My First International Trip .... Thailand (Bangkok & Pattaya)

Finally visa stamped on my passport :P)....It was amazing experience with full of fun and few learning also... It was unplanned trip as our itinerary was not ready till last day and we did currency conversion on day of flight ...but still it was full of fun.. read thru to find how we finalized this location, our run time preparation, activities we covered and important contacts ..you can directly refer last notes it will be useful if you are planing trip for you...... :)

It was since December we were discussing about international trip..but locations was not getting finalized..we were thinking about Singapore, Europe or Bangkok..and after lot of discussions and special reviews from friends, in the mid of Jan we decided to go to Bangkok, Pattya and Phuket for bachelors trip. We checked deals with Make my trip/ Yatra/ Easygo/Kesari and pearl travels -  I personally like Kesari's package everything was covered in that but it was around 65000; if you are going with family i will recommend this as you don't have to worry about anything. But with friends its fun to explore everything by own :). So based some points in Kesari's itinerary we inquired with other travels and packages came out in range from 24000 (Bangkok & Pattaya)  to 34000 (Bangkok, Pattaya and Phuket) for 3* hotel stay, return flights, internal transfers and 2 half day tours. Our journey dates was in last week of March which is off season for Bangkok or a week before season starts and that's why deals were bit cheaper. But lot of things were on priority  professionally as well as  personally that it actually took end of FEB when we did flight bookings. Pearl travels (Ankit - 91-22-66711440–41) provided good deal overall  for Bangkok and Pattaya. We had to drop Phuket because it was going out of budget.We did flight bookings on our own in Cathay Pacific their Fridays and Wednesday flights were cheaper and available, just timing were in midnight which was absolutely fine for us. Hotel bookings was done thru Pearl travels which includes 2 half day tours, Coral Island tour and Bangkok temple tour. These are the same tours included in packages provided by all travel agencies. if possible covert Bangkok temple tour to Safari world tour, its awesome.

The week has arrived and still lot of things yet to be completed work related as new things were getting added everyday, trip preparations was pending and on top of that spoiled mood. Our flight was on Friday and hotel bookings was done on Tuesday, visa arrived on Wednesday and  currency conversion done on Thursday. On Wednesday day luckily we got lot of tips from Ann about water sports, hotel stay, shopping centers, etc and from Bhavik we got contact for currency conversion on cheaper rate.
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On Thursday, got up early in morning, completed packing and called up Anagha to pick me up. Finished most of the things and handover completed.  Finally everything was completed on time and mood was also recovered a bit after talking. We left by 9:45 pm, cab was waiting outside. We headed towards Manish's house,  i was super hungry as havn't had anything thorough out the day. Some old songs was coming on FM and surprisingly all were perfectly suitable for my situation at that time (Nilesh & Shrusti you konw it...:P). Any ways...!We reached Manish's house at around 11 and then had ordered food, took a bit rest and started again at 1:30. "OMG!...entire highway is jammed with heavy vehicles and we stuck in the middle...flight was @ 5:20 am."..Thanks to Imran... that was superb drive..he took cab out from that mess and we were at the airport at  2:30 :).

We checked in our luggage and filled up immigration form. There was long queue for immigration.It is our first international trip...and one passenger had an argument with officer on the counter in front of which we were standing. we were not sure exactly what she will ask...but surprisingly she talked very nicely with Manish and for me she just said "Kay kuthe chalale sagle Eksar wale..." :P and put stamp on my passport ..heheheh :)..Immigration was done and final checking also completed. We boarded flight at 4:45 am...Really it is an experience to travel in Cathay Pacific - very good hospitality, amazing comfort, breakfast and that too in such a cheaper rate :)...Superb!

At around 11:20 am local time we reached Bangkok airport...its huge..awesome infrastructure. I already had my visa but Manish has to get it on arrival. There was two queues one for normal which is for 1000 bath and  one fast track 1200 bath. Manish submitted his document on Fast track counter and went inside a room to complete process, i was waiting outside, unaware of the fact that his immigration will be done inside only. After 10 mins i went inside and saw that Manish is not there.. he already went outside..WTH..now how to contact we didn't even have phone numbers. I immediately went towards normal Immigration counter..which is different from visa on arrival..it was long queue there. I was looking out beyond immigration line to see if Manish is there ... and after 1/2 an hr i saw him he was walking at the other side searching for me...i waved hand he saw me and it was a relief.... otherwise it would have been exercise for both of us at start of trip. But this was not the only thing..other event was waiting for us..Officer asked me for cash at the immigration counter and only half of it was with me..now what???.. We have to show $700...i tried to convince her that rest is in my bag..but she was not listing..finally her officer came and we went to other side. i explained him everything..he checked all documents and gave clearance.. this all took 15 mins. It was learning.. first of all take fast track visa on arrival for bangkok it will be easy to pass immigration OR keep entire $700 cash with you. 

