Visit to Bangkok - Pattaya

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krishnandu

krishnandu

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Well, we two friends stumbled upon the recent flight deals and out of excitement bought the flight (Up + Down) to Bangkok for March 2015.

Now, we are trying to research the basic costs involved in the tour. Any tips / help regarding this is welcome.

The thing is, we cannot afford much.This trip of ours is for a bit different purpose :p

We have never been to out of India before. I have also done basic search on Tripadvisor forums.

We plan to stay in Bangkok (2 Days) + Pattaya (2 Days). Basic itenary we have planned is after getting into BKK we will go directly to Pattaya.

So, our basic plan is like...

Day 1: Land to BKK and go to Pattaya (By bus, I guess that's the cheapest) and overnight stay.
Day 2 : Enjoy the coral island, underwater aquarium, jet skii thoughout the day and overnight stay.

[Note : We'll like to stay near Walking Street / Beach Road]

Day 3: Leave for BKK on morning and overnight stay.
Day 4: Enjoy in bangkok and visit some sightseeing thoughout the day and overnight stay.
Day 5: Leave for Airport.

[Note : We'll like to stay in Sukhumvit (Near Nana / Soi Cowboy)]

If someone can roughly give us a idea about cost involved in this would be great. Though I have read many things regarding basic safety tips, tuk tuk scams, taxi scams, this place is closed today scams etc. in tripadvisor forum.

From what I have read, I think it's best to exchange INR to TBH right there in airport, as they offer the lowest. Though that's most risky but ATM and CC's will incur more charges.

Regarding Hotels we'll search in MakeMyTrip / Agoda / Somewhere else.

As soon as I book my flight I got a mail from MakeMyTrip regarding insurance, is it mandatory?

Also, please note that, we will be doing the Visa beforehand and don't plan to risk our holiday by Visa on Arrival.

Also, can you please comment on, whether it is mandatory to really carry min amount mentioned in immigration sites per person to get across Immigration checking? Or it's just theory? As we really won't be able to carry that amount.

Last but not the least thing, I'd like to ask is whether 20k - 25k enough for this trip?

Well, what more...if anyone can PM, I can explain more..!! Can't post much here :p
 
krishnandu said:
From what I have read, I think it's best to exchange INR to TBH right there in airport, as they offer the lowest. Though that's most risky but ATM and CC's will incur more charges.
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Last month when I was returning India via Thai airways, I had stoppage at Bangkok. Exchange rate on airport for 1 USD was aroud 30.62 Bahts and for 1 INR it was 0.39 Bahts. Hence I would suggest avoiding converting INR to Bahts. Even if you get 1 USD at say rate of 65 INR, you will get 0.47 Bahts for 1 INR.
 
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But as per Tripadvisor forums, only THB is accepted throughout the city. So without converting it'd be impossible for us to get around.

Though, if someone can confirm this then it'd be great. If they accept INR through the city and all, then it's not a problem at all.
 
krishnandu said:
But as per Tripadvisor forums, only THB is accepted throughout the city. So without converting it'd be impossible for us to get around.
Though, if someone can confirm this then it'd be great. If they accept INR through the city and all, then it's not a problem at all.
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I am sorry but there is a communication-gap here. I meant instead of converting INR directly to Bahts, it will be better to go INR -> USD -> Bahts way. My post in not regarding currency being accepted but rather on exchange rate.
 
Exchange rate on airport would be different then going rates shown on websites like XE currency. But you can count above rates for reference and plan accordingly. You would need to have USD before you fly from here.
 
Airport exchange rates are the worst at airports for bhat. Convert beforehand or just use credit/debit card there, I experienced this myself on my trip to Thailand.
 
I think you could book a trip package via sites like Goibibo, musafir, etc. The packages are in between 20k-25 per person including airfares & breakfast. Only lunch & dinner you'll have to add extra + VISA charges.
 
