wondercul

It must have been hurting tourism giving only 15 days.

Evidently it seems broken logic to exclude the smaller wealthy countries from the 30 day deal though.

30 Days for Brits.

And the rest of the g7 countries also still 30 days?

Is it 15 days or 30 days for UK passport holders as of now 2016?

The sad fact here is that the minimum income of 18,600 pounds a year is very hard to secure for average people returning back to the UK. Add in the visa fees and TB tests and English tests and it becomes near impossible for a lot of people to take their wives/husbands and kids to the UK.Famillies are split apart.

What really bugs me is when you read about Jihadi Johns family getting houses paid for costing 10's of thousands a year, dole, assistance and their kids piss off to Iraq beheading westerners and hating the west.

This is a crazy world we live in!

May I remind/inform you that it was the Tory(conservative) government who raised the limit to £18,500 per year.

You can vote for the future government in May this year!

Well the ATM get you 2 ways. Firstly they add around 5 bucks fee. This is global now. Then they offer to convert the transaction into your local currency. If you pull 300 dollars, they will possibly make an extra $30 out of you doing this. 10% roughly. This compares to my home bank who charge an exchange rate load of 2% plus £1.

You can choose. Unless your home bank charge some absolutely horrific exchange rate fees, then it's usually cheaper to get your cash withdrawal billed as in the local currency. But find out what they bill you. Your bank statement is not clear enough.

I've done the Mekong Express bus from PP to HCMC many times. Take Mekong Express from Orussey Market. Leaves 3-4 times a day. It's six hours, with ferry, lunch, border stops. You arrive in HCMC on the park side of Pham Ngu Lao (backpacker area). Leaves HCMC for PP 3-4 times a day. Go to address 275M for bus ticket. Mekong Express written large on the shop sign. Fare was something like $12, I think, but that was 3 years ago.

The bus goes through Svey Rieng, Cambodia and crosses at Moc Bai, VN, a major border point. Viet immigration is a pain and takes half hour to 1 hour.

Kaoboi thanks.

Anyway it's not worth wasting a moment of your time on a-holes.

also headed to HCMC soon, have never been though. Plan on getting a thai visa and spending some time along the southern/central areas and coming back, but I am considering migrating there as well (from Chiang Mai). Have fun!

you plan on getting a Thai visa, do you mean Vietnam visa?

What's your background by the way? I'm in my late 20's and had a varied upbringing... from England.

I'm in phnom penh and will shortly go alone to Vietnam over land. First stop maybe Ho Chi Minh. What do you think?

I'm over Thailand. And Cambodia has bad transport. I gather Vietnam is a bit better.

What's your experience in Vietnam? I'll be looking for travel buddies. I'll have my Vietnam visa tomorrow.

I'm heading there for 28 days, from April 7th. Will land in Jakarta alone and try to find a travel companion, a local girl or fellow travelers.

What's your experience in Indonesia?

If you wanted total chill out, take a bus or taxi from Cebu city up to the north end of the island then take the ferry over to the very quiet island of Bantayan Island.

In exchange for my qualified advice (I've been to over 30 locations over 11 months all over the Philippines), will you tell me what other places in SE Asia you have visited?

Philippines. The Number 1 island for tourists is Boracay. It's cheap, has nightlife, world class beaches and boat trips. Easy to access. Stay away from the middle of the island if you want to relax.

Number 2 is Bohol or more specifically Panglao island next to Bohol. Much much less foot traffic but still plenty of places to eat and a nice beach and a couple of nice boat rides. But for nightlife, not anything like as good as boracay. Fly into Cebu City and take the fast boat or fly direct to Tagbilaran - quicker.

I cross at Poipet regularly; it's no big deal as long as you ignore the endless queue of aggressive touts on the Thai side... after that, it's just another tedious border just like anywhere else. The free bus to the bus terminal is a scam. You can get a ticket to SR from one of the four bus companies on the road up from the roundabout for about $4-$5. The bus terminal is much more expensive. Not that I'd ever get a bus when you can hire a taxi for $25 (as many occupants and bags as you want to put in it) and skip the endless break stops (which are completely unnecessary in a two hour drive). And if you buy a bus ticket in SR - you can get back to Bangkok for $9.... so even $20 from Bangkok to here is twice as much as the trip actually costs.

The free bus is not a scam any more. Its the best option now.

Is the normal tourist visa a single entry?

Anyone done this border crossing INTO thailand?

1. When did you last do it? (month and year)

2. What time did you hit immigration? (1.30pm etc)

3. How long did it take you to clear Thai immigration?

4. What transport did you take once crossed into thailand?

5. How do you rate the experience?

Anyway as this is becoming boring ,I take it you read the Guardian as well,no offence ,but once again I don't give a monkeys,and judging by the response,neither do 99,% of the other readers,so best of luck hating those nasty Tory toffs

So By By

Yeah, stuff does get boring when your emotionally tied beliefs are challenged by actual facts.

Definitely buy some pesos in Thailand before you go. 3,000 (about $80 worth) will get you started. It's currently 45 pesos to the dollar. Or 67 to the £ GBP.

The philippines has money changers in every proper city, and the rates are often competitive. I never changed money at manila airport. A good philippine money changer will only take about 1.3 pesos off you per dollar/ £pound you change. It's EASY to buy pesos. If you need to shift them before you leave, buy dollars or whatever they give you a good rate on, because the pickings for foreign currency are often slim.

It's not hard to look up the exchange rate. I use an app on my phone to tell me.

The peso is experiencing investment at the moment and is too strong, in my humble opinion.

Philippines has ATMs. All charge for foreign cards now. 150 or 200 pesos. ($3-$4) Only HSBC is free. There is one HSBC in Manila, and one in Cebu. But it might cost you most than 200 pesos to reach the one in manila, because the city is huge.

