More Penang Questions

[Michael W]

Haven't quite ruled out flying down rather than bus or train. So if I were to take an AirAsia flight BKK-PEN (7:25am dep, 10:05am arr) I'd need to get my visa application to the Thai consulate by 12 noon if I wish to pick it up and return to Bangkok the next afternoon. I want to apply for a triple entry tourist visa.

1. If I'm rushing from the airport to the consulate on the morning of my arrival, would it still make sense to go through one of the Chulia Street visa agents, or would there not be enough time? I read a post where someone said he had no problem getting himself to the consulate in time from the airport ("40 minutes to Georgetown"), but how much, if any, of a detour would it be to go to Chulia first to one of the agents? How far is the consulate from Chulia?

2. Could one of the agents like Manaff (Man) be booked to meet at the airport to expedite things?

[aaaaaa]

but how much, if any, of a detour would it be to go to Chulia first to one of the agents? How far is the consulate from Chulia?

2. Could one of the agents like Manaff (Man) be booked to meet at the airport to expedite things?

Thai consulate is not so far from Chulia if you go by taxi. by public bus there might be a bit longer - mostly due to uncertain time how long you'll have to wait for right bus, if you would be able to find it at all. I recall only one bus # 7, which goes to Kebun Bunga (Botanical Garden), and you should get down 1 stop before the "Waterfall" hotel.

another thing is - Consulate is not on the main road but inside some small lanes, so, even when I went there sometimes by motorbike, not always get there from first try.

so, my advice would be - better take a taxi.

or even better - just let an agent do it, coz they have all the connections there and perhaps would be able to submit document even later then normally allowed for visitors. there are quite a few of them on Chulia, personaly I always use service of Ali and / or his bro Mohammad, their used book shop is on the right side of small lane leading to Swiss guest house.

if you use agents, you would pay them extra 20 to 50 RM - depending on kind of visa and how fast you want it made (they can do even next day). I think trip by taxi up-down from Chulia to Consulate would cost you more, and then still the chance would be slim that you can make it before noon - even IF you leave airport at 10:10am (5 min after arrival) and make your Chulia detour first. better give your documents to agent and with peacefull mind use the freed time go get room in some hotel.

[monochaser]

Nope, with the new flight times, you will need to spend 3 nights to be safe. I discussed with agents there and they want that passport the afternoon be4 or right when they open. You cant rely on racing from airport to consulate to get in be4 noon. Those cheap Air Asia tickets cant be changed; you'll have to buy a new one. On the outbound, there is not enough time to pick up passport and get to airport in time to board flight, hence 3 night stay if you do the air asia thing. I booked my 3 nights a month ago for early June. I'm not taking any chances. It's a drag but gotta take a 3 night vacation there as I'm not one for cutting things razor close and likely not making it. That's the way it goes now when outbound depart time was changed on AA. I used to do it in 2 nights when flight out of Penang was later, never ever in 1 night. If you train it down, you can likely pull off the 1 night thing. In a way it's a good thing to unpopulate that air run as many folks are unwilling to do 3 nights. It works for me, a nice break out of BKK if a bit of a bore. At least i can drink some non thai brewed beer for a while. that part makes it a joy. I bring my lady so no worries on that end either. These agents dont get paid squat to do these visa runs so they not gonna meet you at airport on the cheap. I forget the exact price but some will do the airport meet and guarantee 2 nights (used to be 1) but I passed cause the guy wanted like 4000 baht for the priviledge. Oh and of course those AA flights to Penang are usually(always) late so you'll get burned trying the tight squeeze thing for sure. BKK airport does no prioritize those cheap flights getting off the ground quickly. You'll be waiting behind the major carriers. I dont think I ever arrived on time in Penang, always screwups and delays. One good thing though is that outbound from penang, the flights are usually delayed due to BKK logjams but do you wanna take that chance? I know I wouldnt; that'll be the time it's on schedule. Bottom line is that cutting it close dont cut it. I'm not sure I'd trust the agent you pay 4000 baht to for the guarantee either. If the flight is late, you're screwed. what, like the guy is gonna pay your hotel for your plane being late and your air ticket? I dont think so. He'll say the guarantee was based on flight arriving on time

Edited May 21, 2006 by monochaser

[monochaser]

Oh and about Mohammud Ali and the book store dudes; they dont wanna do the expedite things as he told me the last time and if they did do it, it would not be cheap. I use those dudes all the time and got in there br4 noon the last time. They did not offer any expedite whatsoever. they just said come back in the afternoon 2 days later and pick up

[rainman]

why do it with an agent at all? i've been to penang 2-3 times (not quite sure anymore), but all you need to fill out is a form and give them your passport and one or two photos, then the fees, that's it. so...why use an agent? if you can read and write in english and know your name, birthdate, address, etc. you can really do it yourself. and you don't need to stay 3 nights (unless you want to). fly one morning, go straight to the embassy with the taxi and submit your application, pick it up the next day - thats it!

before air asia changed their flight times (return at night), i was able to do it in 1 night (january 12th-13th 2005). but this year its not possible anymore, so you'll need 2 nights. and dont worry about not making it to the airport, you have 1 hour at least from when the plane lands ..if not, you can change the tickets with airasia in penang even though they tell you its not possible in thailand. i just did my visa in mid-march, took 2 nights. i had booked 3 but went to the airport on the next day and just asked if i could fly back ..no problem, no fees.

