Arriving in Australia

From Bangkok, Thailand to Bunbury, Australia

It would be an understatement to say that the move from Thailand to Australia didn't quite go as planned.  Well, the actually moving of our belongings was very efficient, but getting to Australia was a different matter.  However, considering the epic journey I had to take when first arriving in Thailand, I shouldn't be surprised that an equally epic journey would be required to leave Thailand.  During our last week in Bangkok an all-Thai moving crew showed up, meticulously packed our things in boxes, carefully labeled and organized the boxes, and cleaned up their mess all in 2 hours with a smile on their faces.  I gave them a generous tip thinking that this job would have taken a full day (and without smiles) back in the US.  This was the easiest and most straight-forward part of our move to Australia.  It pretty much went down hill from there.

We had about 25 boxes in total for the move

The next day was Amber's last working day in Thailand.  It was also the last day of April and the last day of our Thai work visas, which meant we had to leave the country.  Now that we didn't have work visas, we were considered tourists.  Tourists can enter Thailand and get a 30-day tourist visa at the airport.  Once the 30 days expire you have to exit the country, but you can come right back and get another 30-day tourist visa (known as "border runs").  Once Amber knew that her next project would be in Australia her company initiated the process to apply for our Australian visas.  It had been several weeks since we applied but it was still being processed by Australian immigration.  As part of the visa application, we had to undergo a medical check-up to basically prove we don't have tuberculosis (TB) and other infectious medical conditions.  Australia has a zero tolerance policy with TB and will deny entry to anyone known to have TB.  My exam went fine, but Amber's chest exam had some spots that were questionable to the doctor so he ordered additional testing via an MRI.  Amber being Amber wasn't worried about her own health and the fact that these spots could be TB or some other ailment.  No, she was thoroughly mad and upset that she had to do another procedure and that this whole 'possibly having TB business' would delay and possibly prevent her from going to Australia!  However, based on the results of the MRI, the doctor believed with 99.9% certainty that the spots were just calcium deposits and nothing else.  Later we were informed that Australian immigration would allow her to enter based on these results on the condition that she would do follow up testing once inside the country.  With that crisis averted and behind us, it was now the last day of the month and the last day of our current Thai visas. We were assured that our Australian visas would be approved by the end of the week, but there was no guarantee.  This left us in limbo.  We had to leave Thailand but we couldn't go to Australia yet.

We discussed our options:

1) We could go home and wait for our Australian visas to be approved.  However, we feared that after flying for 24 hours to get to the US, our visas would be ready and we'd have to turn around and fly another 24 hours to get to Australia.

2) We could do a bit of traveling to various countries until our Australian visas were approved.  This was very appealing but if our visas were significantly delayed then we'd end up spending a lot of money.

3) We could take a short vacation then wait out our visa approval at a major city that has a direct flight to Australia.  Bangkok is the ideal choice since it was our home and we can fly direct to Australia, but the city was unsafe and unstable.  It had already been declared in a state of emergency because protesters were occupying and shutting down the city's main business/shopping district while armed army personnel were guarding the streets bracing for an attack.

After much discussion we chose option #3 and decided to spend a week in Cambodia then return back to Thailand, get a 30-day tourist visa, and stay near the popular coastal city of Hua Hin (2 hours away from Bangkok) until our Australian visas were issued.

The week in Cambodia was amazing!  We stayed in the city of Siem Reap.  During our stay we visited the famous Angkor Wat temple and about a dozen other beautiful temples (including the temple where "Tomb Raider" was filmed).  The food was delicious and cheap, and the people were very easy-going.  We even took an ATV tour of the Cambodian country side and visited a couple of orphanages.  The country had been devastated by the Vietnam war and other political events, and it has only recently begun to rebuild.  Tourism is fairly new to the country which means it isn't overdeveloped, it's still very cheap, and the experience is very authentic.  I highly recommend Cambodia as a stop for people traveling through South East Asia.

