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TheRoadWarrior
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just got back to thailand last night, so ill update with current info.
i fley nok fly n ride service from DMK at 13:20 into ubon an hour later, the had a taxi to mukdahan arrived around 16:00ish, only 2 other passengers with me so it was nice and comfy
i crossed border immediately via the bus from mukdahan station (had to wait for 19:00 buss, missed the 17:30)
crossing into laos was a breeze as expected.. not even a security check, just quick check of passport.i am NOT a morning person, so i decided to arrive the night before so i could be in laos and ready to just go straight to the consulate, rather than trying to wake up super early and deal with border cross in the morning.
stayed at Avalon Residence 2, which is on the same block as Avalon and Aura, a stones throw from the bus station dropoff which is nice.Avalon 2 was a bit nicer than the pics made it look, its relatively new and clean, albeit small and simple. most importantly the wifi was acceptable, getting around 6mbps to bangkok via speedtest.
initially the clerk could not find my reservation, and after a day of traveling i was rather annoyed, i started phoning up agoda to sort the problem out, but he eventually found it, agoda had probably used up their allocation and booked it via some backchannel partnership with booking.com instead unknown to me, so the clerk was looking for an agoda rez when it was actually under booking.com in his computer. he eventually found it, and after that the service from the staff was pleasant and helpful at all times. i think i paid about 550ish tbh per night, which is incredibly cheap and i dont think you can do better for that price, so id highly recommend it for simple convenient stay.
FYI, true move mobile signal stretched all the way to the bus station in savannakhet, (had full bars all through immigration) but was a bit shakey at the hotel just a block further away, so i guess thats about the limit of the range, i used the hotel wifi instead.... i got no signal at all in the embassy.
took a tuktuk from hotel, arrived to the embassy 9am on the dot, was already a line of 20-30 people in front of me, and more lining up behind me... this was on a wednesday, which is supposedly a slower day, so i guess savannakhet is getting busier and busier.... other people in line said they had been waiting since well before 9am when it opened.
FYI tuttuk waited for me and also took me back to the hotel after, i didnt ask his rate, just gave him 200thb for the round trip which was probalby overpaying judging by his smile but i didnt care at that point it was hot!
there was no forms or pens or any signage or anything available that you would expect a consulate to have... typical SEA lack of forethought. someone in line told me that the shop/restaurant across the street sells forms for 20b, but i went up to the front window and politely asked for one through the window, which they begrudgingly handed me with an annoyed face (which is amusing since its their damn job to provide the forms lol)
i already had photos which i had prepared in TH before leaving, i get a pack of 20 or 30 photos for relatively cheap, doesnt hurt to have extras... didnt see anyone offering a photo service anywhere from the border to the consulate, but maybe the shop that sells the application forms also does photos? just bring your own.
there was only ONE girl servicing the entire line of people... so naturally the line moved very slowly... it was about an hour before i got to the front, at which time the girl very rudely told us this was NOT A PLACE FOR TALKING (myself and 2 others in line were having a conversation about places we had traveled)... she seemed quite miserable and hating life, and was taking it out on us... not a good start when applying for your visa... she asked me some questions in thai and seemed rather annoyed when i had to ask her to speak slowly (i have trouble hearing tones)... for a moment it looked like she really wanted to reject my application, but she eventually took it gave me my receipt. (FYI, all my paperwork is in order, with stacks upon stacks of more than necessary forms that my school prepares for me in advance. i did not have any bank statement paper and it was not asked for)
next day, i figured id show up a little early since there was a line already the day before... pickup time starts at 14:00, so i arrived at 13:30... only to find 20 people already in line... and worse than that, the line of APPLICATIONS was still 20-30 people deep and being serviced inside, the line for pickups was made to stand outside in the sun... with no mobile service it was a damn boring and HOT wait... they continued to process applications and made us wait outside until almost 16:00, when in typical SEA fashion, instead of letting people through the gate in the very orderly line that we had formed, they just opened another gate and said "go" and everyone ran like mad animals and rushed the desk.... people who had been in the front waiting for hours ended up in the back and were not happy, i let several of them go in front of me because i know they were there before me, but a few of them started arguing with the thai staff, in which case they decided brilliantly to move the line location, which resulted in another mad dash and people angry they ended up at the back... i was somewhere in the middle, and the line moved quickly once they started handing out passports, i received mine around 16:10 or so.
moral of the story? DO NOT arrive early for pickup, unless your bus/flight requires it... youd be better off walking up around 15:00-16:00, because the line moves very quickly once they finally start doing their job... no point in arriving early, and the earlier you are the longer youll wait.
took a tuktuk back to the border, and got the bus ticket there rather than the bus station... crossing back in was a bit slower than exiting, as thai officials examine your docs more closely than the laos side, but otherwise uneventful, mostly just waiting for everyone to get through so the bus can continue.