On airport itself SIM cards are available for free with 1 month validity, and recharge is also available there in "seven-eleven" shop. These shops are there across Thailand i think almost at every km. You will get maps also there..but its not really required unless you really need to explore everything by walk. We called up our tour operator "Alex from Karey Travels". They were waiting for us at gate 10. We reach there ... and a thai lady came towards us ..she was appearing to be in great hurry....she handed over trip vouchers to us.. told us to RUN and started running... Me and Manish we were walking with normal speed..after some distance she stopped and shouted on us...we didn't understand what she was saying..then she wrote "2;00 and 4:00" on paper..it was already 2:10 ... we understood that we have to catch 2:00 pm bus.. and we started running..hehehehehe...we got the bus for Pattaya... it was very comfortable and above expectation.

At around 4:30 pm we reached Pattaya bus stand. from there we boarded another cab for hotel. Pattaya is like those small "gallis" in GOA. We were thinking like we are in GOA. just one thing is that..there is lot of traffic and one ways... it took almost 1.5 hr to reach hotel. Hotel was really good and up to expectations.

we haven't had anything since morning ..after an hour we went out to eat something ..there is mall just opp to hotel...with MacD and KFC..we had burger there. Now our stomach's are full and we didn't have anything in our itinerary today. We called up "Alex"..and surprisingly he had booked a local show tickets for us.. he send his own car for pickup and drop..really it was great hospitality from him. We paid 600 bath per head for "Alcazar show" 1 hr....missed to take photos though..it was nice start to trip.

we came back to hotel at around 9:00 pm...and immediately went out for diner. searching for good food..somehow i didn't like smell of local thai food.. and i desperately wanted to eat in Indian food. We started walking in search of Indian restaurant and simultaneously enjoying night life in Pattaya.
Its almost like GOA but bit more free and full of lights. Thai massage parlors are after every 2 shops. People are standing at every corner to saying "Boom Boom"...Be Careful!.."Bhavik whatever you said was true :P"...also lot of big open restaurants with live music and performance..DJs...snooker.. almost like GOA..again..but different environment and crowd.

We were walking through internal roads search of Indian food..exploring night life in pattaya...it was almost 1.5 hrs we were walking and didn't found any Indian restaurant yet and also don't know how to reach hotel. Really it is difficult to travel in Pattaya and if you are planning to explore by your own..keep map handy. Luckly we had one with us..and we came back near hotel..there we found one Punjabi boy..inviting to his restaurant..and finally we found an Indian restaurant. Manish started talking to him in Punjabi... hehehe.."sahi hai Manish!"..its really good to understand and speak different languages..it can be useful at any time. Normally you may not talk to any unknown people but when in different country you automatically found that "Ajnabi" as someone of your friend :D. We had nice "Chiken Tikka Masala" and " Roti"...it was good. and rates are same as India but just in Thai Currency bath :P..so if you are expecting Thailand as cheaper then ..its not..rates are actually double for cloths or food.

After diner we started walking towards beach, it was around 10 mins from hotel..really beautiful and shining with lights..night market was also fully crowded..we did TP ..exploring different things till 3 pm.

Next day early morning we had to go for "Coral Island" tour..at 7:30 we received a wake up call from reception. I got up...Manish was not ready to go ...and very lazy.. Really throughout trip it was a

task for me to convince Manish for morning sightseeing and task for him to convince me for late night chill-out. And this thing actually caused us to miss-out few things ..at the end of trip..anyways..finally he also got up and we were ready by 9:00 am .. no time to take breakfast.. and tour operator was waiting for us..but still we had breakfast in just 5 mins..tour operator actually came to cafeteria to pick us...hehehehe...

Coral Island tour.. This was also worth and main thing is its included in package.. we reach Island after one hr speed boat ride thru deep blue see..

its an amazing experience...and in between there are some small deck created for water sports ...like Para sailing (500 bath), deep sea walk like Scuba diving (1200 bath) and speed boat ride.. we did only deep sea walk .. it was really a good experience.... you are walking at the bottom of sea between corals and different type of fish.. amazing experience..."Zindagi na milegi dobara :P" type...

