VirgoSG

Despite the amnesty, I did online 90-day reports in March (first time I had used the web site process) and in June.  My next due date was September 13th, and my diary reminded me to do it today.  I submitted the application online at 17:15, and received an approval email from Immigration at 18:00.  If they carry on like this I shall have to start singing their praises ????

55 minutes ago, Geroniman said:

I’ve flown many times (NokAir, VietJet, Bangkok Airways, Air Asia) within Thailand using only my Thai driving licence for ID, never had a problem and never been asked to provide any extra passport info. Like the OP, my driving licence shows my previous passport number 

Same for me too.  In 8 years of extensive domestic flight travel I have not once had to show my passport.  Neither to the airline, nor to security.

Also, contrary to what many people here contend, I always use my driving licence to check into hotels.  Last year I spent 80 nights in domestic hotels (probably similar in all the other years since I have lived here) in Bangkok and all over Thailand.  Not once was I asked for a passport.  Over those 8 years, I believe just 2 hotels have insisted on a passport at check in, and on the spot I just emailed or AirDropped a copy from my phone so they can print it.  No problem.

Such a shame this glorious Khmer temple site is still disputed.  If there was any sense, the two nations should agree to share the spoils, and allow full access from both sides.  But I'm not holding my breath...

I was there 15 years ago, when you could enter the whole temple area from the Thai side, and I remember the visit like it was yesterday.  A rainy day, but none the worse for it...

Photos and a brief wrIte-up here:

https://pbase.com/howardbanwell/preah_vihear

1.  Between June 9th and 30th we drove through 23 provinces in Thailand's south, east and centre.  There was not a single Covid-19 check.  More surprisingly, we didn't see a single police radar speed trap ???? although we passed a few checkpoints where police or army were doing regular checks on road tax or for security.

2.  Even in early May there was very little around in the way of Covid-19 checks where we traveled...  We did Udon Thani to Koh Samui and passed one check in Phetchaburi (temperature only, no questions asked), plus the ferry check from Don Sak to Samui 

3.  In all our driving March/April/May/June (more than 10,000km), we only passed through a single full checkpoint, approaching Udon from the east, which we had to pass through several times.  But only a temperature check and a form to say where we were staying and sometimes a phone number

4.  I doubt there are any Covid-19 checkpoints left in the country, but even if you do hit one, it's no sweat.  At most, a temperature check and a few questions, and off you go

17 hours ago, Andyfez said:

But wanted to know if legal?

A couple of months back I rented a Nissan Terra in Udon Thani, and it came with a factory-fitted rearview camera, but with a switch to alternate between the monitor screen and regular mirror.  So I assume since they are selling this car in Thailand, it must be legal...

I tended to use the regular mirror, simply because the monitor screen takes a bit of adjusting to and I only had it for a week.  Having said that, the scope of the camera monitor is vastly superior to that offered by a regular rearview mirror

Nissan details here at this link
https://www.nissan-global.com/EN/TECHNOLOGY/OVERVIEW/smart_rearview_mirror.html

I just booked at my usual 5-star Bangkok hotel for next week -- I imagine many are still open in the capital.  Other provinces: when I checked the other day Petchaburi, Prachuap Khiri Khan, Chumpon and Surat hotels all told me that they were not allowed to be open currently.  But Surat Thani provincial government announced yesterday that hotels in the whole province could re-open from today, May 3rd

On 3/27/2020 at 10:02 AM, VirgoSG said:

I've never done a 90-day report online before because I had read here of all the hassles with the website (and had also heard that my office - Ko Samui - wouldn't accept it).  My report is due April 6th, but I was planning to be out of the country March 30 to April 2, until the travel bans put paid to that.

 

I entered the website this morning, using Chrome on a MacBook.  No problems navigating the pages, and I only filled out the fields that have a red asterisk, using the drop-down boxes where available.  A completely painless exercise.  

I received no error messages, and was not instructed to "contact my immigration office"

I received the "acknowledgement" page with a transaction reference number (attached).

Of course, I still don't know if it will be approved (currently shown as "pending" on the Check Status page).  I will report the outcome here...

Okay, my online 90-day report did get approved, so all went smoothly.  

Application done last Friday (27th), and I received an email from [email protected] an hour ago saying "Approved"

Also now showing "Approved" when I go into the 'Check Status' page of the web site, from where it was an easy link to print the paper with the next due date (to go in passport).

Maybe Immigration have finally got this working properly

 

I've never done a 90-day report online before because I had read here of all the hassles with the website (and had also heard that my office - Ko Samui - wouldn't accept it).  My report is due April 6th, but I was planning to be out of the country March 30 to April 2, until the travel bans put paid to that.

