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maskenfreiheit fucked around with this message at 21:33 on Apr 28, 2019 |
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Jun 4, 2010 03:08
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GregNorc posted:What's the situation like in Thailand right now politically? If it's still tense when I plan to travel, what are some good alternatives? I'm not heading over for another month, but I'll try 1. Not bad, don't worry about it. If you're concerned then stay away from protesters but I think it's basically cooled down for our intents and purposes. 2. Look on Kayak - I'm looking at one-way tickets and my very preliminary research says $800-$1200. 3. Rain comes and go - it will not be rainy all day during the "rainy" season. Enjoy cheaper hotels, tourist stuff, etc., etc. Anyone have any thoughts on my question a few posts up? My departure is looming...
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Jun 4, 2010 06:43
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brendanwor posted:You will need to prearrange your visa for Vietnam. Laos you can get on arrival. Cambodia you can get on arrival but it's a pain in the rear end and simply easier to prearrange. Malaysia will be fine to get on arrival. All that said, Cambo does have an online visa thing (they've had it for years, which is difficult to believe): http://www.mfaic.gov.kh/e-visa/start.aspx I've never used it because I can only imagine the ways it could go wrong. Still, their visa processing stuff at the airport does seem uncharacteristically state of the art for Cambodia, so who knows. If you use it, though, you'll miss the chance to stare at all the 2 inch long hairs growing out of moles on various Khmer officials' faces.
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Jun 4, 2010 08:15
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ZombiesAhead posted:Anyone have any thoughts on my question a few posts up? My departure is looming... You'll be alright. Seems that plenty of people manage to survive on the 'foreigner teaching English' thing. And if you are a real teacher, you'll probably be better than many of the people who try it. Just remember the 3 golden rules: 1) Don't insult the Royal Family 2) Never trust a tuk-tuk driver 3) Don't fall in love with a bargirl As for the policitical situation, all the action seems to have moved to the political and legal arenas. No protestors - or even signs of protestors- anywhere.
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Jun 4, 2010 09:54
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spog posted:1) Don't insult the Royal Family 1) Buddha Loves a Working Man 2) Don't Trust Darkie 3) See a Monk and Get Rid of It
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Jun 4, 2010 10:22
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ReindeerF posted:I disagree on Cambodia. I've been quite a number of times by air and it takes about 5 minutes. You get off the plane, get in line, hand them your documents and there's sort of a visa conveyor belt in front of your made up of Khmer people stamping and affixing things. At the end of the line you get your passport back with a visa. Laos was about the same when I went through the land border. See, I've used the e-visa system, and believe it or not it's actually ridiculously easy to complete the online form, arrived in my inbox within 24 hours and encountered no issues whatsoever. Who knew third world countries could be so efficient.
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Jun 4, 2010 11:59
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brendanwor posted:See, I've used the e-visa system, and believe it or not it's actually ridiculously easy to complete the online form, arrived in my inbox within 24 hours and encountered no issues whatsoever. Who knew third world countries could be so efficient. When people ask me what the big difference is between living here or at home they always expect to hear about poor people or something I think, but the thing I notice is that on the plus side the opportunity cost of everything is lower and on the minus side everything is totally chaotic in that (as seen in Bangkok last month) it can go from fine to poo poo-hits-fan in no-time flat and things still run largely based on personalities instead of rules. On the personal side I really enjoy this, but as a work environment (or when dealing with anything institutional - like immigration) it can cause some harried moments. The upside is that it's totally normal here, so there are all kinds of unorthodox solutions for the constant barrage of inconsistencies and failures, heh.
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Jun 4, 2010 12:55
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If I end up going to SEA for a year there are two events (One in Baltimore and one in Bergen, No) that I'd like to go two for a week each. Would booking round trip flights to these places from SEA be cheaper or more expensive? Basic searching shows ~$1200ish.
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Jun 7, 2010 19:53
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Cheaper or more expensive compared to where? I'd expect flights to coastal-but-non-NY/LA/SFO US to fluctuate between $900-$1,500 depending on when exactly you book and fly. Don't know anything about flights to Norway, really. All Norwegians are incredibly wealthy and I believe they receive free airfare along with education, healthcare, disability payments, fish, mullets and potatoes - not 100% positive on this though!