Note: if you are planing to cover water sports try to book it in advance thru some local Indian tour operator or online if possible..that will be cheaper.. and also if you are planning to take speed boat ride..make sure that there is no damage in it..or else they will charge you for the same..
finally we reach coral Island..its a full white beach.. with clean blue water..beautiful... we relaxed there for some time..and headed back towards Pattaya for complimentary lunch. It was almost 1 hr ride thru speed boat..really very thrilling experience..Magic Holidays Biren 0-81-612-8191)

On this ride we were with two Indian families...from one of them we got tour agent contact ..who helped us all sightseeing in Bangkok in cheapest rate..if you are planing to go to Bangkok..he is the best to ask for tickets.. Because when others agent were saying 700 bath and actual ticket at counter was 850 bath he gave us ticket in just 500 bath..and took money after all sightseeing is completed..i highly recommend him..(



After Coral Island tour and complimentary lunch..Alex took us to Gems Jewellery factory...There was a nice show about making of gem stones, followed by factory of making gems and then actually Jewellery shop. Initially i was very tiered and feeling very sleepy but ride was very exciting which changed my mood. Real stones were kept there unprocessed and processed.

All precious stones from entire world was prsent there Diamonds, Emeralds, Topaz, Ruby, Sapphires, Garnet, Opel, Jade, Tourmaline, Pearl, Zircon..etc. It was really a very nice experience to visit that store...If you are going with your wife..then definitely be prepared to spend because its really attractive.

Most of good Jewellery was above 20000 bath. They treated us like VIP. While leaving they gave us complimentary drinks and drop to hotel also. Very good hospitality. Obviously Alex must have got commission for this, but anyways we didn't had anything on our itinerary and it was good experience and that too free of cost.:)

We reached hotel at around 6:30 and Alex had arranged tickets of another show for us.But this time it was repeating and boring. So don't go for more than one show, its really waste of time and money. Alex's driver dropped us back to hotel. He was first Thai person who was able to understand and speak English in a bit good accent. From last 2 days our accent had already changed and i was worried if we will forget our original accent after 5 days :P. Most  frustrating but still interesting part is many times you don't understand what they are saying and they don't understand what you are saying and you are trying to say same thing again and again..and finally both agree to each other with smile.. but finally task its completed..hehehehe.

After diner at around 11 pm. I took out my ..ooops! Harshal's DSLR 550D to capture Pattaya night life and again we had long walk on Pattaya streets till 2 pm. "Thanks Harshal and Tushar for camera and lens..Photos are really superb!!"




Next day afternoon at 12:45 we left for Bangkok. It was 3 hrs Journey, this time its was good with few Indian people travelling with us. Mohan uncle he was a textile businessmen from Delhi was there with her wife, it is his 6th visit to Thailand but first for holiday and Naveen MS student with his brother.
Our entire journey finished in group discussion on different topics. Manish was fully involved in it. We got lot of details related to Bangkok related to shopping places in bangkok and how to clear things thru customs, etc... from Mohan uncle. It was nice journey.

We reached Bangkok at around 4:30 pm it was super hot same as in Chennai. We checked in to  "First Hotel" in Bangkok. It was not as good as Golden Beach Hotel in Pattaya but location wise its good as all major shopping malls were at equidistant and walk-able from it. I called up Biren (Magic Holidays) to check places to visit in Bangkok. He suggested ocean world, Madam Tussauds museum,
I wanted to book it but Manish was not interested. So we went out to check Platinum Mall, it was very crowded and not worth visiting. After an hour we came back to hotel had some rest and headed towards SIAM Discovery mall to check out Ocean world and Madam Tussauds, It was around 20 mins walk from hotel.
 we reached there by 7:30 and checked rates it was 850 bath and Biren was giving us in 550 bath. But it was too late as closing time was 9:00 and Biren said to call back before 6:30. Then we visited another mall just opp to SIAM discovery.

Auto service is also like Chennai they will say any rates e.g. 50 bath for 2 km which is like 100 Rs. Always take Meter Taxi to travel, meter starts from 35 bath but still its worth than taking Auto. It was too much crowded, all shops were there, mostly all girls stuff. Manish wanted to take something for his family so he did some shopping, It was already 10:30 when we left that mall. We didn't cover any major point today, entire day was waste. I realized importance of good itinerary. Next day we had  Bangkok city tour planed by tour operator but we had only 1 and half day left so we decided to skip it and cover Safar world.

