aparasher Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 I need to rent a car for a day. How is renting a car in Thailand specially from reputable car hire companies? I am planning to rent the car from the airport from one of these providers. Is there any difference in rent if I book in advance from Aus compared to getting one after landing there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kcErik Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 I have rented from Thai Rent-a-Car, Avis and Hertz. I recommend Thai and Hertz if you want your car waiting at the terminal. Avis requires you to take a shuttle a kilometer or two away from the terminal. All are very good and can offer the right kind of insurance coverage at reasonable rates (and you want the coverage, trust me!). I would book in advance as certain classes of cars are often sold out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aparasher Posted March 7, 2012 Author Share Posted March 7, 2012 Yes. I am definitely planning to get additional coverage to reduce excess. I tried to book using the package that Jetstar (airline in Australia) offers, but they did not have option for additional insurance or child seat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huayrat Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 Dont do it you will be driven insane with monster road rage everyday Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CharlieH Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 If its only one day, given the traffic and driving conditions in Thailand, balanced against what they will charge you, I would hire a car with driver. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post lonewolf99 Posted March 7, 2012 Popular Post Share Posted March 7, 2012 I have driven in many countries round the world and they are all different. Scandanavia, South America, Qatar, France, Spain to name a few and also Australia. What I was not prepared for there was tail gating at high speed. Australia is not the UK and I found it a bit unerving. But comparing any of them to Thailand does not come into the equation. I had been here 3 years before I had the courage to attempt it. Nothing can prepare you for the madness. Undercutting i.e. over taking on the inside. No lane discipline at all on 5 lane highways. Tailgating. Traffic merging at snails pace from side streets that pull out in front of you causing you to slam on the anchors. Running red lights. Pulling away at less than snails pace from traffic lights and then taking 3 Km to get up to top speed and not thinking about slowing down for any one. You also have to know about the infamous "U" Turns. This is where there is not an exit on the highway near where you want so you have to do U turns into the oncoming fast lane and then try to cut across 5 lanes of traffic to get where you want....then you meet cars, truck, motor bikes and motorised food carts coming the wrong way towards you in the inside lane. Motor bikes attacking you at all angles and all speeds. I could go on and on. Death and mayhem take place on a daily basis. If you have never been in this country before, I would advise not hiring a car. Public transport is cheap, and very frequent. Tours and trips are all well organised on the whole. Other factors to consider are poor confusing and non existant signs and the ever present police waiting to pull foreingers over for no reason other than you are foreign and they will want money from you before you can proceed. You do not have to take any of my advise, but a fantastic holiday maybe completely ruined. I hope in your case it is not. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huayrat Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 I have driven in many countries round the world and they are all different. Scandanavia, South America, Qatar, France, Spain to name a few and also Australia. What I was not prepared for there was tail gating at high speed. Australia is not the UK and I found it a bit unerving. But comparing any of them to Thailand does not come into the equation. I had been here 3 years before I had the courage to attempt it. Nothing can prepare you for the madness. Undercutting i.e. over taking on the inside. No lane discipline at all on 5 lane highways. Tailgating. Traffic merging at snails pace from side streets that pull out in front of you causing you to slam on the anchors. Running red lights. Pulling away at less than snails pace from traffic lights and then taking 3 Km to get up to top speed and not thinking about slowing down for any one. You also have to know about the infamous "U" Turns. This is where there is not an exit on the highway near where you want so you have to do U turns into the oncoming fast lane and then try to cut across 5 lanes of traffic to get where you want....then you meet cars, truck, motor bikes and motorised food carts coming the wrong way towards you in the inside lane. Motor bikes attacking you at all angles and all speeds. I could go on and on. Death and mayhem take place on a daily basis. If you have never been in this country before, I would advise not hiring a car. Public transport is cheap, and very frequent. Tours and trips are all well organised on the whole. Other factors to consider are poor confusing and non existant signs and the ever present police waiting to pull foreingers over for no reason other than you are foreign and they will want money from you before you can proceed. You do not have to take any of my advise, but a fantastic holiday maybe completely ruined. I hope in your case it is not. said everything i wanted too but was to tired to write haha 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xen Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 I have been using Fastcar Hire for quite a few years to hire cars when i need them and the advantage is that you can compare prices from the bigger car hire companies - Hertz, Budget and Thai . They also seem to be a bit cheaper than booking thru the car company itself . If you book thru Fastcar then just present your voucher at the desk at the airport . As for extra insurance , check out your travel insurance to see if the extra cover is covered by it . Some Travel insurance companies cover it, some don't. Best of luck with it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richard_smith237 Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 You don't say where you want to drive... i.e. Bangkok, Phuket etc... Bangkok is not recommened, taxi's are much easier, especially if you don't know your way around. I'm assuming you want to hire in Phuket, you''ll have no worries, just keep your eyes open and don't drink drive!. In Phuket, I hired a Jazz for B1000 per day a few weeks ago (a friend organised that, I don't have the company name or contacts with me). In the past I've used Euro-car