Thailand

When Mum and Dad visited we visited Angkor Wat/Siem Reap in Cambodia for a few days. Instead of paying the $AU400 per person round trip flights offered by Bangkok Airways (the only airline flying Bangkok to Siem Reap), we went by car. I drove my car from Bangkok to Aranyaprathet (on the Thai side of the border), then we crossed over and caught a taxi to Siem Reap. The following is how we did it. I collected a lot of this information from Tales of Asia and the ThaiVisa forum.

Bangkok to Aranyaprathet

We left Pathumthani at about 6am on Thursday 12 August. This was the first day of a 4-day long weekend in Thailand (Queens Birthday), so the early start was to avoid potential traffic jams as people left Bangkok, as well as arrive at the border in time to avoid long queues at immigration. We took the Rangsit-Nakhon Nayok Road which is 2-lane (in one direction) all the way to Nakhon Nayok. Then we turned right onto No. 33, which goes all the way to Aranyaprathet. This road us 2-lane most of the way, except with two sections (probably about 40km) of 1-lane road. Overall it was an easy drive: the 240km plus couple of toilet stops taking 3.5 hours.

I had read on ThaiVisa that a secure car park is available at the border. As you drive directly towards the border check point, the large Rong Klua market is on the left. On the right (as well as on the left just past the entrance to the market) are several car parks. As our car slowly passed the turn to the market the attendants run towards the car trying to get is to enter their car park. At this stage there was little traffic around. I turned into the first on the right, called Getaway. It had shade clothe covering parking spaces, plus a large, clean toilet block. Price was 100 Baht a day, and yes, the car was their in tact when we returned 5 days later.

Crossing the Border

As we organised our bags at the car, two "helpers" came spoke to us, offering to help (with bags, visas, getting across the border, taxis on other side). After reading the great info about the Aranyaprathet/Poipet border crossing on Tales of Asia I had a good idea of what we needed to do and declined their help. However they did offer us a Cambodia arrival form which I declined but should've taken as filling it in at Cambodia immigration was a headache. Anyway, from the car park it was a 50m walk to Thai immigration for departure.

The Thai departure building is on the left. There were spaces to queue outside, but at about 10am noone around. Inside the building was a queue of about 10 foreigners in front of us. It took about 10 minutes to get through for Mum, Dad and I, except Wan didn't have her departure card and had to return to the end of the line, adding another 15 minutes.

Once out of Thai immigration we proceeded across the bridge to enter Cambodia. There is a big Angkor style arch way, then on the left some small buildings and a tent for a health check. Spotting the foreigners a guy at the health check tent (two small tables and some chairs) directed us in to complete the simple forms. Then he showed us the way to Cambodia immigration (on the right side of the road, about 150m walk past the several casinos which many of the Thais are going to).

Note that we already had our visa – an E-Visa I obtained online about a week beforehand. This E-visa was simple and quick. You visit the website, provide the details of the people travelling, upload a passport photo, pay $US25 with credit card (the payment is handled by a third party, perhaps PayPal, and supposedly safe) and then they email you a PDF of the E-Visa that you print (two copies) and take with you. I received the email the day after applying. On mine there was a mistake in my name (I think I made the mistake). After letting them know in a response email they quickly corrected and sent me the updated PDF. The benefit of an E-Visa: no need to get a visa on arrival before passing Cambodia immigration (saving time on potentially long queues, and avoiding the need to pay extra 'tea money' to the officials). The cost: an extra $US5 processing fee (official price on arrival is $US5, but higher prices may be quoted). Although I didn't experience the hassle of getting a visa on arrival first hand, I would recommend getting the E-Visa to others.

Back to Cambodia immigration. It was a small building with about 10 foreigners lined up at two windows inside. An immigration office was handing out arrival forms – this is where it would be nice to already have this form as filling in passport details and hotel addresses while writing on your knee is not much fun. Note that our 'helper' from the health check was still with us, and lent us a pen. The entire process of filling in the form, queuing and waiting for the immigration officer to check us in took about 30 minutes. There was no request for extra money, except the officer handing out arrival forms (for a price he said we could avoid the queues).

