Quote:
Originally Posted by Nautilus
Firefly
Flies to Phuket also from Penang.
2,000 free seats to mark start of operation
PENANG:
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Report: Penang visa run by omnibus, automobile and Firefly
Recently I made another visa run to Georgetown, Penang, Malaysia.
This time I decided to do it on my own since none of the 5000-baht visa run services on Phuket was going at a convenient date and I was anxious to try out the new non-stop Penang-Phuket air service by Firefly AL (div of Malaysia AL).
Web:
Firefly - Malaysia's first community airline
E mail:
info@fireflyz.com.my
I left the Phuket town bus terminal at about 20.30 on a clean 2nd class bus to Hat Yai at the cost of THB 350. It arrived at that epicentre of the restive South at the ungodly hour of 02.oo. The bus terminal is well lit and there was an armed cop to guard it, sleeping at his desk. The neighbourhood is kind of spooky but one very nice looking lady kept her outdoor restaurant open all night with a football game on TV and a bunch of bike and tuk-tuk drivers hanging about (who informed me that the hostess was available for ST). This was right in front of three travel agencies, which all were supposed to open at o4.oo to sell tickets to Penang, KL, Singapore and points between.
Other buses arrived from Phuket later, so if you want to take the same trip, take the next to last one, leaving Phuket at 21.30. If you miss that one there’s another at 21.45 (VIP class at ~THB 575). Another visa-running ferang from a later bus joined me and we conspired to share a taxi rather than wait for the first minibus due at o6.oo.
At o4.o5 the first agent opened his office and we negotiated a fare of THB 2400 for the both of us, right to the Thai Consulate at Nr 1 Jalan Tunku Abdul Raman, Georgetown, and then wait and drive us to the Continental Hotel on Jalan Penang.
The car was an old Toyota, clean but the A/C did not work and the brakes squealed and pulled to the left (not too scary as the driver went very slowly and there were seatbelts)
Soon we reached the border and made it across in <10 minutes (Thai immi charged THB 10 for clearing us out).
Crossing from Thailand into Malaysia was like crossing from Tijuana to San Diego. Everything is clean and pretty, neat tract houses, clean, modern factories, occasional theme parks, mosques and temples on either side of the smoothly paved motorway. Flowerbeds with automatic sprinklers in the median! Trash collectors on motorbikes picking up the fallout of snack and soft drink consumption along the sides of the road!
We crossed Georgetown harbour on a car ferry (RMY 7.70 for a relaxing, fun cruise) and arrived in front of the Thai consulate in a park-like upmarket part of the island at o9.35. There were only about 5 other petitioners (NZ, Austria, Oz, Gambia, USA) in line and by the time I had the very short form filled out it was my turn already. I handed over my passport, 2 photos (front view, light background, no logos on shirts) and the visa fee in RMY (can be anywhere from 100 – 600 depending on the type of visa). Their hours are 9.oo-12.oo and 12.oo – 16.oo. E-mail: thaip(at)tm.net.my
Since I had been recommended by higher-ups in BKK and by special request (don’t ask ;-) my visa was processed on the spot. Everybody else had to return next day after 14.oo. So at 10.oo I was free to go. I still had a taxi ride into downtown good and from there I explored the possibilities. Chulia Rd is lined with money changers and travel agents and everybody was giving me contradictory advice. They all seemed to hate Firefly since they only book over the Internet (firefly.com) and the telephone. But local (Hindu) citizens told me just to take the city bus Nr 34 (yellow, old, the only ugly items on Penang) to the airport (50 min) and buy my ticket there.
The bus ride was indeed quick and cheap (RMY 2.40) meandered all over Georgetown stopping at several hotels, and dropped me off 100 m from the front gate (just as almost everywhere the local taxi mafia must have lobbied against door-door public transit to an airport). A kindly, elegant looking flight attendant almost led me by the hand from the bus stop to the main door.
