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Do you need to have your passport with you when staying at hotels in Bangkok?


theboogeyman

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You already did that by booking a bus.  
 
Anyway, there is no passenger manifest and you have your passport 


I’m sure there’s something they at least did ask for our names when I bought the tickets but that was it. I remember her typing our names that we told them in the computer but they’re not actually printed on the bus tickets. So for all they know these tickets could be stolen they didn’t check IDs or anything.


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22 hours ago, emptypockets said:

I can't recall a hotel that hasn't asked for it if I am the primary customer with the exception of a couple of small resorts. Large hotels ask for it 100% of the time.

Of course they ask, that's normal but next time try offering your driving licence - worked for me last month at the Kantary in Korat and the Chao Lao Beach Hotel in Chantaburi. Also at The Miracle Grand Hotel in Bangkok in January.

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21 minutes ago, theboogeyman said:

Not if everything burns up. You do realize that is why they have passenger manifests right that’s not just an air travel thing.

You fink to mutt.  TiT.

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Thai Drivers license works fine. I never take my passport anywhere and never had a problem checking into higher end or more budget hotels. Over the past month i have stayed in both the IBIS Hua Hin and also the Hilton Hua Hin, and Thai drivers license was accepted on both occasions, without them even asking for passport.

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Oh by the way not that it really matters but the hotel only asked for my wife’s Thai ID Card only and I even made the hotel reservations under my name only. My wife’s name were not even on the hotel reservations I just booked the hotel reservations under my name for two people for 3 nights.

It’s definitely not exactly a 5 star hotel but it’s really nice for only 900 baht a night. GOD I LOVE THIS COUNTRY!! Living the American dream; in Thailand.


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And the bus didn’t check anyone’s ID at all. They only check your bus tickets and that’s it, no different than going to the movies.

The bus attendant girl kept walking past us up and down the aisle I always take the aisle seats on planes or on whatever in case of an emergency it’s easier and quicker to respond.

Every time she walked past me her back side would rub against my arm and thigh and I thought it was just because the aisle is so narrow I didn’t think she was doing it on purpose at all. Then the last time she did it she paused next to me for a second with her back side pressed against my thigh and I scooted in to give her more room to walk by I just thought I was in the way or something and I looked up and she was winking at me and giving me the eyes!! I wasn’t expecting that! I just smiled a little and I was thinking “please not here my wife is literally sitting a few inches away from me in the window seat.” I usually don’t get as much attention from girls as I used to around here because when I first visited here 10 years ago I was still in great shape and I was athletic and muscular. But now I’ve gained some weight and I’m not in shape at all like I used to be because I have some physical disabilities from a lot of old injuries. Every once in a while especially when I’m by myself I still get the eyes but not like before and usually never blatantly right in front of my wife. Luckily she didn’t notice she was looking out the window I think that’s why she picked that second to stop and smile and wink at me because my wife had her head turned towards the window. I don’t look terrible but I’m just not in shape like I used to be anymore and to look at me you probably wouldn’t normally notice that I’m disabled unless my back is flaring up or something or if I’m having a painful day.


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Bottom line not that it really matters but since it became a long discussion I could have just left my passport at home if I had wanted to and it absolutely would not have mattered just like on my past leisure road trips.


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When we first got off the bus we had a “cab driver” try to scam us within 5 minutes of getting off the bus. He took us to his personally owned car and tried to scam me out of 500 baht just for a 6K cab ride to the hotel. I knew what it was as soon as I saw his personal car being used as a “taxi”. Then he demanded 500 baht in advance.

My wife is not as street smart here because she spent most of her life in the United States she only grew up here in Thailand. She immediately got in the cab and was like “let’s just go”. So I told her “hun get out of this man’s car right now”. Then the driver grabbed my arm and said “I take you to hotel you pay me 500 baht right now”. Then I told him if you don’t take your hand off me and step back YOU ARE GOING TO SEE THE INSIDE OF AN ABUNDANCE INSTEAD OF THE INSIDE OF YOUR CAR!” So he immediately backed off and I hailed a real taxi cab. My wife and I got in the real taxi and I told the real driver where to go to the hotel and he only charged me 200 baht which is EXACTLY how much I know it should cost maximum for a 6K taxi ride after 5 years here.