Getting to Siem Reap

After getting through immigration and officially in Cambodia, about 10m away was a waiting area for free buses to the International Transport Centre where we could get taxis (or a bus) to Siem Reap. Our helper got on the bus with us and within 5 minutes we were at the transport centre, which had a couple of buildings and plenty of Toyota Camry's ready to take people to Siem Reap. Our helper said the price was $US12 per person (it was also written on the window of the taxi ticket booth). I asked for $US40 (there was 4 of us) and he said ok, but that we shouldn't forget his tip. I paid for the ticket (with $US100 note that I wanted to break up) and 5 minutes later we were on or way. I gave our helper 100 Baht. Even though I knew what was coming and could have done everything without him, he was nice and took us to all the right places (not trying to scam us) making things a little less stressful.

The drive to Siem Reap took about 2 hours. The taxi driver, who didn't speak any English, made it an interesting trip though. Firstly, it was a right-hand drive car driving on the right side of the road. Especially leaving Poipet where there was a lot of traffic, it was pretty stressful for Dad, sitting in the front seat, as the driver started to pull into the centre of the road to pass cars. The driver couldn't see oncoming traffic, but Dad sure could. On top of that the driver kept his hand on the horn. Any car, motorbike or pedestrian on our side of the road received about 5 toots to warn of our arrival. Even the cows were warned. We later realised Cambodia drivers use the horn for warning much more than in Thai (and in Australia), but still this driver was over the top.

As expected, as we got into Siem Reap even after showing him the hotel, the driver took us to a small street and stopped near some tuk-tuks. The driver got out and another guy poked his head in saying that he is not allowed to go on any further, so we have to catch a tuk-tuk to the hotel. We get in the tuk-tuks, along with a tout who tried to get us to book him for touring Angkor. We declined his offer and gave him 50 Baht (too much) when we were dropped at the hotel.

Return to Thailand

The night before we were to leave I asked a tuk-tuk driver outside our hotel if he could organise a trip to Poipet for us. He said his brother had a Camry – price $US25. We agreed and had a peaceful trip back. Actually gave him $US30 as he had some interesting stories, drove safely and only used the horn 5 times in the whole trip.

Getting back into Thailand was easy. Firstly on the right side near the large roundabout in Poipet was a small building were we got our Cambodia exit stamp. No lines, no wait. Then walked passed the casinos again and into Thailand. About 10 minutes in Thai immigration and we were finished. Went to the car, drove into Rongklua Market for some shopping then back to Bangkok.

If travelling to Cambodia (Siem Reap) again I would take this overland option, rather than flying, again. Although stressful crossing into Cambodia, there were no major hassles. The 2nd time should surely be much easier.

On August 10 Mum and Dad arrived in Bangkok for their 2nd visit to Thailand. They have 2 weeks here, and plan to hang around Bangkok, travel to see Angkor Wat in Cambodia, and perhaps spend a few days in Kanchanaburi. They flew direct from Melbourne to Bangkok via Jetstar (after driving from Mt Gambier to Melbourne, with a stopover in Ballarat for 1 night). Coming from the Mount, you can choose to fly either via Adelaide or Melbourne. They were quoted about $AU2600 (return for both people) from a travel agent (either via Adelaide and Singapore, or via Adelaide and Sydney). But in the end they tried Jetstar for a total of $AU1600. The $AU1000 saved is spending money for the next two weeks. I was a little worried recommending Jetstar to them, but the with a comfort pack (blanket and video unit) they found it a pretty good flight, mainly because of the no stopovers. Maybe I will try Jetstar next time ...

Photos from their stay in Thailand and Cambodia are in the gallery.

With Mum and Dad's visit to Thailand upcoming, I got around to finally uploading photos from Pete and Ally's trip in May this year. They had 3 weeks here. Together we visited Bangkok (avoiding the red-shirt protests, but not curfews), Chiang Mai and Kanchanaburi. At the end they went to Koh Samui and a couple of nights in Singapore. Maybe I'll add more about some things we did later, but for now check out the photos.

Going away for a couple of weeks I had planned to use the mobile phone tethered to the laptop for occasional Internet access. I had used it once or twice before, and although only EDGE (not 3G), it is good enough to check email, browse some news and check some tourist. As an aside, 3G mobile Internet is a contentious issue in Thailand, with very little UMTS coverage, including in Bangkok, provided by the popular operators AIS and DTAC. There has been a prolonged decision about awarding spectrum licenses I guess mainly because of the business and political conflicts between the two government telcos, CAT and TOT, and the commercial operators, AIS, DTAC, and True.

