IBF

Unless you are buying one for a Thai friend (so you can get Thai script software and Thai keyboard), you can almost certainly get a better deal in the west than you can get in Thailand for almost any real electronics - including laptops. And the ipad will likely be a bit more expensive here in Thailand as well - depending a bit on the exchange rate.

Pantip Plaza, Fortune Town, and MBK are all decent options.

I will going to Thailand on the 13th of Dec and leaving on the 14th jan which is over the 30 days visa waiver you get on a uk passport. Can I extend the visa waiver when I'm there? Or do I have to leave and come back? Or am I best to apply for a 60 day tourist visa? I think I can do that on uk passport but it will cost about $160

You can get a seven day extension on the waiver at various immigration offices, and I think it cost 1900 baht.

If you don't have air ticket scheduled to get you out of the country inside the 30 day window, and do not have a visa in your passport, there is a chance that the airline will deny you boarding on the front end of your flight. I have been asked a handful of times about my travel plans when departing for Thailand. Has happened when departing from both the US and Australia. I generally have a visa so all I've had to do was locate the visa in my passport for them.

JJ/ Chatuchack market probably has what you are looking for.

My concern with doing something like this would be cross-cultural fashion selection. What you like/ consider to be fitting for the purpose might not match with what the Thai bird is looking for. The previous poster suggested having a TG help and I think that is a good idea. Alternatively if your Thai friend still has Thai friends/family here in Thailand maybe she could get them to pick out the clothes. They could ship them to what ever hotel you wil stay at to your attention, and then you could bring them back with you.

Sukhumvit Suites is up near Soi 23

Climax is just down Soi 11, Insomnia is by Soi 12, and Nana car park is on Soi 4

All a short cab ride away.

You can try one of the dance clubs - like Climax or Insomnia, they are chock full of freelancers. Or you can have a go at one of the after hours clubs like Shock 39. Most of the cab drivers get a kick back for taking people to the after hours joins, so if you ask many times they'll take you for free.

Also there are street-side stall/ bars set up all along the odd street side of Sukhumvit. Up at the Cowboy end there are a few and then more and more of them as you work you way down towards Soi 3.

You're correct, it's 30-days for an on-arrival tourist visa.

 

Here's a link (click here) to the Thai Visa page for any nationality to see how long they can get a visa for.

The stamp put in US passports is not a visa.

It is part of the visa waiver program. It is simply permission granted by the Thai government to people of various nations to stay in the Kingdom for a set number of days without a visa - most western nations are allowed to enter Thailand thru this visa waiver system.

Some countries are not part of the Thai visa waiver program, and thus do require a visa on arrival (or a visa of some other sort that has been optained prior to arrival) - the visa on arrival requires paperwork, and for them to be processed at a specific counter. Folks with a US passport go straight thru to the standard immigration counters, they are then granted access either for 30 days (via the visa waiver system) if they do not have a visa, or for 90 days if they do have a visa of some kind.

Wait, if you're from the USA you don't need the embassy to clear you. Just enter the country and you get a 90-day tourist stamp. You don't need to be pre-cleared.

With a US passport, if you do not get a visa, then upon entry to the country immigration will put a visa waiver stamp in your passport. This will allow you to enter and remain in the coutry for 30 days if you arrive on a flight, and only 15 days if you arrive from a land crossing.

So you are correct in that with a US passport you do not need a visa. But the number of days is 30 or 15 depending upon how/where you arrive, and not 90 days.

What you are asking about is not illegal. Technically you can get an unlimitied number of tourist visas. However, there is also nothing that requires the Thai embassy or consulate to agree to grant your visa application. So they can, and some have been known to decline an application if they feel someone is abusing the system. Almost every instance I heard of someone being declined a new tourist visa has been from a Thai embassy/consulate near-by - a neighboring country. If you end up traveling all the way back to the US to get each new tourist visa you will likely not have any problems.

The issue really boils down to the individual Thai consulate/embassy and their willingness to issue back to back to back to back to....tourist visas. This tends to vary from consulate to consulate in the general area - ie the consulate in Laos having different policies from the consulate in Vietnam, and the policies even change at the same consulate(s) over time.

Secondly you can get a double entry tourisst visa. The double entry will give you two 60 day stays. That can then be extended for another 30 days. So out of one double entry tourist visa you can get 60+60+30 = 150 days.

Well hell, I've been getting those pre-paid single-use cards every time.

