KL Visa Run Advice - CHEAP

[smileplur]

As the title would imply, I need a bit of advice about an upcoming visa run to KL for a non-b (single entry).  It's a long story involving the loss of my wallet and Chinese ATM card that I won't bore you with the details of, but I need this done extremely cheaply.  As such, I have a couple of questions that follow.  Any advice would be appreciated.  My employer selected the location and bought be a plane ticket despite me telling them I want to go to Penang.  Tomorrow, I will be flying out in the afternoon, and I will be returning on Wednesday night.  The paperwork is addressed to the embassy in KL, so I can't really change the destination.

 

1) Where is the cheapest room I can find with some sort of easy access to the embassy?  I understand that cheap is a relative term, and I won't be in Thailand.  However, I am not fooling around when I say cheap.  I don't care if it is a dorm in a hostel in a slum.  I need cheap!

2) How do I get from KLCC into town.  Where the heck do I tell this 8 ringget bus to let me off to find this cheap room?

3) I read somewhere that the embassy will accept baht as payment for the visa.  Is this accurate?  I will set 2,000 aside for this.

 

4) Is it best to buy ringgit here in Phuket, or should I wait until arrival?

[ubonjoe]

1/2 Cannot help with those questions.

3. They will only accept 300 ringgit for the fee. Here is a checklist for the visa application you will need to complete. 

http://www.thaiembassy.org/kualalumpur/contents/files/services-20170329-105635-807825.pdf

4. I suspect you might better rates in Malaysia.

[vaultdweller0013]

Would be helpful to know a rough budget. A quick search on agoda shows hostels in the 200-300 thb range in KL city. The train from the airport to KL city would be ~500 thb. If the budget is below that, say less than 2000 thb total, even getting to the city from the airport could be hard.

 

For 2, do you mean how to get from KLIA (the main airport) into town? KLCC is the twin towers in the heart of KL.

[smileplur]

I mean from the low cost terminal (Air Asia).

[smileplur]

Budget:  I guess 4,500 all in.  It might be 5,500 by tomorrow.  To get a new ATM card, I would have to return to China.

[smileplur]

I think I have answered some of my questions.  Bus from the airport is 10-13 ringgit (80-100 baht) = 200 baht round trip

Step Inn Guesthouse has rooms for 180 baht or so = 360 baht

-breakfast included

 

Visa = 300 ringgit = 2,400 baht 

 

The guesthouse is 3.7 km from the embassy, so that's a 45 minute walk. = free

 

That's about 3,000 baht.  I might even be able to eat dinner and have half of a beer!

[BritTim]

For ringgit, use SuperRich in Phuket before departure, assuming it is convenient to visit its Phuket town branch. Phone them before going to ensure they have ringgit on hand.

[ttkeric]

Just to help you with Q2.

 

The 8 ringgit bus is the 'AirAsia' bus to town. After the arrival hall, head downstairs to the bus depot. Your stop is KL Central to be precise. No, you can't just tell them to let your off anywhere. If you can, pick up a cheap SIM card with data. KL Central is in a place called Brickfields. Lots of cheap accommodation there and in the morning you can hop on the LRT (Putra Line and your stop is Ampang Park just after the iconic KLCC). About 5 minutes walk from there. 

[ttkeric]

Those 'AirAsia' bus are not really AA operated buses but they are painted in red. There are competing companies as well. Yellow, blue colours. Cheap and runs almost every few minutes all from KL Sentral (that's the correct spelling) to KLIA2. Not 24 hours but they do start at 3-4am in the morning up till midnight

[smileplur]

1 hour ago, BritTim said:

For ringgit, use SuperRich in Phuket before departure, assuming it is convenient to visit its Phuket town branch. Phone them before going to ensure they have ringgit on hand.

 

Gotcha!  I live in Phuket Town, so that is an easy one.  I will check it out!  Thanks!

 

29 minutes ago, ttkeric said:

Just to help you with Q2.

 

The 8 ringgit bus is the 'AirAsia' bus to town. After the arrival hall, head downstairs to the bus depot. Your stop is KL Central to be precise. No, you can't just tell them to let your off anywhere. If you can, pick up a cheap SIM card with data. KL Central is in a place called Brickfields. Lots of cheap accommodation there and in the morning you can hop on the LRT (Putra Line and your stop is Ampang Park just after the iconic KLCC). About 5 minutes walk from there. 

