Regional travel tips.

[harryopal1]

I know that the moderators just sit in front of the screen all day with nothing to do and just love it when someone comes up with a bright idea that will squander more of their life's time but at least relieve their boredom. I sit back expecting immediate responses from each moderator thanking me profusely for giving them something to do.

It occurs to me that many forum members travel around quite a bit whether it be to different parts of Indonesia and the South East Asian region. I wonder if an alphabetical list could be set up as posts occur where members could put tips about dealing with latest scams or other difficulties with the various places.

What with a multi city itinerary and not using a travel agent I got focussed on plane and hotel bookings and the to and from from the various airports. I didn't spend enough time on other matters. I am in Bangkok at the moment and found that the banks, bless their dark hearts, tend to limit the amount to be drawn at any one transaction and charge around $13 for each withdrawal. So, if you need to draw more then you pay that fee with each withdrawal. There are a few banks with ATMs that accept much larger withdrawals and the exorbitant fees can be avoided.

Anyhow, it is early in the morning and my brain seems to think that every idea I have is brilliant. Later in the cold light of day these random thoughts fizzle into nothingness. Do any other forum members think Regional Travel Tips might be a useful referral possibility? i.e. Going to Jakarta a heads up about security issues, taxis or whatever?

 

[El_Goretto]

I know that the moderators just sit in front of the screen all day with nothing to do and just love it when someone comes up with a bright idea that will squander more of their life's time but at least relieve their boredom. I sit back expecting immediate responses from each moderator thanking me profusely for giving them something to do.

?????? Spot on!

We always welcome suggestions from our member so I think it's worth looking into this.

Often times, in forums, you get a sticky post which contains links to top threads related to one another.

So we could have a locked sticky thread called "Indonesia Travel Tips" which we would update regularly with links to interesting relevant threads as they pop up.

 

[snpark]

But that's not true that every bank charges $13. Mine doesn't. I can withdraw 20,000 a time sometimes more depending on the Atm and both my Dubai Bank and Indonesian bank only deduct the baht amount, no service fee

There's lots of Thai expat forums you can search for Thailand travel tips

This one should be just for Indonesia

Or just use Google "travel tips for Bangkok"

 

[harryopal1]

It is the banks controlling the ATMs who make these extra charges.

 

[Ruserious]

Every cash withdrawal I have done in Thailand charges exactly 200 baht which is close to US$6.30. They all seem to charge exactly the same so I am sure is a standard amount.

 

[Helpful Herbert]

Yes it's 200 Baht in Thailand. In Vietnam it is 50,000 Dong (about $2). In Myanmar it is 6000 Kyat (about $4). Feel free to add others.

 

[harryopal1]

Well, I drew funds two days ago and my account shows

2 Apr 2019		CASH ADVANCE FEE - ATMClick for details	-$17.99

I have yet to see if this is a sole Westpac charge for cash advance. I had checked with the bank and put cash into the credit account and was told the bank will waive this fee if I ring about the matter

 

[Balifrog]

Well, I drew funds two days ago and my account shows

2 Apr 2019		CASH ADVANCE FEE - ATMClick for details	-$17.99

I have yet to see if this is a sole Westpac charge for cash advance. I had checked with the bank and put cash into the credit account and was told the bank will waive this fee if I ring about the matter

An ATM withdrawal is not a cash advance.
As mentionned above standard ATM withdrawal fee in Thailand is 200 b.
Now if I do a "cash advance" with my HSBC credit card, there is still the 200b (fee by Thai bank) , but HSBC will charge me a "cash advance fee" as this is not withdrawing from my current / saving account but a "loan" on my CC.

 

[snpark]

Yes credit card cash advance and a normal atm current account debit card withdrawal are 2 seperate things and every card would charge you the extra % fee for that and a currency difference also

Apparantly for the cash withdrawal (not advance) some banks just tag it on to the withdrawal amount and include it in the conversion eg you withdraw $200 and get (example 6000 TB) but in reality it will be $206 and they sometimes just swallow it all up when they convert it to your home currency

AFAIK my bank just swallows the $6 charge vip customer blah blah but it would be such a tiny amount difference compared to the great conversion rate I get that I probably wouldn't notice it on my statement

All I see is withdrawal 10,000 baht - 1150 dubai dirhams (example) which is roughly the spot rate anyway, and $6 would make it 1170 dhs so not a huge amount, some people might pay more than that if their bank gave them a crappy rate

 

[Wisnu]

Many hotel and resort in Indonesia offer discount or "special price" for WNI/kitas holders, but does not mean you will get better prices than the other non WNI/kitas.
Sometime I found they get higher discount. It's more of haggling effort.

 

[Wisnu]

Indonesia is not paradise, in fact far from paradise.
It is important to manage your expectations realistically and to accept some imperfection.
In case, too much, just put aside not to ruin whole trip.
Most if not all of you know, most Indonesians don't use toilet paper, if you can't live without toilet paper, just bring along with you.
Alcohol is difficult and expensive, no need to complain if your romantic dinner served without red wine
Insect and citters is everywhere. Don't be surprised if they welcome to you, particularly in more remote place or near jungle.
No panic if you see gekko in your room, they are much nicer than Komodo dragon.

greeting (preferable n bahasa Indonesia or local language) someone first is better than waiting for greetings.

 

[waarmstrong]

Dealing with clueless, self-absorbed visitors will always be a burden of Indonesia's tourist industry. Among other positive features, some Western tourist may come away from their experience with the realization that a squirt of water is more effective than a paper swipe. Is not that a good thing?

 

[El_Goretto]

some Western tourist may come away from their experience with the realization that a squirt of water is more effective than a paper swipe. Is not that a good thing?

 

[Wisnu]

Yes. But not all western tourist enjoy their arse getting wet.
I still read people complaining about tolitet paper issue ruining their honeymoon.

 

[waarmstrong]

If that ruins your honeymoon, it was probably doomed from the "I do" forward.

 

[Helpful Herbert]

If it's a quick squirt of water how come it results in the entire toilet area being covered in water, making it difficult for the next users (except for those who like squatting on the toilet seat, which apparently is quite common)

 

[waarmstrong]

Boo hoo! Its wet, what ever can I do?

 

[El_Goretto]

Boo hoo! Its wet, what ever can I do?

Wet with water that's been splashing off someone's butt and poop.

Sorry if TMI, but I'm sure it's happened to everyone to have a messy time in the bathroom, squatting toilets make it extremely messy. People squatting on normal toilets for sure are splashing shit everywhere.

 

[Helpful Herbert]

Seems like Mr W enjoys the dirty games hmm

 

[waarmstrong]

For most of the world, a squat toilet is a normal toilet and quite sanitary. The picture of shit being slashed about is certainly not the norm. The Indonesian people, in my experience, are very preoccupied with cleanliness , even to the point of obsession.

Across the world, public toilets, of all types, are often poorly maintained.