Sawatdee Kha Welcome to Thailand!
My name's Tracey and I'm Consul at the Australian Embassy in Bangkok.
Hi, I'm Dave and I'm one of the Consuls at the Australian Embassy in Bangkok.
Hi, I'm Amanda and I'm a consular officer here in Thailand.
Sawatdee Khrap. My name is Bee. I'm a consular officer from the Australian Embassy in Bangkok.
Last year around 730,000 Australians visited Thailand.
Most of those Aussies had a fantastic time in Thailand,
taking in all of the cultural and leisure activities that Thailand is so famous for.
One of the more popular stops for young tourists are Koh Phangan's full moon parties.
When travelling to the island before the party,
we recommend that you do this during the day and not at night,
and as far as it is possible, ensure that the boat that you are travelling on is
carrying adequate safety equipment and life jackets.
Think about your personal safety and that of your friends and travel companions.
Look after your mates and try to avoid travelling alone at night.
Don't take drugs.
Don't go swimming if you've been drinking
and be aware that the alcohol content in drinks can be very different to that in Australia.
Your travel insurance provider may not provide coverage should you be injured
while under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
The use and possession of even small amounts of drugs in Thailand
can carry severe penalties.
The Australian Government cannot intervene in the Thai judicial system
and if you are convicted and sentenced to a prison term
you will be sent one of Thailand's infamous prisons
and I can assure you these are places that you do not want to go.
So, if you're watching this
you've obviously heard of the Smartraveller website
and the Australian Government's travel advisories.
Please read the complete text for the travel advisory for Thailand
and for any other countries that you're thinking about visiting.
And you can register your travel plans via the website too.
It will help us to contact you in an emergency
It means we'll also be able to find you if there's an emergency at home
and your family need to contact you.
Most people come to Thailand and have a great time,
but sadly there are times when people do end up in hospital,
or even worse, I sadly have to assist and help the families
after someone has died overseas.
The thing I recommend most people do is they take out travel insurance
because if they have insurance it's just so much easier when you need to go to a hospital.
A lot of hospitals in Asia don't actually take patients,
they don't start treating people until they have some guarantee of payment.
So unless you have travel insurance we actually find that we waste a lot of precious time
when we have to establish who is family or friends back in Australia,
that emergency contact person,
and are they willing to guarantee payment for when you go to hospital.
Travel costs, if you put them all together, travel insurance is just a small additional bit to pay
and it could actually end up ten times greater in value should you sadly need it.
Normally, Australians who enter Thailand by air
are granted with 30 days entry permit or visa on arrival.
If you enter Thailand overland through a border crossing you only get 15 days visa.
If you want to stay in Thailand for a longer period or if you want to work in Thailand
you need to apply for an appropriate visa from your nearest Thai embassy before you travel to Thailand.
Please do take care of your passport and enjoy your time in Thailand.