I entered the website this morning, using Chrome on a MacBook.  No problems navigating the pages, and I only filled out the fields that have a red asterisk, using the drop-down boxes where available.  A completely painless exercise.  

I received no error messages, and was not instructed to "contact my immigration office"

I received the "acknowledgement" page with a transaction reference number (attached).

Of course, I still don't know if it will be approved (currently shown as "pending" on the Check Status page).  I will report the outcome here...

On 9/19/2019 at 10:43 AM, JAS21 said:

 This topic has come up very good time for me.

 

My wife and three other friends,  all retired teachers want to go and visit New Zealand and Australia.

 

They plan to fly to the north of the north island and then drive down to the south island and then fly to Australia.

 

My wife has both a Thai and a UK passport  and plans to use the UK passport to enter and leave both New Zealand and Australia.

 

The others only have THAI  passports.

 

We did a similar visit some 12 years ago and I remember having to get some electronic Visa for Australia. I also remember you have to be careful where you got the Electronic thing from else it cost you a lot more money.

 

 Would someone kindly point me into the right direction to apply for whatever she needs

 

 can anyone recommend a car hire company such that they can hire a car in the north and drop it off in the south 

 

Thanks 

 

For visa waiver countries' (including UK) new requirement, you can access it here:  https://www.immigration.govt.nz/new-zealand-visas/apply-for-a-visa/about-visa/nzeta

Regarding rental cars, for a trip in Feb/March this year I booked via Rentalcars.com (which I use a lot), and got an almost new Toyota RAV4 from Ezi Car Rental for 29 days at THB49,000 including extra driver, GPS and full insurance.  Picked up at Christchurch Airport, dropped off Auckland Airport, no charge.  I highly recommend the Ezi service too

19 hours ago, johng said:

I hear that includes the Thailand Elite visa too...only 2 years with that.

FYI, I have a Thailand Elite visa and this week I renewed my licence for a further 5 years (in Koh Samui) without any problem.  There was no mention of my visa type during the process of renewal.  

Mediterranean skies right now at my house

Terrific stuff.  Many thanks for posting

The trip sounds fabulous.  While I'm not personally a motorcyclist, I appreciate your effort in putting the report together, as I am sure many readers will.  Great experience for you.

A question for you.  I get conflicting reports as to whether self-drive car rental is available for foreigners in Vietnam.  The internet seems to suggest yes, but tour guides I've spoken to in Vietnam say no.  Did you come across any non-Vietnamese with rental cars on your journey?

Kudos!

On 4/11/2018 at 10:17 PM, DavisH said:

Did you drive either of the cr-v or the cx-5? The cx-5 is faster but the cr-v has more space. Depends on priorities I guess.

I drove the CX-5 and enjoyed it.  Just drove the CRV around the block as they didn't have a proper demo car.  I think I could be happy with either, but the Honda just felt better made.

Hard to get definitive performance figures on both cars' latest engines but best I could discover both will do 0-100 in about 9.5 seconds 

On 4/12/2018 at 9:40 AM, superal said:

Did you ever consider the Chevrolet Trailblazer z71 which has some good features and looks or the Isuzu MU-X . Interested to hear your opinion  

No I didn't.  I have a visceral dislike of Chevrolet (based on zero personal experience I have to say), so it never appeared on my radar screen

We were at the summit at 07:00 this morning and it was a balmy 10 degrees.  Amazingly, one degree warmer than it was at our hotel  (at 400m) when we left it an hour before

1 hour ago, Bredbury Blue said:

Phanom Rung is on the way and is a must visit as is the smaller Muang Tam a few kilometres away.

I second BB's recommendation to spend time at these two lovely temples.  Depending on your timing, the former can be either busy or pretty empty, and the latter is always likely to be very quiet.  Easy to spend an hour+ at each place. 

I've driven all those roads in the past year, and the roads are generally very good.  Obviously there are some rough patches here and there, but nothing worth worrying about.

From Bo Kluea, you take the 1256 across to Pua.  That whole loop around the 1081/1256 is gorgeous.  Some great views along the way, and in November last year almost no traffic at all.  We plan to do it again later this month.

Between Nan and Phrae, be sure to stop off for an hour at Pha Nang Khoi Cave (search that on Google Maps) - a delightful (and when we were there a couple of years ago, completely deserted) temple cave, with lights and no entry fee, no office.  Lovely spot.  

And, closer to Phrae, also off the main road, is Pae Muang Pee Forest Park (search Google Maps).  A fantastic area of eroded rock formations that is very photogenic under blue skies (best to go early morning or late afternoon)

Have a great trip -- you'll love it!

Another waterfall in the are is Than Sawan, about an hour SE of Phayao city.  Not dramatic at all, but really beautiful, nicest I've seen in Thailand.  You can find it on Google Maps by searching "Than Sawan Waterfall"