arrived to mukdahan station at 16:45 or so, and then had just enough time to get a tuktuk to take me to the Point Palace Hotel which is where nok fly n ride has their van leaving at 17:00... this was NOT marked on my nok resevation details anywhere, so i had no idea where to go, and the lady at the nok booth in the mukdahan station was clueless... i was attempting to call nok when the van driver himself called me as im on his passenger list and told me where he was.... i was his ONLY passenger, and he had a very nice van, with great aircon, every manner of power plug available, and a tv screen etc lol... so it was a nice ride to sakon nahkon airport (return airpot was different than arrival)... arrived around 18:00-18:15
this is where it got bad.... the original flight i booked was a 19:00 flight... which would have been perfect... but earler they had sent me an email saying it was moved to 20:50... no explanation why, but it wasnt a flight delay as the notification was the day before.... but when i arrived at the airport, they had an additonal delay , saying 21:35... then the moved it again to 22:00... well, we did not board the plane until 22:40.... each time they moved it i had to keep rescheduling my taxi at DMK.... ill probably never fly Nok again unless i absolutely have to.
feel free to ask any questions, ill try to check back later on.-
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4 hours ago, Will27 said:
I'm with AIS and it switched to roaming.
My friend is with DTAC and it didn't work at all.
ah thats a bummer... hope the hotel wifi is acceptable
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On 6/21/2019 at 9:13 AM, Will27 said:
I can recommend both Avalon and Aura Residence.
They're next door to each other.
Only a 10 - 15 minute walk to the consulate.
thanks, i booked Avalon2, seems to have good reviews and for the price/location really cant complain, averaged 550ish thb per night... as long as the aircon and wifi work thats a great deal.
random thought.... since its so close to the thai border, does your thai sim card still get signal there? or is it too far away?
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just booked my flight with nokair... guess ill have to suffer through the DMK trip and bus rides ????
any recommendations where to stay? preferably something with internet that moves faster than a snail, as was my last experience in laos
i only care about 2 things.... wifi and aircon... would sleep on the floor as long as those 2 things are ok.
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On 6/9/2019 at 4:23 PM, BritTim said:
I suspect he uses airport limos rather than jumping in a meter taxi.
i dont live in bkk.... the difference in price of taxi to DMK is about 400-600 more than swampy... so there and back to dmk adds 800-1200 vs swampy
my previous number was based on last time i went many years ago... apparently rates are cheaper at the moment
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6 hours ago, Will27 said:
I looked at flying Lao Airlines as well, but with their flight times, you have to stay 3 days.
I would use them if you could use for 1 day or even 2, but not 3.
If you're on a schedule, they make no sense.
Cost was about 7000 Baht which is 3 times more than Nok.
yeah this is the part that annoys me, their flight timing is terrible and it makes you stay 3 days because you arrive too late to start your visa first day and the return flight is too early you dont have time to pick up... vientianne via laos airlines had a perfect schedule for me could fly in and out in less than 48hrs, but my school did all my paperwork for savannakhet this time.
and 7k for the flight seems bad... but nok air is 3k+, and then you factor in the taxi to DMK instead of swampy is an extra 800ish each way, so already up to 4600+, then add in the additional busses and taxis etc... the diff would only be 2k which id gladly pay EXCEPT that their timing is useless.
might consider a 1 way fly in, and nok 1 way return
i really hate busses/taxis/transfers ????
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14 hours ago, tlandtday said:
Check Thaisanuan Tours VIP from Bkok to Mukdahan. I believe it arrives very early so I would consider it but definitely I would never take the yellow bus from Pattaya I took in the past. The bus averaged about 40 km per hour, was super uncomfortable and late.
i never take bus at all unless its just bkk-pattaya, thats not too bad.... but any further than that and id rather fly.
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or should i just fly directly into savannakhet?
the flight is twice as expensive....
BUT, once you factor in taxis, busses, etc (especially going to DMK vs BKK)
i think the overall price ends up coming in fairly close.
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On 6/6/2019 at 7:41 AM, Will27 said:
With the new Nok Air flight schedule, it's possible to do your visa run by only staying one night in Savannakhet.
Their Fly and Ride service now departs Don Mueang at 0610hrs.
Arrive at Sakhon Nakhon at 0720 with the coach leaving to Mukdahan around 0740.
About a 2 hour drive to Mukdahan gets you the border at around 0940 leaving you with over an hour to get to the Embassy.
Of course this doesn't take into account any delays by the airline etc.
And as Ubon Joe has stated, probably best to avoid Mondays and Thursdays due to agents.
