Thailand/Bangkok QA thread

MaisonP said:
Yes they are. You can use Grab app which is like Uber. Don’t take any taxi service because they are known to rip people off specially in Phuket.
So either use Grab or while you still in the airport, before you leave the terminal, you will see small kiosks which has like daily tours and things, ask them how much.
If it’s more than 800 baht (R400) move on. Don’t take the first offer.
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Yeah I saw the 800Baht private taxi, just not sure if that is per person or for the entire vehicle.
 
MaisonP said:
Haha nice. Patong is f king hectic. Specially in the evenings. It’s a madhouse.
Do go visit the Sunday night market and do the hop on hop off bus. It’s worth every sent and they take you through all big attractions.
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We will be spending a few days in Ao Nang as well. We will probably head back to Phuket at some point without the kids. At some point I need to experience Bangla Road properly lol. Our 5 year old is so excited he already packed his bag and we only leaving Christmas day.
 
jdido87 said:
Yeah I saw the 800Baht private taxi, just not sure if that is per person or for the entire vehicle.
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It’s for the vehicle. It’s quite a distance to patong from the airport and the road has washed away at a specific section so my recommendation is leave the bus and save the hassle.
 
jdido87 said:
We will be spending a few days in Ao Nang as well. We will probably head back to Phuket at some point without the kids. At some point I need to experience Bangla Road properly lol. Our 5 year old is so excited he already packed his bag and we only leaving Christmas day.
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Very nice. It’s going to be amazing. Thailand over December is heaven.
Bangla road is the head office of crazy. Lol
 
MaisonP said:
Very nice. It’s going to be amazing. Thailand over December is heaven.
Bangla road is the head office of crazy. Lol
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We will probably try to leave the kids with my brother and sister in law one evening and head to Bangla. Yasis but I am so scared of a babalas in a foreign country man.

Do the Smart Bus go to Phuket Old Town or how easy is it to get there? My eldest son want to spend his birthday at the Andaman Water Park.
 
jdido87 said:
We will probably try to leave the kids with my brother and sister in law one evening and head to Bangla. Yasis but I am so scared of a babalas in a foreign country man.

Do the Smart Bus go to Phuket Old Town or how easy is it to get there? My eldest son want to spend his birthday at the Andaman Water Park.
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Hahaha just go with the flow. If you have a babalaas go for a deep tissue massage (R150) ph
Yes the bus does go past Phuket old town. It’s about 25 minutes from patong beach area but even if you need to take a taxi, don’t miss it. It’s really worth every sent.
 
You're a big group. Book a minibus online for your whole group. They will have your name on a board and help with your luggage. They take you straight to the hotel without any **** in between. Don't skimp on transport on your arrival. Your wife and kids are going to be tired, get them to the hotel as quick as possible.
 
bokka1 said:
You're a big group. Book a minibus online for your whole group. They will have your name on a board and help with your luggage. They take you straight to the hotel without any **** in between. Don't skimp on transport on your arrival. Your wife and kids are going to be tired, get them to the hotel as quick as possible.
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One of the very real options yes. We all arrive on separate days. My family arrives first. Not planning on skimping on the airport transfer. My kids never set foot in a bus yet hence we were considering that. They would've loved it. We are booking a van for the journey to Krabi. Was thinking of taking the ferry but it takes too long.
 
jdido87 said:
Hi Guys

We leaving next month. I just have a quick question regarding cash. I am sure it has been covered before but I do not have time to scroll through the entire thread.

What is best, convert cash at the money exchangers or just withdraw large amounts at a time from an ATM?

I checked the fees with Standard Bank and its not too bad.

TIA
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Just draw 10k THB at the ATM at a time.
 
Engage said:
Then you are paying like 3% just on Thai ATM fees. Rather draw the most you can, like 30K (or 40K if you find the right ATM) Baht, to get the percentage to around 1% or less.
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Well yeah, the most you can. Last time I was there, it was 10k THB. 220thb is a small fee. So the idea I am trying to convey here is to draw as much as you can, to avoid spending bank charges again.
 
I am looking at going again in April but the flight prices are high for three adults, and it gets crazier when you bring Samui into the mix.
 
bokka1 said:
I am looking at going again in April but the flight prices are high for three adults, and it gets crazier when you bring Samui into the mix.
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Yeah it's a lot higher than it was 3 or 4 years ago, damn. Even local flights aren't that cheap. That's also the reason I am choosing Samui over Koh Chang. Money and time.
 
bokka1 said:
I am looking at going again in April but the flight prices are high for three adults, and it gets crazier when you bring Samui into the mix.
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That's because Bangkok Airways owns the airport in Samui, so they have a monopoly and charge huge landing fees for other airlines that want to use it. I rented a plane from the Thai Flying Club at one stage and planned a cross-country flight. Landing fees in Phuket were just under 500 Baht in 2014 while landing fees in Samui were almost 10K Baht without apron and parking fees :oops:
 
Engage said:
That's because Bangkok Airways owns the airport in Samui, so they have a monopoly and charge huge landing fees for other airlines that want to use it. I rented a plane from the Thai Flying Club at one stage and planned a cross-country flight. Landing fees in Phuket were just under 500 Baht in 2014 while landing fees in Samui were almost 10K Baht without apron and parking fees :oops:
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It has been like this since 2000. We flew there from Phuket but it was expensive, took the ferry - bus combo back up to Bangkok which was much much cheaper but it was a long day / night with the coldest aircon on the bus, we then decided never again.

Samui Airport back then, just one thatch roof "terminal":

Samui (34).jpg
 
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bokka1 said:
It has been like this since 2000. We flew there from Phuket but it was expensive, took the ferry - bus combo back up to Bangkok which was much much cheaper but it was a long day / night with the coldest aircon on the bus, we then decided never again.

Samui Airport back then, just one thatch roof "terminal":

View attachment 1416431
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Yeah, I lived on Samui for years and thought about offering a float plane ferry service, but bureaucratic corruption killed that idea pretty quickly. The Thai airports company (AOT) keeps identifying areas to build a new airport on the island, but then their executives' families buy up all the cheap land they identify and up the price by 1000%.
 
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