WATMM travel thread

[zkom]

Anybody here ever lived a longer time in Bangkok? Like a year or couple?

[fenton]

It's much tougher on visa around Thailand and Cambodia atm, than usual, and not as easy or cheap just to piss around living here and doing border runs or bribes.

 

 

Feel free to ask any other questions you have. I'm in Phnom Pehn but got multiple m8z in Bangkok who are there permanently.

[zkom]

It's much tougher on visa around Thailand and Cambodia atm, than usual, and not as easy or cheap just to piss around living here and doing border runs or bribes.

 

 

Feel free to ask any other questions you have. I'm in Phnom Pehn but got multiple m8z in Bangkok who are there permanently.

 

I'm in discussions over a job in Bangkok. It would include the necessary work permits, etc. I've been to Bangkok for a short time and I'm just wondering if I can handle it for an extended period. :D

[lala]

was worried about the recent curfews but been told not to worry. i thought they had been relaxed, could just border run every 30 days by land instead of 15 days by land?

 

 

i'd love to chat with any of them via email if possible

Edited August 26, 2014 by lala

[fenton]

The curfews are relaxed in tourist places, basically there are none. Land visa runs are 7 days now. Air 30. They are monitoring your transits in and out of the country if they suspect you are working illegitimately cos you're there so much they might not let you in.

 

 

If you have a legit job, you can get a lush work permit and travel like a loon and presumably live the high life.

 

 

Bangkok is bloody expensive, MASSIVE, and become less and less reliant on western visitors to keep their economy booming, as the Thai upper and middle classes are rich as fuck now and westerners chancers will be pushed out, unless they are providing decent income for the Cuntry in the future.

[lala]

hmmm. no legit job, just legit money. but 90 days ls still ok i presume?

[Hugh Mughnus]

The curfews are relaxed in tourist places, basically there are none. Land visa runs are 7 days now. Air 30. They are monitoring your transits in and out of the country if they suspect you are working illegitimately cos you're there so much they might not let you in.

 

 

If you have a legit job, you can get a lush work permit and travel like a loon and presumably live the high life.

 

 

Bangkok is bloody expensive, MASSIVE, and become less and less reliant on western visitors to keep their economy booming, as the Thai upper and middle classes are rich as fuck now and westerners chancers will be pushed out, unless they are providing decent income for the Cuntry in the future.

 

I didn't find it expensive at all.

 

$1 for a meal with a beer isn't so bad? And rooms were around $10 a night at hostels.

[fenton]

I was there a month ago and there were no beers for $1, even in the shops. Also there are no hostels there, were you just on khao-san road?

hmmm. no legit job, just legit money. but 90 days ls still ok i presume?

 

 

You can apply for a 60 day tourist visa from your home country before going to Thailand, then extend it for 30 days once you're in, at immigration, painlessly.

[lala]

thats my aim. then move over across to end in japan for march/golden week time (just hope i can afford japan on my income, probably just about)

[fenton]

Yeh I'd love to do that, pity being, even though I'm now thousands of miles closer to Japan than I was 4 months ago, the price of a flight is still the same as it is back from homeland, and that's a few months liv'in easy out here.

 

 

Would really like to go back to Japan tho.

[lala]

where is it you are again?

 

 

edit* ahh phnom penn. how is it?

Edited August 26, 2014 by lala

[chenGOD]

 

On my way to Burma (Myanmar) for three months. Will be there for work, but hope to travel a bit in SE Asia as well. Leaving in slightly less than 11 hours, have not yet started packing!!

Coming to India at all?

Unfortunately not. Time and money are the usual suspects.

[fenton]

Cheap. Can't say that much else about it. Big expat scene, nice native young locals, older ones seem at bit potty [for obvious reasons].

 

 

I dunno wtf this compares to where you are but I pay $200 for a one bedroom flat with a balcony that would have cost me near enough $1500-2000 in London.

 

And a beer is ¢20 in a shop [sometimes in a bar!] or $1 max in a bar.

 

I am mainly here for the cheapness.

 

 

What I will find myself doing when I plan to fly back to the UK in December for Christmas will depend whether I have etched out a life here, or would prefer to go somewhere different, but I ain't going back to expensivelands until I expensive land goes back to me.