(click here to see pics of our Cambodia trip!)

Angkor Wat at sunrise

After our trip in Cambodia we flew back to Bangkok, rented a car at the airport and drove to Pranburi.  We booked a room at a local beach resort for a week and planned to relax until our Australian visas were approved.  However, one week turned into two weeks, which turned into three weeks.  We spent our days indulging in the huge breakfast buffet, relaxing by the pool, walking along the beach, using the spa facilities, playing sports in the resort, exploring the city of Hua Hin and nearby areas, and eating cheap Thai food at family owned beach-side bungalows.  I also learned how to kitesurf!

(click here to see more Pranburi Pictures!)

Passing the time with some kitesurfing

Also during this time, the protesters in Bangkok had attacked the government and the army.  Buildings, tires, and cars were burned, some of the city infrastructure was damaged, and people were injured or killed.  We watched the daily local news in shock and horror as our beloved city was being destroyed (and in some cases just a few blocks from where we lived) and also worried that the airport would be shut down as it was 2 years due to protesting.  Using tanks, the government's army finally took control of the situation and ended the conflict. Even after 4 weeks at the beach resort we were still waiting for our Australian visas to be approved!  Apparently, all visa applications submitted for Amber's company had been suspended due to a work visa snag with a previous company employee who was leaving the country.  It was very unrelated to us and the other applicants, but the immigration office chose to not process anything until the snag with the other employee was settled.  We still didn't know when our visas would be approved.  We had stayed at the resort for 4 weeks and we had to leave the country again because our 30-day tourist visas were due to expire!  We now faced the same decision as a month ago.  What do we do and where do we go?  We decided to do the same as before and take a short trip to another nearby country with hopes that our Australian visas would be soon approved.

Low tide in Pranburi

We left Thailand again and spent a long weekend in Penang, Malaysia.  Penang is an island on Malaysia's northwest coast known as a great food destination of the world and having the best street food in Asia.  The food is a fusion of Chinese, Malay, Indian, and Thai cuisine.  There are lots of food markets each with numerous food stalls that each specialize in different dishes.  Similar to Thailand, a plate of food will cost at most $1 USD.  The city has official "food trails" maps and brochures so that tourists can easily find food stalls and food types to meet their tastes.  Even though we only stayed for a few days, we had our fill of the various delicious food.  We also enjoyed visiting a tropical fruit farm and walking through the city of Georgetown with it's picturesque colonial architecture.  However, the best part of the trip for us was getting confirmation that our Australian visas were finally approved!

(click here to see pics of our Penang trip!)

Delicious street-food lunch in Penang

Our flight to Australia was booked and we returned to Bangkok to spend one last day.  The city was in a somber mood and still recovering from the recent clashes.  It was sad to see entire buildings destroyed or partially burned down, police barracks and barbed wire fence yet to be removed, and shops and businesses still closed down.  The surreal moment for me occurred when I passed CentralWorld, the third largest shopping complex in the world.  It is a Bangkok icon and a very popular spot for locals and tourists alike.  The mammoth complex was destroyed and gutted by fire.  This is a place where Amber and I had frequented many many times, yet here it was destroyed and unrecognizable. 

CentralWorld - Before	CentralWorld - After

Maybe this was all a sign that it was time to leave Bangkok.  We didn't feel up to calling our friends for one last get together as a send off.  It just didn't seem appropriate.  Instead, we had a quiet dinner together near the hotel and talked about what we would miss about Thailand.

Overall, our move to Australia included an 8 week wait for visa approvals, a tuberculosis scare, a trip to Cambodia, a month waiting in Thailand, a trip to Malaysia, and urban warfare in Bangkok.  The next morning we took a taxi to the airport, dropped off our two bags of luggage each that we'd been living on for the past 6 weeks, and boarded the plane for Australia.  7 hours later we arrived in Perth and began a new chapter in Australia.