SOUTH EAST ASIA

These are our views based on our experience in South East Asia in 2008/9.

NB: Importing the vehicle into Singapore

NB: Exporting the vehicle from Kuala Lumpar

Vehicle

Type of vehicle

Land Rover Defender 110 TD5 with a Bimobil demountable on the back.

Tyres

Unknown

Spares and Maintenance

There are not many Land Rover dealerships. There are plenty of mechanics though and it is always amazing what they can achieve with very little.

Servicing

Unknown. Presumably the same as in the rest of the world.

Fuel

Petrol and diesel are always available.

Road conditions

Road conditions were generally good. There was a new road in Cambodia from Thailand to Nomh Penh

Insurance

Cannot remember having to buy any.

We arrived in Singapore on Christmas Eve and they were anxious to close. Other travellers have had to buy insurance coverage and pay other charges or they were loaded onto a flatbed and transported to the Malaysian border.

Carnet

A carnet is issued by the Automobile Association in your home country.  It is a guarantee that you will either not sell the vehicle or will pay the import duty if you do sell. For this reason a deposit is required by the AA. But do check with other countries. We have heard but not confirmed that the UK does not require a deposit.

Required in Singapore, Malaysia, Cambodia, Laos. Thailand have their own form which you receive on entry and hand in on exit.

Camping / Hotels

There are no campsites that I am aware of. Detailed below are the places we stayed. These are not necessarily the best or the only ones. They include supermarket parking areas, paid parking, empty stands and places down dirt tracks away from road.

We ran out of chemicals for the porta potti long ago, they are not available so we are now using bleach.

Food

Stores range from small supermarkets to large supermarkets such as Tesco.

Health

We filled up on water in the major towns where it is usually potable. We used bottled water where we were unsure.

I did not need to buy prescription medicine in South East Asia.

Other

Borders

Borders were easy to cross, just a matter of procedures.

Money

US Dollars can be exchanged everywhere.

Chinese Yuan can be exchanged in Udomxai and closer to the border but it is better to do this at the Chinese border.

Once out of Laos you cannot exchange your KIP so get rid of it before going over the border. We did not see any exchange offices or individuals at the border but then we were not specifically looking. We still have KIP!

ATMs are the best option although some smaller towns do not have an international ATM. They are however gradually being introduced. The best bet is Standard Charted.

In Cambodia you draw US Dollars from the ATM. It is a great place to stock up. Change is in the local currency.

People

People everywhere are friendly and helpful.

Internet

Internet Cafes are readily found. Many allow you to bring your own laptop which you connect with a cable.

GPS

A GPS is handy, although there are enough roman script directions to get by with.

NB: Currency is USD and is based on 2 people

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Camping places

 

