Thailand is full of gyms where you can pay 60-300 THB/day so that's not an issue, you'll have that everywhere you go.

Given that you mention being recently divorced I imagine you'll degen pretty hard so yea, Patong is a decent place for that. You can do Pattaya too that is also a beach city closer to BKK and is full degen destination with the biggest p4p scene in the World.

If I were you I'd check out Pattaya as it's quite close to Bangkok and then fly to Phuket if you don't like it or just to see both places. Phuket is a really nice place and you HAVE to visit at some point so if you're too lazy to be moving around then yea, go straight to Patong.

Also thai experience is 10x better if you drive a scooter so if you have the chance to get an international driver's permit for motorbike you should do that and rent a Honda Click or something to move around so you don't depend on moto taxis or tuk tuks (you can still rent without the IDP but police will get you eventually if you stay in those places you mention).

I do visa runs to Jomtien in Pattaya, it's great. Nice enough beach, Muscle Factory is right there and there are two great meal services around the corner from it.

Pattaya nightlife is not really my thing, but it's not too far away.

Awesome info thanks. Just looked up Pattaya and it seems like a fun place Pattaya beach and walking street seem like a good choice. Would you recommend an airbnb or hotel or does it matter? I'm going to download the grab app in advance and try to add my us visa cards to it. Also nice tip for the scooter. Just checked it out its a very simple process to acquire a permit. 20 bucks. Being a 3-4 week stay, i'm just thinking of things like laundry and cooking. Might be best to get a condo and cook some meals there to save some cash. Although to be honest I might just degen pretty hard and spend a few k :P

Oh wow meal service could be a game changer. Nice one thanks for the help. I'm gonna prob be drinking quite a bit( I very rarely drink these days), so having some good nutrition and a gym to workout will help a bunch

Well you kinda sound like you would enjoy Pattaya but just to let you know it's a pretty divisive place, you love it or you hate it, and the age average is prolly quite a bit above your age, at least on the male side.
It's much cheaper than Phuket and Patong beach esp for sure, which is on the higher end for TH, but honestly at least the beaches in Phuket are better, prolly some other stuff too. But many other options in TH.
If you're looking for good nightlife there's nothing that comes even remotely close to BKK, it's like NYC but with a distinctly Asian touch. Also use Bolt in TH, same same but cheaper than Grab...

Thank you Will check out Bolt for sure. Will download both. I always compare uber and lyft in nyc so very similar. TBH i'm looking to drink and have a good time(love me long time good time) but I think the nightclub scene is almost over for me. It's been 6 years since I have been in one. So missing out on BKK doesn't worry me. Just wanna focus on chilling out, eating well and working out during the day. Then at night go have some drinks, meet some girls and party. But if BKK is defo the place to go then I could be swayed. Been checking out motnhly airbnbs and the rates are reasonable. Gonna book once I finalize some things over here

You're welcome, not trying to sway you into any direction, just informing you of your options. If I was there for the first time I'd honestly not recommend staying 3-4 weeks in the same place, try at least one place/area per week, will be a little bit more expensive but you'll get to experience much more.
You know the nightclub scene in Asia is quite a bit different in many respects but you'll fit right in. Ive been out several years in Europe and after a while right back in in Asia. Totally different universes, let's just put it like that. Can be both a good thing and a bad thing, depending on how well you can pace yourself....

Never even thought about that. May just book a week in Bangkok, Pattaya and Phuket and see what suits. Do you think Airbnb's or hotels are a better choice or it doesn't matter? Yea Europe is a different beast for sure. Lived in Ireland most of my life and used to travel to mainland Europe for poker. I just have an itch to try out Asia. My soon to be ex wife is Korean and I absolutely loved Seoul.

Like FWWM pointed out staying 4 weeks in one place as a first timer is not ideal, I'd check both Patts and Phuket.

Also cooking is not really a thing in Thailand, there's so much food available (both thai and western) and for so cheap that you can eat out (or order in via FoodPanda or Grab Food) that it makes no sense to cook especially if it's just you.

Same goes for laundry, plenty of laundry shops will take care of your stuff for something like 40-100 THB/kg, I never paid more than 300-400 THB for a full load of laundry.

You can still get a condo with all the amenities as it'll be more comfortable and livable (and might be less of a hassle if you bring back girls).

Just note, Airbnbs etc. are illegal in Thailand (for stays under 30 days) as you need a hotel license for that. Obv it's still available, you just need to be more careful. Otherwise it's just down to preferences like ramabranch said. FWIW in my limited experience I never had any issue bringing a gal to a Thailand hotel room. Can be a problem in Cambo, Vietnam, in TH IME nobody cares

Thanks! Ah great then. I now have a good idea of what's what. Gonna be super tired after travelling 24 hours so will be nice to spend the first week in BKK I think as it's closest to the airport. Then do a week in Pattaya and Phuket. Then whatever for the last week i'll decide once i get there. Can't wait to get going!

