"Plan C" : Ride Share Samui-Bangkok circa August 22

[AJR3RD]

[If this is the wrong forum, my apologies. Feel free to switch it - thanks!]

 

Is anyone driving from Koh Samui to Bangkok on or about the 22nd of August? I could go up to 3 days earlier, but not later. Have tix out of the country from BKK.

 

"Plan A" is flights, trains and buses start running again on August 4. ROTFLMFAO.

"Plan B" is a friend possibly going that way, but not certain. 

"Plan C" : Share all expenses, fuel, tolls, etc. One Way. Girlfriend is fully vaccinated, I've had first shot of AstraZeneca. Would share driving if you wanted me to. U.S. driver's license, International Driver's License.

 

[Kwasaki]

1 hour ago, AJR3RD said:

International Driver's License.

???

[khunPer]

1 hour ago, AJR3RD said:

"Plan A" is flights, trains and buses start running again on August 4.

There is almost a month to August 22nd, so a lot can still happen. Why not wait and see what happens after August 4th before making appointments for plan B and plan C.

[gearbox]

4 minutes ago, khunPer said:

There is almost a month to August 22nd, so a lot can still happen. Why not wait and see what happens after August 4th before making appointments for plan B and plan C.

Sound advice. Things can go either better or worse, worse means that it may be difficult to get to Bangkok with a car if the inter provincial travel is fully suspended.

Another option is to cancel the original ticket from Bangkok if possible, and get a new one originating from Samui. The Samui+ flights PG XXXX are still operating (so far 2-3 per day), and they are used for all newly booked international tickets, when the overseas airline code shares with Bangkok Airways.

[AJR3RD]

3 hours ago, gearbox said:

Sound advice. Things can go either better or worse, worse means that it may be difficult to get to Bangkok with a car if the inter provincial travel is fully suspended.

Another option is to cancel the original ticket from Bangkok if possible, and get a new one originating from Samui. The Samui+ flights PG XXXX are still operating (so far 2-3 per day), and they are used for all newly booked international tickets, when the overseas airline code shares with Bangkok Airways.

Gee. Wish I'd known that 7 months ago when I bought BKK-SIN-JFK on SIA.

 

"Wait and see" is not a strategy that has worked well for me through 50 years of travel through more than 65 countries. Indeed, the only strategy that has EVER worked is "create options before it's too late and you get <deleted>**ed. Hence, my inquiry.

 

 

[Tropicalevo]

Plan D if all else fails. One way car rental?

[AJR3RD]

17 hours ago, Tropicalevo said:

Plan D if all else fails. One way car rental?

Will check on it. Thanks.

[goa4711]

I have a return flight BKK-AMS-HAM on August 18th, so I might be interested in joining you if you arrive in BKK on or before the 18th. However, my interest is not too strong because I could easily stay longer and the international flight can be rescheduled at little or no costs. Anyway, regarding plan A, have you already checked that public transport Samui-Bangkok actually is suspended at the moment ? I mean, are you sure you cannot simply take the ferry from Samui to the mainland and then a bus or train to Bangkok ?    

[lom]

On 7/24/2021 at 5:35 PM, AJR3RD said:

"Plan A" is flights, trains and buses start running again on August 4.

Have you asked Bkk Airways?

They are flying the Samui+ arrivals from Bkk to Samui, their planes has to return to Bkk afterwards and I don't think they fly empty if they have anyone wanting to fly with them to Bkk.

 

[khunPer]

3 hours ago, goa4711 said:

I mean, are you sure you cannot simply take the ferry from Samui to the mainland and then a bus or train to Bangkok ?

There are, according to the news articles, no busses driving until August 4th.

 

16 minutes ago, lom said:

Have you asked Bkk Airways?

They are flying the Samui+ arrivals from Bkk to Samui, their planes has to return to Bkk afterwards and I don't think they fly empty if they have anyone wanting to fly with them to Bkk.

Your need to have an all-way-through code share-ticket for being eligible to fly with the Samui+ flights.

[lom]

1 hour ago, khunPer said:

Your need to have an all-way-through code share-ticket for being eligible to fly with the Samui+ flights.

Hmm, I thought you could book Samui-Bkk on a returning Samui+ flight if you already had a ticket for an  international flight out of Thailand.