Singapore	East Coast Parkway Car Park C4	Showers and toilets available	N01 18.200'  E103 55.079'
Malaysia
Jahore Bahru	Dana Mall	shopping centre. There are better options
Melaka,	Tesco	shopping centre
Melaka	near Holiday Inn,	empty stand	N 02˚ 11.285 E 102˚ 14.819
Teluk Kemang			N 02˚ 27.663 E 101˚ 51.296
Kuala Lumpar,	Tesco		on MRR2 (Middle Ring Road 2)
Penang	Teluk Bahang	A popular beach. No facilities. Bus into town	N 05˚ 27.729 E 100˚ 13.148
Thailand
Songkhla	Somila Beach	Parking area. Strong winds from the Gulf of Thailand
Ho Hin Beach	West Coast road of Peninsular	small quiet beach away from everything including drinking water and food supplies. Lovely	N 7˚ 33.223 E 99˚ 18.198
Ao Nang	West Coast road of Peninsular	toilets, tap and hose for shower	N 08˚ 01.756  E 098˚ 49.551
Phuket,	Rawai Beach	no facilities	N 07˚ 46.090  E 098˚ 19.047
Khao Sok National Park	just inside the park	toilets
Chumphon,	Thung Wualaen Beach	no facilities	N 10˚ 33.742 E 099˚ 16.426
Laem Thaem, south of Chon Buri	paved parking area	no facilities	N13˚ 18.094 E 100˚ 53.883
north east of Bangkok	Petronas Service Station	toilets	N 13˚ 47.906 E 100˚ 36.790
Kanchanaburi	site of the bridge over River Kwai	on an empty stand	N 14˚ 02.641 E˚ 099 30.368
between Pa Mok and Ayuthaya	away from the road	no facilities	N˚ 14 27.368 E˚ 100 28.202
Ayutthaya,	parking area near monument to King Naresuan the Great	no facilities	N˚ 14 21.986 E˚ 100 33.001
north of Nakhon Sawan	private property	no facilities	N˚ 15 46.799 E˚ 099 42.953
Sukhothai		no facilities	N˚17 01.056 E˚ 099 42.953
To Phimai Highway 12	Roadside	no facilities	N 16˚ 52.687 E 100˚ 38.348
To Phimai Highway 21	Petrol Station	no facilities	N˚ 16 15.719 E˚101 02.938
To Phimai Highway 2	Roadside	no facilities	N 15˚ 24.021 E 102˚ 28.435
to Aranyaprathet Highway 348	Lovely spot by a small lake	no facilities	N14˚ 10.380 E102˚ 40.448
Cambodia
Between Sisophon and Siem Reap	Closed restaurant	no facilities	N 13˚ 34.503 E 103˚ 26.819
just north of Phnom Penh	NH6 Beside the Mekong	quiet, scenic, no facilities	N 11˚ 41.121 E˚ 104 55.492
Phnom Penh	National Library - paid parking	no facilities	N 11˚ 34.576 E 104˚ 55.187
NH7 north of Suol on way to Kratie	down a dirt track	quiet, semi isolated, no facilities	N 12˚ 12.643 E 106˚ 26.688
NH78 To Ban Lung	behind a hedge, probably private property	quiet, no facilities	N 13˚ 34.626 E 106˚ 37.565
Ban Lung	Yeak Loam Lake parking area	scenic, toilets	N 13˚ 44.048 E 107˚ 01.016
Laos
Bolevan Plateau, NH16 just north of Pakxong on road to Thateng		no facilities	N 15˚ 11.567 E 106˚ 16.029
NH13S just north Khongxedon		no facilities	N 15˚ 41.201 E 105˚ 47.059
Thakhek near the Mekong	down a dirt road	no facilities	N 17˚ 26.186 E 104˚ 46.690
Vientiane, Orchid Guest House	we stayed in the hotel but there is paid parking across the road	no facilities	N 17˚ 57.810 E 102˚ 36.234
Vang Vieng, Phoubane Guest House	staying in the van costs the same as taking a room	showers, toilets	N 18˚ 55.513 E 102˚ 26.765
Luang Prabang	any where on peninsular road near river.	we stayed in a hotel	N 19 53.881 E 102 08.546
Oudomxay, DanSaVahn Resort Hotel	We left the van here for 6 months while we travelled in China. We paid for the parking.

Importing the vehicle into Singapore

We went straight to an agent

Central Express Lines

Block 511, #03-04 Keppel Distripark

Kampong Bahru Road

Singapore  099447

Tel: 65 6272-9533

Contact: Lawrence    www.cel.com.sg

Costs

The whole procedure was painless. I do not know if we could have done it ourselves though for a lot less.

Other travellers have had to pay various fees e.g. insurance. Some have had their vehicle put on a flat bed and taken immediately to Malaysia. Our container arrived on Christmas Eve and everyone was anxious to go home before lunch. Maybe we were lucky.

Exporting the vehicle from Kuala Lumpar

Pieter looked up PIL, Malaysia on the internet and found and agent called PIL. We only discovered this was an agent when we arrived at their offices. Even so Leslie gave us great service.

9.1 Lorong Batu Nilam 20A

Bandar Bukit Tinggi 2

near Klang

Tel: 603 3324 8699

cell: 6016 217 5999

Because we have the Bimobil we need a 40ft HiCu container (i.e. 9ft 6 inches high rather than the standard 8ft 6 inches) with the Land Rover loaded in front of the Bimobil. The actual shipping cost is double that of a 20ft container. Our total cost was USD 4,228. About half was the cost of actual transport. For a standard container you could drop the cost by about USD 1,000. The balance covered agents fees etc. I do not know if you must have an agent or if you could go it alone.

Shipping Lines I know of

NB: They never answer e-mails. You have to go to the office in the country.

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