Need Help in coughet - Baby Seat

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lewko

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We will be travelling to coughet, Thailand in a month, staying at the Holiday Inn. By then we will have a 6-month old baby. The trip from airport to hotel is approximately 40-50km and we will only travel in a vehicle with the baby in an approved child restraint. Unfortunately this appears to be the exception in Thailand, which for much the same reason is all the more reason to ensure the child is well protected... The guest relations staff of Priority Privilege are trying their absolute hardest but I fear will come up short due to the HI's choice of local contractor who only has a booster seat for one-year olds and above. Does anyone know how I could arrange a transfer with a child seat on-board? Taking our own is not an option. Alternatively, has anyone ever stayed at another hotel which managed, as I could contact them.
 
Unfortunatley when travelling to a country where the road laws are so different to ours, such a request is going to be difficult. Many Taxi's in Thailand don't even have seatbelts, let alone child restraint anchor points. If you feel a bit safer, you can take a mini-bus and hold your child in your hands. That may turn out to be the best option, as I believe you'll struggle to find anyone who can say with 100% certainty that a child restraint will be made available.

On the plus side, you've picked an excellent hotel and will certainly enjoy your stay when you get there.
 
Why would a mini-bus be safer? Lower speed perhaps? I am starting to lose confidence in my chances. I fully appreciate what you are talking about in relation to Thai road rules. However, I am rather shocked that American and international hotel chains, and their delegates don't know better. I might also try contacting major hire-car companies and see how that goes. Of course that in itself creates a trade-off, as the child is better protected but I am driving on unfamiliar roads. Anyone else have any suggestions?
 
Honestly a mini-bus would be no safer, however I just thought that as it is a "bus" so to speak nobody would have seatbelts and hence you might feel a bit better about it (just like getting on a bus here in Australia).

Hiring a car is an option and Avis are represented at coughet Airport. You can hire a Honda City (aka Jazz Sedan) for about 1400THB a day and take on the option of a child seat - however coughet's roads are rather intimidating so really you'd be better off with a local driving.
 
lewko said:
Of course that in itself creates a trade-off, as the child is better protected but I am driving on unfamiliar roads. Anyone else have any suggestions?

I have never been to coughet so I'm not sure what the driving is like, but I have just come back from Northern Thailand and Bangkok and I would strongly advise against driving if you are not 100% confident.

The only other thing I can think of, is try to negotiate to just hire the baby capsule from a car hire firm at the airport. Then take the private car where you *should* be able to lock the seat in.
 
danielribo said:
...(just like getting on a bus here in Australia)...
Perhaps you don't catch many buses in Queensland :) ...some have started installing seat belts up there!
 
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haha seems NSW is falling behind a bit. Geeze funny that.... Go Morris!
 
lewko said:
Why would a mini-bus be safer? Lower speed perhaps?
This idea is not as bad as it sounds. Many mini buses I have been on in thailand have seat belts fitted. OK a little small for me but big enough for most farangs. Now if you can somehow secure a seat belt extension like the airlines have then you can secure the 6 month old on your lap with a seat belt. I know a little uncomfortable but for the length of the trip it is bearable.

Remember that in this country the death toll on a weekend is around 500 people if not more. Safety is not their number one concern. I have seen over 20 people packed in the back of ute doing over 100kms/hr on the motorway. I have seen 5 people, 2 adults and 3 children, plus a dog on a motorcycle without any safety protection.

American standards of safety mean nothing to Thai people especially business regardless if it is Priority Privilege or Hilton!
 
Sorry to be a bit negative here and if I offend, I apologise.

Your comment that you will only travel with an approved travel restraint leads me to ask why dont you bring your own? If safety is so important to you, why not spend the few hundred dollars and buy another one if taking your existing one is "not an option"?

This is no different than taking your own appropriate medicine or having travel insurance.

You are travelling, not the people in coughet. I dont see why they would need to cater for your requirements.

my 2 cents
 
I do have sympathy for your situation but i guess you have never been to Thailand ?? Its just not the kind of place that cares about such things.

And that trip from the airport down to the resorts (I don't know the loaction of yours) is shall we say sometimes hair raising ! Having done the trip a few times i sometimes fear for my own life and safety seat or not if your in an accident there your in trouble.

Thats just life i guess...

E
 
Evan said:
And that trip from the airport down to the resorts (I don't know the loaction of yours) is shall we say sometimes hair raising ! Having done the trip a few times i sometimes fear for my own life and safety seat or not if your in an accident there your in trouble.
I have been in that type of situation a number of times. I always keep an eye on the speedo, around 100-110kms/hr is acceptable, and if I feel uncomfortable let the driver know. Chaa chaa (translated to slowly slowly) most times is more than enough.
 
vt said:
Your comment that you will only travel with an approved travel restraint leads me to ask why dont you bring your own? If safety is so important to you, why not spend the few hundred dollars and buy another one if taking your existing one is "not an option"?
Thank you for being so liberal with a few hundred dollars of my money. You don't suppose, before forking out a few hundred dollars on a redundant car seat (which may not even be compatible in some vehicles overseas) that I might make some enquiries first, as to the possibility of hiring them, as I have done here? That would have struck me as a sensible approach, and was why I took such an approach. Thank you to everyone else for a helpful discussion. As it happens, I was able to negotiate a drop-off courtesy of the Le-Meridien's car service who do have a car seat.
 
Any your forgot to tell us if you enjoyed the holiday ?? !!
Hope you did and good result in the end.
E
 
Haven't forgotten Evan, just hadn't returned home - until today, and here I am :) For the benefit of the archives, I worked out a solution as follows. Le Meridien Hotel have a car service which has access to a baby-seat for only a few dollars more than the standard transfer in a Camry sedan. There was a little misunderstanding with the concierge service who assumed I was mistaken wishing to use their service to go to Holiday Inn. When I eventually explained the situation, we worked it all out. Le Meridien outsource their transfers to Herz, who it seems rent drivers to go with their hire cars. As such, I expect (though can't confirm) you could arrange it directly with them and this would probably be easier. The trick is to go to the Herz Thailand website - Hertz Thailand which I only discovered after arrival. Leave yourself plenty of time to work it all out and you should also be reasonably confident at installing car seats as there is a chance your driver won't really 'get it'. So, a happy ending to the story. As for travel around town, as we stayed in the Holiday Inn, we were walking distance from most things. Once or twice we did drive, but traffic seldom got about 20kmh, so we were comfortable holding precious in a 'baby bjorn' (baby harness). The Thais absolutely adored him and not only were we accosted every 5 metres for a 'tuk tuk' ride or to buy a suit/DVD/massage, we also had to let every single person say "hello mister babeeee". A wonderful holiday.
 
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