It is really worth checking this with Bkk Airways.

Edited July 26, 2021 by lom

[AJR3RD]

On 7/26/2021 at 1:48 PM, lom said:

Have you asked Bkk Airways?

They are flying the Samui+ arrivals from Bkk to Samui, their planes has to return to Bkk afterwards and I don't think they fly empty if they have anyone wanting to fly with them to Bkk.

 

You'd think, wouldn't you? No. The government won't allow it. ONLY the rich tourists on the special visas are able to land in or take off from Samui.

[AJR3RD]

On 7/26/2021 at 2:08 PM, khunPer said:

There are, according to the news articles, no busses driving until August 4th.

 

Your need to have an all-way-through code share-ticket for being eligible to fly with the Samui+ flights.

Trust me people - none of this stuff works. Tried it. 

[gearbox]

3 hours ago, AJR3RD said:

You'd think, wouldn't you? No. The government won't allow it. ONLY the rich tourists on the special visas are able to land in or take off from Samui.

That's half true. You can't book Samui - BKK flight, but you can book any international flight for which the carrier has a code share with Bangkok Airways. You don't need to be on some kind of special visa to do this, anyone can do it.

How do I know that...I'm flying out tomorrow to Europe (fingers crossed) from the Samui Airport. I managed to cancel my original Etihad flight - the global support centre was mumbling that all flights from Samui to BKK are full, which is hard to believe, and was trying to move my booking beyond 15th of August. I told them that's too late,  they cancelled completely the flight, and moved the money to my travel bank immediately (I had a covid credit/travel voucher with them). Half an hour later I booked a completely new flight, which is using the Bangkok Airways PG XXXX flights, changed my return airport from Samui to Phuket in November (I think there is better chance for this to stay opened) and also paid 3k baht less than my original booking.

So in a nutshell, if you are a sweet talker and manage to convince SIA to cancel and rebook you with extra leg Samui - BKK, (so it becomes Samui - JFK) you won't need complicated land transfers. I think in these times airlines show more understanding, furthermore they'll still have your business.

Of course money provides other options, if you want to pay through the nose you can book one way Samui - SIN ticket, and then just get off in BKK and catch your original flight. The airlines don't like this, but extraordinary times require extraordinary measures ????

 

Of course the flights may reopen after 4th, so things can get much easier.

 

[khunPer]

1 hour ago, gearbox said:

Of course money provides other options, if you want to pay through the nose you can book one way Samui - SIN ticket, and then just get off in BKK and catch your original flight. The airlines don't like this, but extraordinary times require extraordinary measures ????

The checked luggage might however end up in SIN.

[gearbox]

On 7/28/2021 at 1:16 AM, khunPer said:

The checked luggage might however end up in SIN.

Bad advice from me anyway in the current circumstances. Writing this from the Abu Dhabi airport. The flights PGXXXX are completely international flights - the immigration is done in Samui. I was stamped out at the Samui airport, in Bangkok the passengers are put in small isolated area with access only to 2 vending machines, and the staff from there leads everyone to their respective flight. No chance of changing to another flight whatsoever. 

 

I expected the passengers to land domestic and clear the immigration in Bangkok - nothing like that, there is not even the usual access to the normal transit areas.

[sucit]

How will you know you flight will be cancelled or not

[gearbox]

39 minutes ago, sucit said:

How will you know you flight will be cancelled or not

You'll get an SMS or email as soon as your flight is cancelled...as long as you provide the right details when booking.

[goa4711]

On 7/27/2021 at 10:16 PM, khunPer said:

The checked luggage might however end up in SIN.

According to the Bangkok Air website, the Bangkok Air flights to Singapore are direct USM-SIN, no layover in BKK, so no chance to jump on another flight there anyway. 

[khunPer]

1 hour ago, goa4711 said:

According to the Bangkok Air website, the Bangkok Air flights to Singapore are direct USM-SIN, no layover in BKK, so no chance to jump on another flight there anyway. 

From August 1st the direct flights begin...????

