Hi friends,
I am visiting Phuket this month end. I have already taken eVisa through VFS.
On arrival do I need to produce any other documents other than the printout of the eVisa and my passport?
What is the most convenient mode of journey from Phuket Airport to Patong?
Thanks.

Just the passport, EVisa printout & filled departure form which you get on flight.

You can find the details on visa procedure and also commute to Patong in this and the next post of my travelogue (Wanderlust Traveler: Cambodia - Land of smiles).

I'm also visiting Thailand in New Year. How much you paid for EVoA through VFS? I understand that as the Free VoA is extended till 30 April 2020, VFS must have charged only their service fee and not the visa cost as well.

I went last month and applied via VFS for my wife. It is around Rs 1300 for the service charge.

https://thailandevoa.vfsevisa.com/th...ine/home/index

Note: You still need to go through the VoA line at immigration but it take 5 min compared to the folks who actually have a Thai consulate visa stamp or do not need a visa but you dont have to queue to get the visa processed.

I paid 600 THB for each eVisa. It was only the service charge. There is no Visa fees till Apr 2020.

I and my wife arrived in Chiang Mai from Luang Prabang, Laos on December 10. We filled the VoA form and had to pay only 200 THB per head. The process was very easy as we just had to fill in the form and the embarkation card provided by the airline. A passport size photo is required. We did not have an Evisa. Onward tickets for leaving Thailand and hotel booking was asked for. The whole process took about half an hour as there were quite a few passengers requesting VoA.

We are going for a trip to Thailand on year-end. Planning to visit Bangkok and Pattaya for couple of days each. Looking forward to suggestions for good hotels in both the cities. We are primarily looking for local sightseeing, some shopping and general hang out, nothing too adventurous. Can anyone suggest areas where we can book the hotels in both the cities, preferably central districts?

Cheers!
-- VJ

Bangkok - President Palace, Nana is reasonable, well located near Skytrain, straight line to Siam Square where a lot of the shopping is.

Pattaya - pointless place - sleazy - old men + bored ladies - you get the picture. Beach no great shakes, only good thing about Pattaya is that it is easy to stay there if you have work in the industrial corridor between the airport and Pattaya.

If you must - Walking Street is full of "rentals" , fuel stops etc.
I stayed in the Holiday Inn.

Worth seeing is the Sanctuary of Truth
Try lunch at Sky Terraces - high end but scenic

Where can I get the best exchange rate? Superrich or from any banks in India?

Take American dollars from India. Use a combo of prepaid card and cash. Most kiosks offer the same rate. Use an ATM at airport to get immediate cash requirements

Just a word of warning: at least in June 2018 at Don Mueang, Bangkok (DMK), there was no ATM in the arrivals lounge. So you MUST have INR/USD (or any other exchangeable currency) to actually convert into THB for the VoA fees.

I went on very short notice for corporate fire-fighting (Monday afternoon direct from office, no scope to pack - hand baggage only, and forgot to withdraw cash in IN), and had to strike a deal with a fellow pax to get just about enough cash for the VoA.

I made my 2nd visit to Bangkok last Saturday (Dec 14th) in this year, and this time too, I opted for the priority line on the visa on arrival counter. It cost me only 200 THB, and took around 15 minutes to get my passport back with the 14-day single-entry visa. After that, I had to queue up in one of the 3 counters for bio-metrics, and that took around 20 minutes.

Note: If I had not opted for the 200 baht priority line, I might have got the visa maybe after 30 more minutes (as that line was longer), but after that I'd have taken at least an hour for the biometrics, because there is only a single counter for that route.

Long story short: the 200 THB visa really helps shorten your waiting time. I had printed the visa form and filled it up a day before the journey, with the photo pasted on it. And I filled up the arrival-cum-departure card in the aircraft just before landing. Please note that you may not find a desk to fill it up near the VOA counters, as there will be too many applicants there.

Also please keep the departure card safely---better staple it to the passport. If you lose it, you'll be screwed when you are at the emigration counter at the airport.

After this exemption on the Visa on Arrival (VOA) fee starting from 14th January 2019 to 30th April 2020, the only service fee for E Visa that has to be paid as per the VFS website is THB 500.(https://thailandevoa.vfsevisa.com/th...me/information)
The website also mentions that there are dedicated E-VOA lane? Is this correct? Any idea on how much difference/ convenience would it make in a dedicated E-VOA lane when compared to the priority line on the visa on arrival counter which takes THB 200?

Does the visa on arrival accepts USD as visa fee or is it just THB?

1: There is a separate E-VOA line but I did not see it as I do not need a Thai Visa
As for convenience, THB 500 means, you walk through. THB 200 means you spend time looking for an ATM to dispense Baht, lose / pay ATM transaction fee, find a photo booth, and perhaps the host of a whole convention of 50 folks on a dealer incentive visit has opted for the priority lane.

2: THB

There was no separate queue for people with e-VOA. In fact it appeared to be total chaos as they made everyone join the same queue. However, I got my passport back in about 15-20 min. Thereafter it took another 15 min for the biometrics. I wouldn’t call it a very long wait.
The VFS website says that they have a counter at the Phuket airport to assist.
However, it was not manned when I reached Phuket.
They accept only THB.