Thailand
I
have written this page to mention some of the customs in Thailand. I hope to add to this list later on.
I
was given a disembarkation form to fill out on my flight to Bangkok. You will be assessed an airport tax of 500 Bhat when you depart from Thailand.
January
in Bangkok feels similar to midsummer in the Midwest, and then it only gets
hotter for the rest of the year. Heat
and humidity feel oppressive by April.
Bangkok’s wet season begins in May and lasts until October. I went to Bangkok during the last month of
their wet season, and the still had many thunderstorms.
Thais prefer that we dress modestly, which means jeans,
slacks or skirts of at least knee length, and at least short sleeves.
One woman told me someone had called her ‘slut’ when she wore
shorts. I always wore a bra, and covered
my shoulders and legs, so nobody ever called me anything derogatory. Modest dress is mandatory for the Royal
Palace and temples.
It’s
always hot (or at least very warm) outside, but I did feel chilly in some
air-conditioned places. I did bring one
sweater with me.
I
brought tons of panties with me, and changed them often after my surgery.
Thai
electricity is 220 volts. Surprisingly,
you can fit your 110-volt appliances in most outlets in Thailand, but the 220
volts will destroy your appliances if you don’t use a converter. I purchased a converter from Radio Shack for
about $25.
See
Electricity
Around the World. Outlets at my
hotel were a hybrid of types A and C shown on this website.
It
is criminal to speak against or offend the Royal Family. This includes stomping on any image of the
King, so if you drop any cash, whatever you do, don’t stomp on it to prevent it
from blowing away in the wind.
I
exchanged dollars for Bhat at currency exchange
windows in the airport, and also at Dr. Kamol’s bank. My hotel also exchanged currency, but at a
less favorable rate. Bills that have
been torn or defaced are unacceptable.
Thai
people are more affectionate than those in America, especially the women. Thailand is called the Land of Smiles, and the people here do smile a lot.
Metropolis
107.0 FM, which is a 24-hour English radio station, plays contemporary western
music from the 60s to the present. I
heard many familiar songs on this station.
SRS Letters, Notarizing at
US Embassy
I carried with me a copy of a post from a mailing list written earlier this year. Even in October 2005, this information was apparently outdated. I provide this advice with the warning that it too could easily be out of date when you go to Thailand.
Before you leave Thailand, you will need to ride a taxi to the US embassy to have your surgery letters notarized. Authorities in the USA are much less likely to accept your letters if you don’t notarize them. You need to present your letters in person. If you don’t have your letters notarized here, your only option for having your letters notarized would be returning to Thailand in person. My friend tried to notarize another friend’s letters on their behalf, but the embassy told us that her friend would have to return to Thailand so she could appear in person.
The US embassy charges $30 US dollars to notarize one letter, and $20 more for each additional letter. I decided to have all four of my letters notarized, just to be sure I would have what I needed back home.
The US embassy opens at 7AM until lunchtime, and then reopens for a shorter period in the afternoon. First, we waited in line for their security checkpoint. They searched our bags and had us walk through a metal detector. They will hold any cell phones until you leave the embassy. After going through security, there was a station of three windows and very slow lines of people waiting for these windows. We made the mistake of waiting in these lines, which were mostly for Thais applying for visas. We should have immediately taken the sidewalk around the right side of this area, and through a door. In the front room is a window for ‘American Citizen Services’. This was the place to go first. We handed our documents to the clerk, and she directed us to a window in the next room where we paid our fees for notarizing our letters. After we paid, we returned to the front room and gave our receipt to the clerk. Then we waited for a short while as they notarized our letters, and then called our names.
We
were warned to ride only in metered taxis.
Fortunately, metered taxis are easy to find. Whenever we needed a ride, we would walk the
short distance from the hotel to the arterial street in front, and then wait
for a cab that had the sign ‘taxi meter’ on top and a red light inside its
front windshield, indicating that this taxi was available. Jaruwan provided us with paper notes (in
Thai) containing addresses to our hotel, the clinic, and our destinations
(including the US embassy and malls) so we could show these to the taxi drivers
and let them know where we wanted to go.
Occasionally, a driver would indicate that he wasn’t going to our
destination, but even then we didn’t have to wait very long before we found a
taxi driver who would take us. Fares
begin at 35 Bhat, but are much less than what you
would pay for a taxi ride back in the USA.
To
tip a taxi driver, we would at least round the fare to the nearest 10 Bhat, or sometimes 20 or 25 Bhat. We typically left tips of 20 Bhat in restaurants.
I
would never wish to drive in Bangkok.
Thai’s drive on the left side of the road, and
many other rules of the road are different from those in the USA. Traffic is slow. Distances in Bangkok are measured in
time. For example, Thais will tell us
that the mall is ’half an hour’ from here rather than any distance in
kilometers or miles.
Thailand
automatically grants a 30-day visa to tourists upon arrival. If you are going to Dr. Suporn, or if you
need to stay in Thailand longer than 30 days for any other reason, you will
need to seek an extension of your tourist visa.
Thailand assesses a fine of 500 Bhat per day
for overstaying a visa, and I’ve heard that there is a
slight risk of spending time in a Thai jail – EEK!
Tap
water is unfit for drinking. I used only
bottled water for drinking and brushing my teeth.
Websites
for more Thailand information:
Mailing
lists:
SRS In
Thailand for women considering any Thai surgeon. Please read membership requirements on the
front page.
Go to page about SRS by Dr. Kamol