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The great majority of visitors
around the world arrive in Thailand by air on one of the many
scheduled flights from Europe, North America, Asia and
Australia. A host of international carriers land at Don Muang,
Bangkok's major airport terminal. Flights in and out of Thailand
are often overbooked so it's imperative to reconfirm ongoing
flights as soon as you arrive. The departure tax on
international flights is around US$13 but this is waived if the
visitor is in the country for less than 12 hours.
Overland travel from Malaysia is also popular and there are four
border crossings between Thailand and Malaysia, two on the west
coast, one in the center and one on the east coast. It's not
possible to buy through-fare tickets for rail journeys between
Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur or Singapore, but the trip can be made
on express trains via the Thai-Malaysia border at Pedang Besar.
The journey usually requires an overnight stop in Butterworth
(Malaysia) in order to comfortably make train connections. For
real luxury, the International Express (something like Europes
famed Orient Express) makes the trip between Bangkok and
Butterworth (Penang) without the need to change trains at the
Malaysian border. Connecting services are available to or from
Singapore and Kuala Lumpur.
The opulent Eastern & Oriental Express does run directly between
Bangkok and Singapore, but expect to pay well over US$1000 for
the privilege. There are plenty of crossing points between
Thailand and Myanmar, Laos or Cambodia, but very few border
crossings are made - officially, at least.
It's legal for non-Thai foreigners to cross the Mekong River by
ferry between Thailand and Laos at several points along the
river. |
