Information for Surrogate couples Bangkok and Abloom Flights: You must have an exit date and ticket

from Thailand or a valid visa before you can be checked into the flight to Thailand. Dont bother booking too early, its likely the childs birth isnt going to coincide with your great fare ticket and youll end up paying more in the long run changing tickets.

Aboom Apartment: http://www.abloombangkok.com/ ph: +66 2 272 3010 fx: +66 2 272 4045 e: gsm@abloombangkok.com You should be able to get back if you say "Soi 3, Saman Pao BTS" Ask for a login for each wireless device you have. iPhone, laptop etc We got 240 items of washing included in our months stay, Washing machine 50 baht per load - dryer grey side of dial seemed to be hotter? Ask for bottled water to be delivered to your room in bulk - better than carrying it in (You can also have beer delivered if youre so inclined) Room cleaning is a bit of a pain with a baby - unpredictable and once a day for different reasons (bedding, mopping, etc) they will come back later if you ask them. We used about 500 units of Electricity running one Air-conditoner 24 hours a day - three weeks (also lots of kettle boiling and hot plate) (alternating between bedroom and lounge) Opening the windows & door of an evening for 10 minutes helped make the air feel fresher. (This area does have nice air as it's away from roads and industrial areas) We moved the lamps from the bedrooms into the lounge for a 'baby friendly 3am' feed. There is a tuk-tuk to the hospital and Villa Markets if you ask although walking to the Hospital is quicker There is a shortcut from Aboom Apartments to the BTS - ask for the code to the keypad on the door. To get to the Hospital turn right when leaving the carpark and then you can cut through via the laneway (through blue fence) Room service - great food; ask for a menu (dial 2) Buy/bring some really loose comfortable 'house clothes' you will be in the apartment for a while Have some tops/pants near the door when room service/cleaning ring the bell unexpectedly Hospital: Do what you're told and be nice! :) The hospital is very protective of the child - and dont we all really want that! They will not let you touch/be with the baby until they are sure you are who you are meant to be... (bring your passport) Straight AND gay couples - ONLY the person that the birth mother nominates as the father will be allowed to deal with the hospital staff and baby, be nice and respectful it's the way it is. I met the head midwife about a week later and she was so lovely, we talked about the baby and his feeding but while under their care they are very 'strict' Other medical services at the hospital

They have an excellent dentist service Full clean - better than a $250 Australian clean + 1 chipped molar/replace existing filling: Total price 2,300 Baht Full checkup clean and 3 fillings with x-ray and 2nd appointment to suggest further treatment $ (Not me someone else!) A regular doctor checkup (Building 1 RHS as you enter front door) is about 1000 baht however the medicines can be expensive. I ended up paying 2,500 baht for Antibiotics and pain relief tablets. For all hospital enquires and/or appointments you can email English speaking people at onestop_phyathai@yahoo.com mention that you want Phyathai 2 hospital.

Hungry when you arrive? Delivery for food, drinks etc and they also hire DVD (86 Restaurants listed as of 14/6!!!) Without an additional markuphttp://www.chefsxp.com/ They will call you after your first order to confirm they know the address after that first call /verification you can login and order. (If you want additional items added to the order specify when checking out Pizza - Phone 1112 seem to have caller ID and can work out where you are with out too much trouble. There is a great/cheap restaurant in the laneway going to the BTS. Open from 11am to 2pm (as you go through the blue gate it's on your right (3 shops wide) They have an English menu if you ask, and can do take away. Average meal cost 30 Baht - terrific Phad Thai and great Chicken Fried rice

Gadgets: Bring an AU powerboard with one thai/au adaptor iPhone app, we used 'Baby Connect' you can invite 'interested people' to monitor everything from babys feeds to sleeping patterns. (We also had a diary and pencil - at 3am simple easy and correctable is great) If you have an iPhone sign up for something like (engin.com.au) & iPhone App "3CX Phone" untimed local calls to landlines in Australia for 10c Baby: We dressed him in "Australian" baby wear, plus swaddle and a blanket each time he slept. the only time he got sweaty was after a moisturising lotion was applied - day 11 The hospital use Nestle Nan (not gold) we brought 4x tins of Nan Gold and he had no trouble taking to it. Water: We boiled 7/11 bottled water and put it into 90ml servings and then put that into the fridge (30 seconds microwave from fridge seemed a pretty good temperature - DO DOUBLE CHECK... rarely it came out hotter than expected Thai dont expect to see babies out and about under 3 months - enjoy your time and set a routine before you head back 'Muslim' wraps for swaddling cheap, small and easy to bring - they also have 'face washers' bought from target in Australia. - $10 for 6 or 8 We brought a music system that we could plug an ipod into to play music that we liked and we would listed to at home

