henrik2000
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Everything posted by henrik2000
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Day trips out of Phimai, Chaiyaphum, Det Udom village, Surin.
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Thanks, yes, i forgot that option. Even though in January prices might be higher. -
What i had was 60 days + 30 days tourist visas or visa waivers. I didn't fully listen to this officer, because i already had researched, and rejected, the visa that he wanted to promote. I think it was for 50+ year olds, which applies for me. Maybe "non-O"? I think it required showing bank statements from 3 different months and maybe other stuff that i found inconvenient in my personal case, even if a trip to Immigration in-country may be inconvenient as well. But let's discuss the original topic at hand.
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I do that.
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Then you trust the phone agreement more than i do. I've had phone bookings gone wrong, with staff forgetting to put my name into their computer or receiving an online booking 1 second before they could put my name into their computer (and then online booking comes first, i was told) accepting phone bookings beyond capacity out of confusion I'd at least write via Facebook, which is possible with some resorts. When i search their phone numbers from Google Maps in Line, mostly they don't show up there. When a place is "sold out", booking sites will not show their prices. I'd like to know the prices before calling, and often they don't have their own website, and on their Facebook they usually don't show prices.
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Recently at Bkk airport, the immigration officer in his booth noted the visa extensions stamped into my passport to allow for 3-months-tourist stays in previous winters, and he may have noted a 1-day-overstay-stamp. For 5 minutes he explained another kind of visa that would make 3-months-stays easier for me (in his estimation), while 50 travelers in the queue had to wait. I didn't look very "quality tourist", but he wanted to have me in-country.
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Hello all, thanks for interesting input. Well i am always wary of phone bookings, and i've been let down before (even if more phone bookings went well). Interesting that some (not all) don't accept reservations more than six months ahead.
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Hello, i try to book a mid-range bungalow (below 1800/night) about 30 kms north-west of Kanchanaburi town for Jan 25-31 or so, in towns like Ban Tha Pong, Sai Yok or Wang Pho, on the way to Erawan and Hellfire Pass, roughly between rivers Kwae Noi and Kwae Yai. There are a lot of bungalow resorts. Looking at many booking sites including meta booking sites, many resorts are "sold out" (see the markers with the red dots inside below), "sold out" now for next Jan 25, 2026. I wonder: Do you know if they are really sold out? Or do they only open up for booking later? Or maybe websites like booking.com show resorts as "sold out", even if they have no connection with the resort? (To direct customers to resorts they can offer.) The few places that actually do offer rooms on booking sites mostly don't offer free cancellation – if you book five nights now for next January, the money is gone. NOT IMPORTANT REMARKS: So much "sold out" and so little with free cancellation is very unusal for me, but I mostly book in less popular areas (and have no experience with Phuket or so). I had cases where places were actually not sold out, but presented as "sold out" on booking.com or Agoda, booking.com showed even places as "sold out" that didn't work with booking.com at all. I tried a number of other booking sites as well, also rather local sites like thai-tour or choowap. I had places shown as "sold out" on booking.com for early next year, but they were available on Expedia. I understand that booking without free cancellation is good for the hotel and that some consider it as more fair. Aware that the area in question is expensive and many resorts are above my budget of 1800 per night – still there are many within budget and fine for me. I do speak enough Thai and could phone around, but I prefer online booking, even if the agency charges 20%. Here I don't ask for specific recommendations regarding location, property, time of travel or vacation preparation.
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Hi all, thanks for new input. Ao Samet Dang would be a tad lonely for me as a place to stay and a base to cycle (this is totally personal, YMMV), but i the restaurant looks very tempting. I'd call them before heading there. I'll go next December, not in May or other hot + wet months.
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Thanks for those recommendations. The 2 recommendations on top look ok. Khrua Samet Dang looks interesting.
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Thanks. Sorry i did not look properly. I've been cycling around those two places you recommend first. But even the Laem Singh place is on the far side of the bridge. Housefulonthebeach would be the area i am after, but i worry it's beyond my budget and i have a hard time seeing prices or pictures of rooms or if the whole place is only rented out to one big party (checked website and Google Maps).
