Airport Process Guide

We arrived at 11^th Feb 8:30 A.M to Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK), as we already had visa with us, we don’t need to go to Visa on Arrival counter otherwise it is the first thing you should do after arrival.
We went to Immigration counter located at level-2 just followed the sign boards. We need to give arrival card (explained below) and passport to officer.

Air hostess on the flight will give you Arrival card. Arrival card contains two parts. Arrival information and departure information. If Arrival card is not provided in flight do not worry there will be lots of card available on counter. However, I recommend you to fill it during the flight so that it will save your time.

We need to fill only Arrival information in the card and give it to immigration officer they will keep it with them and give us departure card back. We need to keep departure card with us and it will be required at the time of returning to our country also some hotel asks to show departure card.

Visit following links to know more

How to do VISA processing
How to exchange the Thai Currency
How to do Hotel booking
Transportation in Bangkok
Airport Process Guide
Our Trip

Go to main article Experience to Thailand Trip (Bangkok, Phuket and Pattaya)

Transportation in Bangkok

Bangkok has various transportation options like BTS Sky Train, The Airport Link Rail (Which connects the Airport to the Bangkok city), Bus, Tuk Tuk, Boat, Meter Taxi and motorbike taxi. We experienced most of them during our trip to Bangkok.

Bangkok’s Airport link rail connects airport to city. We used it go to hotel from Airport.

BTS Sky train (Recommended) which connects most of the area and easy to travel for anyone. We used it the most during our stay in Bangkok. BTS sky train has two lines Silom and Sukhumvit. (It is like western and central lines of Mumbai local train). We can interchange the line at Siam station (like our dadar station in Mumbai local train)

Meter- Taxi (Recommended): Just Raise your hand to stop taxi in pink or green-yellow colour. Red color at front shows taxi is free and available for ride.

 















Base fare is 35 Bath then it will depend on your distance and time.
We never paid more than 70 Bath during our stay on any trip.

Tips:

• Only take taxi if they are agree on meter, do not negotiate on price just go with meter.
• No need to pay any tip.

Boats (Recommended): Bangkok has boat transportation option, we used twice during our stay to visit Grand palace and Temple of Buddha. There are 3 lines orange, blue and yellow but only orange runs on weekend. It takes 8 THB to 20 THB based on distance.

Please find below boat map for reference.

Bus (Not Recommended): They have bus services as well but you have to be aware of bus routes and numbers and also conductor sometimes not good with English.


Tuk Tuk (Not Recommended): It is like auto rickshaw but there is no meter and drive asks too much and there are many scams about Tuk Tuk so I personally do not recommend it.

Visit following links to know more

How to do VISA processing
How to exchange the Thai Currency
How to do Hotel booking
Transportation in Bangkok
Airport Process Guide
Our Trip

Go to main article Experience to Thailand Trip (Bangkok, Phuket and Pattaya)

How to do Hotel booking

There are many websites available, most of them offer different rates and discounts.

We booked through www.booking.com.

Believe me it is the best website we have found after exploring following list.

• TripAdivisor
• HolidayIq
• Musafir
• Makemytrip
• Agoda
• Trivago
• Expedia
• Yatra
• goibibo
• Ixigo

On some websites, you will come to know actual rates when you click “book/Reserve” button so do not hesitate to check the actual price!

Advantages of buying through booking.com:
1. No need to pay –in advance, we can pay at hotel.
2. Free of cost cancellation
3. You can check reviews and contact hotel management in case of any queries.


Keep in Mind while booking Hotel:


1. Do not get over ambitious about hotel ambiance and facilities like swimming pool, gym etc… You are going there for tourism and travelling purpose hence you spend most of your time out of hotel so do not pay for things, which you are not going to enjoy.

2. Must needed things from hotel
a. Good Breakfast (It will give you lots of energy for the day& you can skip lunch.)
b. Free Wi-Fi at good speed, it will save calling cost to your country, you can plan your trip by             exploring maps, and you can book online tickets for local events/shows.
 c. Good room environment like A/C, Geyser and mini bar must be in working condition.

Eat Healthy, have sound sleep to enjoy your trip with full energy.

We had booked following hotels all with free breakfast, free cancellation, No advance payment (paid at hotel), free Wi-Fi, mini bar and air-conditioned rooms.

Hotel stay for 9 Days and 8 nights cost us 24,500/- INR only.