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pauldmps said:
I think you could book a trip package via sites like Goibibo, musafir, etc. The packages are in between 20k-25 per person including airfares & breakfast. Only lunch & dinner you'll have to add extra + VISA charges.
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Thanks. But I love to plan my own understanding all the aspects. Generally the tour packages costs much more and you are not independent to choose to stay for more time at one destination if you like it.

Also, I don't plan to travel much here. We are on a different kind of trip :P So tour operators are not needed here. We'll be visiting just handful of places there. We plan to invest in different aspect :P[DOUBLEPOST=1415727161][/DOUBLEPOST]
Sanav3 said:
Airport exchange rates are the worst at airports for bhat. Convert beforehand or just use credit/debit card there, I experienced this myself on my trip to Thailand.
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Thanks. But I read that for Debit Cards, ATM's charge 150 - 180 THB flat extra + whatever my home bank charges are.

So where should I look for better exchange rates? I was thinking to do it in BKK Airport. But from various comments it seems that it'd be a bad idea to do that.
 
I've gone there only once with some friends and we didn't spend much time in Bangkok, only 3 nights in Pattaya. Unless you're going there only for the women, it's a pretty shitty place to be honest. Jet skiing could be fun, but you can get scammed. Make sure you don't damage anything as you'll have to pay through your nose. My friend bumped into a boat with his jet ski and broke a mirror - The engines were off and he was only drifting at that point, the only damage on the boat was a mirror but we had to pay close to 12k to get out of there.

The bars aren't really great either. The same standard pool tables and women dancing around you, anywhere you go. As an Indian, you probably won't be allowed inside any of the nicer places unless you're willing to spend 10K INR just to enter. I can't tell you much more because I got bored after one night out. I felt like I'd seen everything there is to see and spent the remaining two nights in my hotel room while my friends went out. Seriously, I watched Star Movies in Thai for 2/3 nights :/

However, I can tell you that there are plenty of ladyboys around. I can also recommend the Amari hotel in Pattaya if it's within your budget. Personally, I think there's only one reason to go to Pattaya and if that's not what you want, there are so many better places to visit in Thailand.

As for your question about showing cash during immigration, I believe we did carry that amount with us in our wallets, but I don't remember taking it out at the airport. It was a few years ago though, so my memory is a bit hazy.
 
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ashrr said:
I've gone there only once with some friends and we didn't spend much time in Bangkok, only 3 nights in Pattaya. Unless you're going there only for the women, it's a pretty shitty place to be honest. Jet skiing could be fun, but you can get scammed. Make sure you don't damage anything as you'll have to pay through your nose. My friend bumped into a boat with his jet ski and broke a mirror - The engines were off and he was only drifting at that point, the only damage on the boat was a mirror but we had to pay close to 12k to get out of there.

The bars aren't really great either. The same standard pool tables and women dancing around you, anywhere you go. As an Indian, you probably won't be allowed inside any of the nicer places unless you're willing to spend 10K INR just to enter. I can't tell you much more because I got bored after one night out. I felt like I'd seen everything there is to see and spent the remaining two nights in my hotel room while my friends went out. Seriously, I watched Star Movies in Thai for 2/3 nights :/

However, I can tell you that there are plenty of ladyboys around. I can also recommend the Amari hotel in Pattaya if it's within your budget. Personally, I think there's only one reason to go to Pattaya and if that's not what you want, there are so many better places to visit in Thailand.

As for your question about showing cash during immigration, I believe we did carry that amount with us in our wallets, but I don't remember taking it out at the airport. It was a few years ago though, so my memory is a bit hazy.
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That's the reason why when I went with my friends, I didn't go there for the women. We only went to Phuket, spent a week there doing all tours and activities and had a fantastic time. The last day we took scooters and drove around 70 kms in Phuket. Typically we used to leave early at around 8-9 AM, spend the day on a tour or something, reach back by 9 PM, change and take a shower and head out again till around 2 AM, just walking around the beach. Everything is pretty much open till 2 AM.
 
