THAILAND BUDGET TRIP FROM KOLKATA - PHUKET & BANGKOK - Chapter 1

Friends , This is a new series on budget travel from Kolkata to Thailand. I will be coming with several chapters . I couldn’t come out with this series earlier as I was busy with other commitments. This is a 6 day trip - 3 days at Phuket and 3 days at Bangkok. This was a solo trip and I have tried to do it on budget . The information will be useful for solo travellers, couples and small families. This chapter is about my travel from Kolkata to Phuket . I decided to do this trip as I saw that Air Asia have introduced a direct flight from Kolkata to Phuket . This reduces the time of travel and hassles of changing a flight in Bangkok. It’s much economical too. Secondly, Thailand is visa free for Indian tourists. Ideally you should carry tour return flight ticket to Thailand , hotel bookings for all the days and 10000 THB per person . It will be good if you carry a Forex Card additionally which will make you feel secured. International credit and debit card is accepted in a few places but cash is used everywhere in Thailand. If possible do an International Travel Insurance. In Air Asia they allow 7 kgs. hand baggage only. So I booked an additional 7 kgs hand baggage by paying extra 1320 INR. Well, now if you are travelling you have to register online in the Thailand Digital Arrival Card within 3 days of your journey. This is mandatory now. This will make the immigration smooth. You can pick up currency in advance from any official agency . I carried THB only. In case you need some more currency you can get it at Kolkata airport but will be at a higher cost. You can withdraw money with your international Cards in Thailand but there will be a hefty charge. I stayed in Natural Resort in Patong. This is a value for money option. The cost per night is 1250 THB including taxes. The breakfast costs 150 THB additional and it’s quite adequate. The rooms are nice and spacious. The rooms have all basic amenities. The washrooms are clean. The hotel is well located. It’s about 1.5 km from Bangla Road, so it’s less noisy. The Patong Sea Beach is at a similar distance. There is a security deposit of 1000 THB . But they were prompt in returning the amount during the check out process. There is no in room safe box - that’s the only downside. But you can book one at a cost of 20 THB per day which are kept in a place back of the reception area. There are plenty of eating out places around this hotel. There are massage places around the hotel. You can go for foot massage for 1 hour - the cost is 300 THB. From Phuket airport you can get share taxi ( AC mini van) to your Patong hotel for 180 THB . Other budget option is Smart Bus . Smart bus will cost 100 THB. Taxis will cost 700 to 1000 THB . The check in time for most of the hotels is 2 pm . I usually book my air tickets from Sky Scanner and MakeMyTrip . The links are given below - https://www.skyscanner.co.in https://www.makemytrip.com I usually use Agoda to book my hotels - https://www.agoda.com Thailand Digital Arrival Card - https://tdac.immigration.go.th