So I'm thinking of going for about 1.5 months now, and travel through a lot of thailand. I want to see BKK, Koh Tao, Thi Lo Su, and ChiangMai.

How much money are cheap flight tickets throughout the country, or would a train be cheaper (are there trains?).

How much money would I expect to need for extensive traveling through the country? How about cheap but decent hotels in BKK/ChiangMai?

So, I'm going to Thailand for a total of 5 weeks.
My Dutch health-service advises me to take malariapills.
Do you guys all use them, or have you used them?
I'm going to stay in Bkk and on Koh Samui.

Thnx.

we had the malaria discussion just a while back. i think most if not all of us do NOT take them. i won't say if you need them since my opinion wouldn't count that much there but i think i have read that you are fine at the tourist areas easily without them

Definitely DON'T take them imo. The incidence of "moderate" side effects like high sun-sensitivity and nausea approaches 100%, there's quite a high rate of severe reactions also like 3%. Honestly talk to some army guys that have had them and you'll get the idea, it's not fun. When in a rural area just lather on a very good insect repellant really often. Also imho I would avoid DEET and use a Picaradin-based product, the highest concentration you can find. Similar effectiveness but again without the side effects.

EDIT: To my knowledge it's kind of rare for westerners to die of malaria if they catch it because of the medical attention we receive, which is another reason not to.

Secondly, with anything like this do your own research it's your responsibilty at the end of the day. I put a couple of hours into researrching it online, and my conclusion was a very, very clear DO NOT take them, however I cant remember the specific stats and studies haha so if you're anal you'll need to look again.

there are reasons *not* to take malaria pills, so if you are staying in main areas of thailand, do not take them.

insert non epic story to give 1k post some value: this morning i woke up to play some hands, lost, quit, and went back to bed. the girl i brought home (who used to date a poker player) asked me how I did. i told her i lost money. she advised me to **** her and then go back and play more, should make me lucky.

It was not lucky.

when i took them the only side effect was vivid dreaming, which was badass

grats on 1k post rutang. what is everyone up to tonight?

gah, didn't even notice! should've found something epic to post.

That's pretty awesome lol! Kinda rare for girls to actually *ask* for morning sex.

if they don't ask you're doing it wrong

I think he meant they usually just force themselves on whoever they wake up with. You want to go meandering for muff tonight Jack? My flight gets in around 10:20.

I'll go out, but only if it means prowling for poon, I don't meander

But if you do it really right they're still too sore. Zing!

EDIT: And ugh I resent you for making me write that. Lame but I'm too immature to leave that hanging..

So I've been checking out two plus two forums for a little bit but never posted before. Thought I'd post it on the Thailand thread since I went out there for a vacay over the summer.

I was out in Koh Samui for a week or so and loved it out there. Are there any 2+2'ers out there??

Last I checked, US govt says that only people traveling to the NE edge or Southern edge of Thailand should consider Malaria pills.

Even though I traveled to those areas, I decided to pass. Chances of getting Malaria are very small and if you get Malaria it will suck, but it's not the end of the world for a Westerner receiving western quality care. Malaria pills do have side effects, sometimes very severe side effects for some people.

Personally, I would only consider Malaria pills if I planned to do a lot of trekking and camping in the affected jungle areas.

"jep thaawng"

I'm the only regular who stays in Koh Samui, but I'm only there from April-October usually (Australian winter). Be back there April 16.

If you get the cheap seats, train or bus will be much cheaper - but also much longer. For example, BKK-CM train and bus are like 10 hours+, flight is <2 hours. One way BKK-CM flight costs ~1800baht or cheaper if you catch some promo. Is it worth losing a day of your vacation or sleeping on the bus/train? You decide.

After you are done with BKK, consider flying to CM. Then rent a car in CM for about $35/day and check out whatever you want to check out in Northern Thailand. Return car, and then fly from CM to Samui and you can take the boats to your islands...

Not sure what you think is cheap for accommodations, but for 1000 Baht you can get very nice hotel rooms almost everywhere outside Touristy areas. For touristy areas, use latestays.com. If that is not cheap enough, you can stay in generally dingy and poorly appointed Guesthouses and prices will be even cheaper. If you can deal with no A/C and sharing bathrooms, I have seen signs for 120 Baht guesthouse accommodations. (~$4)

there's malaria in Thailand?

There is malaria in the area.

There is fungus among us.

The chair is against the wall.

John has a long mustache.

I've got a good one here for you experienced Thailanders:

Say I'm Canadian, and I'm in BKK on a tourist 30-day visa. My visa expired March 3rd and I missed my flight that night, so I came back to BKK and figure no big deal, I'll pay the 500 or 1,000baht fee. Then I realize my passport ALSO expired March the 3rd.

Course of action?

so how can you and the immigration officer miss that your passport was expiring in 30 days? you know your passport should be valid for 6 more months after your departure.

not sure what you have to do though. i guess visiting the canadian embassy is the first step or... ?

Not me dude.. clearly it's stupid. Any other course of action besides visiting the embassy?

the cheap seats really, really suck. and the good seats cost close enough to a plane ticket's price that even people on a budget should be flying if they are short on time.

I was probably doing it so wrong she was hoping that making me think i was doing it for luck would motivate me to do it better.