You should make sure your passport is not about to expire, nor the passport of anyone travelling in your party, and has more than 6 months validity left before your entry date into Thailand. While you can get a new passport in Bangkok from your local embassy, southeast Asian countries generally will not give visas (and some won't allow entry) for passports about to expire.
Citizens of most countries can enter Thailand without a visa and stay for up to 30 days, but if you plan to be in Thailand for more than 30 days, then get a travel visa for Thailand -- either a "tourist visa" if you are here just for tourism, or a "nonimmigrant" visa if here for business, both good for 90 days. A "visa" is not a credit card, it is a stamp put in your passport by a Thai embassy or consulate in your country. You can usually mail your passport in rather than needing to travel and visit in person. I strongly suggest registered mail. For a nonimmigrant business visa, talk of email the consulate for particulars.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs website at www.mfa.go.th is the best place to start on the web for a list of the locations of Thai consulates and embassies worldwide, and current information on visas. Their Consulates subpage has information on passport visas, but I suggest you call your particular consulate first and verify because I've found that this information sometimes changes without notice. Their Diplomatic Missions Abroad subpage has a list of embassies and consulates around the world, some of which have their own separate websites.
Information on different kinds of passport visas is available from the ThailandGuru, though that section should be taken as a general guide and is subject to change and regional embassy/consulate preferences.
The Process of Arrival
On your plane flight to Thailand, you will be given a card by the stewardess before you arrive in Thailand. It will have two parts. One part you will give the immigration officer upon arrival, and the other part you will give upon departure. Do not lose this card! It's also a good idea to copy the number from this card (the same on both sides) and put it in a safe place separate from your passport (e.g., sent by e-mail to a friend or family member for routine archival purposes), because if you ever lose your passport and/or that card, then you had better be ready to waste a lot of time. While you're at it, you should also copy your Thai visa number and put that in a safe place, too, along with your exact date of arrival, and your own passport number.
You will also be given a customs declaration sheet on the airplane. The Thai government officials are generally pretty relaxed when it comes to thing in luggage, and very few people are assessed any duties, with the exceptions being chiefly people who are bringing in new items which look like they could be for resale, e.g., several copies of the same new consumer item when an individual really needs only one. If you are squeamish, then bring in the receipt from your original purchase showing that it's your personal or company property, i.e., with your name or your company's name on the receipt. Few veterans of Thailand sweat customs, but I don't know what you're bringing...
Once you arrive, assuming you already have a visa, you will get into the immigration line where the officer will take your passport, enter info into the computer, and stamp your visa as used.
Then you will go pick up your luggage and pass thru customs where they usually just look you over with a quick glance, take your customs sheet, and you're in, usually all in stride. However, they can stop you and look in your baggage and luggage.
After that, you should go to currency exchange to convert some of your home currency into Thai baht. There are several Thai banks which operate very fair exchange counters in the front of the airport near the taxi stands. The rates between the banks is very, very close if not identical. The banks and foreign exchange counters give much, much better rates than you'll get at any hotel or most vendor places. There is no black market currency exchange in Thailand, since the currency floats on the free market.
Next, you go to the taxi stands. They will try to hit you up for an airport limousine or other service which will cost you several hundred baht, and which you may want to take due to the better English, but you can get a regular metered taxi for less, and the regular taxi-meter queue usually has someone who can translate your English and get you where you're going.
While it's best to book a hotel in advance, especially during the high season, you can usually find a hotel to your liking after you arrive. For the first night or two, it's best to have a hotel booked in advance from overseas where you can dump your luggage, have an immediate quick look at Bangkok, and get some rest after the long flight. However, many people choose to switch hotels after the first couple of nights to a more preferred location based on their explorations on the first few days, including exploring other hotels.
Money and Valuables
Thailand is a relatively safe place when it comes to the human phenomenon of robbery, i.e., it's very rare in Thailand. Nonetheless, you don't want to show how much money you have, and you don't want to carry too much around. Keep your travellers cheque numbers in a safe place in case you lose them, and check off every one you use. Of course, you should also keep your credit card numbers, passport number, etc., in a safe place in case you ever lose them or have them stolen.
Consider getting a money belt for your trip. Thailand is a relatively very safe place when it comes to robbery, but there are pickpockets in tourist places, and robbery is not unheard of, albeit confrontational robbery is exceedingly rare here. A money belt is not just a belt, it's a pouch you wear under your clothes, generally inside your pants around your waist, which has a belt to hold it on, and where you put extra money, travellers cheques, a backup ATM card, or anything else vital. It should be comfortable to wear just like your other clothing. Use this until you are established here in Thailand with a Thai bank account, friends and colleagues.
(I've been here for more than 10 years and now I wear a big external money belt -- more like a pouch with compartments -- for easy access to small bills and change, putting my small digital camera, mobile phone, business cards, etc., but I wouldn't wear this and put all my vitals in it while dressed and behaving like a tourist in the dodgy red light district of town!)
You should read the ThailandGuru section on money and banking, and especially the subsection on credit cards. Never let yourself run out of money in a remote place because the ATM machines sometimes don't work with foreign credit cards, especially late at night, and you don't want to run out of money in a foreign land without friends nearby...
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