Nappies: We used Drypers weweDRY very cost effective - we're using 6-7 a day (week 1-2) 30 or 60 in a pack. (Size 3kg to 7kg seems to fit 4kg baby fine) They also have a cut-out for the umbilical cord in the newborn size. Sanitising lotion: We bought a couple of water-free hand washes pumps and placed them around the apartment. We're not germaphopes by any means but after being out shopping and on the BTS etc it cant hurt. You might also want to purchase additional rolls of paper towel for the continual cleaning and mess cleaning up tea towels get wet pretty quickly We tried Pigeon brand teats (about $2 per bottle) but found the Avent teats we bough from home to work better - Paragon Shopping centre has Avent brand accessories. We brought over a Valco brand Baby carrier over with us (Hard base). Baby slept in it the entire time we were here. (The whole thing went in the washing machine and dryer and was ready again in 6 hours) Its perfect for taking him out for visits as you can place the entire bag down and pick it up again very easily. Great for taxis and the flight home etc

Process: Take a passport photo when baby is happy you can have this reproduced 'passport' style 12 up for 180 Baht (1 hour processing time) they dont need to leave the room! (eyes open, no shadows, shoulders to head - 80% of photo to be face) - Photo printing shop is South from apartment past Top shop (large signs in the window advertising 2 baht photos) There is a little copy shop (green) just before the black internet cafes and the gold shops that can print A4 pages. (Abloom printer wasnt very good and expensive) The 101 Visa documents that you download dont seem to open completed on other computers if you fill it on-screen. I had to save the printed version in order to get it to save to Memory card and then print. The Australian Embassy can't process Credit cards and therefore need a bank cheque to process your application made out to "Australian Embassy Bangkok" 54,050 baht Bank cheques can be 'bought' at the hospital ground floor, next to the lifts that go to the nursery. (Cost 20 Baht, bring your passport - cash can be withdrawn from the ATM's there in 25k lots.)

Thai Passport http://www.mfa.go.th/web/474.php Only about 16km from Abloom but allow yourself an hour to get there and back No Appointment necessary, enter the building and take a number. (we waited about 15 minutes) (Original Documents and also certificated Copies) Surrogate must attend Surrogates Birth Certificate Surrogates ID Card Biological Father Passport Thai Birth Certificate of Child Only the named people on the Childs Birth certificate will pass through the gates to start the Passport process, Friends can come until you number is called. Pretty much the entire process will be spoken in Thai, you shouldn't have to do/say anything. We lodged out passport application on Tuesday 2pm and it should be ready for collection Thursday morning.

Australia Embassy (For 101 Visa) http://www.immi.gov.au/migrants/_pdf/101-checklist.pdf Allow an hour in the morning to get to the Embassy in traffic You can park illegally in the petrol station just past the embassy and pay a fine of 100 Baht per hour - seemed great value! It would be a good idea to make an appointment for the Visa 101 Application before you attend so that the relevant people can be available Surrogate & Parent must attend Thai Birth Certificate of Baby (in ENGLISH & Stamped) Release forms in Thai & English Bank Check made out to "Australian Embassy Bangkok" - they cannot process credit cards 2 x Passport photos of Child The Health check hospital is near the Australian embassy (The embassy will provide you with a letter to give them - no appointment necessary) 1,200 Baht Bring: Childs birth Certificate (Thai and English versions) Birthing booklet from Hospital showing vaccinations and birth weight, measurements etc The doctor we experienced didn't appear to be 'happy/accepting' of what we were doing and asked more than once where the 'mother' was. I imagine he would be happy if any woman was present. The results of this test are electronically transferred back to the embassy DNA Test 4,500 Baht per person = 9,000 Baht (parent and child) Holiday Inn - Global Doctors (Note you must have the embassy request the test) You will meet with an Australian Embassy representative and the doctor - you might want to pre-complete the forms before you arrive (Available from SonicInstitute) Thai Passport of Child Passport of Biological Parent 2x Passport Photos of Child 2x Passport Photos of Parent Thai gold Thai gold is sold by the BAHT weight (same as money) 1 Baht is 15.16 Grams, and should be of purity 96.5% 23 carat The gold price fluctuates twice a day 20/6/2011 it was 22,100 baht per baht. So a .5 Baht (7.6 Grams) bracelet ended up costing 12,000 including their 'making' cost and 3% credit card surcharge.

