The Visa Run
Welcome to The Visa Run!
April 18, 2018
Our three months are almost up. I booked an apartment in Bangkok, Thailand for March 29-31, 2018.
At 1:00 p.m. on March 29th, we packed our backpacks and headed downstairs to the mall. The girls picked up a waffle before heading to the airport. We stopped by the information desk and asked the kind man to call a taxi for us because I couldn't get the Uber app to work.
The taxi arrived fifteen minutes later, and we were on our way. We arrived at KLIA2 around 2:00 p.m. The trip costs 40 ringgits ($10) for four people.
The check-in process was simple. You either go to the self-check-in kiosk or the counter. I tried the self-check-in method, but it didn't work. After receiving our boarding passes, we went through two security scanners without any problems and then we were off to the gate lodge. The process was less than an hour. Our flight was due for takeoff at 4:25 p.m., but it delayed until 5:20 p.m. which was delayed again until 5:38 p.m. The plane didn't show up until 6:00 p.m. Suffice to say, we had to wait three hours before boarding. The flight duration was approximately an hour and a half with a one hour time difference.
During the flight, the flight attendants passed out customs forms to passengers to fill out before they arrived in Thailand. That was very helpful and saved us a lot of time. The information required was your name, passport information, and return flight information. I booked a return flight to Malaysia a few days before departure. The one-way ticket price for four was $361.17. When I booked the trip to Bangkok, Thailand in December 2017, I only paid $249. Flying with Air Asia is cheaper.
After arriving at Don Mueang International Airport, we were in customs for about forty-minutes because only one person was working. When another lane opened, the process went by quickly. No questions asked. Even though we are a family, only one person can approach the counter. They took the passports, stamped it and sent us on your merry way. I exchanged $21 for tbh and received 653.21 in Thailand currency. Let me back up a bit. In Malaysia, I tried to convert $21 to ringgits, but they said that they couldn't take it because it was too old, had a tear, and they couldn't sell it. Apparently, no one wants old-looking money. Sounds stupid to me when it spends the same. Another thing that I've learned in Malaysia is that they do not fold bills. When you receive change, all the bills are crisp unlike me, and I always fold the money before placing it in my wallet. Maybe it's disrespectful to the person on the currency. I stopped folding.
The host, whose apartment we were renting in Bangkok, offered to pick us up from the airport but for 600 thb ($19.28). Although we were an hour behind, I felt kind of guilty for delaying her. She didn't complain, though. She dropped us off in front of the building where her daughter was waiting to escort us to the apartment. It was after nine o'clock that night, and we were hot, tired, irritable, and hungry. I hadn't eaten all day and only had 53 thb left from the conversion. I needed to get some money converted to purchase food. The closest money exchanger was not opened. After dropping off our backpacks in the room, I went to the ATM and prayed that it would allow me to withdraw money.
In regards to debit cards, I have learned that you need to contact your bank and let them know that you will be traveling to another country to prevent potential fraudulent activities. I also have a PayPal debit card, and I was trying to transfer money from my bank to the card, but it wouldn't work even though it didn't have a problem with it in January. I contacted PayPal and was informed by a couple of employees that I needed to update my profile to include my travel locations before leaving the country. After completing my travel profile, I still wasn't able to transfer money. I contacted Paypal again, and they gave me excuses. Well, guess what? In Thailand, I was able to move money without any problems!
Back to the ATM withdrawal. I was happy when the card worked. I withdrew $100 but charged $29 for conversion fees and another $7 for ATM fees. A hundred USD would have converted to 3111 thb. Instead, I only received 2022 thb; 600 of which will be used for transportation back to the airport.
With thb in hand, we wandered out to find some food and found a small restaurant. The proprietor/server was terrific. Our meal costs 453 thb ($14.56). The problem I have with thb is the quantity. When I see a price of 15 thb for a bottle of water, I freak out. After using my currency converter and learning that 15 thb is only 0.48 USD, I felt better. But when your bill is over four hundred, and you have a thousand dollar baht bill in your possession, I only see money quickly diminishing.
My concern now is that I didn't book a return trip from Malaysia. I hope there aren't any questions because I sure don't have any answers.
Overall, I love Thailand. It reminds me of Dallas, Texas. To sum it up, the people in Thailand were friendlier; everyone spoke English, they have more food options, and no one looked at us as if we were strangers. We fit in well in Thailand and would place it at the top of the places I would live. I thought Malaysia food was cheap, but Thailand got them beat.
Even though we didn't experience Thailand due to the rain, we enjoyed being away. We thoroughly enjoyed the airport. I would travel to Thailand just to hang out at the airport. The food court offered a variety of food, as well as Western food. They had places you could lounge, take advantage of their free two-hour internet, and workstations.
Although we didn't get a chance to see what all Thailand has to offer, we did take photos at the airport (see below).
In the next blog, I am going to list the things I love about Malaysia.
