea market where you get clothes in wholesale, bargaining hard.
Shopping in Thailand is much cheaper than KL or Singapore.

@ Ashish
Bukit Bintang has a lot of shopping malls, most of them are a higher end version or larger versions of malls we have here, so take your pick.

[SS-Traveller]

Originally Posted by ASHISHPALLOD

Going to singapore by coach means wasting lot of valuable time on foreign land.

It's a 4-4.5 hour bus ride to Singapore from KL.

Originally Posted by ASHISHPALLOD

Any particular place @ bukit bintang though there are lot of malls?
Our group will stay at a hotel at bukit bintang.

Spend a full day browsing the malls, and the next day you'll have forgotten the names of the malls totally! They all look the same...

Originally Posted by Lukeskywalker

This can be totally avoided, this is just a gimmick by tour operators to promote sales of products which are a total rip off.

Quite agree, though we've also been there. Don't believe a word about the "fixed price" nonsense, bargain like a true Indian - start at 40-50% of the prices they quote. One thing they sell that you won't get in India, is ivory products - with a certificate of genuinity. And don't feel bad about not buying - your taxi/bus driver gets a kickback with fuel coupons anyway.

Originally Posted by Lukeskywalker

Indira Market is a huge flea market where you get clothes in wholesale, bargaining hard.

BoBae tower in BKK is a great place to shop for bargain-basement clothing between 4AM and 9AM - try it if you are an early riser. The wholesale fruit market alongside BoBae tower is also an amazing place to explore - the sights, flavours and taste of tropical fruits overwhelms the senses.

[idea1979]

@Lukeskywalker,SS-Traveller

Thanks a lot for valuable inputs.

[advaitlele]

Idea1979

If you are travelling in a group (arranged travel from some travel agency like Kesari) which looks like from the program in your post, be assured that you are in good hands. Some tips to travel with the agency :
1. Always have handy the phone number of the tour manager. Usually the tour managers have sim cards for all the destination countries. Note down all the numbers.
2. Keep handy the phone number / toll free number of the tour operator in India. Some issues you may want to resolve / escalate, directly call that number and see the results; fast.
3. Carry cash only for the min amt needed for taxi / tips / airport tax etc. Otherwise carry all TCs. Better would be international prepaid charge cards that some banks now offer. You top it up in India and use it as a normal debit cards in shopping malls etc. However, the rate you would be getting in each transaction is very bad. That's where the banks earn money. So TCs are best option according to me.
4. Dont change money on airports. Usually they give you lesser rates there; thats what my exp has been in a few airports. Dont change money in hotels either. Change in the city area (usually there are changers) around your hotel.
5. Needless to say, split the money / TC in various bags (hand bags) and not check-in bags.
6. As some has already commented, dont buy (unless you have huge money plant at home) in Pattaya Gems factory.
7. Bukit Bintang area is full of malls. As Ashish has said, next day you will forget names. Lifestyle malls as Star Hill Gallery are a good visit; not a good option to buy though.
8. Dont buy electronics like mobile phone etc. from that region. I found that in India we get better deals. Expensive items, if you have space to carry them back (Big screen LCD TVs, high end cameras etc) are a good buy in Singapore. Calculate before you pay about any duty, overweight baggage charges etc. If you ask me, we get equally good deals in India.
9. Photography - Genting - if you are staying overnight, wakeup early (at dawn or just before it) and walk around the hotel area. You will get very good photo shoot opportunities; rising sun in the mist, flowers with mist etc.

I cant think of much right now. will update this post later. Meanwhile you can browse through my and others' comments in Ashish Pallod's thread reg. Malaysia/Singapore.

[ASHISHPALLOD]

Originally Posted by advaitlele

4. Dont change money on airports. Usually they give you lesser rates there; thats what my exp has been in a few airports. Dont change money in hotels either. Change in the city area (usually there are changers) around your hotel.

@advait,
can we take indian rupees and convert it in ringgit in malaysia?
or should we take us dollars in india and then convert it in malaysia?

[advaitlele]

@ Ashish - There a few shops in Malaysia (in KL, typically Brickfields area) and S'pore (if I am right, Mustafa used to) accept INR as payment currency directly, though rate would be different. You can convert from INR to RM or SGD thru any converter in Malaysia and Singapore. Not sure about Thailand though. Since you are going only in Mal and Sgp, you can safely carry some INR. but as a safer option TCs are better IMO.

@ Idea1979 - since you are also going to Thailand, better to carry USD and/or TCs in USD.

[idea1979]

Originally Posted by ASHISHPALLOD

@advait,
can we take indian rupees and convert it in ringgit in malaysia?
or should we take us dollars in india and then convert it in malaysia?

you can carry inr. it can be easily converted.

[tsk1979]

What about Thailand Visa for Indian nationals.
Is it better to take Visa on arrival, or get one from Thai embassy?
In case of Visa from Embassy here, do we need to get tickets before Visa, or after we get Visa

[SS-Traveller]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

What about Thailand Visa for Indian nationals.

Thailand has visa on arrival for Indian nationals, and no visa fee is being charged presently. Not worth taking a visa from here; you have to pay for it too in that case.

[navan49]

Any one can recommend a budget hotel in Kulalumpur and Singapore and also budget travel from Kulalumpur to Singapore.