I would not get a taxi to Angeles personally, I prefer the bus because they employ less heavy braking and accelerating, and it's like $3 !

By the way, I consider Angeles to be a miserable shit hole, and I've been 3 times, (I used to have a girlfriend there) but some guys like it.

The people who sleep on the streets on the whole are the bottom of the barrel ,druggies. Work shy,and the drunks who live of their social, that the tax payer has to give to them ,so to be blunt I don't give a Shit.

However, you should give a shit. Want to know why? Because the worse the situation, the worse crime is. If you clean people off the street (and remember that most of the UK's wealth is now held by a tiny minority of people) by taxing the super rich, you reduce crime and make the cities safer for everyone. Your bicycle is less likely to be stolen if wealth inequality is made better. Or if you are a bit better off, your Ford / Mercedes is less likely to be vandalised.

Anyone born into an abusive family can end up as a drug addict or homeless. It's very hard for people to overcome negative upbringings without projects to get their life on track. Yes, some chose to live on the street, but most would not if they were given real help. The kind of help needed that has been de-funded by the Conservative government in order to make their friends even richer. Their whole policy is make themselves even riche, at the expense of the rest of the country.

Want proof and sources? Look for yourself, the list in endless if you open your mind: https://www.google.com/search?q=uk+wealth+inequality&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

Link between crime and inequality: https://www.google.com/search?safe=off&q=uk+wealth+inequality+linked+to+crime

ImageUploadedByThaivisa Connect PRO1425105477.658446.jpg

The picture posted above is where to go when you already HAVE a visa.

The visa building is the first one on the right side of the street. Some idiot wrote on the google review of the building "this is not the official visa building" but it is!

I will report my experience.

OK basically i took the most busy land crossing from Thailand. I took a bus from Bangkok, mo chit station for 220 baht to Aranyupatiet or whatever it's called, the Thai border town. I stayed the night for under 400 baht aircon room. I got woken in the night and for that reason didn't wake up until 11am.

Anyway it didn't matter too much. I took a tuktuk for 80 baht to the border. 7km. Enter the Thai border area and went upstairs to get my exit stamp.

Back down and tons of Asian locals are flowing through on their free passes. Lucky b***ers I'm thinking. I heard so many horror stories but if you're used to asia, it's not that bad. I literally ignored every guy who called out to me on the cambodian side. Not one chased me. The down side was the visa building was pretty hidden on the right just as you leave Thailand. I walked in the insane heat, sweat dripping from my head to the ground. I reached Cambodian passport control, a non aircon crap building. A helpful westerner directed me back to the visa building. Great. More walking in the hot midday sun, i thought. The visa was actually really easy. Fill in the quick form and hand over $30 and refuse to add 100 baht on principle. I don't want to encourage corruption. This only cost me about 4 minutes extra waiting time for the visa. After 1pm you might want to pay it as at this time the line at passport control is growing longer.

Anyway passport control line took about 35 minutes. The line was just inside the shade when I joined it. I'm glad I didn't get there even later than 1.30pm.

They stamped me in no problem.

In Cambodia proper, i continued with my determination not to get scammed and paid a tuktuk to take me to the local bus station, 500m or so away from passport control. Bad idea, because the local bus station only has 2 buses a day to Siem reap. I paid the tuktuk 4$ to continue andtake me the 11km to the big bus terminal. Some British guy told me they took the free transfer bus. I heard it was some scam, but the free transfer bus is in fact the best way. In fact, I've read about so many damn scams! I was so nervous. But at the end i was thinking, that was not hard at all! I would definitely do it again the same way, staying overnight on the Thai side because my total transport costs from Bangkok to Siem reap were $20! A ton cheaper than flying! And there were no bad prices for water etc. In fact, both sides of the border are competitive and full of things to buy! Both sides accept baht!

Any questions? If you're used to aggressiveness, then cambodians around the border seem like the nicest most honest, gentle people! The street kids didn't even blink at me! Honestly all the horror stories must have been written by soft wussies.Talk to people on the cambodian side who you get a good feeling about. Not everyone there is trying to scam you. There are some official guys with ID tags walking around, talk to them if you have a problem. If you have any sense it's fairly easy to tell when someone is trying to get money out of you.

Here is the visa building, taken from the wrong side because I walked past it at first.

Can I leave Cambodia and come back within the time frame of my current visa without paying again? I am British and paid 30 dollars for 1 month (2 days ago)

for farang life with money in Thailand is truly sabai sabai.....1

yeah. how inspirational. people with money think about their life and guess what? it's <deleted> great!

I don't have much sympathy for poor immigrants going to the UK and i believe they should be sent home. However, the homeless situation and expense of the housing and lack of affordable options is so bad and had gotten worse for many multi generation British people. Tories have only acted in the interest of the rich. Everything else has been commentary to convince people and distract people.

My own family have been badly affected by the attacks on the London housing situation. They want a London with only the very rich. It's disgusting what they gave done to our country.

Thanks.

Now for the bus that's $10 to siem reap!!?

Some mad guy taxi told me the last bus has gone.

I just exited Thai passport control and got stamped out. Now I'm in no man's land with casinos, like the grand diamond city Casino.

I heard so many people telling me to get a visa to Cambodia. The only guy who seemed legic was a police man with tourist police uniform. He had a form and wanted 1,300 baht.

I'd rather pay the $30 correctly. Can you tell me where to go, preferably with a picture of the building or very good description.

Pack of of 2 cooked boiled eggs

oh yea. they come individually too. doesn't jive well with my digestion though.

I ate street food chicken and rice the other day, v near sukumvit in bangkok.

The next morning I had stomach pain and diarrhea (for the first time in asia!!). Go figure.