BTS: Go to BTS station and get a map for the stations The station numbers from Siam Station (the swap over point between the two lines) run from 1 to 7 the further out you go North & East, South & West For example Sanam Pao N4 is on the North/East Line and is 4 stations out from Siam. Arai station is one station further North/away from Siam N6 doesnt exist! You can also buy a card that you can re-use at the counter:

http://www.bts.co.th/en/ticket_new.asp Getting back to the airport you can buy a ticket for the express line from N2 to the right inside the airport 90 baht leaves every 30 minutes on the hour and half past. (20 minute trip without crazy taxis) 7/11 Unlike Australia they are really friendly and their prices seem reasonable and it's very convenient Do check the date on the Milk products they wont be out of date but if youre buying a two liter it might be close Alcohol is not sold in the afternoon to avoid it being sold when school kids are coming home! (Available after 5pm) Chang Classic 6.5% 650ml sells for about 45 baht Sang Som Thai Rum 700ml 80% proof 40% in Australian reference (Like local spirit strength) about 280 Baht There is a shortcut from Aboom Apartments to the BTS - ask for the code to the keypad on the door. To get to the Hospital turn right when leaving the carpark and then you can cut through via the laneway (through blue fence)

Entertainment Buy some movies while you are here - there isnt a lot of English Channels on the in-house TV (See chefsxp for hiring) Big C - N7 Saphan Khwai (2 stops from Saman Pao Northbound, you'll pass Big C on your right hand side before the station) Think K-Mark & Supermarket mixed together Has a pretty good range of Baby goods, baths, mattresses - change mats Siam Paragon Shopping Centre: (Siam BTS) WOW - Very fancy shopping centre with all designer brands - for example they have a section that sells Ferrari, BMW and Lamborghini I felt a bit underdressed in Singlet and shorts. Chatuchak Weekend Market (Northern end of the BTS line) http://www.bangkok.com/shopping-market/popular-markets.htm It's big, It's confusing, It's big, it's hot.. Did I say it's big? 8,000 Stalls - 200,000 Visitors a weekend Get yourself a map from the information Kiosk. Top Shop Supermarket, possibly the closest 'supermarket' I found - about a 5 minute walk from Abloom - South, past the hospital and keep walking Soi 2? (Great chicken/pork shop on the corner - just before the smaller Soi ) Has a pretty good range of thai groceries inc bread, milk and other staple goods. (Proper bacon here is called Canadian Bacon) Get the heavy liquids from the 7/11 rather than carrying them back the price is about the same and your fingers will thank you. Ari Station N5

Villa Market & Restaurants This is the next stop north from Sanam Pao This a what I would call a David Jones food court of Supermarkets. A lot of international brands ie average shop costs more but recognized names. Around the market and on the 2nd, 3rd levels are a wide range of excellent restaurants - can recommend the Japanese BBQ one. It's quite dark inside and has booths, great place to bub to if you need to get out of the room. The Japanese restaurant Fuji is brilliant. There are also smaller Thai restaurants down the street across the road from the Villa Markets.

Words and foods If you smile and do not get angry you will get by in Thailand. Get angry and you will get nowhere. Use your hands palms together below your chin to say hello and good bye especially to people of influence you will be listened to and usually then get what you need Kah and Kap are polite words that are put at the end of a sentence no meaning just polite. People will feel that you respect them if you use this even if it is thrown in with English. Words Hello Sawadee Kah Female Hello - Sawadee Kap Male No mai chai Yes Chai Maybe Ajaa Thankyou Kop Koon Kah (Kap) No MSG - Ma Sai Ponchu rot No Chilli Mai Prik Not spicy Mai Pet Common simple foods least allergic White rice Kaw suay Rice noodles with vegies (a little) and egg and prawns Pad Thai Goong Pad Pak Stir fried vegies (this will be mixed vegies) Papaya salad - Som tam Chicken - Gai Lemon soda Soda Minnow Ice cream Aiteem Coffee Garfee Coffee Hot Garfee Raun Coffee cold- Garfee Yen