[goa4711]

Checked with KLM (code sharing partner of Bangkok Airways) today, rebooking my current ticket BKK-AMS-HAM on 18.8. to USM-BKK-AMS-HAM (1st leg Bangkok Airways Samui+ flight) would be no problem and would cost only 58 €. Changing to USM-SIN-AMS-HAM would be also possible for 108 €. The advantages would be to have one ticket that covers the whole itenerary (no fingerpointing in case of missed connecting flights), a small disadvantage that I had to do the PCR test on Samui (cheapest 3.480 THB at Samui Hospital Nathon) instead of Bangkok (cheapest one I would consider 2.600 THB at Dr. Donnas).       

[Espanol]

On 7/27/2021 at 3:42 PM, gearbox said:

you can book one way Samui - SIN ticket, and then just get off in BKK and catch your original flight.

But your luggage will continue to SIN.

 

[Kwasaki]

On 7/24/2021 at 7:21 PM, Kwasaki said:

???

You might not need a "international driving PERMIT"

if your US DL is a photo card DL. 

[Espanol]

1 hour ago, Kwasaki said:

You might not need a "international driving PERMIT"

if your US DL is a photo card DL. 

 

Not at all. You need an international driving licence when driving outside your home country.

 

[Kwasaki]

36 minutes ago, Espanol said:

 

Not at all. You need an international driving licence when driving outside your home country.

 

Don't know why I bother sometimes.

There is no such thing as a IDL you can get a IDP to accompany your home DL. 

[gearbox]

2 hours ago, Espanol said:

 

Not at all. You need an international driving licence when driving outside your home country.

 

I think in Thailand you don't need IDP if your licence is in English. It depends on the country, as far as I remember in Cambodia you do need IDP even if your home country licence is in English. It was one of the main revenue streams for the Cambodian police - if no IDP, you get fined, the fine may depend on your home country licence, the richer the country the bigger the fine ????

[gearbox]

I don't know whether the OP arranged his transport already, but in the Samui-Phangan FB group there are quite a few messages for organized minibus/car share Samui-BKK.

[khunPer]

5 hours ago, gearbox said:

I think in Thailand you don't need IDP if your licence is in English. It depends on the country, as far as I remember in Cambodia you do need IDP even if your home country licence is in English. It was one of the main revenue streams for the Cambodian police - if no IDP, you get fined, the fine may depend on your home country licence, the richer the country the bigger the fine ????

To my knowledge you need IDP, but they might not ask for it. If insurance covers without IDP is another matter. 

 

If you stay for more than 90-days you'll need a Thai Driver's License, and here is IDP also mentioned, but might not be asked for - I showed an IDP when I got my Thai license, they might even had a photocopy (cannot remember, they always get so many signed photocopies)...????

[gearbox]

On 8/11/2021 at 1:30 AM, khunPer said:

To my knowledge you need IDP, but they might not ask for it. If insurance covers without IDP is another matter. 

 

If you stay for more than 90-days you'll need a Thai Driver's License, and here is IDP also mentioned, but might not be asked for - I showed an IDP when I got my Thai license, they might even had a photocopy (cannot remember, they always get so many signed photocopies)...????

You are correct, at least on paper Thailand requires IDP,  however in practice I haven't seen a police officer asking for it. None of the people I know have IDP when they come to visit....at least the Australians. The IDP in Australia is quite expensive - 1 year IDP is $42 AUD, most people just don't bother to get it. $42 is 4 X 500 baht fines, so it is a matter of being lucky or not ????

 

But yes, if one wants to be 100% compliant IDP is required, and as you mentioned, it can be used only for 90 days.

[Kwasaki]

50 minutes ago, gearbox said:

You are correct, at least on paper Thailand requires IDP,  however in practice I haven't seen a police officer asking for it. None of the people I know have IDP when they come to visit....at least the Australians. The IDP in Australia is quite expensive - 1 year IDP is $42 AUD, most people just don't bother to get it. $42 is 4 X 500 baht fines, so it is a matter of being lucky or not ????

 

But yes, if one wants to be 100% compliant IDP is required, and as you mentioned, it can be used only for 90 days.

Firstly this driving on a home DL thing has gone on for years, an IDP is not needed in Thailand if you're Home Full DL is a photo-card licence in English with categories you can drive. 

Also valued as IDP on some visas up to 90days which is something else that is always disputed.

 

The consensus has been if you get an IDP with your home DL you don't get agro from ignorant policemen.

 

To get a Thai driving DL with a Oz DL you need a IDP but who knows when it comes; especially to the many DLT offices or maybe an agent used.