So I booked an Air Asia flight from Bangkok to Kuala Lumpur, which left on Sunday 10th May and returned on Tuesday 12th May. I picked KL for two reasons; firstly I had successfully obtained a multi entry non immigrant 'O' visa there two years previously, and secondly by all accounts most of the other neighbouring countries' Thai embassies/consulates were either only issuing single entry ones, or were requiring proof of money in a bank in Thailand. This latter should not be the case as this is the requirement to extend within Thailand but all of them reserve the right to request other paperwork/documents. Penang does not issue the multi entry visa at all I have been told, and phone enquiries to the Vietnamese, Laos and Indonesian Thai embassies/consulates confirmed that they too were not issuing them currently.
The second part of the mess was that I had booked my return flight departing KL in the early afternoon; the KL Embassy website stated that visas/passports could be collected in the morning, but fortunately I double checked some forums and discovered that this had changed to between 2.30 and 4.30 pm! So I had to change my return flight, at the cost of an extra 850 baht, to an evening one.
I travelled to Bangkok on the Saturday (minibus 200 baht) and stayed with friends who live near the airport. This is when the main part of the mess comes in; as I retired to bed on the Saturday night, my mind, as it has a tendency to do, reran the events of the last day or two, and just as I was about to drop off to sleep, WHAM! I realised that I had left all the original documents that are required (marriage certificate, children's birth certificates) at home, having only brought the copies with me. It was too late to go back to Hua Hin, especially as I had not taken the house keys and my wife and children were staying with my in laws in Kui Buri, but mainly the time factor. I tossed and turned all night thinking about this monumental cock up....
In the morning I revealed the extent of my idiocy to my friends, who made some helpful comments that maybe I would be able to get away without showing the originals, as I had been considering 'coming clean' at the embassy and telling them I had forgotten them, thinking that they might show some compassion. He suggested presenting the copies with the application, and only saying anything if they asked for the originals. The worst that could happen would be that I would pay for a non immigrant multi (550 ringitt/5,500 baht), and only get a single entry tourist (currently free), although that would have been bad enough!
So off to the airport and the flight (which was full) took off on time and landed 15 minutes early, which is pretty impressive on a 2 hour flight. I had never flown with Air Asia before so didn't know that you had to buy your food and drinks on board, but other than that surprise they were pretty good and the A320 plane was comfortable. As expected from a budget airline, they are shunted to parts of the airport where you either have to be bussed to your plane (Swampy), or it is a long walk (KL). I hadn't eaten on the plane, so despite being told that my booked next Skybus into KL was leaving shortly after I came through arrivals, I opted to get the next one and have something to eat at the airport. Malaysia is an hour ahead incidentally, so the plane took off at 12 noon Thai time and landed 2.45pm Malay time. I caught the 4pm bus into the city, which is about an hour's ride.
The bus deposits you at KL Sentral, a transport hub, and I had booked a hotel which was a short distance away (2 stops on the train from there (1.4 ringitt), and then a short walk). I had also printed off a map of that area with the location of the hotel highlighted to help me find it. Unfortunately the hotel location was slightly off and I ended up walking around a block that I needn't have but not too bad. The hotel is the Swiss Hotel, and is your typical basic Asian hotel, a little bit run down. They have free wifi in the lobby though which is a bonus. The location is good as it is walking distance to the transport system and plenty of food and shopping, with the ubiquitous 7-11 across the street. The room was 98 ringitts per night, about 980 baht. You can get much better in Thailand for this price. I imagine also in KL but this was the best I could find when I searched the internet (booked through latestay.com).
After resting for a while in my room I ventured out with the intent of phoning my wife, and initially I was going to buy an IDD card (10 ringitts) which I could have used with the hotel phone, but on my wanders I found that I could get a sim card for only 9 ringitts which would give me at least the same call time and could be easily topped up if required. Unfortunately the guy who sold it to me was a bit lax in registering it, so I was unable to make calls until the following morning...
I also bought a plug adaptor (3.3 ringitts) as the laptop (being used to write this in situ) had a Thai plug and Malaysia has British style plug sockets. On the way back to the hotel I had to stop at the 7-11 but the choice was rather limited – I had been considering buying some beer but all they had was Budweiser (ugh!) so ended up with some Ribena instead, a nice taste from home. Also I was very cheap and bought a pot noodle for dinner!