Until next time.
April 18, 2018
Our three months are almost up. I booked an apartment in Bangkok, Thailand for March 29-31, 2018.
At 1:00 p.m. on March 29th, we packed our backpacks and headed downstairs to the mall. The girls picked up a waffle before heading to the airport. We stopped by the information desk and asked the kind man to call a taxi for us because I couldn't get the Uber app to work.
The taxi arrived fifteen minutes later, and we were on our way. We arrived at KLIA2 around 2:00 p.m. The trip costs 40 ringgits ($10) for four people.
The check-in process was simple. You either go to the self-check-in kiosk or the counter. I tried the self-check-in method, but it didn't work. After receiving our boarding passes, we went through two security scanners without any problems and then we were off to the gate lodge. The process was less than an hour. Our flight was due for takeoff at 4:25 p.m., but it delayed until 5:20 p.m. which was delayed again until 5:38 p.m. The plane didn't show up until 6:00 p.m. Suffice to say, we had to wait three hours before boarding. The flight duration was approximately an hour and a half with a one hour time difference.
During the flight, the flight attendants passed out customs forms to passengers to fill out before they arrived in Thailand. That was very helpful and saved us a lot of time. The information required was your name, passport information, and return flight information. I booked a return flight to Malaysia a few days before departure. The one-way ticket price for four was $361.17. When I booked the trip to Bangkok, Thailand in December 2017, I only paid $249. Flying with Air Asia is cheaper.
After arriving at Don Mueang International Airport, we were in customs for about forty-minutes because only one person was working. When another lane opened, the process went by quickly. No questions asked. Even though we are a family, only one person can approach the counter. They took the passports, stamped it and sent us on your merry way. I exchanged $21 for tbh and received 653.21 in Thailand currency. Let me back up a bit. In Malaysia, I tried to convert $21 to ringgits, but they said that they couldn't take it because it was too old, had a tear, and they couldn't sell it. Apparently, no one wants old-looking money. Sounds stupid to me when it spends the same. Another thing that I've learned in Malaysia is that they do not fold bills. When you receive change, all the bills are crisp unlike me, and I always fold the money before placing it in my wallet. Maybe it's disrespectful to the person on the currency. I stopped folding.
The host, whose apartment we were renting in Bangkok, offered to pick us up from the airport but for 600 thb ($19.28). Although we were an hour behind, I felt kind of guilty for delaying her. She didn't complain, though. She dropped us off in front of the building where her daughter was waiting to escort us to the apartment. It was after nine o'clock that night, and we were hot, tired, irritable, and hungry. I hadn't eaten all day and only had 53 thb left from the conversion. I needed to get some money converted to purchase food. The closest money exchanger was not opened. After dropping off our backpacks in the room, I went to the ATM and prayed that it would allow me to withdraw money.
In regards to debit cards, I have learned that you need to contact your bank and let them know that you will be traveling to another country to prevent potential fraudulent activities. I also have a PayPal debit card, and I was trying to transfer money from my bank to the card, but it wouldn't work even though it didn't have a problem with it in January. I contacted PayPal and was informed by a couple of employees that I needed to update my profile to include my travel locations before leaving the country. After completing my travel profile, I still wasn't able to transfer money. I contacted Paypal again, and they gave me excuses. Well, guess what? In Thailand, I was able to move money without any problems!
Back to the ATM withdrawal. I was happy when the card worked. I withdrew $100 but charged $29 for conversion fees and another $7 for ATM fees. A hundred USD would have converted to 3111 thb. Instead, I only received 2022 thb; 600 of which will be used for transportation back to the airport.
With thb in hand, we wandered out to find some food and found a small restaurant. The proprietor/server was terrific. Our meal costs 453 thb ($14.56). The problem I have with thb is the quantity. When I see a price of 15 thb for a bottle of water, I freak out. After using my currency converter and learning that 15 thb is only 0.48 USD, I felt better. But when your bill is over four hundred, and you have a thousand dollar baht bill in your possession, I only see money quickly diminishing.
My concern now is that I didn't book a return trip from Malaysia. I hope there aren't any questions because I sure don't have any answers.
Overall, I love Thailand. It reminds me of Dallas, Texas. To sum it up, the people in Thailand were friendlier; everyone spoke English, they have more food options, and no one looked at us as if we were strangers. We fit in well in Thailand and would place it at the top of the places I would live. I thought Malaysia food was cheap, but Thailand got them beat.
Even though we didn't experience Thailand due to the rain, we enjoyed being away. We thoroughly enjoyed the airport. I would travel to Thailand just to hang out at the airport. The food court offered a variety of food, as well as Western food. They had places you could lounge, take advantage of their free two-hour internet, and workstations.
Although we didn't get a chance to see what all Thailand has to offer, we did take photos at the airport (see below).
In the next blog, I am going to list the things I love about Malaysia.
Until next time.
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