[lala]

when i come back im planning on moving to berlin for a bit. half price rent compared to london sounds good to me.

 

 

edit* and techno scene, obviously :]

Edited August 26, 2014 by lala

[fenton]

Yeh, I'm going to Cologne as soon as I've done a New Years Eve rave in London, then maybe back far east, or maybe stay on the eurocheap.

[Hugh Mughnus]

 

 

I was there a month ago and there were no beers for $1, even in the shops. Also there are no hostels there, were you just on khao-san road?

hmmm. no legit job, just legit money. but 90 days ls still ok i presume?

 

 

You can apply for a 60 day tourist visa from your home country before going to Thailand, then extend it for 30 days once you're in, at immigration, painlessly.

 

Yeah I was mostly around khao-san. Large chang beer (the 650ml bottles) were $1.25 canadian. I was with a large group though maybe we were getting discounts?

Edited August 26, 2014 by StephenG

[zkom]

I'm going through a bunch of options what to do next year. Turned down some offers already but living and working in Bangkok seems crazy enough. So many places I want to go to though.. Cuba, Central America, South America, Oceania.. Maybe living for a while in Southern Europe? idk tbh imho

[fenton]

Do it all.

 

 

 

I was there a month ago and there were no beers for $1, even in the shops. Also there are no hostels there, were you just on khao-san road?

hmmm. no legit job, just legit money. but 90 days ls still ok i presume?

 

 

You can apply for a 60 day tourist visa from your home country before going to Thailand, then extend it for 30 days once you're in, at immigration, painlessly.

 

Yeah I was mostly around khao-san. Large chang beer (the 650ml bottles) were $1.25 canadian. I was with a large group though maybe we were getting discounts?

 

 

 

Yeh, cheap there, cossa all ze competition. One or two hostels in the area too, I deffo stayed in one once! Bit too hectic for me around there, carnage.

[Allize]

woa

good pix

[usagi]

yeah, amazing.

[modey]

nice!

 

 

I'm getting pretty nervous about Japan. 4 weeks left—I'm trying to cram some basic Japanese phrases (I'm picking it up a little quicker than I expected, actually), and trying to decide how I'm going to tackle money access (cash + travel money card? dunno). aaaaargh

 

pretty excited though

[fenton]

I only have my UK Visa Debit card here, just got to make sure it is kept safe.... But I been abroad before with no cashcard before and coped, send money to the country online, pick it up from somewhere, etc. I found changing cash in japan itself difficult, think I got my yen first and used cashpoints / atm if necessary.

[usagi]

I'm getting pretty nervous about Japan. 4 weeks left—I'm trying to cram some basic Japanese phrases (I'm picking it up a little quicker than I expected, actually), and trying to decide how I'm going to tackle money access (cash + travel money card? dunno). aaaaargh

 

I was just trying to sort this out today. I was going to go with a Commbank travel money card plus some euros in pocket. dunno though. their exchange rates are always so shitty! but I checked with the other banks and they're all on par roughly, just minor differences that aren't worth the hassle of switching away from your usual bank.

 

edit: I go to Italy roughly the same time as well, 4 weeks. things are falling into place. I'm pretty excited.

 

I only have my UK Visa Debit card here

 

how does that work? no extra charges when you withdraw or pay with card?

Edited August 28, 2014 by usagi

[modey]

yeah, my bank does a travel card too. I figure I can just get $500 in JPY cash and then chuck $1000 or so on a card (which apparently has no fees after the initial exchange rate). I think the more people I talk to about it, the more I get paranoid, because people are giving me conflicting reports. I just want a card that I can use at post office/711/whatever!

[fenton]

Using my bank card is cheaper or as cheap as using a travel card in most situations [taking out hundreds+ it would probably be cheaper to use a travel card]. Fees are usually levied, and differ depending on atm used, exchange rate, which is competitive, plus a minimum fee, plus any charges from the bank used to withdraw.

 

 

It works in all ATMs while the 'travel card' things I have used have been finicky.

 

I can't say the same for anyone else though, but this is easy as fuck and in 2014, UK banks don't seem to be ripping off their customers on international withdrawals.

 

 

Take both. Keep one safe in hotel and take one out? Have an emergency bank note stashed to get you back to your backup card if you find yourself stranded / robbed / arrested.

Edited August 28, 2014 by fenton