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Now i explicitly asked for recommendations NOT in Kung Wiman, and then the only replies are about Kung Wiman...
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I have been to the places mentioned above before, and to others, and would still go to Laem Singh or Chao Lao, it's a personal preference.
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Hello, i (living in the west) look for a simple holiday house or holiday apartment in the Chanthaburi beach settlements of - Laem Singh (1st choice) - Chao Lao (2nd choice) NOT Khung Wiman I searched the net for a long time and didn't find anything below 2500 THB/day – too much. You could also PM me your advice. I would like: - about 11 days from Dec 1st and/or Jan 25th for 1 person + car - some privacy, private parking, quiet (no tourist treks past my windows) - no need beach front, but within 1,5 kms of beach - pleasant terrace, garden or balcony (aware of mosquito threat) - not hemmed in by ugliness or noise - decent western bathroom incl hot shower NOT ESSENTIAL: kitchen, aircon, on-site food, housekeeping I happily do speak some Thai, but can't read or write. I could make an arrangement just by phone with a private landlord, but worry about reliability. I understand you travel differently and better. I have been to the places mentioned above before, and to others, and would still like things as described above. Thanks!
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Hi all, thanks for your comments! That's interesting, because booking.com (a Priceline brand) does not ask the passport number when booking a Thai flight on my route, i tried it (just before the Payment threshold).
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Hello, here's me trouble: February 2025 – already NOW want to book cheap one-way flight EU – BKK on Thaiairways.com for next November September 2025 – my passport expires, and i'd like a new passport only in September November 2025 – the flight takes off When booking online, Thaiairways.com asks your passport number and passport expiry date. You can't leave these fields empty. But you can fill in a bogus passport number and a bogus expiry date and click through till payment, I tried that. So could I make my online booking with bogus passport number and bogus passport expiry date? (NB, this NOT about visa application and NOT about online check-in. On those occasions I would present the correct info from the new passport of course. Also I don't need a visa beforehand.) Notes: It is not totally unlikely to have a changed passport number after booking online. One may have lost one's passport and replaced it. Getting a THAI flight on booking.com, they don't ask for your passport number and it is 2% cheaper. BUT I hear it's better to book straight with THAI in case of complications (my western home airport has a lot of strikes, and I want to book sports luggage on top of the regular luggage, doable only after having a confirmed booking).
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Unlike you, not all of us are mini-Elons.
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Chomper, thanks for your experiences again, and my own experience was exactly as you describe it; i was well prepared by your informations which i had with me as a print-out. Some of my experiences in Bkk: After booking a flight out of Bkk, I e-mailed Thai Airways about my wish to carry a bicycle too, adding the booking reference, and waited about 9 days for their confirming answer (but new year was in between). I have a regular travel suitcase too at 23 kgs (25 allowed). And at check-in in Bkk, the bicycle bag weighed 39 kilograms... The check-in lady asked me sternly: "Have you got TWO bicycles in there?? Is there anything but a bicycle in there??" She believed my lies and didn't check the inside. She made several phone calls. She wrote two numbers onto a paper: 5085 - i had to pay now for my sports luggage 89000 (or so) - i would have had to pay for regular excess weight As you described, with my bike still at check-in, i tramped to another THAI counter to pay 5085 (cash and credit card are possible). During that time, "my" check-in agent was blocked for other travelers, as the bicycle bag still throned on the luggage belt. When i wheeled the bicycle bag to the oversize baggage counter, i worried they might x-ray it for non-bicycling items. But they didn't. The bag traveled through the big machine and from the other side, the voice of an unvisible lady called loudly "OK khaaa!" It is quite an annoying procedure, but everyone was friendly-funny enough, including the excess baggage handlers and the lady taking my payment of 5085; even the check-in agent with her strict questions was nice enough. About weighing the bicycle bag at check-in: in the west, the bicycle bag didn't land properly on the luggage belt with built- in scales, and consequently a weight of "14 kg" was shown and noted by the agent. I didn't contradict. - I should have tried to heave it onto the luggage belt in Bkk also so that not the full weight pressed onto the scale, but it is not that easy. In previous years i bought local mountain bikes and fitted them with a few western parts, esp strong tires and tubes. But inspite of all the hassle described above (and of lugging bicycle bag, travel suitcase and carry-on luggage through public transport in the west going out and coming back), i'd repeat bringing my own bicycle which had not one single failure during 2 months of heavy bouncing around the fields and on sand beaches.
