Bangkok - about VOA and airport connectivity

Bangkok - about VOA and airport connectivity

Thailand Visa for the Indian passport holders

The Victory monument

Thailand offers a fee exempted visa on arrival for Indian passport holders. The visa fee of THB 2000 remains waived off till the 31^st October 2019. The previous two waiver terms expired on April 30, 2019, but a six month extension was announced well before the expiry date of 30 April. This measure gave a tremendous boost to tourism in Thailand as Indians travel to this country in the droves.

However, this tourist visa is only granted for fifteen days. One has to show onward / return journey ticket at the immigration window. Hotel reservation for at least one day is also required as is the funds requirement to the tune of THB 10K in cash for solo travelers (it is 20 K for those visiting with family). In my case, nobody asked for my hotel reservation or counting of the cash before them. A valid passport, the visa application form with the photograph attached/pasted, a return/ onward journey ticket and the arrival/departure card are the main requirements for securing a VOA in Bangkok. The visa process takes about 20 minutes after submission of papers at the window. However, there is a long queue in front of the immigration windows. I had to wait for about 50 minutes in the queue.

Traffic stopping orderly at traffic lights.

The counterfoil of the arrival/departure card (departure tear-away portion) that has been numbered / bar-coded is to be submitted to the immigration when you leave that country. Keep it at a safe place. This is an important item they will take back from you at the time of departure.

Airport connectivity

Confusion always remains in the minds of travelers to Bangkok about authentic information on transfer from Suvarnabhumi and the Don Muang airports to the centre of the city. Both these airports fall in different directions outside the city limits (30 km and 21 km respectively).

The multilevel Metro tracks, Bangkok

Taxi is very costly in Bangkok. Fortunately, the city has a wonderful metro rail system. There’s the BTS system comprising the Sukhumvit Line and the Silom line. Then there’s the underground MRT system. The metro trains aren’t cheaper by any standards but the biggest advantage of the metro system is that it is efficient as there are no traffic jams that we see on the roads of the city though the vehicular traffic in Bangkok is quite orderly.

During my week-long stay in the city I didn’t take a tuk-tuk, took a metered taxi only thrice, and also rode a city bus service twice. The bus service is efficient and cheap but suffers from the dreaded traffic jams. Most of my city travel was done using the metro service; all the three lines, and I enjoyed it. A cruise on the Chao Phraya River is another great way to access major attractions along the river or beyond. It is a wonderful experience too.

From the Suvarnabhumi International airport to the centre of the city.

There’s the airport rail link which can be accessed from the basement level of the airport. The Airport rail line takes you to the BTS Sky train station at Phaya Thai. From Phaya Thai you can catch the Sky Train (Sukhumvit Line) to anywhere in the Sukhumvit area with Mo Chit in the north and Samrong in the south as the two terminating stations. You can change at Siam station to catch the BTS Sky train of the Silom line. The Silom Line runs from the National Stadium (near Siam) in the north and goes westwards across the Chao Phraya river to the last station at Bang Wa.

The Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) is the longest of the metro train services and it runs underground from Klong Bang Phai station in the north to Hua Lamphong in the middle of the city.

The metro rail system is a very efficient transportation system in Bangkok. Though not cheaper by any standards, the system is convenient to access and undoubtedly the best time saving mode of transportation.

To Don Muang International airport.

Buses lined up at Mo Chit incl A1 & A2

Take the MRT line or the BTS Sky train to Mo Chit station. From the platform take the left exit to the road downstairs that goes to the airport. The buses can be seen queued up as soon as you alight from the BTS at Mo Chit. Many buses go to the airport but the two specific ones which go right up to the entrance gates are A1 and A2. These are non-stop buses as almost all of the passengers go to the airport. Terminal 1 is the international terminal while T2 serves domestic flights. The fare is THB 40.

There are different and conflicting accounts of the time taken by the airport bound bus to reach it. When I researched about this I found people posting the time to reach the airport from 30 minutes to an hour and a half. When I reached the Mo Chit bus stop I had to wait for about 10 minutes before an A2 appeared. The bus took just 20 minutes to drop its passengers at the airport.