Less than 3 weeks left

[By Jonas] There it is. Black on white. We have less than 3 weeks left in Germany. In Europe. 

It's a strange feeling, already. It's probably best described as 'anticipation of something that you haven't fully realized yet', even though we already have the Thai visas in our passports. But how we got them is a slightly longer story..
In this blog post, we will focus on a few more preparations.

Visas

Let's start with the story about our visas that I mentioned earlier.
First of all, we asked ourselves whether such a residence permit was even necessary, as many online reviews recommend the so-called 'visa on arrival'. This can be obtained for free upon arrival in Thailand with a German passport and is valid for 30 days. However, proof of departure within these 30 days must be provided. This can be a flight, train or bus journey, but also a hotel booking in a neighboring country.

However, this option is not available to us, as we probably want to stay longer than 30 days, or we are not yet sure how long we will stay in Thailand. Another alternative is a tourist visa that must be applied for in advance. It entitles you to a 60-day stay. The visa can be applied for either by mail or in person at several locations of the Royal Thai Consulate General in Germany (Berlin, Frankfurt, Essen, etc.). Our decision was made quite late, so the postal route was ruled out due to time constraints, as it can take up to 4 weeks.
So we decide to go to the Thai Consulate General in Frankfurt am Main and apply for visas.
[by Franzi] Actually, it's not that complicated: You need a completed application form, a passport photo (which should not be older than 6 months), an entry confirmation and a date, as well as the flight number and an exit confirmation. Unfortunately, we were a bit confused and disorganized, which made the whole thing more complicated than we thought.. We printed out the applications that morning and filled them out on site. Unfortunately, we made the mistake of entering the flight number from Frankfurt to Dubai instead of the entry flight from Dubai to Bangkok. But this should not be a problem, as all flight documents should be submitted. Unfortunately, we had neither printed them out nor did we have an exit confirmation within the 60-day period (validity of the visas). So we had to quickly book a hostel in Vietnam, which served as proof that we intend to leave Thailand on time, and within an hour we had to print out all our flight documents and the confirmation of our hostel booking in a nearby copy shop. In short: We made it back to the Thai Consulate General within that one hour, but then the next problem arose: Jonas had the same passport photo with him that he used for his passport. Since the passport is from 2016, the lady at the consulate did not accept his photo, and a new and current photo had to be brought for the pickup. However, my photo was even older, from 2015, but since my passport is already from 2013 and has a different photo glued in, the lady didn't notice and there were no problems. So we submitted our applications for now.

We spent the rest of the day in Frankfurt, as Jonas had never been to Frankfurt and a small city trip never hurts. We strolled through the city center and the banking district and went up the Main Tower. From there, you have a great view over Frankfurt. We even saw the airport grounds that day. Afterwards, we had a small meal.
On the way back to my place, we made a short stop at the airport to watch some planes land. Quite impressive and exciting, but also a bit scary when such a huge thing flies over you.

The processing of the visa applications took about 3 working days, so I went to Frankfurt alone to pick up our visas. Since everything was a bit chaotic and we entered the wrong flight number, we were both concerned that our applications would be rejected. So I stood in the consulate with a new passport photo of Jonas and our pickup receipt, and I must admit I was a little nervous. When my number was finally called and I handed the lady the photo, she claimed firmly that I had brought the same photo again, even though we had made it specifically for this purpose and it was only a few days old. I can't help it if the guy just doesn't change.. In the end, she accepted it and we actually got our visas!

Visas in the passport

Vaccinations

[by Jonas] A trip to Asia naturally requires sufficient health prophylaxis. Hepatitis A and B, as well as typhoid fever, are likely to be recommended by any doctor for this region, in addition to the standard vaccinations (MMR,...). In addition, we were also recommended cholera and rabies.
For Franzi, the whole thing was a bit easier than for me, simply because she had been to Thailand before. At that time and even as a child, she received vaccinations against both forms of hepatitis and typhoid fever, so she didn't need to get them again. However, her doctor recommended a cholera vaccination, as it can also protect against diarrhea and similar things in everyday life. The vaccination is not an injection but a so-called oral vaccination. So you can take it home and mix it with water and drink it there. In addition, Franzi's doctor advised her to get a rabies vaccination, as rural areas are not considered rabies-free and it is therefore better to be prepared. This is a classic injection that needs to be repeated after one week and after three or four weeks to establish a 10-year protection. However, since Franzi's doctor only told her this after the first vaccination and she was at my place in Gladbach the following week, she had to take the vaccination with her and my parents agreed to administer the vaccination (both are trained nurses). Since it was her second rabies vaccine dose, mild side effects were to be expected. For Franzi, these were mainly stomach cramps.
I had just taken my cholera vaccination and, as expected, I immediately reacted with vomiting and fever. But that passed too. At the time of this blog post, I haven't taken the second cholera vaccination yet, but I hope the side effects will be less severe this time.
Since I hadn't had any of the recommended vaccinations before, I have to get them all now and I am currently a regular guest at my doctor's office.

Some vaccinations require some lead time, so I would recommend taking care of this issue early on (unlike me). I think I would even recommend a lead time of 3 months.

This didn't create a major cost factor for us, fortunately, as both of our health insurance companies covered all costs (or at least the majority). However, this varies from insurance company to insurance company and should definitely be clarified in advance. However, these differences between the insurance companies did become noticeable in other areas. While I (Novitas BKK) could simply walk into the pharmacy with the prescription, get the vaccines, and leave immediately, it was different for Franzi (Techniker Krankenkasse). She had to pay for the vaccines on site, submit the receipts and invoices, and then get the money reimbursed. Due to my simple experience, I was totally amazed at the prices of the vaccines. Franzi had to pay around 230€ in advance for three rabies vaccinations (Rabipur). It was only then that I realized the value behind such a vaccination and developed respect for our, let's call it, 'health wealth'.

Credit Cards

[by Franzi] When traveling to Asia, you are always advised not to pay with a card, as it often happens that an additional zero is added unnoticed. But it also doesn't make much sense to take all the money in cash. So we need credit cards that allow us to withdraw money locally.

Since I spent a year in England, I had already dealt with the topic of credit cards before and applied for a prepaid Visa card (around 15€/year) at my bank (Volksbank). This means that money can be "loaded" onto this card as needed, whether I do it from my checking account or someone else does it from theirs.

Jonas has now dealt with the topic for the first time and inquired at different banks. He decided on a MasterCard (free) from his bank (Sparkasse), which is connected to his checking account and is specifically designed for students. The money he withdraws with the MasterCard is directly deducted from his checking account.

So now we have received and taken almost all of our vaccinations, we are allowed to enter Thailand, and we can get money on site. That's a great progress, I would say. But there are a few more things to be done before we can start. We will keep you posted! Until then, have a nice (Carnival-) time - hopefully without rain.

Franzi and Jonas