Retired to my room for the night with aching legs and back, watched a movie (Fool's Gold) on the HBO in the room and then attempted to sleep. Aching back made it an uncomfortable night, plus my continuing concerns over whether this would be an expensive, completely wasted trip, so awoke early. I needed to be at the Embassy by about 8.30 am by what I had read (and experienced the last time) so my intention was to get some breakfast and then head to the Embassy. Caught the train the 4 stops necessary to Ampang Park (1.6 ringitt), after quite a wait to be able to get on a train in the rush hour, and one contrast between there and Thailand struck me was how orderly and quiet everyone was – if this had been Thailand it would have been a very unpleasant and gigantic scrum!
Apologies to all who are offended by junk food but I had a McDonald's breakfast near the exit of the station, and then walked to the Embassy, a good 10 minutes in the already hot sun. Fortunately, there wasn't the huge queue I had encountered on my last visit, and I was able to go straight to the security window, have my details registered there and be given an application form before sitting down in a shaded area to fill it in. The last time I had had to queue (with my pregnant wife) for over an hour in searing heat outside the embassy to even get the form! The consular section does not open until 9.30 and it was by now about 8.50 but some desperate souls were standing in a line so they could be first in. Time was not an issue for me so I sat in the cooler seated area, and joined the line as the doors were opened; everyone was given a number as they went in (previously there had been no notice about this and everyone had just walked in and sat down until the numbers started being displayed so they had obviously changed their procedure for the better) – I got number A0018. Sat down in the smallish room and waited, watching with some amusement at the approach some people take in these situations, but also still worrying about my options. Only about a 20 minute wait and I was called up to one of the 4 windows. Whether it makes any difference I don't know, but I always prefer being dealt with by women in these situations, and I got my wish here; I have found that normally they just seem more understanding, but it also gives you a chance to flash a 'winning' smile that might help your cause! I would imagine women may feel the opposite?
There were two women and two men manning the windows, and both women were in 'moderate' Muslim attire, including headscarf, but presumably were still Thai. In fact very few words were exchanged as I just gave the various bits of paper piecemeal to her through the security window (although I did try to flash the smile!). I had also worn a yellowish shirt as it was a Monday in the hope that it might sway things in my favour (for anyone reading this that doesn't know, virtually all government workers and many other people wear yellow shirts on Mondays as a tribute to the King). Anyway, this was the moment of truth, and she shuffled through the papers checking them, and as I awaited the 'can I see the originals please?' question I suddenly realised that I hadn't put my photo through, which I then did apologetically. No question came, and then she reaffirmed with me that I wanted the year visa, multiple entry, and asked for the 550 ringitt fee. I mentally breathed a sigh of relief but knew I had to wait until I had the receipt (and the visa the following day) to truly know I had got away with it. Receipt was duly issued, and I was told to come back the next afternoon between 2.30 and 4.30 to collect the passport and visa; the way she said it made it sound like a foregone conclusion, and my heart leapt a little as I said thank you and walked away, still fearing a sudden call back, and quickening my step so I could escape the embassy compound!
I then had the rest of the day to occupy, so I went back to the hotel to rest for a while, and started writing this report. As I had previously been to KL I wasn't too bothered about sightseeing, so I just went out for a walk, getting some lunch on the way (sorry folks – Burger King this time!) and then back to the room again. Ventured out again late afternoon, and as I could have a lie in the next day, purchased a small bottle of whisky and mixer, both to aid a pleasant evening watching HBO as well as to help me sleep, as my back was still aching. If I had been in Thailand I would have gone for a massage, but I had not seen anywhere to have one, and a check in the Yellow Pages in the room revealed only 'special' massage places doing outcalls only. Went to sleep quite late as I watched The Sopranos on HBO (the TV only had that and Animal Planet).
Slept pretty well in fact and rose about 9.30, had a cup of tea in the room and packed my things, slowly. I had decided to skip breakfast and have an early lunch because of the timing of the visa collection and having to check out of the room at noon, so departed the hotel around 11ish. Caught the train again and headed to a Pizza Hut I had spotted the previous day (I know, I know). I edited and added to what I had written the previous day, after eating, to while away the time until I could head to the Embassy. Tried to connect to the plethora of wireless networks but all of them either required a password or registration, which it wasn't worth me doing at that point.
I should mention the junk food frenzy I have been on while here – the last time I came here, my wife and I could not find any decent food, and this also mirrored the experience I had had when I was backpacking in Malaysia some 10 years ago; sticking to the junk food outlets was actually quite good value and ensured that I had no stomach problems as well, because all the other choices seemed to be open fronted Malay or Indian restaurants with a buffet style offering. I am sure that some of these were very good, but I wasn't prepared to risk it this time. Have just eaten the most expensive meal of the trip in Pizza Hut and it has come to just over 25 ringitts, or about 250 baht, and will last me until I arrive back in Hua Hin I think!
