Tips for Malaysia to Thailand route

[skalkot]

Planning a trip from Kuala Lumpur to Phuket. Any tips or advice on how to handle visas is appreciated. Some of us will be departing from Phuket via air. Seems there are some restrictions on entry by water and departure by air. Any recent insights out there?

Also, any resources/suggestions on places for anchorage are appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[Emerald Sea]

This should sort you out.
http://www.noonsite.com/Countries/To...rc=Formalities

Plenty of great anchorages and islands to see. Most are located on charts ie Navionics.

[daletournier]

Make sure you clear crew in as passengers not crew or they won't be able to fly out.

[Pelagic]

Hi Dale ...that is interesting and new to me.... can you explain the problem?

Have always avoided using the term "Passenger" as that is legally defined as someone paying for transport which implies commercial vessel for hire.

On large yachts I have called them Guests, on small yachts like my own....they were listed and actually helped as Crew.

Why the problem with calling them Crew on a pleasure yacht who seek tourist visas on entry?

[daletournier]

I've cleared into phuket quite a few times . They ask if the people with you are crew or passengers, if crew they must leave via the boat if passengers they are free to leave how ever they choose. My memory is terrible but I'm fairly certain this is correct. Also the captain is best to pay the fee of approximately $50aud when clearing in ( can't remember that they call it) which will allow him/her to leave the boat without organizing a bond if he wants to leave, the bond is no big deal but for me its easier to pay the money upon clearing in and get it out the way if I'm going to leave the boat. The boat can stay for upto 6 mths I think. Also best to organize your visa at Penang, once again easy process but allows the visa (forgotten name) that gives you more time before needing to run to langkawi.


Also they will check that you have an ais transceiver, they won't alow you to check in without one.

[Pelagic]

Thanks Dale,

Seems a bit backwards?

My plans got put back about 6 months when I tore my Achilles tendon, but plan on moving Stargazer towards Langkawi and/or Phuket as a new base.
Have registered the boat now in Langkawi, so need to find out all the best visa/clearance solutions for a foreigner

New Vesper AIS installed for that reason[emoji106]

[daletournier]

I left langkawi phuket area six months ago. Somethings are changing quite abit up there. Marinas in langkawi have dramatically increased in price and the duty free rules have changed in regards to alcohol etc.

I left the area in 2013 to explore your part of the world and then returned last year via Indonesia. In the several years I was gone phuket had definitely got alot busier, I still liked it but definitely busier. The great thing about Phuket is it really caters for us westerners particularly in regards to boating, you can get anything you need. Big expat community.

[Zven]

I am in the area now.
For anchorages, the book "South East Asia Pilot" is a great reference.
I've been using Navionics app charts and found them to be very good for the area.
Langkawi seems cheaper than Phuket for many things, like fuel or marina fees ... but Phuket has more choice and more going on overall.

[Zven]

Originally Posted by daletournier

Also they will check that you have an ais transceiver, they won't alow you to check in without one.

Strictly speaking, they are not actually checking that you have a transceiver... Only that your boat appears on MarineTraffic. Or if you let an agent deal with them, they'll check that you have an MMSI number.

In other news, I believe AIS is rather useless around Phuket, as only foreign boats are required to use it, while the 99% of the boats which are local don't have AIS.

The latter also like racing like crazy, taking tourists for short trips and trying to cover lots of ground in a day.

[Zven]

Between Phuket and Langkawi, the amount or rubbish floating around in the sea is incredible right now. I wonder if it is a seasonal issue, or a one-off, or a permanent state of affairs?
Beware of everything from diapers to plastic chairs to big logs of timber in the water.
I had no wish to swim anywhere along the way there, due to all the garbage.

[Pelagic]

Originally Posted by daletournier

I left langkawi phuket area six months ago. Somethings are changing quite abit up there. Marinas in langkawi have dramatically increased in price and the duty free rules have changed in regards to alcohol etc.

I left the area in 2013 to explore your part of the world and then returned last year via Indonesia. In the several years I was gone phuket had definitely got alot busier, I still liked it but definitely busier. The great thing about Phuket is it really caters for us westerners particularly in regards to boating, you can get anything you need. Big expat community.

So Dale, what ports in Malaysia would you consider as a decent base if you were leaving the boat for a while.

I know I'm going to get Marina sticker shock once I leave SBYC as I only pay US$245/month for a 70' dock

Are there increased restrictions on Anchoring now around Phuket?

[daletournier]

Originally Posted by Zven

Between Phuket and Langkawi, the amount or rubbish floating around in the sea is incredible right now. I wonder if it is a seasonal issue, or a one-off, or a permanent state of affairs?
Beware of everything from diapers to plastic chairs to big logs of timber in the water.
I had no wish to swim anywhere along the way there, due to all the garbage.

Hi Zven, it maybe a one off. There is always some rubbish floating in asian waters but generally speaking I found that piece of water quite good. Ive done the trip many times and swum at many islands, infact the swimming is something I enjoy most about those waters, nothing in the water that kills you, although there is starting to be some box jelly fish reports.The biggest concern regarding floating stuff is disregarded rope.

I agree the ais thing is a bureaucratic requirement up there not a safety one, yet I'm a ais fan see no reason not to have it, but that's a different discussion.

An agent to clear in?'why would anyone usr an agent to clear into phuket or langkawi, it dosent get any easier, specifically in Phuket.

Where I am now (Thursday island) there is zero rubbish but there are crocodiles!!! Give me the rubbish anyday, least I could clean my prop.

[RafaCavi]

Originally Posted by skalkot

Planning a trip from Kuala Lumpur to Phuket. Any tips or advice on how to handle visas is appreciated. Some of us will be departing from Phuket via air. Seems there are some restrictions on entry by water and departure by air. Any recent insights out there?

Also, any resources/suggestions on places for anchorage are appreciated. Thanks in advance.

......

I arrive 10 years ago on a sailboat and I can not land in Phuket. We had to sail to Malaysia to disembark. If I disembarked the captain would have to have paid thousands of dollars in guarantee. (In clearence I was "crew" that was our mistake. Correct should be "passenger"

[sandrunner]

I fainted when I was told rebak marina rates for a 40' berth are ~500USD/mo+electric. If paying in advance you can get a 20% discount (pay 6 months advance). Starting to make many places in the US reasonable....

Don't know pricing elsewhere, but that's a bit steep for a permanent home base in SE Asia imho.

[daletournier]

I returned to Thailand /Malaysia last year (no longer there) was surprised how much rates had gone up, Telaga was still OK. In fairness the current rates are still cheaper than what I've experienced since leaving Asia.... The central banks suggest there's not much inflation!!!!!!