Anyway, I was foolish enough to assume the mobile broadband access would work when I got to Chumphae, without testing before I left home. Of course, it didn't, and I'm guessing that it is something due to my upgrade of Ubuntu from 9.04 (when it worked) to 9.10 (now it doesn't). When I plug my phone in to the laptop (via USB), it is recognised and the nice wizard for creating a new Mobile Broadband connection allows me to select my network operator (AIS). However when I connect, the Network Manager almost immediately reports GSM Disconnected - You are now offline. I do have Internet access on the mobile where I can browse some sites, so I checked some Ubuntu forums, but haven't found a solution yet. I will diagnose the problem when I get home, and post more, including my thoughts on Ubuntu "upgrades".

Update: I worked out how to fix this - see my solution.

Today I finally got my Thai drivers license. For the past two years I've been driving with my Australian license with an International Driving Permit. The permit only lasts one year (I was lucky enough to be back in Oz to renew it last year). Driving with the permit is legal and hasn't caused me any problems. The 4 or 5 times I've been stopped at check points, the police have not had any queries about it. However both my Australian license and permit are due to expire soon, which motivated me to go through the steps to get the Thai drivers license. Here's what I had to do.

Documents Required

As I have a valid International Driving Permit, there is no need for a (written or practical) driving test. The procedure for getting the Thai license is taking the correct documents to the Department of Land Transportation (DLT), completing a colour-blindness, reaction and depth perception test, and thats it. The Driving in Thailand website gives an excellent run-down of what is needed. This is what I took:

• Australian license and International Drivers Permit. They both must be valid. You need the orignal plus 1 signed photocopy of each.
• Work permit, as a verification of my address. Photocopies of the pages with printed information about you (address, employer etc.)
• Passport and photocopies of: personal details, the white arrival card, latest entry stamp, and current non-immigrant visa stamp.
• Health certificate. I got mine at Krung Siam St Carlos Medical Centre on the weekend. It cost 160 Baht and the checkup involved: a sight test (the typical read a row of numbers with one eye shut); colour-blindness test (read a number, printed in dots of one colour, surrounded by dots of another colour); measure of blood pressure, weight and height; and a question from a doctor if I suffer from epilepsy. In total, they took about 15 minutes, plus a good hour and a half waiting.
• A translator (Wan was nice enough to come with me)

The signed photocopies of all the documents (except health certificate) are necessary. The people at the DLT mainly looked at the copies, not the originals.

Photos are no longer needed - they take a digital photo of you there and immediately print it and attach to your license.

Getting to the DLT in Pathumthani

There are in fact two DLT's in Pathumthani. The main office in Lat Lum Kaeo, and another office in Klong Luang. Some friends had been to the office at Lat Lum Kaeo, and so I decided to go there. (Out of interest, the office in Klong Luang is, according to these two posts, at the Inland Container Depot in Klong 4. It can be reached by going east on Klong Luang Road until the Eastern Ring Road, but going left along a local road. Although I haven't been yet, I think this is it on Google Earth).

To get to the DLT in Lat Lum Kaeo, travel west on Pathumthani-Rangsit Road (number 346), crossing the Chao Praya river. About 3km from the Chao Praya river is a set of traffic lights at a T-junction. Go right (left takes you into the main business district of Pathumthani town), and then turn right at the next set of a traffic lights (this 2nd set of lights are 5km from the Chao Praya river). The DLT is on this small soi: there is a government building about 200m on the right which is NOT then DLT; another 200m is the DLT on the right (there are some small food and copy shops on the left). See the map below or the find it on Google Earth.

Getting the License

Inside the building is where the translator first becomes useful. We arrived a bit after 9am, and the car park was already almost full and there were quite a few people inside. All signs are in Thai. The license centre is upstairs on floor 2. There are about 6 numbered windows/booths, a couple saying One Stop Service in English, all other signs in Thai. We were directed to window 5 and proceeded as follows:

Received the application form from Window 5. The form is in Thai - the 2nd reason for a translator. It asks for name (in English and Thai), age, nationality, passport number and a set of tick boxes which I still don't know what they mean. Fill it in and return to Window 5.

Behind the booths are some people getting there photo taken and doing sight tests, as well as a small room labeled E-Exam. We were directed there. There were a few people in line and being processed quite quickly. As I approached the woman, who turned out spoke ok English, showed me a single colour-blind test sheet. This was the same as at my health checkup, except only one number (health checkup had about 10) and the same number as the previous guy - I could have just repeated his answer. She then directed me to the other test area (next to all the computer terminals for the written test).

