Melbourne To Bangkok VIA SYDNEY - help please.

Travelling first time Melbourne To Bangkok via Sydney. Domestic Melb - Syd then transfer to international flight in Sydney. All Qantas Flights.

Allowed 2 hrs 45 mins for tranfer from Domestic Terminal in Sydney to International.

Enough time ?

Where and how best should I go from domestic to international in Sydney.

Very specific directions/instructions would be most appreciated.

Stupid me, going in 10 days time and just realised, I have never been to Sydney International before - slight panic !! HELP !!

Melbourne To Bangkok VIA SYDNEY - help please.

Don%26#39;t panic. You have enough time. You will arrive at Terminal 3 and you have to go to Terminal 1 at SYD Airport. They can already label your luggage in MEL to BKK (via SYD). So no need to pick up your luggage in SYD. Maybe you will also get a boarding card in MEL for your trip SYD/BKK. I assume your travelagent has issued this booking. If you would not have enough transfertime, they could not issue the tickets. Hope you can sleep now better and enjoy your vacation

Melbourne To Bangkok VIA SYDNEY - help please.

You can also check the website www.sydneyairport.com.au

I even noticed that qantas is issueing tkts with a transfertime of even 1hr and 20 minutes from MEL to BKK via SYD. That means you don%26#39;t have to panic at all, since you have a transfertime of 2hrs and 45 minutes.

Yes you will have plenty of time. As you are travelling with Qantas you will be able to access their free transfer bus, information below is from the Qantas Website.

';Transferring from T2 and T3 (Domestic Airports) to T1 (International Airport):

The Transfer Lounge is located airside (after passing through the security check point), opposite Gate 1 in T3. A shuttle bus service is available to passengers that are travelling or have travelled on a Qantas flight (including codeshare flights) or oneworld flight. The shuttle buses operate every 10-20 minutes from 6am to 9.40pm. On arrival at T1 proceed up the escalator, through immigration and security to your departure gate. If you do not have a boarding pass for your International flight, proceed to the check-in counters. ';

Have fun.

Many thanks.

You guys are great. Now I can rest easy and spend more time lurking in the forum to refine the planning.

I can give you some more detailed instructions, as I do it regularly.

When you check in at Melbourne, you will be checked through to Bangkok. They will give you two boarding passes: one for Mel-Syd, and one for Syd-Bkk. Your bags will also be checked through to Bkk.

Tip: ask them if they can give you your International departure card to fill in now ready for Sydney

When you get to Sydney, you will come off your plane as normal. Go down the terminal to Gate 1. Opposite gate 1 there is a couple of people standing at the machines they use when you go onto our palne at the gate. Give them your Syd-Bkk boarding pass, they will put it through the machine (you are now %26#39;in the system%26#39;). You go down an escalator and you are in a small waiting room for the bus to take you to International.

When the bus arrives, they will swipe your Boarding Pass again. Get on the bus, it goes to Intl, about a seven or eight minute ride.

Get off at International, go up the escalator and you are ready to go through Immigration and Customs, and you are ready to go to Bkk!

Food is pretty weak at Syd Intl (coffee is OK in the bookshop), so if you are hungry eat before you come through Immigration. 2h45 is a huge amount of time, you have a good hour up your sleeve.

sterling or us$

we are travelling to Bangkok and Koh Samui in October and are wondering which is the best to take, Sterling travellers cheques or us$. I know normally sterling is recommended however with the us$ being so strong is it better to take us$ cheques at the moment?

sterling or us$

US $ is WEAK in Thailand at the moment. Take sterling, either travellers cheques if you must, but some sterling cash to change at the airport, then a Debit card (not credit - Nationbwide FlexAccount is best, no fees, no commission, better rate of exchange, no brainer!) to get more cash as you go along. The rates are much better in Thailand. If you get $ TCs in UK then change into baht in Thailand you will be paying two lots of commission.

sterling or us$

I would go stronger than Arandora, and say don%26#39;t bother with TCs at all. Rely on cashpoints (ATMs) and maybe a bit of cash to change on arrival for emergencies.

How you fund those cashpoint withdrawals is a matter of cost and convenience - debit card, credit card, withdrawal from your home account etc

lip stain

elephant rides--I've heard it's better to ride at their neck

I read somewhere that it%26#39;s much better for the elephant if a person rides at their neck rather than on their back in one of those wooden set-ups. Does anyone know if this is the case? If so, can this be done in Chiang Mai? I don%26#39;t want to go somewhere where I have a good time but cause the animal pain or harm.

elephant rides--I've heard it's better to ride at their neck

There are a number of places in Chiang Mai where you can do a short one hour ride (if you didn%26#39;t want to over-do it). The mahut will/may invite you to climb down from the seat and onto the neck, while he hops down and walks beside you.