There are actually a few options for prepaid.

There is a single day pass - cost something like 120-150 baht. This pass is valid for as many trips are you want to take on the BTS for a sinlge day. Very good if you want to visit several locations in BKK using the BTS in one day.

Then there are a couple of different types of smart passes:

30 day smart pass - this type you pay based upon the number of trips. For example you can prepay for 15, 25, 25....etc trips. The trips have to be used in the 30 day window. This type of card is good for people who use the BTS to communte to work or school - pretty sure students get an even further discounted rate when they purchase this type of card. The more trips you prepay for the higher the discount. But the trips are valid for only 30 days. Any trips you don't use are wasted.

Stored value smart pass - this type to pay something like 20-50 baht for the card. Then you give them baht that is stored on the card. When you use the card the amount of the fair is automatically deducted. The card is valid for several years, and I am pretty sure the stored value remains for over one year. So you card can be a good deal even if you only make one trip to BKK every year. There is no discount in the fair value, but you don't have to que up to by a ticket for every portion of a trip, nor worry about getting change to use on the BTS.

The is also a kind of frequent traveller type card - called Nuduan or something like that. This is some kind of credit building/ discount card - kind of like an airline frequent flyer system. The more you spend/ the more trips you take, the more "credits" you accumulate. This card has an application process - so I never messed about finding out the details. The application process is just a matter of giving name and address, not really a type of thing where you get denied. I think they send you coupons and the like to the address you supply in the appliation - for discounts for various coffee shops, movies, McDonalds, etc. So you can use the "credits/points" to get more coupons/discounts for various BKK shops, or to buy things like key chains and pens, etc thru the Nuduan/BTS system. Pretty sure you can get a Nuduan type card for either the 30 day pass or the stored use type cards.

Hrmm, last time I was on the skytrain they didn't have reloadable cards. Is this new?

Not sure about the airport train, but the skytrain has had reloadable cards for many years. I have bought them from the booth at both the Nana and Asoke BTS stations (pretty sure you can purchase them at any of the stations), and you can add baht to the card at the booth of any of the BTS stations.

What's the estimate for when the flooding will be over?

Depends in the location. But for the parts of Bangkok that have been flooded I've seen estimates from 4-8 weeks.

Its a bit of fluffing about to save a $10-$15 air con cab fare to your hotel door, innit?

Depends on how bad trafffic is/what time of days it is, how far your hotel is from a BTS/MRT station, and how much luggage you have. Generally speaking for me it is about saving time and not money. If my flight arrives any time around 5PM (especially if it is raining at the time and/or if it is Friday) then I tend to use the trains to avoid sitting in traffic.

I would love it if Bangkok ever got around to having someting like they have at Narita in Tokyo - a large electronic sign-board that shows how heavy traffic is around the city. In Tokyo I use that board to decide if I'll use the bus (if traffic is not too bad) or if I'll use the trains (to avoid sitting in traffic). Right now all I have to base my decision on in Bangkok is past experience and when I've had to sit in traffic in the past - ie time of day, day of the week, and weather conditions - so I am sure I have taken the train a time or two that did not end up saving me much time as traffic had not been near as bad as I had expected.

Also if one has packed extreamly light (ie - only carry-on bag(s); rarely the case for me), then using the trains is a great option.

All this being said the powers that be really should put some money into making the transfer from the airport rail line to the MRT/BTS system easier.

To get to Nana you'll need to take the airport train to Phaya Thai, then switch to the BTS and take the BTS train to Nana station. The airport train should take either 15 min if you get an express train (I think they run every 30 min) or about 30 min if you end up on a city link train (stops at more stations). Then about 10 min or so after switching trains onto the BTS.

Dream fits the bill, and one can usually find a decent deal at Dream thru one of the various discount hotel web-sites:

http://www.dreambkk.com/

I never use the wifi so I'm not certain.

Here are a couple of links with terminal maps - none are all that good IMHO. And the key to the map on the airports own webpage is incorrect it shows customs where immigration is, and lists customs as resturants:

http://www.guidetothailand.com/thailand-travel-information/suvarnabhumi-airport-layout.php

http://www.bangkokairportonline.com/node/85

Those are all on the public side - accessable to all. So for someone arriving they are after they clear customs. Departures is on the 4th floor, arrivals is on the 2nd floor and those places are mostly on the 3rd floor - makes is easier for people who are leaving to use before they check in, and people that are arriving to use after they clear thru immigration/customs.

