In this first post about our visit to Thailand we will introduce you some information, we think useful, about obtaining the entry visa in the country and about different transportation methods in Bangkok.
The full name of Bangkok is "Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahinthara Ayuthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom Udomratchaniwet Mahasathan Amon Piman Awatan Sathit Sakkathattiya Witsanukam Prasit" and holds the record for the world's longest name of a city. In English the name would be "The city of angels, the great city, the residence of the Emerald Buddha, the impregnable city (of Ayutthaya) of God Indra, the grand capital of the world endowed with nine precious gems, the happy city, abounding in an enormous Royal Palace that resembles the heavenly abode where reigns the reincarnated god, a city given by Indra and built by Vishnukarn."
About the visa
To travel as a tourist in Thailand, a tourist visa is required if you are from a country which is not exempted. This can be obtained upon arrival at the airport (Visa On Arrival), if the stay lasts for no more than 15 days, or from Thailand's Embassy in the country of origin, including for a stay that may exceed 15 days.
Our holidays in Thailand was for exactly 15 days and we could choose to obtain a visa on arrival at Suvarnabhumi airport in Bagkok (BKK), also taking advantage of the fact that for the period December 2018 - January 2019 the visa fee had been abolished for some countries, including our country, Romania. We have learned the VOA tax removal information reading foreign news about Thailand (
details here) even the evening before the day when we had planned to go to the embassy in Bucharest to submit the necessary documents for obtaining the visa (
details here).
Before the removal of the tax, it was 2000 baht (about 55 euro) for VOA and 30 euro for a visa taken from the Thailand embassy in our country. The visa fee can be paid in the airport only in the local currency, baht, but on your way from the plane to the visa desk there is no ATM to withdraw the money, there are only exchange offices with some not very good exchange rates.
If you want to visit other countries bordering Thailand (eg Cambodia) and to return to Thailand, you will need a multiple-entry tourist visa for which the tax is higher (€ 150 at the embassy) and the conditions stricter. For this reason, a variant would be multi-city flights: arriving in Thailand and departing from the other country without returning to Thailand (or at least without leaving the airport of Thailand where you could have the connection).
The visa procedure starts inside the plane where you will receive a some kind of coupon with 2 parts to be filled in: arrival and departure card.
Once you left the plane, you'll need to follow the "Visa on arrival" signs. We did not pay too much attention and we sat down at the first checkpoint where it was actually the passport control for those who already had a visa from their country of origin or for citizens of countries that did not need an entry visa. In conclusion, you will have to go until you find the office where it is written on a white-blue billboard "Visa on arrival". There you will find a form to fill in and to which you need to attach a 4x6 cm picture, the photo you should have from home. To stick the photo on the form is not a problem; airport employees can staple it on the paper.
You will be required to present your passport, which must be valid for at least 6 months, and to present your flight ticket for leaving Thailand and proof of accommodation (
Booking.com, for instance). In our case, although we had 4 accommodations for the whole period, they only checked out the reservation for the first night of accommodation. Another condition for granting the visa is to hold 10,000 baht (about 270 euros) per person, which may be in euro or in another currency, but we were not verified.
Once we arrived at the counter, they checked our documents, the procedure that took a few minutes and they kept our passports for the first visa stamp. From the first counter we received a number with which we waited to be called to a second desk where we received back our passports. Another queue followed for a third counter where our passports were checked again and a new visa stamp was applied. Yes, you read well, you have to wait 3 queues, you do not receive the final visa stamp from the first checking desk.
All the formalities required to get out of the airport lasted for almost 2 hours, which was also influenced by our misfortune to wait for the same queues with a large group of Indians arriving in the few minutes which we lost at the first point of control where we should not have stopped. Most of the Indians chose to skip the line, taking advantage of the complicity of their conationals (even if they did not know each other), or even the indirect complicity of the airport employees.
What surprised us at Suvarnabhumi airport in Bangkok was that at the most counters there were posters with "no tips" message that suggested the tourists not to bribe the employees. An indirect tip is the 200 baht (about 5-6 euros) to avoid the tail, but as far as we noticed, it is only available to avoid the tail at the first counter where the papers are checked and where it is lost the most time. We have been "advised" repeatedly by airport employees to pay the tax, as all the tourists who seemed to come from Western countries were "advised", but we preferred not to encourage the existence of that tax.
With your stamped passport, you will receive back the departure card (the one you have to complete before you present the documents at the first counter) that you will need to keep with you until leaving Thailand. It is requested at the airport for the exit visa, but also at hotels for accommodation.
For cash withdrawals from ATMs you will be charged a 220 baht fee. In the baggage waiting area, there are several ATMs where you can withdraw money you need for the cash payments in Bangkok, but you can also pay by card in the train or subway stations.
About transportation in Bangkok
It's easy to move from one point to another in Bangkok. The fastest means of transport are underground (MRT) and suspended BTS (Skytrain). Another variant is to travel by the boats, especially for the old town where you can't reach by the subway or the train. By bus we only went from Don Mueang airport to the BTS line, but the bus can also be changed for the underground subway.