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Jun 7, 2010 21:10
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Haggins posted:If I end up going to SEA for a year there are two events (One in Baltimore and one in Bergen, No) that I'd like to go two for a week each. Would booking round trip flights to these places from SEA be cheaper or more expensive? Basic searching shows ~$1200ish. Same price, less convenient, in my limited experience. Also what event could there possibly be that anyone would want to go to in Baltimore? John Waters festival?
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Jun 7, 2010 21:15
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Sheep-Goats posted:Same price, less convenient, in my limited experience. The DC area is more expensive than going out of NYC or west coast.
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Jun 7, 2010 22:00
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ReindeerF posted:Cheaper or more expensive compared to where? I'd expect flights to coastal-but-non-NY/LA/SFO US to fluctuate between $900-$1,500 depending on when exactly you book and fly. Don't know anything about flights to Norway, really. All Norwegians are incredibly wealthy and I believe they receive free airfare along with education, healthcare, disability payments, fish, mullets and potatoes - not 100% positive on this though! I can vouch for this. Norweigans have 1 month mandatory tropical vacation each year. Suck it.
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Jun 7, 2010 22:43
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Sheep-Goats posted:Same price, less convenient, in my limited experience. Maryland Deathfest in Baltimore and Hole in the Sky fest in Bergen. It's worth flying back for.
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Jun 7, 2010 23:09
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I've got stop-overs in Bangkok on my way to and form Europe, the first one is less than 24 hours so I was wondering if you guys knew of any good, cheap hotels near the airport? Also, on the way home I've got a full day there, is there anything that I should definitely see or will my usual approach of "wandering around until I find something interesting" work?
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Jun 8, 2010 04:45
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Captain Appleseed posted:I've got stop-overs in Bangkok on my way to and form Europe, the first one is less than 24 hours so I was wondering if you guys knew of any good, cheap hotels near the airport? Also, on the way home I've got a full day there, is there anything that I should definitely see or will my usual approach of "wandering around until I find something interesting" work? If for some reason you have to sleep in the airport, walk around till you find the nice lazy boy-style recliners. I think they were on the 2nd floor, but I can't remember exactly. I didn't find them until after the fact and I was so very sad because I ended up sleeping on the uncomfortable benches they had there. Not to mention where the recliners are is rather quiet compared to everywhere else you could try to sleep.
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Jun 8, 2010 11:39
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Captain Appleseed posted:I've got stop-overs in Bangkok on my way to and form Europe, the first one is less than 24 hours so I was wondering if you guys knew of any good, cheap hotels near the airport? Also, on the way home I've got a full day there, is there anything that I should definitely see or will my usual approach of "wandering around until I find something interesting" work? Honestly I'd recommend looking up a tour for the 1-day thing, that will let you squeeze the most out of your time. Bonus tip: substitute M-150 for sleep.
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Jun 8, 2010 15:22
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Pompous Rhombus posted:M-150 for sleep. It's the best one!
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Jun 8, 2010 19:18
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Sheep-Goats posted:It's the best one! 
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Jun 8, 2010 20:43
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ReindeerF posted:Carabao weeps at your negligence The best was when one time I was coming up the steps to cross a pedestrian overpass, and some Thai middle school kids were coming down the other way. One of them slipped on a little bottle and fell a couple of steps, got up, examined the bottle that had tripped him and yelled "ลูกทุ่ง?!" and kicked it away. Like he would have been okay with it if it was a Red Bull or something 
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Jun 8, 2010 21:48
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If anyone is interested, Jetstar are starting non stop flights between Singapore and Melbourne in mid December this year. Today they are having an introductory sale - $99 one way between Melbourne and Singapore, but I'm not sure what the price is on the return leg. I'm hoping to score Singapore to Melbourne to return from my diving adventure in January...!
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Jun 9, 2010 06:40
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Sounds pretty good, link?
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Jun 9, 2010 06:42
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http://www.jetstar.com/au/en/cheap-flights/sales.aspx The sale fares should be up there in about 90 minutes.
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Jun 9, 2010 07:02
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Awesome, thanks. I wanna go to Japan in February and thought it might be cheaper out of Singapore.
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Jun 9, 2010 07:08
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I flew Perth to Singapore with Tiger a few months ago and it was absolute agony. I don't know if all budget airlines are the same, but I will never do it again. Ever.