Safari World: I wanted to cover it any how as it was a special recommendation :). and believe me it was worth and i would say best part of entire trip.

We got wake up call in morning at 7:00. I got up and called Biren to book ticket for Safari world as decided earlier. Again it was task for me to wake up Manish, finally he got up,then we got ready by 8;30, had our breakfast and took a taxi for Safari world. It was almost 1 hr ride from hotel to Safari World (200 bath). Manish talked very nicely with Taxi driver, and this is the 2nd person who was able to understand most what ever we were saying. He even agreed to come back to pick up us from Safari world in the evening. This time i realized language can not be barrier to do friendship :).

We reached Safari world by 10, Out tickets was ready at the counter.There are lot of shows to cover in Marine park and also a ride in Safari world/Jungle. ITs better to reach there by 9:00 so that you can cover everything. First of all we took ticket for Jungle ride (30 bath), its 1/2 an hr ride in Bus thru Jungle. You are inside Bus and all animals are outside moving freely. Ride was at 11:00 we boarded bus there was no one in bus. After some time a Bengali family joined us. Husband wife and a sweet girl. I think she was bit bored because when we started talking to her parents she started interacting...and she took our video also ...hehehehe..she had a cute smile ..which reminded something..

     Bus started on time, we got to see all different animals Giraffe, Tiger, Zebra,etc..different types of Birds. Many of them i didn't even know names. I was watching them first time. It was really very exciting and thrilling experience. Check out photos..you will love it.
https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/104563303978855951168/albums/5860320254430062337?authkey=COWF4JPe2N7lzwE

Marine Park: At around 11:30 we entered Marine park. Its again the same with lot of different animals, Birds and underwater creatures.

There are different shows in Marine park. We already missed couple of them as we started late. But we caught Elephant show, it was like the one in circus so not very exciting but good. After Elephant show we did some Jungle walk there were lot of animals to see. and then we had complimentary lunch covered in package.

After lunch its time for Dolphin show the Best part of the Safari world and a lifetime experience.  Dolphins were dancing , Jumping, Playing on instructions with full  of excitement. After this show we skipped all other show e.g. bird show. spy show and had nice jungle walk with photo sessions. Luckily we got to see some action stunt from Tigers...that was really good..Overall it was superb day.
Taxi drive called us by 4:00 pm and we headed towards hotel. We gave him extra money.

In the evening I wanted to go to Indira sqare mall to check out television  famous mall for shopping in Bangkok Manish wanted to do some sopping for family, so we went to another mall first and did some sopping there at around 9:00 we took taxi and reached Indira square but mall was already closed. We did some shopping in outside, had our diner in Punjabi restaurant behind Indira Square and came back to hotel.
Did packing and went to sleep.

Tuesday was our last day in Bangkok. and we had lot of things in plan ocean world, Madame Tussauds museum and electronics shopping. So we packed our luggage and did checkout at around 11:30. It was unsafe to carry all documents so we took locker and kept all document there. This facility is available in every hotel and its safe. Then we went to Platinum mall to check our electronics. we almost scanned each floor of mall for Laptop and TV and after 1 and 1/2 we got shop on 6th floor. We inquired about prices and  headed towards Indira Square Mall, as we heard from many people that its very good area for electronics shopping. And Yes we got very good deal for LED TV in one of Sardars shop behind Indira square. But we didn't have cash handy and he was charging 3% extra for credit card. And FYI Bank also charges 3.5% extra for foreign transactions. It was already 3:30 pm and we yet to cover 2 points. So i decided that we will take TV while leaving and we moved directly to SIAM Discovery mall to cover remaining 2 points, its 10 mins by taxi from Indira square.

Ocean World is the biggest aquarium situated at the basement of SIAM PARAGON mall (Biggest mall in Bangkok) and Madam Tussauds is wax museum situated at SIAM Discovery mall. We reach there by 4:00, Mall was so big that it took half an hr to locate ocean world, booking was already done by Biren, our tickets was ready at the counter. But one task was pending we had to deposit money in to Biren's bank account, that took 1/2 an hr extra. We collected ticket and entered in to ocean world by 5:30 pm.

