šŸ‡¹šŸ‡­ Thailand Travelling

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41

Iā€™ve read ā€œOne Crowded Hourā€ by Tim Bowden which is a bio of Neil Davis. Havenā€™t seen the doco though.

42

Avoid any place where demonstrations are happening is what I do.

43

Thinking of heading to Thailand in early December for a few weeks & would like to do some diving - preferably a Rescue/DiveMaster course if possible.

Going from Taipei & most likely traveling alone (single 29y.o. white guy). Not interested in kiddie pools, or big family resorts but also not interested in getting wasted on the beach every night or living in a hovel.

Any good recommendations for:

  • not-so-touristy dive spots?

  • reputable dive shops offering full equipment rental & PADI certification courses? I only have mask, snorkel & booties here. Any idea of the cost??

  • cheap airfare and/or reliable flights from Taipei?

  • info on public transportation from Bangkok (I assume) to the islands?

  • islands that split the difference between all-night ragers and boring family-friendly resorts?

  • hostels there that wonā€™t break the bank or likely result in getting mugged?

Already getting a bit tight to start looking at this in terms of airfare, etcā€¦ Thanks in advance for any responses!

44

Iā€™m sure youā€™ve considered Koh Tao. Either that or Koh Chang.

HG

45

Koh Tao.

Either domestic flight to Koh Samui and take the ferry to Tao, or take a govt bus from the Southern Bus terminal in Bangkok to Chumphon and take a boat from there.

Lots of the resort places have deals for accom if you dive with them. Canā€™t really recommend one over another - when I was last there, a friend was living there so I went diving with him.

46

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?

Weā€™ll 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! :slight_smile:

47

single ftw!

I am going to rent a scooter there and is international driving permit good enough?

48

Yes an international license is fine, although whoever rents you a scoot will prefer your passport. If the cops stop you, itā€™s customary to pay a small let me out of jail fee, but only after they ask, you donā€™t want them thinking they;re corrupt.

HG

49

how much is this fee? wait I have a license and everything is legalā€¦I still have to pay them up?

50

Around Bt100-200, unless youā€™ve actually broken the law, in which case they;ll charge like wounded bulls depending on the severity. Weā€™re talking third world traffic fines here, and actually, they donā€™t pick on foreigners too much. Certainly not worth worrying about.

The funniest thing to watch is the cops hanging around truck weighing stations. Drivers typically pull up, scrunch up a Bt50 note and drop it out the window as they pass, leaving the cops pecking away at the money raining down like birds, or as the Thais call them, hungry brown dogs (uniforms are brown).

HG

51

Thanks!

Can anybody offer a comparison of Phi Phi Island to Koh Tao, et al? Heard great things about Phi Phi, but itā€™s also one of the few places Iā€™ve actually heard of, which leads me to fear a massive tourist trap.

Howā€™s the diving? More importantly, which place has the higher likelihood of diving with a boatload of gorgeous single women?? :slight_smile:

Also, any info on suggested airfare/airlines/routes is much appreciated. Will keep poking around elsewhere, but so far Iā€™ve always been happy w/the answers I find here. Thanks for the info!

52

[quote=ā€œHuang Guang Chenā€]Around Bt100-200, unless youā€™ve actually broken the law, in which case they;ll charge like wounded bulls depending on the severity. Weā€™re talking third world traffic fines here, and actually, they donā€™t pick on foreigners too much. Certainly not worth worrying about.

The funniest thing to watch is the cops hanging around truck weighing stations. Drivers typically pull up, scrunch up a Bt50 note and drop it out the window as they pass, leaving the cops pecking away at the money raining down like birds, or as the Thais call them, hungry brown dogs (uniforms are brown).

HG[/quote]

haha thatā€™s funny, hungry brown dogsā€¦ya pretty corrupted over there, so I guess if I get into some sort of trouble I can always pay my way out

so how much you gotta pay them if you broke the law?

hmmm thinking about getting my international driving permit today but isnā€™t scooter under 50 cc you dontā€™ need any license? just kinda realized that. maybe I will just rent one thatā€™s 50 cc.