They see me I still look young and they think it’s my first day here or something. Definitely A LOT different than Korat. In Korat the took took and taxi drivers never try to scam me like that. Plus most of the cab and took took drivers in Korat know me by now after almost 5 years because I use them all the time.

I remember telling my wife before we got here “watch at least one taxi driver will attempt to scam us” and I was right we had a “taxi driver” try to scam me literally within 5 minutes after getting off the bus.

When that happened I told my wife “hun get out of this man’s car right now we’re getting a real taxi. The driver tried to get aggressive with me and I told him to back off or else he would be going to the hospital tonight and he did back off quick. Then I hailed a real taxi who charged me 200 baht for only a 6K ride which is about right. In Korat it would have been more like a 100 baht for a 6K ride but Bangkok is a little more expensive so I didn’t argue over 200 baht and that was a real taxi. The real taxi driver saw what was going on and he was telling us “you can’t trust those guys” and I said “oh yeah I know”. Then I looked at my wife and I said “see I told you”. Bangkok is definitely not Korat it’s a different world down here you can’t trust anyone. I like Korat a lot better you can usually trust most people up there where I live.


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I usually don’t get aggressive like that but he was getting more aggressive trying to get my money so I backed him off and told him “if you don’t take your hand off me and step back then YOU ARE GOING TO BE SEEING THE INSIDE OF AN AMBULANCE TONIGHT INSTEAD OF THE INSIDE OF YOUR CAR”! He spoke good English and understood exactly what I said and he backed off immediately and then I hailed a legitimate taxi which my wife and I took to the hotel instead. I’m usually nice to people here but I don’t take any crap either. I know when someone is trying to scam me and I don’t tolerate it.


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Anyway I was just very lucky I guess. I have not needed my passport for anything on this trip not the really nice bus we took or even the decent hotel we’re staying at. I could have left my passport at home and no one would have been the wiser. But I’m not home in Korat yet so you never know I guess.

However DO NOT take that as advice DO take your passport with you anytime you travel more than an hour away from home especially if it’s an over night trip. I just don’t like carrying it because I don’t like the risk of losing it because I live here and a lost passport on a long stay extension which I’m living here on could potentially be an immigration nightmare if God forbid I ever lost it. So the trick is this, JUST DO NOT LOSE YOUR PASSPORT OR ANYTHING ELSE IMPORTANT. I treat my passport and immigration documents like I was supposed to treat sensitive items when I was in the military. In the military a sensitive item is something such as a weapon or a cryptographic radio which YOU ABSOLUTELY CANNOT LOSE EVER! In the regular military you could potentially be sent to prison for losing a sensitive item. Well I treat my passport, immigration documents, wallet, and keys like sensitive items in the military I just simply do not lose them ever.

Actually I carry my passport around in a hard binder case locked inside my backpack and that makes me feel safer about carrying it because I’m also very cautious about thieves as well. If anyone ever tries to rob me they’re dead or seriously and probably permanently injured. I don’t play around out there even though it’s a leisure trip and we’re out having a really good time. I’ll drink but not to the point where I’m incoherent because I like to be in control and aware of my surroundings situational awareness is very important.

But regardless of my experience take your passports with you on overnight trips just in case. You never know I could still be asked to show at some point our trip isn’t over yet.


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I can’t see a lost passport being a big deal at all. Especially if you don’t need to travel that much. Just have the copies of the stamps. Get a police report of loss. Order a new passport. Go sort at immigration. We have to go there often anyway. NP


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20 hours ago, zhangxifu said:

I can’t see a lost passport being a big deal at all. Especially if you don’t need to travel that much. Just have the copies of the stamps. Get a police report of loss. Order a new passport. Go sort at immigration. We have to go there often anyway. NP


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The blind leading the blind in this thread.

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Back home now and I never even removed my passport from my backpack and we stayed at a decent hotel too. The bus didn’t even ask for any ID at all they just check tickets literally as if you are walking into a movie theater lol. If I had left my passport at home it would not have mattered at all I never needed it on our 72 hour trip.

