No idea, cos Iâve never thought of doing anything quite so foolish as investing any money in Thailand.
HG
not investing actually, I plan to visit Thailand pretty frequently in the future so I thought maybe baht will drop a lot now and I can buy some and store it upâŚbut so far it didnât drop much at all!!
When they realize the protests have ruined what may have been left of the so-called âhigh seasonâ (after most of the world is already saving cash & not traveling) and they arenât going to be making any money this winter, Thais will start holding onto their money too, so I donât think the Baht will drop.
âŚUnless the country collapses in a state of anarchy & starts to resemble Burma instead⌠But then you wouldnât want to go there anyway.
Cynically, you could say, bah! Itâs Thailand, some vast political upheaval is naturally already priced into the baht. I;d wait for any sharp move down. if it happens, you gain, if it doesnât, cesât la vie!
Iâm currently planning to return before Christmas and hooking up with my boy who will be coming over from Oz. Went to a Thai Airways office yesterday as the phones were useless. What a sight! Hundreds of angry folks holding bits of paper squabbling, and more outside slumped in the corridors.
HG
[quote=ârocky raccoonâ]For CNY, me and gf are heading to BKK and the northern region for 10 days. Gonna give a pass altogether on the islands this time.
Can someone share info about Chiang Mai or other interesting cities to visit in the North?
Weâll be heading to at least one border town and want to know how many days to stay in Chiang Mai or if there are other quaint/worthwhile places to visit.
Thinking of doing the sleeper up and getting a flight back to BKK. Anyone know the price to fly from Chiang Mai to Bangkok?
Any tips or suggestions are greatly appreciated.
Thank you! 
[/quote]
Bump.
Iâm hoping the political protests will be done by CNY.
Does anyone have any experience traveling in the North?
You could go to Mae Sai: not much to see in the city itself, but from there you can cross into Tachileik, Burma, for the day and experience its weirdness.
You could go to Mae Sai: not much to see in the city itself, but from there you can cross into Tachileik, Burma, for the day and experience its weirdness.[/quote]
Hey Chris, thanks for that. A trip over the border sounds pretty interesting. I think now we will head to Mae Sai because my gfâs mom knows of a school or something thatâs over there.
I just found this site that seems like it was started by some expats in Chiang Mai that looks full of good info: chiangmainews.com/
I hope to visit some waterfalls in the north.
Roccy, thereâs also a thread on Chiang Mai somewhere. I recall a few 'mosans travelled the north on hired motorcycles.
Good news is that PAD say they will leave the airports today, so CNY travel to Thailand is now looking possible, albeit with always the possibility of a late afternoon coup.
HG
all over nowâŚgood news news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7760592.stm
do you guys use eztravel to book the ticket? I have always used eztravel and I wonder if there is anything better now and do you guys pay with credit card online? how safe is it? on the news I heard that the cc info got stolen constantlyâŚhow safe is it to use cc online? thanks guys
Just back from three weeks in Thailand. Overall, tourist numbers were down, but started to pick up towards the end. Koh Samui seemed fairly quiet, but Koh Tao was busy. Alas, I also ended up in Pattaya, which was as sleazy and frantic as it ever is or was.
Iâd definitely suggest booking in advance. Actually not booking is a mistake I make all too often, as bookings through online agencies are invariably considerably cheaper. And yes, I use my credit card and have never had a problem.
HG
thanks for the report, I am heading over this Thursday actuallyâŚ
so is it pretty stable there now government wise?
Politically itâs as stable as it gets. The âred shirtsâ were out with a few demos while I was there, but the major protests were all over. Thailand will host an ASEAN Summit from 27 Feb until 1 March, and there is always the prospect of something happening then. However, I wouldnât really think it as big an issue as normal concerns for oneâs safety in Thailand. itâs the mundane that will usually get you - the roads, the Cambodian illegals, lady boys, etc.
HG
[quote=âHuang Guang Chenâ]Politically itâs as stable as it gets. The âred shirtsâ were out with a few demos while I was there, but the major protests were all over. Thailand will host an ASEAN Summit from 27 Feb until 1 March, and there is always the prospect of something happening then. However, I wouldnât really think it as big an issue as normal concerns for oneâs safety in Thailand. itâs the mundane that will usually get you - the roads, the Cambodian illegals, lady boys, etc.
HG[/quote]
One of the great ironies of life, neh? People worry about all this shit and then get done in by something mundane. Traffic accident⌠:blah:
My highschool classmate just had gasoline dumped on her and was burned to death in Aghanistan. Now that is an unmundane death.
Urrrgh!
HG
[quote=âEleguaâ][quote=âHuang Guang Chenâ]Politically itâs as stable as it gets. The âred shirtsâ were out with a few demos while I was there, but the major protests were all over. Thailand will host an ASEAN Summit from 27 Feb until 1 March, and there is always the prospect of something happening then. However, I wouldnât really think it as big an issue as normal concerns for oneâs safety in Thailand. itâs the mundane that will usually get you - the roads, the Cambodian illegals, lady boys, etc.
HG[/quote]
One of the great ironies of life, neh? People worry about all this shit and then get done in by something mundane. Traffic accident⌠:blah:
My highschool classmate just had gasoline dumped on her and was burned to death in Aghanistan. Now that is an unmundane death.[/quote]
wow so whatâs the story on that
Has anyone ever attended any motorsports events in Thailand? Iâve tried to research rally racing because I think that would be awesome to see, even if itâs a regional race. Too bad Taiwan doesnât have enough space for this sportâŚor at least Iâve never heard of it here.
A quick heads up on the visa situation for Thailand. The Thais have started handing out only 15 day visas for people entering Thailand at a border crossing, such as from Cambodia or Malaysia. The aim is to stop people doing border runs. They have also stipulated that anyone arriving without a visa, ie, getting one at the airport, can stay for a maximum of 90 days, but I have heard that if you get the 30 day stamp at the airport, you get only one ten day extension if you apply, so you have to do the border crossings for longer periods.
HG
[quote=âHuang Guang Chenâ]A quick heads up on the visa situation for Thailand. The Thais have started handing out only 15 day visas for people entering Thailand at a border crossing, such as from Cambodia or Malaysia. The aim is to stop people doing border runs. They have also stipulated that anyone arriving without a visa, ie, getting one at the airport, can stay for a maximum of 90 days, but I have heard that if you get the 30 day stamp at the airport, you get only one ten day extension if you apply, so you have to do the border crossings for longer periods.
HG[/quote]
does this also affect the people who do visa runs through Mae Sai (Burma)?
this is really big news, I have a lot of friends who have lived years to decades in Chiang Mai on perpetual tourist visas. In the past you could pay a travel agency in CM to hand carry your passport to the border and get it stampedâŚthey cracked down on thatâŚnow cracking down on visa runs altogetherâŚharsh. It is a four hour drive each way, and then queues at the crossing for the CM to MS visa run, hardly worth it for two weeks.
This will thin out the hordes of foreign scum sitting outside of 7/11s sipping big Changs.
Although you do cross a bridge into Burma at Mae Sai, it is technically a land border crossing, so yes.
Just back from three weeks there over Christmas, and thereâs still plenty of them around, but I suspect that is the aim.
HG