I heard that the traffic there is really crazy people dontā€™ obey the law, they come from every direction etc etc. They say donā€™t rent bikes there just take taxi in Pattaya. I have been to Pattaya once I think the traffic isnā€™t that bad but I took taxi that time. But I drive and ride scooters in Taiwan everyday I can handle the traffic here no problemā€¦what do you think will I be ok? but still need to learn how to ride on the left side of the road.

do tthe rental come with helmets?

53

The fine can get up to a few thousand baht, depending on what youā€™ve done. Having said all that, Thailand is my second home, as my GF and daughter are there most of the time and Iā€™ve never once been stopped.

I would get a license, I think the 50cc thing is only in Taiwan. You donā€™t want to have an accident and hurt someone, well you wouldnā€™t anyway, but especially if you donā€™t have a license.

Personally, I think it best to avoid riding in Thailand if you can, especially if you are new to driving on the side of the road the Thais do. The number of foreign tourists killed and seriously injured on Thailandā€™s roads is absolutely mind boggling. Having said that, I think Pattaya is relatively okay vs Koh Samui, for example, although cops hang out at intersections in Pattaya blatantly taking graft from foreign riders, and crims, and there an awful lot of them in Pattaya, do target foreigners on motorcycles.

The dangers on Thai roads are Thai fatalism/machismo, alcohol and drugs, speeding, people lugging stupid loads, foreign tourists with little riding experience and badly maintained roads. Anywhere there are quantities of tourists in Thailand you will see the tell tale signs of crutches, bandaged limbs, heads and yards of lost skin. What you donā€™t see of course are the seriously maimed and dead. A good friend of mine that lived in Koh Samui basically left because he was sick of friends being wiped out on the roads.

HG

54

Wise words there from HGC.

The ONLY place in Thailand where I drive is Koh Samet and then ONLY because Iā€™m the only one on the road.

55

ya HGC really helped out, insider information. but I just heard that things will most likely be closed during the cremation services of the Kingā€™s elder sister Nov.14-19. NOOOOOOOO!!! that means bars, clubs, stores etc etc for 5 days!! but some says it might just be 1 dayā€¦HGC any solid information on this? just purchased the ticket wonder if I can change the date

56

Those freakinā€™ bastards! Iā€™m booked to fly to Bangkok tomorrow and taking Monday and Tuesday off, and just now I received this:

[quote]This weekend. National Mourning for Late Princess Kalyan

  1. Alcohol free weekend.

  2. All nightclubs or bars are requested not to have music (so they will be very empty).

  3. Please wear black to show respect for the state funeral on Saturday. [/quote]

Can I ask the government for a refund? They did this to me over Christmas by the way, two weekends shutdown and dry for elections.

HG

57

Divine retribution for your wanting Australia to ditch the monarchy. I hope you stood when you read ā€œmonarchy.ā€ :smiling_imp:

But seriously, I wouldnā€™t wish prohibition on my worst enemy. Itā€™s the devilā€™s work.

58

[quote=ā€œHuang Guang Chenā€]Those freakinā€™ bastards! Iā€™m booked to fly to Bangkok tomorrow and taking Monday and Tuesday off, and just now I received this:

[quote]This weekend. National Mourning for Late Princess Kalyan

  1. Alcohol free weekend.

  2. All nightclubs or bars are requested not to have music (so they will be very empty).

  3. Please wear black to show respect for the state funeral on Saturday. [/quote]

Can I ask the government for a refund? They did this to me over Christmas by the way, two weekends shutdown and dry for elections.

HG[/quote]
They did the same thing last springā€¦ (but my buddy had stocked up on beer). But they also offered free rides on the Bangkok MRT at that time, too!

59

Well Iā€™ve hatched a plan to get around these wowser bastards. Meesus Huangā€™s left HK on an earlier flight. Sheā€™ll be meeting me at BKK airport with the motor running, then we drive to Koh Samet for the weekend where a good friend is holed up with a decent stash. Iā€™ll be sure to load up on HK duty free just in case.

I will wear black sunglasses, out of respect, of course.

HG

60

hey chen, with the things thatā€™s going on in Thailand I thought the baht will drop, so far it dropped from 1.06 to 1.07 only a little bit, I guess I gonna wait more and stock up on baht. when the same thing happened in the past did the baht drop a lot and by how much? I wonder when is a good time to go in and get the baht.

I think you can open up an baht account just like any other accounts? whatā€™s the interest rate like for baht savings account? thanks a lot