The Firefly desk is right on the ground floor and I made my ticket purchase with a credit card for RMY 190 to HKT including all junk fees and taxes. They advertise a fare of RMY 39 and even “2000 free tickets”, but of course that is w/o the add-ons, like a RMY 20.- “fuel surcharge” and RMY 3.70 “administrative fee”+ government taxes. When will they ever learn not to “bait & switch”?). But as I had read all the fine print in advance this was no surprise and still a good value. 1 RMY = ~30 US-cents).
The airport is small, clean and rather quiet. The restaurants and shops on the ticketing/check-in (15 kg luggage limit!) level are pricey but offer all you might want in food, drink and souvenirs). Malaysian immigration and security cleared me out in a few seconds. The duty-free section had a large Swiss watch and Montblanc fountain pen shop which did a brisk trade. The prices seemed even lower than at their branch in Singapore and of course way below the rip-off prices at HKT, BKK and Andaman Club Casino, Burma. Thais believe chocolates are better and cheaper in Malaysia but I could not verify that.
The plane was a high-wing, twin-turboprop Fokker 50 built for short hauls and rough runways. Only about 10 of the 55 seats were filled.
We left right on time at 14.20, had a very scenic low-level flight over the off-shore islands, and Phang–Na Bay and arrived at 14.20 HKT-time, an hour later, and it was “welcome back to reality!” The lines at immi were long and the processing slow and tedious. It took about 45 min get through. By then the hoped for airport bus had long left and there was a big hole in the schedule in the afternoon (~hourly to 14.30 then 16.oo and on the hour to 20.oo, call 076 23 2371). The 16.oo bus did not show up, neither the 17.oo one. By then I had found the above phone nr and called. Disaster: no buses were running at all that afternoon due to a major road problem in town!
Now all my well laid “cheap Charley” plans collapsed. I had to get other transport. A minibus driver was willing to take me back to Chalong for the princely fee of THB 500, ~10x the bus fare of 52 baht, and would not negotiate since HE knew the bus problem). A nice Thai lady also got on and he only charged her THB 200. TIT (This Is Thailand: dual pricing)!
The ride became “stop & go” only a few km out of the airport. The main road into Phuket Town was blocked at the Heroines’ monument. Dozens of long haul buses lined the road and their stranded passengers were milling about. The detour led us through Kamala, Patong and Kata, all stop & go. The driver dumped me in a mud puddle at my street corner (what, no door-to-door service for 500 baht?!) after a 3-hour road crawl for the 30~40 kms. Taxi mafia had won again!
My consolation prize: I made a date with that pretty 24 y o Thai lady airport accountant for Sunday (her only day off!). Maybe she’ll show up?
So what does this prove: “The best plans laid by mice and men…. ect, ect”
Here’s the accounting:
Time spent on bus and taxi from Chalong, Phuket, to Georgetown, Penang: 15 hrs.
Time spent on bus, airplane, and taxi from Georgetown, Penang, to Chalong, Phuket: 11 hrs. Total: 26 hrs of sleep depravation.
Money spent (converted to THB, excl visa fee, food and drink):
Door to bus terminal Phuket Town: 50
Bus fare to Hat Yai 350
Taxi fare ½ Hat Yai to Penang 1400
(including road and ferry tolls. BTW: the minibus fare is only THB 350)
Bus fare Penang airport (Nr 34) 24
Airfare Firefly PEN-HKT 1900
Taxi fare HKT-door (almost) 500
Total expense: 4224 THB
Saved over visa run agency ~1000~1500 THB and 24 hrs
Note: This only worked out for me since I could get my visa processed same day.
The Firefly schedule is very unfortunate for visa runners as they leave HKT for Penang late in the afternoon and return at 14.20, too early to make it to the airport from the consulate which reopens at 14.oo for visa pick-up. You'll end up spending >2 nights on Penang.
I talked to the Firefly manager at PEN and my pilot and they were not aware of this big market of visa-runners. They agreed that leaving early from HKT, say 7.00 would be perfect then return sometime after 17.oo and let the air crew spend the night on swinging Phuket Island. They agreed that this was a very good idea. Maybe they’ll get creative and start their own full service all-inclusive door-to-door visa run tours.