If all you have is carry on bags then you could also hang out on the secure side for a while and just go thru immigration when ever you feel like it. This give you access to the other set of food outlets - Burger King, Pizza Company, Dairy Queen, Glass Bar, Sushi Bar, etc. This would also enable you to meet your mates right at their gate when they arrive and you could all clear thru immigration and customs together.

Park Plaza:

http://www.parkplaza.com/bangkok-hotel-th-10110/thabgksv

Best Western Soi 20 has a rooftop Jazzui:

http://book.bestwestern.com/bestwestern/TH/Bangkok-hotels/BEST-WESTERN-PLUS-At-20-Sukhumvit/Hotel-Overview.do?iata=&promoCode=&corpID=&propertyCode=99353

I think the Best Western on Soi 13 also has a rooftop pool.

Emporium Suites:

http://www.chatrium.com/chatrium_emporium/

Not sure if you will consider the Emporium pool as "roof top" as it is on a floor below the 10th floor. But it is up a bit, and not covered.

I know there are tons more, just can not think of any right now.

There is a decent amount of food options after you arrive - on the 3rd floor. Places like Starbucks, S&P, Lee Cafe, Cafe Nero, etc. I think Subway is going to or already has opened a location down by where you access the rail link as well. Another option is the Novotel Hotel for food and also for a massage.

I don't know if anyone offers specifically the service you are looking for. Do you already have massage girls lined-up? Do you want the service to line-up the massage ladies for you? And 300 baht for a sign? Most services use just a basic hand written sign or simply printed words only sign for most pick-ups.

I'm not aware of any Airport-BKK pick-up services with ladies, because if traffic is light is could take only 30 min or less to get to your hotel. So most services with ladies are for either BKK to Pattaya trips, or airport to Pattaya trips. You can probably arrange something thru one of those guys - but they will likely want to charge a premium. Places like Devils Den, P e n t house, classroom, Misty's, Secrets, etc.

I'm not sure why you want to make the trip into BKK in advance to arrange the rooms? The hotel will likely need to copy the passports of the other guests when they arrive anyway - so you will need to stop at the desk to get the your mates offically checked in anyway. You likely won't save much time for all the bother. Depending on the time of the day/traffic two hours is probably not enough time to make it from the airport to your hotel - arrange a group set of rooms, and then make it back out to the airport. If you really want to do this I would suggest you just take a regular taxi into BKK to arrange the hotel, and a regular taxi back. Then arrange for the group pick-up with ladies seperate. If you are worried about time you can either pay the extra for the car service at the airport (won't have to wait in line for a taxi - if there is a line), or even consider taking the airport rail link - the fastest way (especially if there is traffic) if you hotel is not far away from either a BTS or MRT station.

The rail link can be a real pain if you have anything more than a carry-on bag. So since you are going to go right back to the airport, you might want to consider storing your bag at the airport, picking them up upon your return, and taking them to the hotel with the rest of the group.

I realize that I have said at one point that the ride might be 30 min, and then on the other I have said 2hrs is probably not enough time to make if from the airport, check in a group of rooms, and then back out to the airport. But this all depends on traffic, the mode of transport, and the location of your hotel.

In any case with the ladies thrown into the mix, I think your are looking at something well in excess of 10k baht - and IMHO it's just not worth it. I think you will be better served and your money better spent, simply taking standard taxies into BKK and then spending that money you would have spent on the massage ladies and the van on the birds once you have arrived and had a chance to take a shower.

The 10k assumes you are looking for more than just a massage from the ladies. If you don't really care about the looks of the ladies and are really looking for a massage on your way into Bangkok then you can probably arrange this thru a number of different travel agents/ companies that operate down in the Sukhumvit area. They can hook you up with a van for anywhre between 1200-1600 baht, and then just hire a couple of ladies out of one of the nearby massage joins to go out with the van and back. And if massage is all that you are after then the ladies could probably be gotten for a decent price all in for the trip.

Thankyou IBF. So you dont think the cheaper hotels will book to capacity over NYE? I was wanting to maybe book the hotel a week in advance in case my travels adjusted.

If you wait that late to book you will still probably be able to find a room somewhere, but your options will be more limited. Many hotels will allow you to cancle a booking without a fee if you cancle well enough in advance.

