[heydj]

Originally Posted by airbus

I will be visiting Phuket and Krabi along with family during mid-April. Planning to spend 3 nights in Krabi and 5 nights in Phuket. Please suggest things to do / places to visit in Phuket and Krabi with young children. Also, need some suggestions on accommodation near beaches.

We will be flying directly to Phuket from Bengaluru. How's the Visa on Arrival queue at Phuket Airport?

Visa on arrival at DMK airport was a mess when we went in Dec'18. Took us 3.5 hours waiting in queue to get the same.

If excitement is what you are looking for then stay in a hotel near Bangla Market in Patong. Best to skip Phuket as its not a place for family types instead target Patong.

Do 4N in Patong, 2N in Karabi and 1N in some other beach place.

Tuk-tuk are expensive in Thailand with no sense of rate vs KM i.e. a mere 2KM ride ends up costing as much as longer 5-7km rides. Take international driving license from India before going, else driving there can be an issue. Moreover insurance gets void without proper license.

[ninjatalli]

Thai Visa on Arrival (V-o-A) terms have undergone a few changes - primarily this is targeted at those who work out of Thailand and have overstayed their timelines; but it does affects all tourists and especially those who plan to do country hopping (/backpacking) across Thailand and neighboring countries.

To put in a summarized perspective, if you are planning to do a >14-day trip to Thailand, get the visa through the selected local agencies than opting for VoA option; this will allow you a 60 day stay option. VoA option now allows only 14 days stay.


A complete view with all required details out here: Link

[airbus]

We have returned from Phuket today. Visa on Arrival was super fast at Phuket International Airport. Both visa and immigration were done within 15 minutes. I have filled up the application online and took print of the barcoded application on which photograph was pasted. Other documents required were Passport and Arrival/Departure card of Thailand.

While we were in Thailand, we heard that Visa on Arrival fee exemption is extended until October 31. Here is the news - Thailand extends the scheme of waiving VOA fee till October 31

[wildsdi5530]

Was on a 8 day trip to Pattaya and Bangkok last week. Visa on arrival, the guard refused to accept the forms that I had filled and printed from the website. I had to fill fresh forms. However there was a paid option of 200THB which I used and took about 1/2 an hour. The free line would have taken 4 hrs at least.
I had booked an AVIS from the airport. I was given a Toyota Vios with 1,60,000 kms on it but felt like new. I used the car for 3 days in Pattaya and the total came to INR 6000/- plus fuel and toll. Driving in Thailand is awesome. They follow lane discipline strictly, the lanes and exits are marked well. In fact yesterday I was finding it very difficult to drive in Bangalore.

[.sushilkumar]

I have a valid business VISA to US and UK. From what i heard, I won't need a VISA for phuket and same can be used for entry. Any clues if above is true. I know that US VISA is valid for Dubai but just need info for thailand.

[CDM]

Originally Posted by .sushilkumar

I have a valid business VISA to US and UK. From what i heard, I won't need a VISA for phuket and same can be used for entry. Any clues if above is true. I know that US VISA is valid for Dubai but just need info for thailand.

Makes no difference if you have a US or UK visa. So long as you have an Indian passport you can get visa on arrival for free in Thailand. If the free line is long, you can pay THB 200 and get into the express line which is much faster.

CDM

[airbus]

Originally Posted by CDM

If the free line is long, you can pay THB 200 and get into the express line which is much faster.
CDM

Visa on arrival processing is quite fast at Phuket airport. When we landed on 29 April, it took hardly 15 minutes to complete both visa on arrival and immigration. The reason may be number of flights landing at a given point of time is much lesser than that of Bangkok.

[mpksuhas]

Did a flythrough via DMK - Airport Bangkok to Cambodia and return via Phuket with 2 day stopover there.

There was some issue with Thailand immigration website in which one need to update details for E-Visa since past few weeks. Didn't want to go for visa on arrival after hearing horror stories of long queues at Bangkok. Hence decided to go via E-Visa service provided by VFS.

They charge 600 THB per individual.

During onward journey, while doing my transit at DMK, noticed there was huge queue at immigration counters. However, noticed a separate counter for Evisa there too, not sure how much is the delay there.

However, for my return journey at Phuket, EVisa counter, which is located in same kiosk was not having any queue. Even the regular, VOA counter wasn't that crowded. Mayebe a delay of some 10 minutes.

Unless you are headed to any of the Bangkok airports, I don't think taking a paid E-visa is required. You can verywell opt for VOA.

[ka51resident]

Hi guys, I'm off to Bangkok next week. Landing at 2:45PM. Is it better to take a VoA or apply for the VFS Online eVisa?

What is the usual Visa on Arrival Processing time?

[mpksuhas]

Originally Posted by ka51resident

Is it better to take a VoA or apply for the VFS Online eVisa?