for a CRV, they took me to a nearby office (I booked that through a deal offered at a tourist fare in Bangkok). On other occasions I've always just turned up and hired a car from the arrivals hall. I never really noticed much difference between all of the options (i.e. pre-booking and onsite booking). Given the amount of scams running in Phuket, going with a reputable company is a good idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impulse Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 (edited) I'd suggest asking for a referral for a car with driver, which will cost you less than you'd think. Then they have to worry about the insane traffic and parking. I ditto the other recommendations to not drive in Thailand if you're here short term. What they have also not mentioned is that once you get to your destination in any city, you'll probably spend another hour cruising around looking for a place to park. Yeah, you'll read from long time residents how there are gazillions of secret parking spots in town, but they forget it took them a long time to find them. That's how I get around outside of BKK. In town I stick to public transport and taxis. I'd send you the names and phone numbers of the guys I use, but I don't know how they'd respond to a request from overseas from someone they've never met. Plus, you didn't mention your destination city. Edited March 7, 2012 by impulse Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aparasher Posted March 7, 2012 Author Share Posted March 7, 2012 I am planning to drive from airport to Prakhon chai which is a small town around 1 hour from Surin. I will drive there to pick up my wife and baby. Being a small town there are no taxis available and our baby is too small to endeavor 6 hour of bus ride. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevenl Posted March 8, 2012 Share Posted March 8, 2012 I am planning to drive from airport to Prakhon chai which is a small town around 1 hour from Surin. I will drive there to pick up my wife and baby. Being a small town there are no taxis available and our baby is too small to endeavor 6 hour of bus ride. From airport to there you'' experience nearly no Bangkok traffic. You'll be fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daewoo Posted March 8, 2012 Share Posted March 8, 2012 I booked directly with Avis Thailand via their website (for a family holiday in Phuket and Krabi), then followed it up with an email to organise the child seats... I tried all of the 'mum & dad' businesses in Phuket, but none could provide (2) child seats... The prices were about 50% more, but also comfortable knowing that an international company is less likely to try and scam you on repair bills... Happy with the service... I had it delivered to my hotel for free and returned it to the airport (designated parking)... I would have no problem driving in BKK although I've never done it... just make sure you have a good GPS, and know how to input your destination without having to spell it, because even the Thai spelling is completely random... Cheers, Daewoo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Javabear Posted March 8, 2012 Share Posted March 8, 2012 I used Avis from the airport about 3 years ago. No trouble at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landslide Posted March 11, 2012 Share Posted March 11, 2012 I have always booked through fastcaruk.com. They will give you excellent rates on all the major car agencies in Thailand, Many of the rates include zero excess charges. Never had a problem with them. GPS and chold seats are available for an extra charge. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khaowong1 Posted March 11, 2012 Share Posted March 11, 2012 I have driven in many countries round the world and they are all different. Scandanavia, South America, Qatar, France, Spain to name a few and also Australia. What I was not prepared for there was tail gating at high speed. Australia is not the UK and I found it a bit unerving. But comparing any of them to Thailand does not come into the equation. I had been here 3 years before I had the courage to attempt it. Nothing can prepare you for the madness. Undercutting i.e. over taking on the inside. No lane discipline at all on 5 lane highways. Tailgating. Traffic merging at snails pace from side streets that pull out in front of you causing you to slam on the anchors. Running red lights. Pulling away at less than snails pace from traffic lights and then taking 3 Km to get up to top speed and not thinking about slowing down for any one. You also have to know about the infamous "U" Turns. This is where there is not an exit on the highway near where you want so you have to do U turns into the oncoming fast lane and then try to cut across 5 lanes of traffic to get where you want....then you meet cars, truck, motor bikes and motorised food carts coming the wrong way towards you in the inside lane. Motor bikes attacking you at all angles and all speeds. I could go on and on. Death and mayhem take place on a daily basis. If you have never been in this country before, I would advise not hiring a car. Public transport is cheap, and very frequent. Tours and trips are all well organised on the whole. Other factors to consider are poor confusing and non existant signs and the ever present police waiting to pull foreingers over for no reason other than you are foreign and they will want money from you before you can proceed. You do not have to take any of my advise, but a fantastic holiday maybe completely ruined. I hope in your case it is not. said everything i wanted too but was to tired to write haha Me too. Not sure if I could have said it this good either. :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soboringtochooseaname Posted March 11, 2012 Share Posted March 11, 2012 IS Thai Rent a Car the cheapest you have found ? It seems impossible to get a good deal with the international companies as Avis, Hertz, and others... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xen Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 IS Thai Rent a Car the cheapest you have found ? It seems impossible to get a good deal with the international companies as Avis, Hertz, and others... Like i said before , check out FastCar UK for rates and you will find good deals for all of them with Thai Rent A Car being competitive but having 5000 thb excess . http://www.fastcarhire.co.uk/?paidclick=MShotSUMMER. See what you think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bendix Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 From an enquiry about which car hire to use, to a tirade against driving in Thailand in just a few posts. Thaivisa at its best as always. It never disappoints. (miserable f*****s) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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