5–9 Nov 2018
Suranaree University of Technology
Asia/Bangkok timezone

Venue/accomodation

The ICTP Asian Network School and Workshop will take place at Suranaree University of Technology (SUT) http://www.sut.ac.th/2012/en/ in Nakhon Ratchasima (also called Korat), Thailand.

Thailand Visa information

As explained here http://www.thaiembassy.com/thailand/changes-visa-exempt.php  there is a long list of nationalities for which no visa is required for short stays in Thailand.  If your nationality is not among them, it will likely be necessary to contact your Thai consulate. SUT will provide a letter of invitation, or other documentation required.  

Nakhon Ratchasima / Korat  

Nakhon Ratchasima https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nakhon_Ratchasima, more commonly known as Korat, is about 260 km northeast of Bangkok.  Korat is sometimes called the 'gateway' to Isaan, which is the northeastern region of the country. 

Getting to Korat:

Participants will arrive by plane to Suvarnabhumi Airport or Don Mueang Airport, in Bangkok.  There is no working airport in Korat, so they will have to travel by road from Bangkok to Korat.  

SUT will arrange van transport from Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang airports to Korat.  The van schedule information will be posted here later.

 Otherwise, participants can travel on their own to Korat via taxi from the airport (approximately 60 USD one way) or via bus (approximately 6 USD one way). 

By taxi

When travelling by taxi, especially in Korat itself, the driver will likely speak little English.  It may be helpful to prepare yourself with your own map / Thai-written destination to communicate.  The hotel website, below, has a map and Thai-language name.  The name for SUT, in Thai, sounds like "more su-ra-naree" while its acronym  sounds like "more tore sore" or "maw taw saw". 

By bus 

Buses from Bangkok to Korat run every half hour from Mo Chit Bus terminal http://www.bangkok.com/information/mo-chit-bus-terminal.htm .  To get to the bus terminal from the airport, a taxi is easiest. (Alternatively, the BTS Skytrain http://www.bts.co.th/customer/en/02-route-current_new.aspx can be taken from the airport. It has a station called "Mo Chit" that is about 1.3 km from the bus station, but would require a final taxi ride / walk.)

One can get off the bus at its last stop, the main Korat bus station, called Nakhon Ratchasima Bus Terminal 2.  (NOTE: There is a shopping mall in Korat called 'Terminal 21' that is a few hundred meters from the bus station. If you tell bus personnel that you want to get off at the bus "terminal" then this might be confused with the mall.)  Taxis are available from there at any time.      

School/workshop location at SUT

All lectures, poster sessions, and lunches will be held on SUT campus on the first floor of the C2 building, the building in which the Institute of Science and School of Physics are located.  Thailand's only synchrotron, SLRI http://www.slri.or.th/en/ is located elsewhere on the campus. 

Hotel location

We will hold rooms available for all speakers and participants at The Grand Residence Korat https://www.facebook.com/thegrandresidence.korat/, a small hotel about 10 km north of SUT and halfway to downtown Korat.  

Van transport will be available to take guests between the hotel and university in the morning and early evening.  The hotel is located near a large, traditional open market called 'Save One'.  

Note: The hotel has two types of room available*  :

Type I: Deluxe room, 600 Baht/night (~20 USD/Night), held for invited speakers.

Type II: Standard room (double beds), held for the students/postdocs and shared by 2 people per room, at a cost of 550 Baht/room/night, i.e. 275 Baht per person. Those preferring to stay in their own room can opt for a standard room (single bed) at 500 Baht/room/night.     

*participants are responsible for the cost of their accommodation--those participants receiving financial support from the school/workshop can claim it at SUT prior to checking out.

The excursion:

All participants are invited to join a half-day excursion (free) that will bring them via bus to Prasat Hin Phimai.  Each destination is an hour's drive from Korat.

 

Phimai

Phimai http://thailandforvisitors.com/isan/korat/phimai/index.html is the site of a complex of dozens of well-preserved Khmer temples dating from the 12th century.  Its design is similar to that of Angkor Wat in Cambodia.