Left the Pizza Hut about 1.45 and took a slow stroll to the Embassy, but still arrived just after 2, to see about 15 people hanging around outside as the gates were locked. About 15 minutes later the gates opened and we filed through to the covered waiting area; once again most people formed a line outside the consular section, but I chose to sit and wait. Got chatting to an Australian guy, originally from Singapore, and he was obviously a bit of a novice as far as Thailand goes but a nice guy. I gave him the benefit of my experiences and we ended up chatting throughout the wait, collection and all the way back to KL Sentral! The collection process was quick, although once again I think they had changed the system. To start with the last time I had to register with security again, and then collected my passport from them, whereas this time we had nothing to do with security and just got dealt with by where we were in the queue; also the number you were issued on application determined the collection order last time but not this. The queue moved swiftly and within 5 minutes I had my passport back; sat down a little nervously and opened it....I had got the multi entry visa! My Australian chattee had got his as well, and we then headed for the station, recounting our various experiences. The mess had suddenly been cleared up.
The ticket back was 2 ringitts and was very quick - if you are in the right location it really is a good and very cheap way of getting around. Sat and had a drink and then headed downstairs to get the Skybus to the airport. Caught one that left about 4pm and this was slightly quicker, about 50 minutes. Checked in (small warning here - the Air Asia check in desks are all on their own and not well marked currently but you can't go too far before someone at a security check sends you back to get a boarding pass!) and then headed through immigration and security to air side. The terminal Air Asia flies out of in KL is nowhere near as well equipped as the main international terminal which I used before and food and drink options are a little limited. Prices are also quite high, for example a small bottle of Tiger is about 200 baht! I was still fairly full from my mammoth lunch so wandered around a bit to see if there was anything I could buy for my wife and kids that wouldn't break the bank but there wasn't much choice - ended up with a fridge magnet of the Petronas Towers (9 ringitt)! Sat down and still had an hour to kill so thought I would fire the laptop up and catch up on HHAD and the football if there was free wifi available - and there was! It quickly came around to board but I normally wait until the last minute because you end up queuing everywhere otherwise. I had an aisle seat so that also made it a good decision.
Took off on time (6.45 pm) and the flight simply flew by (no pun intended) as I got chatting with a Thai guy and his wife sitting next to me. We had our food and landed before I even had a chance to think about it. Landed 20 minutes early this time! Immigration and baggage claim was a breeze and I was walking out into departures by 8 pm. I had booked a taxi to take me back to Hua Hin and figured he might not be there yet, so took a little time and changed my remaining ringitt into baht, but at a terrible rate of 8.9 baht to 1 ringitt; the other way the rate in KL had been 1 ringitt costing 10 baht, although I actually used my UK bank card to draw cash there. Incidentally, as a Barclays customer I discovered last time that your card gets blocked if it gets used in another country without informing them, which I did do this time. Walked to the agreed meeting point and my taxi driver was there with a neatly printed sign. It was a fair walk to his car (Honda CRV) but we left the car park at about 8.30. My wife and I have used this company before and they are normally OK, but this time they were exceptional! There was torrential rain from the moment we left the airport to pretty much getting on to Rama 2 road (I'm talking 'can barely see past the end of the bonnet' rain), and then intermittent bursts all the way to the Petchburi turn off but the guy was a fantastic driver; I have never felt so safe and comfortable with someone else driving me, as he kept safe distances back, had good lane discipline, indicated all the time including lane changes, remained at steady speeds, anticipated well and slowed down or sped up without unnecessary use of the brake, was courteous to other drivers, even slowing down slightly when others didn't have quite the speed to pass, never used the horn and only flashed his lights to warn big vehicles of his presence, and used his flashing hazard lights to indicate a hazard (e.g. in the extremely heavy rain) and let people behind see him and not to show that he was going straight on at traffic lights. He stayed at or close to the speed limit most of the time except when not safe to do so, and we arrived at my house at 11pm. This guy was so good that he even took notice of the speed bumps dotted around Borfai and drove slowly between them as well as when he reached them! If anyone wants his contact details please feel free to PM me.
So its great to be home, and I hope some of that will help others with their trips or decisions, and I hope everyone gets as lucky as I did! Hopefully I will never have to do it again...
I then asked her what if my wife gave me 2000 each month to make it 40,000 and she said, "yes,that good idea"