How to get to / from Bangkok airports
For the main airport Suvarnabhumi (BKK) the fastest and safest way to get there is by the SRTET metro line that has connections to the suspended train and the underground subway. We say fastest and safest because in this way you get rid of the crowded traffic in Bangkok.
The metro station is right in the airport, just follow the signs and you find it easy. The airport line stops at Phaya Thai where it is connected to the BTS line. If you need to change for the subway, get off at the Makkasan train station and head to Petchaburi, the subway station. In all stations there are automatic tickets and maps to help you to plan the route. The price is calculated according to the distance traveled. For BTS it starts from 15 baht and can reach 55 baht. At the subway, the cost of a trip varies from 15 baht to 40 baht. For the airport line the maximum price is 45 baht if you take the train from one end to the other.
In the stations there are vending machines that are good to buy tickets quickly, but unfortunately only for the subway and for the airport train you can also pay with banknotes. At BTS, the only option to pay for the vending machine is with coins, but there are also counters with human operators where any payment method is accepted. For this reason, long queues were often formed at the counters. Fortunately, the waiting time is very small and you just have to let the operator know the station where you want to go and he/she will communicate you the price. Ticket vending machines can also be used as interactive maps to find your station or to help you to find the price to the desired station but also they can help you to find where you need to change the train if you do not have a direct line.
Domestic flights are operated from the airport Don Mueang (DMK).
Before the holiday we were still looking for transport to Don Mueang airport, but in most sources of information the taxi was suggested. We also chose this option when we left Bangkok to Krabi because we did not have enough time to look for alternatives for which we had to change different means of public transport.
With regard to taxis, be careful not to be fooled. We asked the hotel to help us with booking a meter taxi to pay the right price for the driving to Don Mueang Airport. Although this had been confirmed and we boarded the taxi just after he had guaranteed to start the meter, the driver asked a fixed amount of 500 baht and it was almost impossible to speak with him about the meter. An argument used in negotiations by the taxi driver was that he had to pay both the highway and the airport tax, which are quite large. In fact, for the highway he paid 2 charges, 50 and 80 baht, and he did not pay for the airport because he left us at the ground floor entrance. The terminal being on the 2nd floor, one option would have been to take the taxi to the parking area on the 2nd floor and so we had to pay a 50 baht, but there are escalators on which to climb. Finally, we paid 400 baht. Details of the recommended rates for taxis taken from the airport Don Mueang can also be found on the airport's website (
link here).
But there are other options about which you can not easily find too much information on the internet. One of them is Limobus. The bus has 2 routes: one to Khao San and one to Silom where you have connections to the Underground Subway and the Suspended Train. It's not the cheapest option, the price is 150 baht, but it's more convenient and can only be useful if you stay near one of the stations where it stops.
From Don Mueang Airport to Bangkok, probably the best transport option is the A1 or A2 buses that you can change with underground subway or underground trains (BTS), depending on your final destination. These buses are very frequent; we lost the first one, and the next came in 5 minutes. Buses connect to BTS line at Mo Chit and to subway station at Chatuchak Park. The ticket costs 30 baht and is bought from the bus. From the Terminal 2, the buses leave at gate 12. There are also local buses which can be useful if you are near one of their stopping stations. These are even cheaper, a ticket costs 20 baht.
An option to admire the city is while you're hiking on the Chao Praya River, especially as it's the best way to get to the Grand Palace or Wat Arun, about which we will write in the next articles. There are several types of boats:
- Chao Phraya Express Boat - with yellow, orange or green flag, the price varies between 15-20 baht
- Chao Phraya tourist boat - the ticket costs 60 baht
- Iconsiam free shuttle boat and Asiatique free shuttle boat - to get to Iconsiam mall / Asiatique about which we will write in the following articles.
The main port for boarding the Chao Praya River is at Sathorn, and to get there you can take the BTS line, and get off at Saphan Taksin Station.
Another way to travel inside Bangkok is the tuk-tuk (a kind of motorcycle with trailer in the back or on side). Both hotels where we were accommodated provided free shuttle services with a tuk-tuk to the subway / BTS. There are also many locals who try to attract tourists to tuk-tuk rides at relatively low prices compared to those of taxi drivers in their home countries, but too expensive compared to Thai prices.
The prices we talked about are in local currency baht, and in order to compare them, you should know that 1 euro is approximately equal to 36 baht or that 1 USD is approximately equal to 31 baht.
Thank you for reaching the end of the article. In order to be informed when we publish new articles on this site, but also to see posts that are only on facebook, we invite you to like our facebook page by accessing this link : Doi plimbareti.
In the following articles about Thailand we will write about: Thai food, Bangkok temples, shopping in Bangkok, Bangkok Grand Palace, Krabi: Ao Nang Beach and Railay Beach, Tiger Cave Temple; Phuket: Patong Beach and Karon Beach; elephant trekking.
