BANGKOK SERIES #2-THINGS I DID IN BANGKOK

If you had come across my earlier post, you would have known by now that I had travelled to Bangkok-Thailand for my first solo holiday. 

Day 1

Post the visa processing and baggage collection, I strode across the expansive Suvarnabhumi airport to the meet-up point for my hotel transfer.

Was pleasantly surprised on being met by a uniform attired chauffeur and his BMW. (Woo hoo…Jumping on the inside !) My journey of approx 45-50 minutes was every bit smooth, luxurious and wi-fi enabled, a perfect welcome to the city of angels and the tropical heat.

Once I reached my hotel- Chatrium Riverside Bangkok located in the Sathon district, I was escorted immediately to my room on the 17^th floor facing the Chao Phraya river.  The room was large with a splendid view and even a private balcony. But more about my hotel experience later.

Exhausted after my long flight and lack of much sleep, I decided to stay in on my first night in the city enjoying endless room service and the river view.

Day 1

Following morning, I felt relaxed and charged up for my city tour spanning the entire day. I was promptly met by my tour guide- Tui from the company- Tour With Tong. Since I opted for the private tour due to the humid climate and for comfort, she was also accompanied by a driver and an air conditioned car. Tui immediately made me feel at ease and within minutes, I almost felt as if I was reconnecting with an old friend.

My first stop for the day was the most popular place of attraction and must do in the city -The Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew –Temple of the Emerald Buddha. The Grand Palace complex consists of several buildings and sprawled an area of more than 50 acres and was only partially open to public. The architecture was magnificent and its work could be noticed to be extremely intricate with the multi-coloured tiles. I particularly loved the colourful architecture with the sun sparkling off the red, blue, green tiles. 

Unfortunately due to the Buddhist occasion of Vichaka Bucha the following day, the entrance to the actual Temple of Emerald Buddha was closed to public for preparations. This day is celebrated to be the day Lord Buddha was born, died and got his enlightenment. Due to this I ended up witnessing jam-packed crowds as the entire complex would also be closed the next day.

But the royal family currently does not live in the Grand Palace. However another local fact I read and quickly understood was that the Thais love their royalty and treat them with immense respect and devotion. It’s a big faux pas and even illegal to talk negative about the royalty.

Infact it is evident from the fact that the National Father’s Day is celebrated on the King’s birthday. Almost all of the major sights are decorated with Blue and Yellow flags symbolizing the King and the Queen respectively depicting the days they were born on. I was told that in Thailand, each day of the week had a colour associated with it.

Post the tour once I stepped outside the complex, spotted several street side stalls from where I tasted some of the most delicious ripe mangoes sprinkled with some chilli salt which was extremely refreshing.

We then travelled to the next sight, which was Wat Pho – Temple of the Reclining Buddha.

After Grand Palace, I just did not want to get out of my air-conditioned vehicle but this sight was such a welcome relief because it was hardly crowded and found it to be airy and breezy. I found out later it was majorly so because the Chinese tourists didn’t have this sight on their itinerary!

BANGKOK SERIES #1-STEP WISE APPROACH TO THE THAILAND VISA ON ARRIVAL ONLINE APPLICATION PROCESS

I was all set and ready to hit the city of Angels- Bangkok for my first solo holiday. 

However, I heard several not-so-great experiences about the delay faced at the Suvarnabhumi International Airport for the visa on arrival process from family and friends. Nevertheless was completely prepared to wait a good 2-3 hours in the immigration queue.

But that’s when during my research, that I read about the recently launched process for the Online Application for Visa on Arrival through the official Thai government website. Read about other blogger experiences, and guess what it worked ! I would have hardly spend 30 minutes end to end to get my visa stamped and out of passport control.

I thought my penning down my experience could benefit other fellow travellers and couldn't recommend the online procedure enough considering you only need to spend less than 10 minutes in advance and you end up saving a good 1-2 hours of waiting time at the minimum.

However, I would like to clarify that this is not an actual pre-approved visa being issued online rather just a system to enter your personal details directly into the Thai immigration system thereby saving time at their end and hence giving you a skip-the-line option at the airport.

I have enlisted my experiences step wise below:

1.   Visit Thai immigration website - https://extranet.immigration.go.th/voaonline/voaonline/VoaonlineAction.do

2.   Click on Tourist -->Apply For Visa on Arrival

3.   You get 30 minutes to fill up the online application with your passport/flight/hotel   

      booking details.

4.   Once done, you are taken to review page before proceeding to accept.

5.   Once accepted, you get a bar code and a reference number with an option to Print 

      VOA Application form.

6.   You would receive a PDF of the form which you can save/print. Ensure to sign off 

      the physical form.

7.   Additionally ensure you carry:

• Passport (Belonging to the list of eligible countries for Visa on Arrival) with a                validity of more than a month and with atleast 1 complete blank page.
• 1 passport size photo
• Return Ticket within 15 days
• Hotel reservation copy
• Filled up Arrival/Departure card (I got this from the flight) and Boarding Pass
• Requirement also indicates for proof of living as 10,000 Baht/person or 20,000 Baht/family. (I was not asked for anything regarding this. If I was, planned to show my debit/credit cards.
• Visa fee of 1000 Thai Baht in local currency as cash 

Why did I travel Solo and why probably you should ?

Are you really sure?

Aren’t you afraid?

Is it safe?

Won’t you be bored? And even..

Are you crazy?

There were a couple of the reactions that I got when I told people that I would be travelling alone for a holiday. All of this coming from people who have never travelled solo.

Less than 5 % of them actually responded positively and said –Go, Enjoy, Treat yourself. Thank you 5 % !

Why is that when women want to travel (read holiday) solo, it is looked upon negatively or treated with sympathy or as desperate and worse, selfish ?

This is my story.

The husband and me were all set for a ten-day dreamy European holiday to Paris, the French Alps, Burgundy Wine region and charming Bruges.

Visas þ

Air Tickets þ

Hotel bookings þ

Food Tours þ

Alas ! Owing to certain unforeseen entrepreneurial business circumstances for the husband, we had to cancel it all. ALL.

Was I upset ? Most definitely, considering I am a bit of an obsessive planner and had been researching for months for the trip. But even more that I wouId not be enjoying a long deserved break after stressful work situations and toddler tantrums.  

Next emotion: Denial. I refused to not take a break and refused to accept the fact that I was not going anywhere. I neither wanted to end up working nor spend the break cooped up at home and a staycation did not seem good enough.

Checked with some family and friends for their availability which did not materialize considering our original travel dates were just about a week away.

Due to my desperation, I somehow ended up browsing on websites and blogs on female solo travel. If they can do it, why can’t I? But if I where to go, where could I and that too in such short notice.

The husband suggested I stick to the original Europe plan but that somehow felt like a major challenge to me considering it was an itinerary with 4 destinations spread over 10 days and with a considerable bit of travel.

With the time constraints, it also meant countries where pre-approved visas posed as one of the requirements were out of question.

One thing led to another and finally rounded upon Thailand and particularly, Bangkok as my destinations being one of the few countries where Indian passport holders could obtain visa on arrival.

Here I was once again excited and researching for my spontaneous holiday.

However now came the bigger challenger convincing parents –two sets !