I've always found Wednesdays to be the best.
good info, and id love to just stay 1 night, but i dont think id feel comfortable with such small margin for error or delays.
i have to do a run soon for my non-O, and im considering using the nok air service, but ill stay 2 nights just in case.
would you guys recommend flying in on monday afternoon and starting visa tues morning / weds pickup?
or flying in tues afternoon and start visa weds morning / thurs pickup?no preference from me, so whatever you guys think will have the least queue time (considering flight, bus, immigration, consulate)
if i pickup my visa at 14:00, is there enough time to get to the nokair bus service which is at 17:00?
according to some posts it seems like theres adequate time, but things can change daily.
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22 minutes ago, indothai said:
Thailand is definitely not a safe place to tourists. The general traffic rules do not apply and there should be large signs at the departure gates in the airports "Welcome to paradise, good luck."
I'm not sure if there is a pedestrian crossing, the video looked too grainy to tell, but from CH3 this morning the couple said they were crossing a pedestrian crossing. If so, the "big bike" is in trouble.
If there was no pedestrian crossing, then I don't understand why the "big bike" left the scene, such an a-hole. If there was no pedestrian crossing, I don't think he did anything wrong and in fact the blame can be put to the parents.
I once crossed a street with a pram with my wife... my wife was in front while I pushed the pram... I knew motorcycles just wouldn't give a rats ass about anything.
1. you dont need to understand the traffic rules of any country to know YOU DO NOT WALK OUT INTO MOVING TRAFFIC... that is a universal concept of self presrevation that seems to be lost on the idiots from the west that live such a sheltered life they have forgotten to have common sense.
it does NOT MATTER if there is a crosswalk there, not everyone stops, so do NOT run into traffic... this is a simple concept.. you wait until it is clear and you make sure you have ample time to cross
these people got impatient and just went.
2. he left the scene because you are highly unlikely to get any sort of fair trial here as a foreigner... if the media is pressuring the police to punish, they will do it regardless of whether you are wrong or not.
i watch tourists every single day here walk into traffic, without even looking... or even worse, they are looking the WRONG direction on a ONE WAY street... its absolutely ridiculous... my friend got his bike destroyed due to an idiot like this running into traffic in front of him and causing an accident... i narrowly avoided him but he continued to run into traffic and was hit... and he had the nerve to insist my friend pay for his medical bills... no one wants to take responsiblity for their actions, just punish someone else.
the parents are at fault, and the motorcyclist should be reimbursed for damage to his bike.
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6 minutes ago, thai006 said:
if people drive more slowly will never happend , ...
incorrect.. regardless of his speed, the parents pushed stroller into traffic, especially on that outside area where a motorcyclist will have NO line of site to the idiots running into traffic (his eyes blocked by the car)... in the video it does not even look like he is exceeding the speed limit anyway, but even at a reduced speed he would still hit them.
this is absolutely the fault of the parents.... they entered traffic in an unsafe manner and unfortunately their baby paid the price for their idiocy... to suggest otherwise is simply foolish.
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200% the parents fault, and the motorcycle driver and the baby are innocent victims of moronic parents running right into traffic.
if that motorcyclists suffers any sort of punishment at all, it will be an outrageous shame.... the parents should be punished, but having their child injured by their own idiocy is probably punishment enough.
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oh that poor CBR600.... what on earth did you do to it?!?!?
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BMW: the S1000RR and S1000R are also made in Thailand
what?! is that true? never heard that before... although granted im not in the market for that so never asked... but i never realized BMW had a factory here
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I don't know of a definitive list - but here's a go at making a list of motorcycles made in Thailand (not including Scooters) ......
- Triumph Street Twin and Triple and Daytona 675 - BOI arrangement
- Ducati Hypermotard, Diavel, Monster and Scrambler
- Kawasaki KSR 110, KLX 125 and 250, D-Tracker 250, Ninja 250/200, 650 twin range, Z250/300, Z800
- Honda Waves, Cubs etc., Sonic 125, MSX 125, CB/CRF 250 and 300 range, CB500 range, CB650
- BMW 800
- Aurora Hellfire - not yet in full production
- Tiger Boxer and Cub copy - not in production?
- Stallion Centaur
- Suzuki Van-Van 125, GD 110
- Yamaha TZR 150 - no longer in production
What have I missed .... ?
from that list
Daytona 675 looks pretty good.. dont like the headlights on the naked models though
duc monster and scrambler of course, classic look
CBR650f and new CBR500 both look cool... not a fan of the CB of CBX styles, but the CB650f seems to be immensely popular here
stallion centaur looks great and would make a fun scooter replacement for zipping around town
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you might find 20-25k / month for big bike if you negotiate
they are crazy expensive to rent, because their business is focused on short term holiday rentals with higher rates... it does not benefit them to rent long term for low rates... they can make more on 2 or 3 short rentals within the month.
even something small like a ninja 300 they ask 9-12k per month depending on the vendor
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I notice you have not made a contribution to this thread other than to criticise others so in the spirit of the thread.
