As we are planning a short trip to Myanmar (Burma) in September we had to get visas. This can only be done in person at an embassy and takes 3 days, unless your departure is imminent when it may be possible to pay extra for a same-day service. We therefore had a choice of going up to Bangkok while we are at Yacht Haven or to KL when back in Langkawi. As we prefer Bangkok, we opted to do it there and to bring forward a trip to other sites close to there - Kanchanaburi and Ayutthaya which we had planned as part of a later trip.
Last Sunday therefore saw us on Air Asia to Bangkok and Monday morning, bright and early, at the Visa Section of the Myanmar Embassy. We had read on another traveller's blog that a copy shop 200 m down the road has the forms and will copy your passport and take your photograph in a form that is acceptable. Armed with these we got from about 10th in the queue to third, as those before us had to get the forms and fill them in before being issued with a ticket. After having our departure date checked, as the visa is only valid for entry within 28 days, we were told we could pick our passports up on Wednesday. All very efficient.
Off then to HSBC - "the world's local bank". Despite being the first commercial bank in Thailand HSBC has only one branch. We had hoped that, as HSBC customers in the UK, we would be able to obtain the necessary pristine US dollar notes and pay for them directly from our UK account without incurring a double exchange rate hit. No such luck - we would have to put our card into the ATM - draw out as much in Thai baht as the machinge would give us, take it to the counter and exchange to baht into USD. This we could do at the airport.
Check out of the hotel, Skytrain to the river, river boat up to near the royal palace and tuk-tuk to Thonburi station for a 3rd class train to Kanchanaburi at 1355.
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