Thailand

[phil g]

We are thinking of Thailand for our honeymoon at the end of October this year, we are thinking of staying at Phuket for a few days & then up to Chiang Mai for a few more days. We want to see the Bridge over river kwai, tiger temples, elephant treks though the jungles, death railway, markets that are everywhere, sea kayaking cave tour on outer reef islands and Phi Phi Island day tour. I don't think I would be allowed to leave without the better half going a little crazy over the mad shopping to be done aswell.

Has anyone here been to Thailand, I would love to hear recommendations of where and what to do and not to do, any tips and advive would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers, Phil.

[steviebby]

i havent been there but i have been warned about taking boogie boards :roll:

[Evil Taco]

yer or being dumb enough to leave it unlocked....

[phil g]

Haha thats Bali, but you can be sure you wouldn't want to take them to Thailand either, Bali jails would be a holiday compared to Thai.

[NormGunston]

Had excellent experiences in Thailand. Have you done much travelling before? I found it best to keep my travel plans open once arriving in the country, then speak to other travellers in Bangkok about where in Thailand they have just been. I like the quieter country regions. I caught a bus and spent two weeks on Ko Chang in the province of Trat- a quiet island where I was able to meet, befriend and spend much time with locals. Other travellers prefer to see as much of the country as they can, however I like to settle in an area and try to gain as many experiences as I can to get a feel for the lifestyle.
Dos- eat unhygenically prepared, dangerous local food and stay away from the safe tourist tucker. Gastronomic delights abound.
Don'ts- hire motorbikes and ride around in shorts and T-shirts- saw quite a few people end their holidays in hospitals.
Enjoy your trip.

[phil g]

Cheers Norm, have done a little travelling overseas for holidays, hawaii, england, wales, scotland and sri lanka. Thanks for the tips, I'm hoping somewhere sells steak and chips, i'm happy to try out their local foods but will be very selective of what and where. Will definatly be staying away from the bikes, taxis and tuktuks for me.

Cheers, Phil.

[Gooderz]

hey mate my sister just came back from thailand and in the hotel it said beware of taxis without a meter because they are unlicensed. So what do ya reckon happended the first taxi they hopped in was unlicensed, the driver locked the doors and demanded that they pay him $600 ba(dunno if thats is the right spelling) to take drop them off and my sister nearly crapped herself. They ended up getting out casue my sister slapped him around rthe head a few times with her hand bag.

But other than that she said it was very good and pretty good shopping.

Good Luck :D

[Jeffro]

When you walk out of the airport there will be people lined up offering you taxis.walk straight past them and outside,hail a taxi that looks like a new model(the better drivers get them)say where your going and make sure they put the meter on.A 1 hour ride in a taxi with meter on is only about 300 baht.
When in tourist resorts and some guys come up to you asking you to go see a seminar...dont go...then if they produce 2 scratchies and get you to scratch them be aware everyones a winner and they will want you to go with them to claim your prize.They will act as if you just won the jackpot.
Do not go its for a seminar to try and sign you up to time share and your guaranteed prize wont probably be able to be found at the end of it or you'll get a t shirt.
Dont be rude to the thais they will kick the crap out of you or quickly go and get someone that will.
Other than that its a magical place and you will thouroughly enjoy it.
You can clean your teeth with the tap water even though they advise you not to.The thai people do and I did both times I went there.You will have diarreoh the whole time your there anyway,all the food is cooked with the same water so dont worry about it.
Just drink bottled water though.
The sunday markets in bangkok is good its called jatuchuk market you can bargain for everything,in the resorts though all the stuff is more expensive than in bangkok and if you see something you like wait till bangkok and go to the sunday market they have the lot.
There are these hand held insect zappers that look like tennis raquets,buy one cause you'll constantly be killing mozzies every night.

[jason]

I would save Thailand for the divorce :wink:

[phil g]

All great advice guys, thanks heaps, it's tips and advice like this that will help us out greatly to prepare for the trip and a bit of a heads up on what to expect., Jason, have spoke to a couple army mates that have been to Thai for those reasons, bit of a hit and miss when it comes to guessing the right gender haha.

Cheers, Phil.

[RazorX]

G'day Phil G,

Take diahrrea tablets and pain killers because the heat and humidity makes most people poop through the eye of a needle for the first day or so. And because you get dehydrated from the excessive pooping, you might get a headache (hence the painkillers)

Stay away from the ladyboys :shock:

Jase.

[Grunter]

Phil, I worked in Thailand for 5 years & know the place pretty good. As for taxis in Thailand. To get from the airport to the city the going rate is around 1200Bt (Thai baht) As said go past all the haglers & barter your fare. They will always come down in price. Bangkok has a lot of good things to see. For the bloke who likes electronics cheap you can not go past the Bantip plaza. It's all riggy dig stuff with very little fakes. A little dearer than elsewhere in Thailand but very cheap by our standards. For the wife take her to the Chutachup markets. You will find all sorts of gear there, it's pretty full on as it's the biggest markets in Thailand. The better places in Thailand is to catch a flight from Bangkok to Phuket, go with the local airline, 1 to Go or Asia Air. They are much cheaper flights but the flights are only 1 1/2 hrs. Then go up to places like Pee Pee Islands, same place James Bond films where shot. Hence the nick name, Bond Island. Or another real pretty place is Crabi. Real cheap but bloody bueatiful. Or another option is go north to Chang Mi or Chang Rai really nice & with out a lot of tourist influence. Try to stay clear of going anywhere down South as there is a lot of troubles down that way due to religious clashes. I could give you a ton of places to go but i would be typing for hours. If you want give me a buzz & have a chat. I can fill you in a lot easier than my speed of typing.

Grunter

[Luke]

Amy and I are off there for 9 days in July... can't wait.

A week on the chital then 9 days O.S... :D

[johnno]

Just my two bobs worth...re the diarreoh...rather than taking antibiotics that after a while can have side effects..I found that natural charcoal tablets worked great and were excellent for absorbing the liquid..you can get them from the Chemist prior to leaving.. oh..and stay away from Patpong...or at least try not to spend too much time there !! !!

[wazza_X force]

whys that???

[Grunter]

Sorry Johnno but they have closed down Patpong as to what it was. They Thia government tried to do a big clean up on the image of Thailand. It has only moved to bigger & better places though.

Grunter