Money

What's the Best Way to Send Money to Southeast Asia?

What's the Best Way to Send Money to Southeast Asia?

Some of the logistical aspects of travelling to far flung places like Southeast Asia can be less than fun. One of the major every day complications is how to get access to your cash back home without getting charged a fortune every time.

Thailand and other parts of Southeast Asia have plenty of ATMs knocking around, so you can often withdraw local currency easily from most areas. But, it’ll probably cost you quite a lot to do so each time, thanks to ATM and other associated bank charges.

Paying these fees is irritating if it’s just for small withdrawals, but for large sums – for example, to cover payments for multi-day excursions, apartment rental or for language / cookery courses – the cost of withdrawing cash quickly mount up.

International bank transfers are expensive, but you have other options

Moreover, when you’re in a foreign country, you might well be more...

Thailand

Bangkok Skytrain (BTS)

Bangkok Skytrain (BTS)

Bangkok's Skytrain (รถไฟฟ้า) started operating in December 1999 and, for the areas it goes to at least, is an extremely useful way of getting about. There's a central station located at Siam square, and two lines: the 17km Sukhumvit line, which stretches from Sukhumvit Soi 81, all the way up to Mo Chit. The 6.5km Silom line from the National Stadium down south to Saphan Taksin along Silom and Sathorn roads. While the Siam station is...

Money Visas South East Asia

Can I Work While Travelling in Southeast Asia?

Can I Work While Travelling in Southeast Asia?

The idea of helping to fund a trip to South East Asia by doing some work locally as you go along maybe an attractive one, but it's a challenging prospect in reality. The first problem is that tourist visas and visa-free entry for any country in South East Asia always forbid any form of work or business (including volunteer and unpaid work), and you'll need to apply for a proper visa in advance.

That's trickier than...

Thailand Bangkok

Introduction to Bangkok

Introduction to Bangkok

A lot of first time visitors aren't quite sure what to expect when first arriving in the capital of exotic Thailand, and some may be disappointed by their first impressions on the way into town - endless high rise buildings, busy expressway flyovers and...

Thailand Bangkok Shopping

Chatuchak and other markets in Bangkok

Chatuchak and other markets in Bangkok

Bangkok doesn't lack for markets, and they are generally the cheapest places to shop. This doesn't necessarily reflect on the quality of the goods sold either, and some excellent bargains are for the taking in Bangkok if you know where to...

Thailand Bangkok Attractions

Day trips and excursions from Bangkok

Day trips and excursions from Bangkok

There are quite a few attractions visitable as day trips out of Bangkok, most easily on tours that may combine two or three of them in one day .

Perhaps the most popular trip from Bangkok is the 109km journey southwest to the picturesque...

Thailand Bangkok Getting Around

Bangkok Tuk-tuks

Bangkok Tuk-tuks

Doing a similar job to the taxi is Thailand's ubiquitous tuk-tuk ตุ๊กๆ). So named because of the sound of their engine, these are motorized rickshaws and are popular amongst tourists for their novelty value. They are occasionally faster than taxis in...

Thailand Bangkok Getting Around

Bangkok river and canal boats

Bangkok river and canal boats

Formerly known as the 'Venice of the East', Bangkok still has an excess of waterways that offer a great way of getting around. River express and canal boats regularly ply several routes unaffected by the constant traffic on the roads, and...

Thailand Bangkok Attractions

Tours of Bangkok

Tours of Bangkok

There are many, many travel agents in Bangkok offering tours of the sights in Bangkok and surrounding provinces. The Khao San road travel agents tend to be the cheapest, but have a reputation for routinely selling more tickets than there are seats...

Shopping Safety Attractions

Introduction To Indonesia

Introduction To Indonesia

Indonesia, a sprawling archipelago of more than 13,000 islands, is one of south east Asia's most diverse treasures. It's remarkable and varied landscape contains innumerable contrasts; from idyllic white sand beaches to fiery volcanoes, and from rugged...

Thailand Bangkok

The full name of Bangkok

The full name of Bangkok

Unless talking to foreigners who don't know any different, Thais will never call their capital city Bangkok - indeed, some Thais in the more remote provinces may never have even heard of it being called that. Instead in Thai it is known as Krung Thep...

Thai Language

What exactly does 'farang' mean in Thai?

What exactly does 'farang' mean in Thai?

Even if you can speak no other words of Thai, most European and American visitors to Thailand will quickly become familiar with the Thai word farang (often mispronounced (even by Thais) as falang - farang with a slightly trilled 'r' is...

Thailand Bangkok Getting Around

Bangkok Taxis

Bangkok Taxis

Perhaps the easiest and most comfortable way to get around, if not always the quickest, is by the aircon taxi. These come in quite a few different colours though the green-yellow and red-blue ones are the most common. Bangkok has thousands of taxis, and...