To the question of is it better to take EVisa, the answer is Yes. However, based on how much time you have, you can decide.

Since you are arriving in afternoon, you may not be able to do much after saving time at visa counter. So you can go for VoA also. Budget around 2 hours.

[mpksuhas]

To add to the points I mentioned here (Thailand 101: Advice, Tips, Planning etc.)

I visited Thailand again, this time for an official trip, last week.

This time too, took the VFS EVisa option as earlier. (Process mentioned in my earlier travelogue here (Wanderlust Traveler: Cambodia - Land of smiles))

This time my flight reached Bangkok Suvarnabhumi airport around 05.00 AM. Compared to what I had heard, the crowd was starngely less.

Headed straight to VOA counter, showed the E-Visa printout, got directed to a seperate counter in the line. Got out within 5 minutes.

Infact, for the E-visa there was no queue. For the regular VOA counter too there were hardly a crowd of ~ 50 people. Hence those in my aircraft who had got out before me was almost out of immigration near baggage counter along with me.


Apart from that, from Suvarnabhumi airport there are 4 options to get to city.
Suvarnabhumi airport - Bangkok

1. Airport high speed rail link (45 bhat?). This is the best option if you are a buget traveller and /or travelling at non office hours. The train takes you to Phaya Thai station, from where you can switch to BTS (more on this below) / Taxi to your destination. Tickets for the rail link can be purchased from airport once you head to basement after following the sighboard. Currency exchange counters which gives best rates are also located there.
2. Airport bus - There are city buses starting from airport which takes you to Victory monument bus stop. Again, you can take a taxi from here or get on to BTS (a short walk) from here.
3. Airport taxi - Straight forward but bit expensive approach. Just follow the signboards, you will reach the taxi counter. Form a queue and they will guide you to the taxi.
4. Grab taxi - Grab is the local equivalent of Uber / Ola, you can select any one of the available pickup points which gets displayed in your Grab app once you try to book from airport. However, overall its mentioned that Grab is slightly expensive from airport to city compared to regular taxi. For me onward trip in Grab during a Sunday morning without any traffic was around 335 bhats. The same route on return costed me around 566 bhats. Compared to what you pay in most of the Indian cities which has airport outside the town limit, I still feel its cheap. However, you can take a call based on the time of day. One reason for me taking Grab was they provide you with soft copy of the bill like Uber, since it was a business trip, it was required by me for reimbursement from office.

Irrespective of which cab service you take, based on the destination and the time of travel, driver may ask you for your opinion on taking expressway (tolled highway). In this case, you will have to pay the toll separately to the driver above the taxi cost. For Grab, they will include this in bill amount before generating the receipt. For the return, I took the expressway since there was heavy traffic else, hence the 70 bhat added up to the total cost.
For my onward journey, since there was no traffic I asked the driver not to take the expressway. Do note that this expressway is not immediately after the airport. It is few KM's before you hit the city. Hence the initial section will be common irrespective of which route you take, only after that you need to take a call on if to go via tolled or freeway.


Bangkok public transport

In Bangkok there are 2 separate train networks (not including airport express link)

BTS- Sky train - This is a more comprehensive network of elevated rail network. You can find that this network covers most of the tourist locations. However, the different lines can be bit confusing and may take a while to get used to. Tickets can be purchased by using ticket vending machines using coins (more frequently available) or by using currency notes (few stations doesn't have this). These are fairly easy to use once you get the hang of stations and routes. Also each station has a ticket booth from where you can make ticket purchase using cash. Again, these are not crowded generally. The cashless option to buy tickets from here is using Rabbit card, however for tourists visiting for only few days, it doesn't make sense. Also, I have read online that you get daily pass for 120 bahts, I haven't tried the same, hence no first hand opinion.


MRT train - A separate underground train network which covers the city a rough inverted 'C' shape. Do note that tickets purchased in MRT is not valid in BTS and vice-versa. However, there are few crossing stations where you can alight and change to different network. Ticket purchases using same options as BTS, however rabbit card doesn't work in MRT and it has another seperate card for itself, again not worth if you are on a short visit.



Currency exchange
Do not change to Thai Baht before you reach Thailand, you will unsurprisingly get maximum exchange rates in Thailand itself.
If your flight is reaching past 06.00 AM, you can head to the basement counter following airport train link signboards. There are a bunch of currency exchange counters around there which give considerably better rates than the counters in arrival lounges.

Out of the counters near trainlink ticket counters, Superrich is supposed to give better rates. This is said to be the same case with their branches across city.

You can find details of their airport branch and also other branches from their site here.

However, do note the logo and exact name. There is another exchange company with similar name. Most of these counters open around 06.00 AM, hence if you are arriving earlier to that, you can visit any counter near arrival lounges and just exchange the currency which you will require for your immediate need. Rest you can exchange elsewhere later.