Hotel Reservation Details

Visit following links to know more

How to do VISA processing
How to exchange the Thai Currency
How to do Hotel booking
Transportation in Bangkok
Airport Process Guide
Our Trip

Go to main article Experience to Thailand Trip (Bangkok, Phuket and Pattaya)

How to exchange the Thai Currency

Thai currency is Thai Baht (i.e.THB), 1 INR ≈ 1.90 to 1.94 Thai Baht.
Remember few things for currency exchange

• Never do currency exchange at airport for any country. It will be expensive. They apply high conversation rate.
• Never use your country’s Debit or Credit card for any payment even though your card is international debit or credit card.
  • They apply currency conversion. (As your card currency is INR)
  • They apply 3%-5% charges on it. Charges is known as mark-up charges.

Best option is buy forex card with pre-loaded currency.

We bought forex cards through www.doorstepforex.com and www.buyforex.com
They need your PAN Card, Visa, passport and air ticket as proof to be uploaded on their website.
Thomas Cook is popular but costlier.
Advantage of buying forex card:

1. Hassle free online processing
2. Free home delivery of the card/cash on the same day of order.
3. We can get SMS alert and check online statement.
4. First three ATM withdrawal free.
5. Card is valid for 5 years. Multiple currencies can be loaded.
6. If any amount is remained after trip, they can take it back.
7. You can pay cash on delivery.
Disadvantage of Card:
1. Even though first three ATM withdrawal free, Thai banks charge from 150 to 200 THB per withdrawal so I recommend to withdrawal big amount around 10,000/- to 20,000/- THB. This is only for withdrawal from ATM, if you swipe your card for shopping, restaurant or hotel there is not any charge.
We recommend keeping combination of cash and card. (30% &70% respectively)
We bought 60,900 THB at the average rate of 1.95 (including cash of 23,900 and rest in card), after trip, we had 20,000 THB balance.

Also read following links to know more

How to do VISA processing
How to exchange the Thai Currency
How to do Hotel booking
Transportation in Bangkok
Airport Process Guide
Our Trip

Go to main article Experience to Thailand Trip (Bangkok, Phuket and Pattaya)

How to do VISA processing for Thailand

Thailand has facility for visa on arrival to Indians. We can also apply for Thai tourist visa from our country.

Official Visa on Arrival Fees is 2,000 THB (Approximate 4,000 INR).
Now oblivious question, which is the best option. How to apply for it?
Starting from 1 December 2016 until 28 February 2017, Thailand launched two schemes. Details are as follows:

1. Temporary tourist visa fee exemption scheme
All applicants applying for Tourist Visa (single entry) to Thailand during the aforementioned period will be exempted from the visa fee.
In simple statement,if we do visa processing in our country through Thai embassy there will be no fee for visa.

VISA Fees will be 0 INR (ZERO Fees) only processing charges.

2. Temporary Visa on Arrival (VoA) fee reduction scheme.
During the aforementioned period, Visa on Arrival (VoA) fee will be decreased from 2,000 THB to 1,000 THB for applicants of the nationalities which are entitled to apply for the VoA at the designated immigration checkpoints.
In simple statement, if we do visa on arrival there will be fee of 1,000 THB (i.e. 2,000 INR)
VISA Fees will be 2,000 INR.

UPDATES: Thailand extends visa fee waiver scheme until Aug 31 2017

Disadvantage of Visa on Arrival:
1. Costly
2. Time consuming (It will take 1 hour to 1.5 hour on airport based on crowd)
3. You need Thai currency to pay fees at counter.

How to apply for Thai Tourist visa in India.
We did through Cox & Kings Global Services https://th.ckgs.in which costs only 755 INR (i.e. 377.5 INR/Person) for processing charges.

Advantages of Thai Tourist visa done in India:
1. They provide status tracking through website.
2. SMS alert at additional charges.
3. Courier facility at additional cost of 80/- INR.
Please refer below screenshot of my visa clearly shows zero fees.
 
Documents required for Visa
1. Flights tickets (Round trip)
2. Bank statement of six months with current balance of USD 700 per person.
3. Valid Passport for 6 months from date of entry.
4. Complete Visa Application form with the original signature of the applicant.
5. Two recent photographs of applicant Size - 3.5x4.5cm, white background & matt finish, withapplicant’s signature on the back.
6. Proof Of Hotel / accommodation reservation in Thailand with contact number and address

Visit https://th.ckgs.in to know more

Visit following links to know more

How to do VISA processing
How to exchange the Thai Currency
How to do Hotel booking
Transportation in Bangkok
Airport Process Guide
Our Trip

Go to main article Experience to Thailand Trip (Bangkok, Phuket and Pattaya)