This is again very well designed aquarium and contained most of the water creatures different types of fish, crab, frog, penguins, etc. along with 5D show and glass bottom boat ride. 5D show and boat ride was waste of time. WE came out of Ocean world by 7:20. Already late as our expected time to complete both spot was 7:00 and only ocean world was covered so far..i realized "TV toh gaya".

Then we headed towards "Madam Tussauds" collected out tickets and entered in by 7:30 pm. This is very well designed and maintained wax work museum. for the entertainment value and a chance to rub shoulders with world celebrities, heads of state, activists, sports heroes and heroines, legendary artists, and even royalty, the museum is worth checking out. We were in great hurry but still spend 1 hr there and left at around 8:45.

Now there was no time to purchase television :(, as we need to collect luggage from hotel and move to airport. We took taxi, collected our luggage and passport from locker and reached airport by 9:30. And it is more disappointing when on airport baggage check in queue we saw almost everyone have  at least 1 TV. Ek gujju bhai k pass toh 2-2 the...one 32" and one 46". He said those are for his friends and from profit he got from selling those he did this Bangkok trip, because he got those in cheapest rate from same sardar's shop. Bhavik you can think about it :P. And also he was all set to deal with customs :). 

FYI - Mostly you can carry 20 KG in chek in bags and 7 KG in cabin bags. Weight of 40" LED is comes out as 14 KG so if you planning to buy one carry very less luggage while going, only a big shoulder bag  if possible. Customs limit is Rs, 50000. But if they stop you be ready with 1500-2000 cash in hand for their charges. Also you get 7% VAT refund on TV/laptops, on airport itself. so 40" smart LED which we were getting at 17200 bath is actually comes out in around 16 k bath i.e. Rs. 32 k. around 10 k less than here. :) 

Anyways, we checked in our luggage and immigration also completed very quickly this time. And then entered in to flight at around 12:30 AM. Surprisingly we got Premium Economy Class seats this time :). "Achaa hua Rahul tu web check in nahi kar paya...".
 Again it was a very relaxing journey, with complimentary diner and movies to watch. Flight landed at around 4:30 local time in Mumbai. We came out at around 6:30 after immigration and costumes checks and after some duty free items shopping. And this way our first international trip is over. 

Notes-  If you are not taking tour package following details may be helpful for you. You can book flight tickets in advance from airline sites. As i said earlier Cathy Pacific have cheaper flights on Friday and Monday, you can try that too. If you are planing to cover Phuket, book flights from AirAsia.com, you will get cheapest deals. Hotel bookings can be done via travel agencies like make my trip, Yatra or pearl travels as we did, which will cover airport and internal transfers also. Else you can do bookings via http://www.sawasdee.com/ or http://www.agoda.com/. Related to visa, as i said earlier its better to get visa on arrival coz cost is same and keep atlest $700 or equivalent with you, more if you are planing to buy electronics. Currency conversions can be done on airport or you can get cheaper deal from Wall street finance ltd (cont. 91 22 61119665) they provide home delivery for both conversion and De-conversion. If you are planning to user your cards there make sure you inform your bank about travel and also inquire about conversion rates and extra charges. for HDFC its 3.5% of transaction amount, so its better to carry cash.Places to visit in Bangkok and Pattaya

Pattaya - Alcazar show or any other show, all are same. Coral Island tour (book tour with sports activities in advance else it will be costly for you for parceling its 500 bath on the spot but if you book prior you may get in 300 also same for deep sea walk.), Gems and stones factory. this is mostly you will get free of cost from your tour operator or even if you ask to some meter taxi, becuase they get commission for it. This is there in Bangkok also. Personally you can skip Pattaya if you are covering Phuket.

Bangkok - Safari world, Ocean world and Madam Tussauds museum are must watch. Here also do your booking thru tour operator else you will have to pay extra. (we did thru Magic holidays 0-81-612-8191 and saved almost 500 bath per head including travel) . For shopping visit Indira square directly don't waste your time anywhere else and for electronics you can try Platinum mall 6th floor shop or sardarji's shops behind Indira square.

If you have been to Phuket let me know list of places to visit. Indian food you will get everywhere just a matter of exploring :)
Rahul, Bhavik, Arvind, Sohan, Suhas, Jayesh, Ashish ... i know you need more details to plan you trip..we can talk personally :P

Next time i would like to plan for Bangkok and Phuket. But personally speaking India itself have more to explore before going out :)..Incredible India!