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AIS top up: minimum amount for 2 months more validity?
henrik2000 replied to henrik2000's topic in Mobile Devices and Apps
Thanks, this just worked perfectly. Now Centigrade above recommends topping up by only 10 Baht... Next time then. I even worried if the credit card company smelled fraud when the small sum of 30 Baht is used three times in a row. -
Hello, my AIS prepaid SIM card is still valid until November 27th, 2025. But now I (Western tourist) fly out and will not use the AIS SIM card for 6 months, as I'm abroad. The SIM card will also not be in the phone. Will the card stay valid until I return to Thailand maybe on November 10th, 2025? It is a "Traveller SIM", bought from AIS at the airport. AND: I would like to get two months more of validity, to be safe, so that the card would stay valid until late January 2026. – I understand that I must top up at least 300 Baht to get 3 months more of validity. – I understand that if I top up only 30 or 100 Baht, I would get only 30 days more of validity. Is that correct? What is the minimum Top-Up amount to get at least 2 months more? I will top up by credit card through the AIS app. Thanks!
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Hello, do you have a good shop for slightly upmarket basketry? (See pics below.) Best for me would be Jomtien or South Pattaya. I'm only a tourist and would transport the basketry back to the west in a bicycle bag, which has oodles of empty space around the bicycle. It might be nice if the vendor is helpful/experienced in packaging the basketry safer, and i will happily pay more for good quality and assistance in packaging. This time i do not need stuff made to measurement. Pictures below are from a provincial Thai market and from a western online shop. Both show things i would like. On a side note, a good hammock might be desirable too, but not the shopping net variety. Thanks for your local experience!
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Thai mosquito repellant - your experience?
henrik2000 replied to henrik2000's topic in General Topics
Hi all, now I received the Skinter Guard 95 within 48 hours by mail order. My personal experiences on the first evening: -- Trying to open the brand new bottle, the spray top falls apart and not sure I am able to reassemble it correctly -- Spraying then seems irregular and wayward (worse than other bottles with a similar spray top) -- Burns on the skin (I don't remember that feeling from any other mosquito repellent) -- Mosquitoes avoid me like the plague -
Thai mosquito repellant - your experience?
henrik2000 replied to henrik2000's topic in General Topics
Hi all, thanks again for all tips. Today I was in the big Tesco Lotus in the provincial capital (not a Lotus Express), and they had NONE of the stuff recommended in this thread. (Oh no, now in the picture in the top left I see the orange OFF can recommended here. And I didn't see it when I was there. What a failure. But I was totally numbed by the mayhem from the Lotus loudspeakers and the intentionally irritating layout of the shopping maze.) I went to one CJ More and one 7-Eleven, and they had none either, but some lotions with 12 and 13% DEET, which I find not enough. Well following advice here I did mail order Skinter Guard 95, and it might arrive tomorrow if Chinese New Year doesn't come in between. At least in the shops I got some coils and the mosquito bite relief balm.
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Thai mosquito repellant - your experience?
henrik2000 replied to henrik2000's topic in General Topics
As said before, for me it doesn't work (tried and failed again last night), but I'm alone. Maybe you have a tastier human being near you that attracts the mozzies away from you? So far I have only tried the spray variant, because that had been recommended by Thai people from the lakeside. I could try the cream, as recommended above, if I manage to find it.