It is at this time you%26#39;ll realise why the seat is a better option.

I don%26#39;t see how you%26#39;d be hurting the elephant, by paying money which goes a long way towards his/her incredible feeding bill.

I paid 600 or 700 baht a few years ago, so it%26#39;s not ';cheap';, but it%26#39;s really good fun and makes a great photo.

elephant rides--I've heard it's better to ride at their neck

Hi,

yes you%26#39;re right. It%26#39;s natural for the elephant if you sit on his neck. Wooden set-ups can cause health problems with elephant%26#39;s back if they are not fixed with care - which is the problem in most camps near Chiangmai. Try to check TECC - www.changthai.com

They do mahout training programs, in this place, you can ride elephant sitting on his neck, you can visit their elephant hospital and bath with elephants

If the seats are fitted well then it is not a problem. The good mahout will be sure that there is plenty of padding and the fit is good. If an elephant is too thin (from malnutrition) this can be a problem too. The seats have been used for many, many years, and most of the time, they do not harm the elephants. Of course, there are cases where there has been serious injury, and you can see one such case at the Elephant Nature Park...but it is not the norm.

Unfortunately, many of the places that offer rides are not doing so in the best conditions. It is quite easy to see if the elephant is happy and healthy or if it is suffering...eyes should be clear and bright, ears should be moving, not pinned to the side of the head in anger or frustration or hanging limply, indicating poor health.

Near Chiang Mai, the Thai Elephant Conservation Center www.changthai.com offers mahout training programs for tourists, and you can drop in as well, have a look around, see the elephants bathe, watch a demonstration of the skills traditionally used for logging (though elephants are no longer legally allowed to work in logging, it was their traditional use up until the stricter logging laws were passed in 1988-1989). There is an elephant hospital there which you can visit. You can ride an elephant as well even on a drop in visit...you will sit in a seat and perhaps the mahout will offer you to sit on the neck. If you do a mahout training program, you will sit on the neck.

Virtually all of the elephants out there giving rides to tourists are doing so to support themselves and their mahouts. When logging became impossible, there was little else for mahouts to do with their elephants. The lucky are in places like the Thai Elephant Conservation Center, the Anantara and Four SEasons in the Golden Triangle www.helpingelephants.org is great reading, and the Elephant Nature Park. The alternatives are illegal logging (very dangerous and hard), walking the streets of Bangkok/Pattaya/Phuket and posing for photos and begging for bananas.

Nothing wrong with wanting to ride an elephant, just choose your venue carefully.

manathai boutique hotel

hi,

anyone heard of the manathai boutique resort at twinpalm,any comment on the hotel?

manathai boutique hotel

The ManaThai is not actually AT the TwinPalms - it is next to it - immediately to the south.

Very nice - smallish resort with well-trained and friendly staff. An excellent much-lower priced alternative to the TwinPalms. They, as does the TwinPalms - have a Beach Club right down on the beach front.

More on the immediate area is at:

www.phuketgoldcoast.com/Surin_Beach.htm

best way to clean my duvet cover

Khao Lak Update - photos and current info from on the scene

Took a good long day trip up to Khao Lak on Saturday and took some photos of the continued rebuilding. Lots of old favorites are on the way back. Should be a great high season at the end of this year.

khaolaklovers.com/Khao_Lak_area_update_July_…

Cross posted on the Khao Lak forum.

Khao Lak Update - photos and current info from on the scene

Good to see/hear that KL is really on its way back.

Khao Lak Update - photos and current info from on the scene

tedkarma: I%26#39;ve read a lot of your comments on TA, and gained lots of information. My wife and I are looking at the Aleenta on NaiTai beach. Is it truly as stunning as the pictures? Any resort similar in Southern Thailand that offers stunning beaches, sunsets, private villa pool, and tranquility for under $300 a night?

Thanks for your comments.

TAS

I think the Aleenta is extraordinary. The entire area between Phuket and Thai Muang will soon become a very upscale residential/resort bedroom community to Phuket. The area immediately north of the Allenta is developing with multi-million dollar villas right on the beach front.

Some good photos of the Aleenta are at:

phuketnorth.com/Aleenta_Resort_Photos.htm

The Natai Beach area is actually CLOSER to the Phuket Airport than even the Laguna/Bang Tao Beach area, so it is more convenient that many people are aware of.

In the area north of Phuket - there will soon be a Raffles Resort - and in the next few years there will be super boom in the area with Venice of the East, MalibuLand (?!), and several other very large and very upscale - managed villa estates.