What bike made in Thailand do you think is "cool" ?
is there a comprehensive list of all the bikes that qualify as "made in thailand" ?
i know of a handful, but surely not all of them.... having a list would help.
out of what has been posted so far, id say CBR650F and Ducati Scrambler
the NEW cbr500 looks quite good (old one boring)... but its underpowered for its weight and size... or you could say its overweight
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Coolest bike made in Thailand. The Aurora Hellfire.
looks like a turd on wheels... horrible
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The joys of owning an 'exotic' bike.
despite the face-palm level of service for KTM in thailand....i still might buy one.... the price has come way down, it looks great, its fun to ride, its super lightweight, and its more unique than its competition (R3 and Ninja300).... the only downside is the terrible sound that thumper makes, yuck.
oh the seat is horrible too, but they have an ergo seat from KTM already that is supposedly much better.
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A dealer that doesn't have filters.... how can they perform the service?
they dont, 55555
my friend has a KTM RC390 and has lost 1 of his keys
i tried both KTM dealers in pattaya and asked to order a blank key.... they look at us like we have 9 heads and asking for some mythical creature.... "no have meester, no have"
"ok, you dont have spare key, can you order one for me?"
"cannot"
"so how can i get a new key?"
"mai roo" *shrug*
"what happen if your customer buy new motorcycle and lose both his key, how you fix for him?"
"mai roo, not happen yet"
"call the main office in bangkok and ask what do do"
"oh, good idea, wait 1 minute please"
15 mins later
"bangkok say key not have chip, anyone can make copy for you"
"yes i know, but the bike is a new model and the local key shops do not have a matching blank key to cut in the first place.... KTM has blank keys, i want to order one from you"
"sorry meester, mai roo"
lol.... have to order one in europe or something and have them mail it to thailand
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couple days ago i was at the gym and noticed a sweet customized buell outside.... no plates of course..... this is in central pattaya, so im wondering how this guy gets away with riding it.
i wait for awhile and the owner eventually comes along, turns out its a middle aged thai guy, dressed business casual.... i ask him if the police give him a problem for riding a bike without plates/greenbook.... he said "no, i never have problem... when i see police, i run away" 5555..... i take that to mean he does everything in his power to avoid police checkpoints.... but he said hes had it for years and so far hes still got it.
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I saw a new KTM dealer on South Pattaya road the other day.
i heard they didnt have any bikes in yet, but that was a couple weeks ago.... could have something now... might cruise over and take a look when im bored, its very close to me.
hope they have a service department.... the operation over at the current dealer (sukhimvit) doesnt exactly give me a confident feeling.... seem kind of shady.... like quoting the OLD higher prices to interested parties despite the new lower prices being announced months ago.
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I read a test report where the journalist said the TNT300 was the best sounding twin cylinder bike on the planet......
really dont understand why they think that... ive heard several TNT300 with aftermarket exhaust and stock.... i dont think it sounds any better than others, maybe even a little weak..... R3 and Ninja300 sound better IMO
i do think the TNT looks good though... its a sharp bike, especially for the money and has nice features..... really the only complaint is the weight, its a pig
benelli tnt 300 - 185kg
ninja 300 - 172-175kg
yamaha r3 - 169kg
ktm duke/rc 390 - 160kg ish
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As for myself, I'd rather buy a used Honda Steed or Honda Shadow than anything Chinese. Same money. For me it boils down to self respect. The thought of riding a China bike makes me cringe.
Hey, I have a right to post my opinion.
iphones are made in china.... no one seems to mind having those
personally i dont care what country something is made in... judge the product on its own merits, not where it originated..... the stallion is an incredibly cheap entry level affordable bike that has a cool style and probalby a lot of fun for zipping around town.. accept it for what it is.
steed or a shadow?... completely different style... looks like theyre for old grandpas
Worry-Free Non-O-Visa Savannakhet
in Thai Visas, Residency, and Work Permits
Posted · Edited by TheRoadWarrior
oh one more nice tidbit i forgot to mention
the money exchange at the ubon airport was closed (i intended to change some TBH to USD for easier use in laos), i shoul dhave done this in BKK but i arrived to the airport with just enough time to check in.
at the laos border, the fee for canadian VOA is $42 usd... which is about 1290 thb or so.... they insisted on 1800thb... .the military looking official did not seem to be amused when i joking asked him to show me the exchange rate he used to arrive at 1800... no doubt these guys are pocketing the extra 500b... but since i didnt have USD i was at their mercy, which is just how they love it so they can take advantage.... just have to laugh and accept it, because arguing will just make things worse.... next time change money at home before leaving, lesson learned.
you also need to have 2 photos there for their form, they will charge you 100b extra if you dont have photos and use their digital cam to take one, the guy next to me in line did not have any. he also had overstayed a few days, to which i overheard them charging him somewhere around 4600thb for his VOA, not sure what country he was.