One good thing about the Superrich was that they give currency of different denomination so that it's easier to pay for cab /train. They gave me currency in denominations of 500, 100 and 20.

Also, they and many other currency exchanges take Indian rupee too. When I checked the rates there, it was cheaper to exchange INR directly to bahts instead of changing it to US Dollars from India and then again converting to bahts, causing you to loose exchange commision charges twice.

Also, another option is to withdraw bhats directly from any ATM using your Indian debit cards. This will work with any regular international debit card. However, each transaction will be charged with a flat bank transaction charge of around Rs 500 based on your bank / card.

Hence it is advisable to withdraw the money in one single transaction to avoid multiple transaction charges.

[ajmat]

Originally Posted by mpksuhas

To the question of is it better to take EVisa, the answer is Yes. However, based on how much time you have, you can decide.

Since you are arriving in afternoon, you may not be able to do much after saving time at visa counter. So you can go for VoA also. Budget around 2 hours.

IF you are considering e-Visa on arrival, use the following link

https://thailandevoa.vfsevisa.com/th...ine/home/index

There are many links for eVisa on arrival. A friend of mine googled and the service that processed it was a Spanish one and charged him Rs 5000.

The above site charged me Rs 1500

[vnabhi]

Originally Posted by mpksuhas

Headed straight to VOA counter, showed the E-Visa printout, got directed to a seperate counter in the line. Got out within 5 minutes.

Infact, for the E-visa there was no queue. For the regular VOA counter too there were hardly a crowd of ~ 50 people. Hence those in my aircraft who had got out before me was almost out of immigration near baggage counter along with me.


Apart from that, from Suvarnabhumi airport there are 4 options to get to city.
Suvarnabhumi airport - Bangkok

1. Airport high speed rail link (45 bhat?).
2. Airport bus - There are city buses starting from airport
3. Airport taxi - Straight forward but bit expensive approach. Just follow the signboards, you will reach the taxi counter. Form a queue and they will guide you to the taxi.
4. Grab taxi - Grab is the local equivalent of Uber / Ola,

Irrespective of which cab service you take, based on the destination and the time of travel, driver may ask you for your opinion on taking expressway (tolled highway). In this case, you will have to pay the toll separately to the driver above the taxi cost.

Bangkok public transport


.

Very useful information, thanks for sharing. Let me share my info on my maiden trip to Thailand a couple of months ago.

My flight landed at Suvarnabhumi International Airport at 630 am (15 minutes late), and unfortunately, there were 2 other flights from India that landed at the same time. It took us 10 minutes to reach the VOA counter, which seemed to have a mad rush. Luckily i had already printed and filled up our application forms, with photos fixed, and all details filled. We found a long line for the free VOA and a longer one for the E Visa, that costs 200 Baht. My wife was suggesting that we take the free VOA queue, but I was in two minds.

Fortunately, someone advised us in Hindi to take the paid visa line, as the free one would take hours. So we requested the same guy to join in front of him, as we barely had 1 hour 45 minutes for our connecting flight to Phuket. He obliged, and we could get ahead of another 25 people behind in the line.

It took us overall 30 minutes to get the EVisa, and another 15 minutes to get back to the terminal that had the Thai Airways flight to Phuket. We reached the security counter by 750 am for the 830 am flight. But the flight had to wait another 20 mintues for other visa applicants to reach. It finally took off 25 minutes late.

So long story short, it is strongly recommended that you have a 3 hour layover at BKK if you are applying for a VOA, and perhaps 5 hours if you want a free VOA.

When we returned from Phuket to BKK, it was 2245 hrs when we landed. We tried to check if buses were going to our hotel in Bank Rak area, but alas there were none. We then tried to take the electric cab, but the estimate given was 700 baht. We declined, and instead joined the path for airport cabs nearby. We had to stand in line for 3 minutes and press a button on the automated kiosk. We got a printed slip with a bay number. We had to walk to the bay number 45 close by and wait for our cab. We got a Toyota Vios and he readily loaded our bags into the boot----Note, the boot was small, as it had a CNG cylinder. But our luggage was not much.

The driver refused to take the city roads and insisted on the highway, saying it will take another hour if the city route was taken. Having no option, we agreed. We had to pay 70 batht toll (50 and then 20), but we covered 35 kms in 30 minutes. The total bill including toll was 400 baht, which was economical when compared to 700 baht I had paid in Phuket for the same distance.

Therefore, airport cabs in BKK are not that costly.

[am1m]

Most of the posts cover the family trips. A few backpacker/couple/independent traveller tips, specific to BKK and Krabi/Islands around Krabi:

*The Bangkok public transport system is pretty good. Spend some time figuring out the metro/skytrain/buses and you can pretty much cover the sights using these. Avoid the tuk-tuks like the plague, they're as bad as our auto-drivers. Cabs are better, but always make sure the cabbie turns on the meter, they will do their best not to, but will not refuse once you ask them to turn it on. You can get around Krabi pretty easily using those shared mini-tempos as well.