 

Thanks!  Got it!  I also found Star Shuttle Bus at 12 RMB which can take me to Pudaraya Bus Station to get me to some cheap room I found at Step Inn Guesthouse.  Good tip about the SIM.  Any idea what that is going to set me back?

[ttkeric]

SIM cards... My advice is, if possible, wait until you get to KL to buy one. Just buy an ordinary prepaid SIM, should be more or less RM10, and normally comes with a few minutes and data. Should be just great for you. At the airport, they tend to sell pricey tourist sims which aren't worth it IMHO. 

 

Hotlink, digi, celcom are the popular ones. 

[farcanell]

? if your flying From/ to Phuket, a little side deal could see you in a lovely hotel, if your happy to cart an extra bit of luggage back with you ?

[cacahootie]

7 hours ago, farcanell said:

? if your flying From/ to Phuket, a little side deal could see you in a lovely hotel, if your happy to cart an extra bit of luggage back with you ?

I certainly hope you're not inciting illegal activity on a public forum... anybody would be wise to be very, very, very skeptical of such offers unless they can be extremely certain they're not unwittingly becoming a drug or cash mule.

[my friend I]

On 25/03/2018 at 3:00 PM, smileplur said:

I think I have answered some of my questions.  Bus from the airport is 10-13 ringgit (80-100 baht) = 200 baht round trip

Step Inn Guesthouse has rooms for 180 baht or so = 360 baht

-breakfast included

 

Visa = 300 ringgit = 2,400 baht 

 

The guesthouse is 3.7 km from the embassy, so that's a 45 minute walk. = free

 

That's about 3,000 baht.  I might even be able to eat dinner and have half of a beer!

A veg banana leaf meal goes for about 5 or 6 MYR. There is an Indian restaurant at the other end of the guest house street. All the rice you can eat.

 Lots of people sleep in KLIA2. Not that comfortable but has ac.

[smileplur]

Thank you all for the genuine advice.  I have successfully completed my visa run to KL, so I thought I should update the thread with how it went.

 

I arrived in the afternoon at KLIA2 on Air Asia.  It took ages to walk out, but I followed the signs and found the bus ticket counters.  I purchased a one-way trip on Star Shuttle to Pudu Sentral for RM 12.  I made my way to Step Inn Guesthouse which has a variety of dorm rooms with or without A/C and private rooms, a common area, a kitchen.  It was very much like a common European hostel.  It set me back RM40 x 2 nights for a fan dorm.  The place was okay, but not spectacular by any stretch.  For those needing to do it super cheaply, I found a place over on Petaling Street advertising dorm rooms for RM15.  I didn't go in, but I would suspect it is pretty dodgy!

In the morning, I walked to the Thai Embassy which took about 45 minutes and arrived 30 minutes before opening at 9:30.  There were about 10 others hanging around.  They hand you the checklist and an application for if you haven't got one.  It appeared that most people were applying for tourist visas.  A few were sent away for not meeting the airline and hotel requirements from what I could tell.  They all seemed to be Russians.

 

When my number came up after 30-40 minutes of waiting, I walked to counter 3 and handed her the mountain of documents my company had prepared for me.  She ticked all the relevant boxes on the checklist, handed me a red slip of paper with my number on it, and told me to wait to make payment.  

 

The second window is where payment is done.  They DO accept baht and ringgit.  I didn't have baht due to the comments above, so I paid in ringgit.  I saw others counting out and paying in baht.

 

I came back the following day at 2:30 by foot.  My number was called within 15 minutes, and I was handed back my passport with a brand new single entry non-immigrant 'b' visa.

I can't say I am a big fan of KL.  I probably would not return there unless I had to.  Large cans of Carlsburg were RM9 at the guesthouse.  I found a shop about halfway down Petaling Street called 101 Supermarket that sold beer at a much better price.  Food was abundant and fairly good, but it was a bit more expensive than Thai food.  Petaling Street and Chinatown were like being in Star Wars bar!