I've been looking at few hotels in BKK. Suffice to say there are many choices. It seems that Dream Hotel is quite popular amongst 2+2ers (it does seem that one pays a premium for the blue lighting compared to other boutique hotels in the vicinity).

One thing I've found is that some of these hotels have "joiner fees". I've never heard of this when renting a hotel before. Being BKK, is this where I pay a fee to the hotel staff to join me for some raunchy fun? If so, I'd like to be able to choose the prettiest girl, is her fee more than the ugly one?

lol


do yourself a big favor and spend a day reading this thread

kinda read through the visa site and i don't really understand much about visas.

do i have to send my passport in to get the visa?

my friend's passport is expired. is there any way he can get it renewed and get the visa in 2-3 weeks? we are us citizens obv.

Got your nearest thai embassy/consulate.

If you are in VA that would be DC for you.

Apply for a triple entry tourist visa.
They may not give you triple but they should at least give you dbl entry.

Each entry gives you a total of 90 days in country. (60 days when you 1st enter and 30 day extension can be gained at any Thai immigration office ) At the 90 day point you cross a border and come back in and start agin with af resh 60 days.

Your friend needs to use one of the expediting services to be able to get his new US passport and then the Thai visa.

The Thai visa applicatio only takes 24 hours. (Drop it off at the embassy 1 morning, pick it up the next afternoon)

Was wondering this as well. Do you need proof of round trip ticket or will one-way suffice to get a tourist/any other type of visa?

These are all embassy dependant questions so i would contact the closest one and ask what they need. if one asks for too much then try another. If you can deal with houston i've heard that they are the best to deal with long long term (1+ year) stays.

for 3-9 months(1-3 entry tourist visa) most embassies should work but they might ask for different things for it

my situation

im 20, playing 5/10 to 10/20 lhe from sydney australia. in a few weeks once my passport is renewed im gonna fly out to thailand for a week or 2, partly for a holiday to get my mind off the terrible downer im in the middle of (party, gogo girls, degen it up), and partly to scope it out to see if i like it enough to move there semi-permanently in 6 months or so.

so far its looking like im gonna hit up phuket around kata beach as thats where the majority of 2+2ers are (im hoping some people here are cool to hang out, show me around and stuff)

few questions

1. i know kata/karon are great places for beaches, good bars and restaurants, but what about girls?
2. how far by taxi is it to other popular areas and how much?
3. if theres any australians here, how do i get a visa?
4. i see quite a bit of disdain for tourist fish. what do i do to avoid becoming one?
5. what about atms in phuket? will i have ready access?

we are not very cool but maybe someone will show you around

1. kata might have a girl or two for you too
2. you'll need to get a motorbike (either rent or buy one) pretty soon after you settle in here. taxis/tuktuks are expensive. from the kata/karon area it's about 15-20min to patong for example and I think it costs between 400 and 500 baht. just forget them
3. get one from perth(non immigrant visa). good for 15months. if you just want a tourist visa for 3-9 months you can get it from other cities as well. just contact the nearest thai embassy/consulate in your area to know what they require.
4. too lazy to open translator to figure out what that word means
5. atm's are everywhere. I suggest you contact your bank to see how much they charge for withdrawing from abroad. in finland the fees are huge (2e+2.5% per transaction). You can easily open a bank account here and wire the money in. takes couple of days but much cheaper

obv id look into buying a bike if i end up going back for a long period of time, but its not very practical for a week or two? also will i need a license for a bike?

can you really get a visa for 15 months? thats pretty insane since from what i hear everyone else is forced to leave the country and return to get extended for 30 days

disdain is what pumpui feels for everyone who isnt him

you can rent a bike for 2500-4000 a month. usually ppl do that if they are staying under 6 months

you need A license. any license with your picture is fine to get through checkpoints. you can also get a thai driver's license. it takes 1 day. if you search this thread you will find my trip report of getting that.

the visa itself is valid for one year. every time you come into the country you get 90 days of stay after which you have to leave the country. if you come into the country one day before the visa expires you can stay for 90 days more hence the "15 month visa"

tourist visas are 60 days permission of stay per entry but you can extend that for 30 days inside thailand.

the 30 days you mentioned is for coming into the country by air WIHTOUT a visa

hope this helps

it helped a bunch, ty

lol, gold!

i drove without one for like 6months and so did alot of other people(and alot of thais) but it wouldnt hurt obviously, gets annoying having to go to the police station to pay the fine if you get stopped.

no wonder theres alot of accidents here, when u get caught speeding the fine(200-400baht around bkk at least) works as a free-pass for the rest of the day if you get pulled over again lol.

i am planning on staying for ~month so the 30day should work fine for me. It looked like it was about $60 to get a double entry visa. I have to send my passport to DC? How long would this take?

like i said you need a license to get through checkpoints. if you want to drive without one then prepare for some hassle at some point. during high season you can't get to patong without bumping into a checkpoint at some point. I had a EU license for car only and it gets through the checkpoints. I think vlad used his student card a few times, dunno if it worked every time.

I still suggest getting a valid license. If you are in a accident and don't hold a valid license you are always the one who broke the rules. If your bike's insurance, registration etc are in order and you have a valid international or thai driver's license you have some leverage.

It only takes a day to do in thailand and it's an experience too so why not do it

do you need a license from your home counrty to get a thai license? i havent gotten around to doing that here yet

I thought I was sold on phuket but I talked to an old childhood friend
who now lives part of the year on koh phangan and strongly reccomends it..

otoh it only has 10k inhabitants and afaik no western style hospitals,
and I have some security related fears; he told me most of the expats there are poor, I dont want to become a target?

koh samui also looks interesting but I obv have no connections there..
(he could help me with a lot of stuff on koh phangan)

no

have you been to both phuket and koh phangan yet ?

haha no I havnt even been to thailand yet but I have no choice but to leave my country so thats that.

I have been to indonesia many times (half indonesian half german) though
and could always move and live there but for now Id like to give thailand a try

Was a realy nice night tonight. Thanks for the 2+2 that's show me around. :-)

TR?

if you live in a decently big city check if you have an embassy first, mailing to dc wont take that long though, think i got mine in under a week

imo if you really want the beach then go to phuket not samui and def not koh panyang sp?.....if beaches arent much concern bkk and chiang mai are both overall cooler places i think but it really just depends on what you are looking for. 2+2ers in all 3 places.

Koh phiphi is a most to see too :-)

Im not sure what Im looking for but beaches are a huge plus.
Im not coming to party or for the whores I just want to get my head straight, relax and play a lot of poker for some time (6m+)
before deciding where to move and what to do next

why not samui?
from what Ive read its about as developed as phuket
but less crime, sextourists and so on?

correct me if Im wrong I have no clue obv