*Hostels in both BKK and Krabi are hands-down, the best value for money! Great locations, very clean, great common facilities and much cheaper than hotel rooms. Great place to meet fellow travellers and usually very helpful local staff who will give you good advice on what to see and what to avoid. (Of course, not ideal for big groups, families, kids.)

*If you are visiting different islands, Phi Phi, Railay, etc., using Krabi as a base is a good idea. Rates on Krabi for accommodation and food are far lower than on the islands and there are several boats, both local independent and part of tours, that go to the islands and back everyday.

*Shopping, now admittedly I'm not a shopper, so may be biased, but I really don't see the point of shopping for anything apart from a few souvenirs in BKK. You get most of the stuff and of comparable quality back home, yeah maybe a bit more expensive, but IMHO why waste a day in a boring shopping mall that looks like almost any shopping mall in the world when you're in a different country and carry all that weight back home? Instead spend that money on experiences and sights that give you an idea of the local culture. Visit the museums, visit another gorgeous island, stuff like that. Again, just my opinion.

*Walk around. Both BKK and Krabi have lots of areas that are beautiful for walking. It's a treat walking around in places that have actually planned for pedestrians. Walking is a great way to see local life, take in the sights and just soak in the atmosphere of the place.

*Talk to fellow travellers from other countries. (note to the single Indian males: this does NOT mean hit on all the solo women travellers! ) Some of them have been travelling for months literally and have amazing experiences and tips to share. Almost everyone is friendly and looking to exchange travel information.

*Read up on Thai history, culture, makes everything you see so much more meaningful. I find it so odd that the most some people care about a culturally significant monument that has so much meaning and history is how to fit it in as a good backdrop for a selfie! Might as well photoshop yourself in if that's the only reason to visit a place!

*Drinking water. Don't drink the tap water, but at the same time, there's no real need to buy plastic bottled water either. Both BKK and Krabi hostels offer filtered drinking water free. Almost all monuments and metro stations will have a drinking water station. So carry reusable water bottles and refill. The amount of plastic the Thais use is crazy, am sure they're going to have a waste disposal problem.

*Street food in both places is clean, tasty and very cheap. I eat anything, so can't speak for the vegetarians or people with allergies. Personally, don't see the point in being fussy and looking for Indian food when I'm in another country, but again, that's just my opinion.

[n_aditya]

Originally Posted by airbus

I will be visiting Phuket and Krabi along with family during mid-April. Planning to spend 3 nights in Krabi and 5 nights in Phuket. Please suggest things to do / places to visit in Phuket and Krabi with young children. Also, need some suggestions on accommodation near beaches.

We will be flying directly to Phuket from Bengaluru. How's the Visa on Arrival queue at Phuket Airport?

I visited Phuket in April this year with family and we had a great time island hopping, snorkeling and exploring the sights.

We stayed here and I highly recommend this hotel too. The staff is super efficient, friendly, courteous and very professional. Only gripe is that the breakfast spread is not as elaborate as say a five-star hotel. The view from the porch facing the beach is decent.

The hotel is located around a km or two away from Bangla street so if you are with family and kids included you have nothing to worry about as this part of the area is decent, clean and quiet too.

I would recommend you to take the island tours. All the small shops in the area provide this service which includes the full tour, lunch, pick up and drop, etc. which was very professional. Do apply generous amount of water resistant sun block (buy it from the local store) as you can get badly sunburnt. The island hopping is a full day's trip and it can get exhausting. Buy a snorkel mask from Decathlon and go snorkeling. I cannot describe in words the beauty of the underwater life in these oceans. Couldn't get enough of it but it is very tiring as the sun gets harsh and the boat rides are long and exhausting.

I also recommend buying the show packages from these street shops - Simon Cabaret was one we went to. Very clean, no indecency, and you can go with family too. Don't get misled by the word cabaret. If you want to explore the Thai culture, check out the Siam Niramit show as well. Totally worth it. Check out the zoo as well. Walk around the Patong area and take in the sights. Lots of nice restaurants and eateries in the area that cater to a variety of cuisines. If you must visit Bangla street, esp post sunset, leave the kids back at the hotel.

Edit - when we visited, we flew direct from BLR to HKT (Phuket). Visa charges were waived off but the way the process was handled was a mess. Took us under an hour but having multiple people in the visa counter grabbing forms from visitors randomly, stamping them and then leaving the passports to be collected in a pile was shocking for me. After the stamping, the visa officer at immigration will question your purpose of visit, etc. Buy a local sim if you need to use the phone. The charges are very reasonable. Use Grab taxi instead of tuk tuk's which are exorbitant. Grab is similar to Uber and charges are very reasonable.