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Jun 9, 2010 07:32
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Jet Age posted:Awesome, thanks. I wanna go to Japan in February and thought it might be cheaper out of Singapore. From Australia? Probably not... no low cost carriers fly between Singapore and Japan. For Australia to Japan on the cheap you're best off looking at Jetstar, but direct from Australia, or Malaysia Airlines. They're good, and to compete with Air Asia/Air Asia X they often have stupid sales, too. freebooter posted:I flew Perth to Singapore with Tiger a few months ago and it was absolute agony. I don't know if all budget airlines are the same, but I will never do it again. Ever. Jetstar and Air Asia X are fairly good. They use much larger aircraft for their long haul flights. Tiger use the same planes they use from Adelaide to Melbourne for Perth to Singapore... I'm actually a big fan of long haul Jetstar and Jetstar Asia. I don't like their Australian operation but their long distance flights are awesome value for money, and their intra-Asia stuff is alright, too. Air Asia X's new seating should make them a lot more enjoyable too, even though there was nothing really wrong with their service to begin with. For the money, they're great - and with the ridiculous sales they often have, they're fantastic.
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Jun 9, 2010 07:38
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Yeah I had a good experience with Jetstar, and I'm flying AirAsia to KL in 8 weeks so hoping for a good experience there too. Tiger is just particularly poo poo, don't let them burn you on all budget carriers.Steve. posted:From Australia? Probably not... no low cost carriers fly between Singapore and Japan. For Australia to Japan on the cheap you're best off looking at Jetstar, but direct from Australia, or Malaysia Airlines. They're good, and to compete with Air Asia/Air Asia X they often have stupid sales, too. Ta for the advice, my girlfriend has been watching jetstar like a hawk.
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Jun 9, 2010 07:45
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I suppose it was worth the money I saved, but the non-reclinable seat is a perfect L shape (human spines aren't shaped like that), my knees were crammed up against the seat in front of me (I'm six foot), and it was between 9.30 pm and 3.00 am. Sleep was impossible and I then spent nine hours wandering around Singapore with my backpac on trying to find a hostel that wasn't booked out. An atrocious start to my RTW trip.
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Jun 9, 2010 07:45
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Jet Age posted:Ta for the advice, my girlfriend has been watching jetstar like a hawk. No worries. Jetstar regularly have Japan sales. They also have a thing called a Friday Frenzy - sign up for their emails, and they'll give you a heads up. On Friday afternoons they can have some killer deals. I've seen Cairns to Tokyo (or Osaka, I can't remember) for $189 one way - insanely cheap. freebooter posted:I suppose it was worth the money I saved, but the non-reclinable seat is a perfect L shape (human spines aren't shaped like that), my knees were crammed up against the seat in front of me (I'm six foot), and it was between 9.30 pm and 3.00 am. Sleep was impossible and I then spent nine hours wandering around Singapore with my backpac on trying to find a hostel that wasn't booked out. An atrocious start to my RTW trip. Ouch! That's pretty average. In fact, that's very average... hope the trip is better now than it was!
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Jun 9, 2010 07:53
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Done. $106 Australian per person from Singapore to Melbourne. I had to book through the mobile.jetstar.com site because the main sites were getting hammered.
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Jun 9, 2010 08:59
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Steve. posted:Ouch! That's pretty average. In fact, that's very average... hope the trip is better now than it was! My most recent mode of transport was riding a motorcycle up a foggy mountain in drenching raiin, freezing cold and with all my stuff getting soaked. (Other than that, travel by motorbike is awesome).
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Jun 9, 2010 11:28
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gently caress you Aussies  freebooter posted:I flew Perth to Singapore with Tiger a few months ago and it was absolute agony. I don't know if all budget airlines are the same, but I will never do it again. Ever. I did the same, it was like 11:30pm - 5am. Really inconvenient scheduling, but it worked. I think I managed to semi-sleep on the plane most of the way.