I don't have any specific hotel recommendations, but that time of the year is just about the busiest time of the year in LOS. You can probably find a room somewhere on short notice, but it is definately advisable to book well in advance. One thing to watch out for is that some hotels have a new years eve dinner that is "included" in the room - making the rates even higher. They can add on this dinner charge because demand is so high at that time of the year.

Anyone with any new information? Coming to Bangkok at the end of Sept and hoping to check it out then.

This site has fairly up to date info:

http://www.bangkokairporttrain.com/

I'm a clean person and perhaps won't be needing a housing wash through every day, nonetheless, I expect them to do make an effort to sweep and scrub once in a while. If they had a laundry machine in the apartment, it would have made a world of difference because then I'd make sure an appropriate detergent to be used when washing my clothes.

 

And yes, they have installed nice LCD's; too bad I don't know what brand/model they are to see whether I can hook up my laptop via a proper cable. The only downside to CP10 is that it's too far away from the main road. This would hinder the accessibility to places like 7/11 and piling up on stocks. Yes, I know they have a tuk-tuk service but how does one get around carrying a bunch of grocery bags in that area anyway? Do taxis, if offered and paid, drive you all the way to the front of the complex?

 

P.S. The only thing left is to clock the download/upload bandwidth on the land line. Alright, alright, maybe I'm asking for too much. :)

Most if not all of the units have washing machines and dryers.

There is a mini-mart on the ground floor of the building - and they are not priced too much higher than 7-11. But you can also go to Tops (under Robinson by the Asoke BTS station) and they can deliver to your unit.

A taxi will take you right to the entrance, and if you want the reception staff will call a taxi to pick you up at the entrance as well (no added charge for this from the staff or the taxi - as they typically just flag one down off the soi). Also make a note of the reception phone number, then if you are out and about walking, and want to take the tuk-tuk back to the hotel from the end of the soi you can call and they'll send it (if it is not already on the way). I'd call them as I got off the BTS and by the time I got to the entrance to soi 10 most of the time the tuk-tuk was there waiting.

You can square away the LCD/laptop issue with a quick trip to pantip plaza or fortune town after you take a look for yourself.

As for internet speed when I last stayed there - over three years ago - I was able to do stuff over a VPN connection with no problem (using their LAN connection in the room).

Thank you folks. So far, every review has been positive.

 

IBF,

 

I know the soi is not open from one end but can you walk over the pond (or whatever it is) and stroll towards the park (Express HWY)?

 

Yes, you can walk thru - no problem. There is a bridge, (same brige for vehicle and foot traffic) over the nasty smelly klong/canal. The park has a fence around it without an unlocked opening at the back corner towards Soi 10. So you have to walk all the way around to the far side of the park to get into the park. There is a footpath next to the klong that I think you can take all the way to lumpini - never walked down it as the klong smells too bad for me to every want to give it a try.

Except Foodland for Thai food and Gullivers for european food I find that in most restaurants in Sukhumvit devoted to tourists around Nana you can often experience a lack of freshnes in their ingredients to say the best. That's why I usually take the BTS and head to a Mall (MBK, Siam paragon or Robinsons) to take a byte in MK or other restaurants around. Today I just found a small chinese restaurant in Robinsons really delicious.

 

Where do you have a byte in sukhumvit?. Any ideas?. I'm not talking about fancy restaurants but primaraly fresh food and if possible good quality dishes. By the way do you know if there's any MK restaurant in Sukhumvit.

Part of this depends on how far up Suk you are willing to go. But for western food there are several decent options - especially if Gullivers is the measuring stick:

Soi 8 pub

Tilac (German) - Soi 1

Bullys Pub - on Suk befor Suk 4

The Australian Pub - Soi 11

Old German Beerhouse - Soi 11

Bradmans (Aussy pub type place) - Soi 23

The Tavern (very small bar - American owned decent cheap food) - Soi 4

The Bus Stop - Soi 4

Sunrise Tacos and French to Go Bistro - on Suk just after Soi 12

Black Swan - by Asoke BTS station - even side of the road

Beiruit (Lebanese) - Plonchit center

La Buca (Italian) - Soi 1

Pizzeria Limoncello - Soi 11

Charley Brown's (Mexican - only does dinner service) - Soi 11 side soi

Los Cabos (Mexican) - Soi 14

Bourbon Street - Soi 22

Depends a lot on what type of food and what price you want to pay.

As for MK there is one in the basement of the Robinson complex (next to Tops Market) by Soi 19