Sei said:
That's the reason why when I went with my friends, I didn't go there for the women. We only went to Phuket, spent a week there doing all tours and activities and had a fantastic time. The last day we took scooters and drove around 70 kms in Phuket. Typically we used to leave early at around 8-9 AM, spend the day on a tour or something, reach back by 9 PM, change and take a shower and head out again till around 2 AM, just walking around the beach. Everything is pretty much open till 2 AM.
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Haven't been to Phuket, but I hear it's pretty cool. Koh Samui is also amazing, well worth the money.
 
ashrr said:
I've gone there only once with some friends and we didn't spend much time in Bangkok, only 3 nights in Pattaya. Unless you're going there only for the women, it's a pretty shitty place to be honest. Jet skiing could be fun, but you can get scammed. Make sure you don't damage anything as you'll have to pay through your nose. My friend bumped into a boat with his jet ski and broke a mirror - The engines were off and he was only drifting at that point, the only damage on the boat was a mirror but we had to pay close to 12k to get out of there.

The bars aren't really great either. The same standard pool tables and women dancing around you, anywhere you go. As an Indian, you probably won't be allowed inside any of the nicer places unless you're willing to spend 10K INR just to enter. I can't tell you much more because I got bored after one night out. I felt like I'd seen everything there is to see and spent the remaining two nights in my hotel room while my friends went out. Seriously, I watched Star Movies in Thai for 2/3 nights :/

However, I can tell you that there are plenty of ladyboys around. I can also recommend the Amari hotel in Pattaya if it's within your budget. Personally, I think there's only one reason to go to Pattaya and if that's not what you want, there are so many better places to visit in Thailand.

As for your question about showing cash during immigration, I believe we did carry that amount with us in our wallets, but I don't remember taking it out at the airport. It was a few years ago though, so my memory is a bit hazy.
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Thanks a lot. I think I got my answer. Unfortunately that's our only reason. As we have heard that everything is cheap in Pattaya than Bangkok. So that's why we planned Pattaya.

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Sei said:
Your use of 2 smileys in this post are a bit concerning to be honest. Be safe and have fun!
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pauldmps said:
;)
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Thanks, you guys got my point. It's our only motto..!! :p
 
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krishnandu said:
Thanks a lot. So do you suggest to drop Pattaya and stay in Bangkok? I heard that everything is cheap in Pattaya than Bangkok, so I thought of going to Pattaya. If it's not worth it, then I'll drop it.
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I don't have any personal experience with Bangkok but it's a big city and a very popular tourist destination appealing to just about everyone. From what I've read and seen, there are many different things to do. I assume it's more expensive than Pattaya though.

Maybe you could spend one night in Pattaya and see if you like it - One night is enough to get a good idea about the place. If it's what you want, continue to stay there or go back to BKK.
 
ashrr said:
I don't have any personal experience with Bangkok but it's a big city and a very popular tourist destination appealing to just about everyone. From what I've read and seen, there are many different things to do. I assume it's more expensive than Pattaya though.

Maybe you could spend one night in Pattaya and see if you like it - One night is enough to get a good idea about the place. If it's what you want, continue to stay there or go back to BKK.
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Sure. Yeah we are only booking hotel for the first night and planned to do exactly what you said.

BTW, we'll also be taking 250 THB Happy SIM Cards to call back home and communicate between us (in case of emergency). So I guess it's better option instead of activating International Romaing which incur much high charges. What do you guys think?
 
if you have a citibank debit card, you can take out the money from the citibank atms in the local currency. and citibank rates are usually very good. and never convert money at the airport.
 
You can contact ICICI for converting rupees to baht, but I would recommend using Credit card directly for big transactions and withdraw cash from ATM using Debit card when needed.
Also you can buy Thai prepaid SIM cards @ airport and they come with one week of free 3G and India calling was Rs 3 per min.
 
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