best place in bangkok buy a largish white board? i want one to plan out my day, keep things organized. office depot? a mall?

it would be cool if i could find a gigantic one.

I think this is a perfectly reasonable question.

The problem with SA is that cities are mostly dumps with tons of crime, and where tourists are targets. You really have to watch your back, literally. Bad neighborhoods in SA look like war zones. You just wonder around Thailand at any hour of the day and you will be fine, but in SA you have to do your research and avoid - or never step foot in - many neighborhoods. If you look around the forum you can read my recent trip report from Bogota where I got robbed and almost stabbed. Secondly, unless you come across some special deal, accommodations are expensive in SA. You have dumpy hotels that are 3x more expensive than Thai 'guesthouses' - and still look worse and are filthy. Midrange accommodation prices are ridiculous. In some places you can shop around and minimize this expense, and in other places it will be hard to do so.

That said, beaches are acceptably good in the Caribbean. If you compare top spots, Thailand wins. If you compare average beach spots, Caribbean wins.

Women... It depends on the region. A lot of places are either full of indigenous people, or have Afro background. Personally, I'm not a fan. I think there are far fewer attractive women coming from these two backgrounds. On the other hand, you have some SA countries where they have a lot really stunning women. In Thailand, it was fairly rare for me to really stare at some girl walking by. In Colombia, it was not. Really amazing faces to go with hot bodies.

I'm sure that there are plenty of people who are quite happy with the Caribbean/SA. The big plus is convenience. From Washington, DC, it takes me right around 24 HOURS of continuous travel and $1100-1300 to get to Thailand. In contrast, I can take a 3.5 hour, $300-$400 flight to Colombia and go there for a longer weekend. Thailand - for me - is not worth the effort unless I can go there for at least a month or two. Thailand also has the benefit of great domestic and international air transport. You can very easily and conveniently explore a good chunk of Asia with a Bangkok base of operations.

Basically, since it is so close and convenient, you should check out some SA countries and Caribbean spots first. If you are happy there, then you found your place. You can get there super easy and not worry about Thailand. If you still have the travel itch, you can check out Thailand later.

which island is better koh phangan or koh phi phi? i'm currently planning my trip to thailand and just wondering if i should skip one or the other.

Great thread. I'm sure something similar has been asked before but here goes...

I'm visiting family in Hua Hin (mid-ish east coast, three hours south of Bangkok) and I'm thinking of taking a brief trip somewhere else for a couple of days. I'm only in Thailand for 11 days and basically have stuff to do for a full week. So we're talking a 3-4 day trip somewhere cool. Not interested in prostitutes/drunken 20 year old backpackers.
Likes: cool places, great hotels at cool places, cool people, beautiful nature, experiences.
Notes: money not an issue, already got a 2 day trip booked for Hong Kong.

Appreciate any input!

Chiang Mai- Plenty of cheap flights available from Bangkok. Loads of good normal touristy stuff to see and do, perfect for 4 days.

thanks for the post.

and i agree completely with the above. Asian and Caribbean women don't do much for me. but south american and mexican women are some of the hottest women on the planet - probably one reason why i like the latin american women of the western US as opposed to those in NYC, since we have mostly island women in NYC. however, Asian women are probably way more stable/pleasing/less ******* crazy than latin women. seems like every latin woman i've dated has turned otu to be a complete emotional nutjob (small sample size though)

LOLOLOLOL

the ironing is delicious

Both are beautiful and a lot of fun. More nightlife on KPN and they have the full moon party. More natural beauty on Phi Phi. PP is better if you want to go to Phuket and/or Krabi. KPN is better if you want to also see Samui and/or Koh Tao (great diving).

Can someone rattle off a couple hotel recs for Phuket?

My priority is to find a pleasant place to relax for a few nights, with scenery being a priority over nightlife-centric location. Not looking for anything fancy, preferably $100 USD or less/night. I don't mind being far away from the action, but clean and safe are important factors obviously. (Can anyone vouch either way for the Nap Patong Hotel?)

Also, although I mostly plan on vegging out, I've been thoroughly entertained by this thread the past few days and would be down to meet some of you freaks (I'll be in Phuket from Monday through Thursday morning) if anyone wants to do anything.

Any other thoughts/tips/recommendations are obviously more than welcome, thanks!

Any of the resorts in Laguna would be a great place to veg out on a gorgeous beach, very quiet area. Semi-far from the action though.

Dusit-Thani and Marriott are both there, probably closer to $150/night though.

If the Patong hotel you asked about is in Patong you'd probably wont to avoid it. Patong is ground zero for hookers and ladyboys and sex tourists on Phuket. Fun to visit but not the greatest place to stay if you want a quiet vacation.

Hi,

Posted this in the 'Thailand Chatter' thread but thought I'd drop it in here as well. Basically I’m aiming to spend a couple of months grinding online poker in Thailand early next year and I wondered if anyone had any specific knowledge or experience of playing online poker on the island of Phi Phi? I have been there before and loved it although did not play poker and wasn’t sure if the strength of WIFI/internet connection on the island would support mutli-tabling. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

Where is this?

General locations maybe phuket

can't really recommend this, and i don't think anyone will.

internet is unreliable at best, and the island is too small. you will get bored.

try phuket instead, and if you really wanna spend time at phi phi take a couple of multi-day trips there or something.

that's the sawasdee mansion hotel at the northern end of patong, but on the rear side of the circulator road (forgot the name). i am 100% sure because i stay there most time when i'm only in phuket for a week or so. quite a coincidence to see a picture of it on here.

What does high speed internet 1baht ?????

Room for rent. How much?

I've always been hating life after 1am when im hungry, just always get noodles or rottee ect. Just literally thought of this area today. ****ing **** load of places to get food.

hull basically just wants money and passport. really they easy going muk muk.

have to agree the town is pretty ugly. but i actually like it this way. i like the smaller buildings and smaller town feel it has. Thing is i bet you didn't travel a bit of the way out side of the town. Some very beautifull places to see not far away. I guess im saying i think the open country, is pretty na.

LOL

WTF are u doing? can i get some?

yeah im 90% sure that was next to the hotel i stayed at in patong. near guinness bar at northen end? 2 blocks away from the beach?

some sort of klause trap?

Has anyone here had a kid with a thai girl in Thailand. Be interested to chat to them about it/have a few questions, thanks.

I had a girl who i'd stopped seeing try to get me to bang her a few nights before her bf came into town. thank god she failed, b/c he knocked her up on that trip, and I'd (edit: He'd) probably have never known....

guess that's not what you're looking for.

maybe Pumpui can help you out....

its 1 baht per minute, minimum charge 10 baht, and i've only ever stayed there in low season and they can be bargained down to about 350-400 per night if staying 1 week+ or maybe 450-500 shorter than that.

its not a klaus trap, the family that runs it is nice, but there are klaus traps nearby (ie nextdoor, of course there are nearby, its patong)

Found this vid of Patong nightlife, for the people who haven't been there.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvH1Z...ayer_embedded#!

How much per month? and what is a klaus trap?

that guy does love the ladyboys

Been living in Bangkok for the last 6 months on my own. Wanted to know if there were any grind houses with a room available in BKK? got any leads?

best way to spend approx 5 hours in BKK airport? dont really want to leave the terminals.