Although don’t take that as advice definitely take your passport with you if you’re going at least an hour away from home especially if it’s an overnight trip just in case. For a while I was getting complacent about that because we haven’t spent the night away from home in a long time and I’ve never needed my passport on leisure trips.

BUT STILL TAKE IT WITH YOU ESPECIALLY ON AN OVERNIGHT TRIP JUST IN CASE. I WAS JUST LUCKY I DIDN’T NEED IT BUT I DID BRING IT WITH ME ANYWAY. I just don’t like carrying it when I don’t have to because I’m on a long stay extension and for me if I lost my passport it would be a nightmare. I live 5 hours away from the embassy for one thing, and if I ever had to get a new passport because I lost mine there’s the $110 dollar embassy fee, the 5 hour trip to the embassy, the 10 to 14 day wait for the new passport, and I DO NOT EVEN WANT TO THINK ABOUT HOW MUCH TROUBLE IT WOULD BE TO REPLACE ALL OF MY EXTENSION STAMPS AT IMMIGRATION AFTER LIVING HERE FOR YEARS.

So just don’t lose your passport. I prefer to keep my passport locked up with the rest of my immigration documents and I hate digging it out unless I have to for immigration or other business.

I also have a serious case of OCD so that’s honestly what my issue is. Although having OCD is not always a bad thing it has always kept me sharp and on my toes because I never miss anything. When you’re OCD everything has to be a certain way and organized very particularly or it just drives me nuts. It’s a thing lots of people have it. I think my military career made me that way because everything always has to be perfect. In my old job mistakes are not an option mistakes could have caused serious problems and could have even cost a life including my own. Not just in combat either but even back in garrison doing Jump Master Duty on an Airborne Operation or something. It’s a lot of responsibility sometimes. I used to be really cool under pressure but after my 21 year military career I also developed a serious anxiety disorder and several other physical disabilities as well. Including TBI and multiple disabilities. I’m rated at 100% disabled and I’m medically retired after a 21 year career. If I had not had to medically retire from the military I probably would have made Sergeant Major within a few more years I was close.


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Also with OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) I don’t even like removing my paperwork from my briefcase and then reorganizing it, I hate it. Even at the bank when I update my pass book and have my statements printed out even the girls at the bank notice how organized I am and how particular I am about putting my paperwork away in my binder. They can see that it’s OCD if they know what that is. If you were to watch me handling my paperwork you’d notice immediately that I’m OCD by the extremely careful way I check everything when putting it away and how extremely particular I am about how I organize it.

 

It can be a good thing sometimes because my attention to even the smallest details are amazing. If someone has gone through my personal stuff I will know no matter how careful they are about putting it back exactly how I left it. I will just notice the slightest little detail out of place that most people would not even think about. My Jump Master training and a lot of other military training I’ve had including combat experience probably contributed to my extreme OCD and anxiety disorder. Because they pound attention to the smallest details in your head.

 

For example the JMPI test in Jump Master school and when doing Jump Master duty. Because when you are inspecting someone’s parachute before a jump one little missed detail could get that jumper seriously injured or killed, and that’s just on the ground. On the plane you’re responsible for everyone’s life on your chalk and if you miss the drop zone or something or make a mistake and cause a miss-drop then everyone lands in the trees and that could cause injuries and even potential fatalities. And that’s just Static Line jumping at lower altitudes. Jump Master duty on HALO Jumps (High Altitude Low Opening) (Military Free Fall) (MFF) is even scarier and twice as much responsibly. And that’s just a little bit about what I used to do for a living.

 

And then there’s combat operations in countries like Iraq and Afghanistan I don’t think I have to explain the seriousness of that.

 

So that explains a little bit about why I am the way I am. If you knew me in person you’d probably see that I’m not just weird and you’d probably like me depending on your personality. Most people do.

 

 

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I hope you stay at home forever, OP.  I couldn't possibly cope with another of your leisurely holiday's.  

 

Then don’t read it. If you only knew the places I’ve been and what I’ve done in my life. You should read my last post above this one that I just posted. It’ll give you a little bit of insight on why I’m a particular way.

 

 

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