Go see it all while it is still relatively quiet! Great beach - and other very nice - virutally unknown beaches in the area - take a look at BoDan Beach here:

phuketnorth.com/BoDan_TahSai_Beaches.htm

Just my opinion - it is a truly stunning area.

speed boats?

last time we were in LOS we did not take the kids to Phi Phi for the snorkelling trip...however the first time we went, hubby and i went over and did it on the big ferries (dont want to do that again)...how much would we be looking at for 1/2 day with 2 adults 2 kids to get over there to do snorkelling? any help appreciated

thanks

mix

speed boats?

HI

not sure if they do 1/2 day trip usually it is from 9 to 4

most do a multi island tour with a nice lunch stop.

I would look for a smaller speed boat ';less people'; same speed

just as safe about 10 to 16 people

price between 1200 and 2000 baht per person depending upon where and who you buy from and your haggling skills and where you go.

if you have unlimited funds you can probably get a boat just for your family for around 20,000 baht more or less.

speed boats?

There%26#39;s a couple of outfits in boat lagoon marina that arrange charters on better boats - from 20 ft - 80 ft depending on budget.

I tried hiring the local private speedboats but they%26#39;re very uncomfortable in any kind of sea and on each occasion the drivers wanted to go to the most crowded tourist trap beaches.

Lee marine may be able to help or look in classifieds in Phuket Gazette.

Hi Mix

I returned last week from Phuket where one of our best days was a speedboat trip to Phi Phi.

We went to a few of the little kiosk tour sellers to get prices and settled for a tour company named Siam Sea Canoe. There was 4 adults, 4 kids and a baby and it cost us 7500 bt.

The size speedboat they use depends on how many people have booked for the day, on ours there were about 30 people but the boat was quite big and had 3 x 225hp engines so fairly got up and went.

The crew made the trip, they were fantastic so when we booked a Pang Gna Canoe trip we used the same company (It wasn%26#39;t a speed boat for this but was probably the only day better than our Phi Phi day - Cost 6800 bt)

You could try and get a boat for just yourselves but for the difference in cost I dont think it would be worth it.

Roger

Top thing to do while in Phuket

Hi,

I am after the 1 Top thing to do in Phuket. Heading there in Sept, but we are travellers that like to laze around and enjoy the heat and just basically relax.

At the same time i don%26#39;t want to be missing out on all those great experiences that can be had in Phuket.

Any information would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

BREE

Top thing to do while in Phuket

Depending on what part of the island you are going to stay on - you%26#39;ll probably regularly be exposed to the nightlife, shopping, great restaurants and a good beach.

So . . . I would suggest getting OUT of the tourist areas and seeing a bit of what the real Phuket is like - or at least what the other 75% of the island is like.

Try ';Best Island Drives'; for some self-drive tours that will get you out and about through some rural areas with pineapple, coconut and rubber plantations - along with some great sea and bay views.

phuketdelight.com/Best_Island_Drives.htm

Take a walking tour through a couple small towns - away from the super tourist areas. Try a walking tour of Cherng Talay or of Bang Tao:

phuketgoldcoast.com/Cherng_Talay_Walking_Tou鈥?/a>

phuketgoldcoast.com/Bang_Tao_Walking_Tour.htm

Check out a real fish market - for locals - not a tourist thing:

phuketgoldcoast.com/BangTao_Fish_Market.htm

AND, if you get real energetic - get off the island to the north just a couple kilometers and explore the Natai area - what will soon become the Malibu of Thailand - but for now is relatively undiscovered - check out BoDan beach, one of the most beautiful in Thailand - and undiscovered (for the moment). For more on that:

phuketnorth.com/BoDan_TahSai_Beaches.htm

and: http://phuketnorth.com/Drives.htm

Once you%26#39;ve seen that you%26#39;ll know more about Phuket and the area than 96% of the local expats - and you%26#39;ll love it even more!

Top thing to do while in Phuket

Thank you so much for taking the time to pass on that great info. It%26#39;s sounds great!

Thanks again,

BREE

BreeAustralia

I suggest do day trip with Captain Mark. We enjoy lazying around and keep relatively quite lifestyle. (not really into the girlie bar type of scene)

We enjoyed the day on the boat and luck enough to sail back from island to phuket island so was great end of day.

Just check under phuket sail tours, captainmark in this forum

Enjoy

Ian %26amp; Veona

Hi Bree

Got back from Phuket last week and by far the best day we had was a trip to Phang Gna including James Bond Island.

We booked with a company named Siam Sea Canoe (Book through any of the kiosks on the streets)

It was a great day canoeing into the caves on the islands, the 42 islands provide the most picturesque setting I have ever seen.

I%26#39;m sure doing it on Captain Mark%26#39;s sailboat would be great but for a cheaper alternative I would recommend this.

Roger