Edited May 21, 2006 by rainman

[Michael W]

before air asia changed their flight times (return at night), i was able to do it in 1 night (january 12th-13th 2005). but this year its not possible anymore

I don't quite understand. If you pick up your passport at the consulate at 2pm or so (maybe as late as 2:30 if there's a line) and then take a 40 minute taxi to the airport, wouldn't that give you enough time to make the 5:05pm departure time for the AirAsia flight?

[monochaser]

maybe you can do it. give it a shot and let us all know. I wouldn't count on anything but sounds like it could be done. rainman got his ticket changed, good for him but I wouldnt rely on that. as long as you know your worst case and can handle it no prob. so worst case is you buy your air tick leaving one day come back next. you arrive in penang late and cant get to consulate in time(take rainman's do it yourself advice, agent is out) so you grab an extra night hotel. then you got your plane ticket to deal with. so you call airasia and they say no changes for sure so you go to airport 300 baht each way to try and get what I will call a "rainman free tick change" but they say no go. you take taxi back to hotel with your newly bought plane tick (highest price, not 2-3k more like 4-5k). ok you go embassy 2nd day grab passport, race to airport in heavy traffic to find that you miss flight (air asia closes gates 30 min be4). 2 more taxi fares + hotel + another wasted air ticket. lets add up worst case: 2 plane ticks 5K ea = 10K, 4 taxi fares 1200K, 2 nites hotel=3K...all total 14200 worst case scenario. of course all of this not likely but possible. add to that the massive aggravation involved should this or any part happen=priceless. as long as you are willing to accept that this could happen, go 4 it. I've seen these things happen all the time. they are nitemares. it's a large gamble that I will not take. I got my 3 night stay and I'm comfortable. I've been to Penang 10 times and seen all kinds of flight delays and traffic to airport. rainman knows that at least the 2nd night is needed

[KhunMarco]

As rainman says no need to use the visa service, BUT when you consider the price of the taxi to go and return from the consulate to your hotel and the fee to pay for the service, there's not much of a difference.

So in the end I just prefere to spend my time chilling out in my Hotel room and let the "agent" drag his feet under the sun.

The lazy farang

[monochaser]

Amen to that, KM, but some people try to cut the corners to shave off the extra day...not for me. for 220 baht or whatever, those dudes can do the leg work while I kick back

[ovenman]

before air asia changed their flight times (return at night), i was able to do it in 1 night (january 12th-13th 2005). but this year its not possible anymore

I don't quite understand. If you pick up your passport at the consulate at 2pm or so (maybe as late as 2:30 if there's a line) and then take a 40 minute taxi to the airport, wouldn't that give you enough time to make the 5:05pm departure time for the AirAsia flight?

At one point in time there were two daily BKK-PEN and v.v. flights on AirAsia. Then they cut back service to one flight in the morning. They are now once again running two daily flights.

[Michael W]

What would be the total cost for a triple entry tourist visa? I had heard a figure of 1000 baht/entry but thought that was in the context of an O (or non-O) visa. Is it the same for all visas and should I be looking at just a 3000 baht (Malaysian ringgit equiv.) figure or is there a separate 'base' fee in addition to the fee for each entry?

And while I'm at it, can payment be made in baht or do they require ringgit (or maybe even US$ like in Indo)?

Edited May 22, 2006 by Michael W

[lopburi3]

Don't know the price for sure but I also recall 1,000 baht per entry being mentioned. Payment must be in Ringgit so you should take enough to pay if you do yourself.

[RedHotChilli]

I just got back at the beginning of the month.

The triple entry was about 3000 Baht and the service fee was 300Baht (I think it was 330 Ringgit) I went through the visa service at the Love Lane Inn Guesthouse. They gave it back to me at 14.30 and I was at the airport by 15.15 ready for my 17.05 flight to Bangkok.

RedHotChilli

Edited May 23, 2006 by RedHotChilli

[monochaser]

Well there you have it. This will be my 1st Penang trip since they changed the Penang-bkk depart time from 10:00 to 5:15 and I did not want to experiment. glad to hear that red hot guinea pigged it for us. too later for me, perhaps next time. just better hope agen gets passport back be4 3 pm