Supposedly a reaction/reflex and depth perception test is required. Four applicants sat waiting for about 20 minutes for a tester to come. There was a seat with accelerator and brake pedal in front of it, and then 6 or 7 metres away a box with green light and a 30cm vertical ruler with a thick line marked on it. You put your foot on the accelerator and after a few seconds some green LEDs start lighting up along the ruler. Once they turn red you must push the brake pedal (before the red lights hit the thick line - less than 1 second). The first guy pushed the brake before the red lights came on - a couple more tries and he got it right. The next older guy, didn't hit the brake before the red LEDs hit the marked line or the top. But he got it close after another try. The third guy was successful, then on my turn I was too slow, slightly going passed the marked line. But before I got a chance at the 2nd attempt, the tester had already ticked all my tests (including, I guess, the depth perception that no-one else did either) and sent me back to window 5.

The lady at window 5 looked at my documents quickly again, return them and a number to me and told us to wait 'over there'. This is the part I hate about such places (in any country). There are people, queues, tests every where. Which line do I wait in? Even the translator didn't help this time: Wan asked another lady where and she sent us into a waiting room, which ran an instructional driving video, as about 30 people wait. It took as 25 minutes before we realised that the people waiting didn't have the number I did - they were outside.

Once I got in the correct queue (of 2 people), the next woman looked closer at my documents, entered in my details and I paid 205 Baht. Then a photo. 3 minutes later my Thai license was produced and we were finished.

It took less than 90 minutes in total. It would've been about 1 hour if I got in the correct queue. That is very good service, and I'm not too concerned about going back in a 1 years time to get my real license. This one is just temporary.

My car is about 1 year old now. Some stats:

• 18,000km traveled which is about 350km per week. I've done a few larger trips: Khon Kaen (3x, 1000km round trip), Yasothon (1200+km), Kanchanaburi (400km); as well as driving to work most days (25km round trip).
• 600 Baht per week spent on fuel (normally Gasohol 91, which is 10% ethanol and 90% benzene 91 octane). Average price of 26.5 Baht/litre. When I bought the car the prices peaked at about 37B/l, but dropped down to 15B/l at one point.
• 14.7 km per litre or 6.8 litres per 100km.
• Insurance was free for the first year, but I just paid for the second year: 16000 Baht for first-class insurance through Aioi; 1600 Baht for government taxes.
• Free service for 100,000km, however I had to pay about 3000 Baht for oil/parts for my 10,000km service.

The car is running fine. Only two complaints so far: my reverse parking sensors don't work very well - they often sound constantly (meaning I am about to hit something) whenever I reverse, even when nothing is nearby. Thats something that Toyota will fix for free when I take the car in next. The other problem is the blind spot caused by the front right frame between the front windscreen and drivers side window. I notice this mainly when turning, especially U-turns, as I need to lean forward to look at the front windscreen or look out the side window. I haven't noticed such a problem in other vehicles I've driven, but mainly its because of the many U-turns that are made in Thailand (on many roads you can't turn right - you need to do a U-turn and go back and turn left). Having good visibility in this area is important especially on large U-turns (e.g. under bridges) when you may find motorcycles on the wrong side of the road coming directly at you!

But in summary, I've been very happy with the purchase. The fuel statistics are constantly updated here.

Brenton's off on his 4 month bike ride from India to Australia. Lucky bugger to get such a holiday - I'm sure I'll catch him as he rides through Thailand. Check out his blog for details.

After 18 months of living in Thailand, I've finally purchased my own set of wheels. A new Toyota Vios for 659,000 Baht. Here are notes on the car itself and the process I went through in buying it.

The Car

The car is a Toyota Vios G, which is the top of the 3 standard models (J, E and G. There are also two limited models: G Limited and S, or Sports, Limited). It is a four-door sedan, equivalent to the Yaris Sedan in Australia. It has a 1.5 litre engine, and includes dual airbags, ABS and other standard features. The Toyota Thailand website has a good comparison of the features of the different models.

It is a silver exterior, with dark grey interior. The G model includes leather seats, as well as 60/40 fold down rear seats (so you can get into the boot/trunk). Also standard on the G model (compared to E/J) are: front fog lights, an improved speedo and information display, antenna printed on rear windscreen (as opposed to sticking up in the air), and the airbags. The optional accessories that came with the car are listed later when discussing the price. The Vios comes with