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Jun 9, 2010 11:30
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I just booked a one-way to Bangkok for next month and I'm planning on staying in the country indefinitely but my first month there will be occupied by a TEFL course. I'm arriving a few days early and the 30-day tourist visa will expire before I'm done with the course. What's the best way to go about getting a longer duration Visa? I thought there was a 60-day I could apply for but I'm really struggling with the Thai consulate website's options. (I'm American)
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Jun 9, 2010 17:32
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freebooter posted:My most recent mode of transport was riding a motorcycle up a foggy mountain in drenching raiin, freezing cold and with all my stuff getting soaked. (Other than that, travel by motorbike is awesome). Sounds awesome 
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Jun 10, 2010 01:17
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ZombiesAhead posted:I just booked a one-way to Bangkok for next month and I'm planning on staying in the country indefinitely but my first month there will be occupied by a TEFL course. I'm arriving a few days early and the 30-day tourist visa will expire before I'm done with the course. What you get on arrival is NOT a tourist visa. It's just a stamp that allows you to stay for 30 days. I'd suggest you get a tourist visa from your nearest Thai embassy/consulate or whatever it's called. With a tourist visa you are allowed to stay 60 days + 30 days if you want to extend it for 1900 baht. The tourist visa is a big, shiny, colorful, happy sticker that will take up one whole page in your passport. Ringo R fucked around with this message at 05:05 on Jun 10, 2010 |
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Jun 10, 2010 05:01
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And it's FREE right now! So there's really no reason not to get one - ask for multiple entry (might get it in your home country).
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Jun 10, 2010 08:39
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So how does this visa stuff work again? I see I can get up to 90 days with an extension in Thailand. Let's say I go there with a 60 day visa, stay a month then hit another country for awhile. Does that 60 days keep counting down when I'm in another country or does it pause? Will I come back with 30 days when I return to Thailand? How long do I have to wait for another 90 days? Next calendar year or can I stay out of the country for 4 months and get a whole new 90 days? My main concern is that I'd like to use BKK as a hub and don't want to be barred entry to the country.
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Jun 10, 2010 20:08
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It's a little confusing. Your visa is good for X days from the day you enter. Let's say it's a 60 day tourist visa. From the first time you enter, the visa is valid for 60 days. You can extend that stay by 30 days by going to immigration - you won't have any problems with this if your passport isn't full of old Thai visas. Your visa also has an expiry date on it - the final date that you can enter on that visa. The expiry date has nothing to do with the number of days the visa is valid for. So, let's say that you get a double entry tourist visa, that means you can leave and enter again after your first trip. You have a typical expiry date of 90 days from issue. You enter The Kingdom that day, giving you 90 days until your visa expires. You stay for 59 days, go file an extension and stay another 30 days. On day 89 you leave the country and come back in. At that point you have another 60 days - so your stay is still valid, but your visa is expired. That's the confusing part. You can no longer leave and re-enter, but you're permitted to stay for the 60 days that you entered on when your visa was still valid (plus the 30 day extension you file). Basically, the piece of paper in the passport is permission to enter, but the length and terms of your stay inside the country are governed by whatever gets stamped in your passport when you enter (or during your extension). Take all that with a grain of salt, someone else like Ringo can confirm. I've only ever been here on Business visas, WP extension of stay or the stamp, so I'm not a big source on tourist visas, but this is my understanding of how they work and reflects my experience with Non-Immigrant B visas (which work differently, but similarly). So, key facts to note: - Expiration Date (typically 90 days, include travel itinerary showing you need at least 90 to be safe) - Length of Stay (30 or 60 days - extension is a separate matter) - Number of Entries (single or double - I don't think they give anything else anymore)
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Jun 10, 2010 23:19
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I remember when I fretted about my Thai visa, making sure I applied for a 60-day one back home, because I didn't think the 15-day overland arrival visa would be anywhere near enough time. Then I actually got to Thailand, said "this is appalling," and left 10 days later.
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Jun 11, 2010 03:32
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I'm definitely going to get the 60-day before I leave, then. Is it really free though? I don't see this indicated on the D.C. consulate website so I should just submit my application without any fee? Should I have a preference for applying through a certain consulate over any other? I heard the L.A. consulate was known for being slow and the Houston for being fast. Or does it not matter?
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Jun 11, 2010 06:43
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ZombiesAhead posted:I'm definitely going to get the 60-day before I leave, then. Is it really free though? I don't see this indicated on the D.C. consulate website so I should just submit my application without any fee? As for the fee, just call them up before you send it and ask. It's free, so it should be free for you. They should know this because it's been going on for a while, but double-check to make sure.
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Jun 11, 2010 07:55
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