Noted. Appreciate the advice. Gonna go grab my motorcycle idp aswell this week. So I should bring both USD and thai baht with me? Like 1k usd worth of both currencies would suffice? I see that i'll need to have proof of adequate funds. Also, i may have to provide proof of accommodation. I was wondering if i can get away with just showing them first week's hotel in bkk and then booking the other spots once i get there on foot?

As far as immigration goes, proof of accommodation is rarely asked, proof of funds even less, just make sure you're not dressed inappropriately and be polite all the way. Just don't give them any hint you might be staying longer. You want to have THB, USD are gonna be accepted at some spots but usually at crap rates. In short, the best way to get THB is at superrich exchanges, there's one at airport basement, one at phaya thai (on the way to the city if you take the train), and one at Sukhumvit BTS which is prolly close (and recommended) to where you will be staying in the city and other places. Have fun

Thanks so much man! Some great help from you guys in this forum. If you will be in bkk or pattaya end of april-end of may let me know. I owe you a couple beers.

Just got back form Manhattan and have my idp permit. Was a very easy process. 20 bucks fee plus 2 passport photos and fill out an application form. I'm good till end of april 2025. In and out of there in 10 mins.

EDIT: Ramabranch also included in beers :P

I'm sure you know but end of April to mid May is right in the middle of our summer. Can be pretty brutal but I know NYC heat waves are no joke also.

I don't mind the heat too much but if it's excessive then yea not gonna be the best. May just stay indoors during the hottest few hours of the day and play some mtts. I keep getting conflicting info regarding wet season and dry season. What's your opinion on that ? :P July to October? What are your favorite months to be in Thailand? Mayb eit varies a lil by north or south. I'm talking more bkk and pattaya areas

bkk and pattaya I try to avoid May-Oct due to both heat and rain. CNX smokey season is like Jan-April. Best time for bkk imo is Oct until spring or so.

Checks out.

We arrived at start of October and weather has been glorious up until now. Oct and parts of Nov you will still see occasional periods of heavy rain, but the extra cloud cover can also be nice to block the sun.

I love hot weather, and so far March has been fine. It's the 3rd hottest month and only 1 degree lower on average than the hottest months (April/May).

Pollution here got pretty bad for about 2 weeks in February, but it's manageable. We ended up buying purifiers.

So far I'd rate the weather 10/10 for these 6 months, but I'm a hot weather lover. Weather at night is usually glorious and I like that you just go out in tank top or t-shirt, never any debate as to wearing a light jacket. I even go out occasionally in the middle of the heat. You'll sweat a lot, and want to find more shade where possible, but still manageable.

Rainy season picks up in May and is 6 months of rain most days, so that will probably be a bit rough. The most annoying aspect is that various sois can completely flood out and become rivers.

I've lived here a long time and this is the first time I've ever heard someone refer to the weather in Thailand as glorious.

10/10 at that!
But fossil, how are you finding bkk after being here for a bit?

It's good

Ha, glorious is probably an exaggeration, but I actually really like the weather so far, but think that will change slightly with April/May + rainy season coming up. We're planning to duck out for a week or 2 and visit Seoul then a trip back to USA/Mexico and probably Japan along the way for a month and a half in Aug/Sep to avoid some of rainy season.

6 months in, and I'm really happy about the choice to spend 5 years in Bangkok. There's always some event going on or different area to explore, and I wasn't huge into nightlife before, but love posting up at an outdoors bar and people watching. I like eating/drinking outdoors, and BKK is one of the elite cities for that.

I think we have a great location too. We're 2 minutes away from Benchakitti so can easily take the dog for a walk there or duck out ourselves and get a bit of fresh air and quiet from the city. The sports complex is also nice for shooting hoops or a playing a bit of pickup soccer or pickleball.

We've got 4.5 years left, but I doubt we'll live anywhere other than BKK. We like big cities too much and Thailand doesn't really have any other larger cities. Maybe if there were a beach city with like 1 million+ people we'd probably check it out for a year.

The main negatives would be that there are a handful of things that are inexplicably expensive. For example, we'd like to do basic muay thai training. Nothing advanced just a place to go where they'll give you some basic technique, but seems like all the classes are like 500+ baht per hour. Even going to watch muay thai is quite expensive as cheapest tickets seem to be $45+ for foreigners.

But most stuff we spend on is quite cheap. All bills are dirt cheap (we don't even use A/C, we're fine with fans), internet, mobile plans, local food, etc. Groceries, rent, and public transport are a bit more expensive, but not bad. Foot or head/neck massage at 300 baht/hour is a hell of a perk too.

Mostly I'm mad at myself that I didn't move here 15 years ago.

I dunno about the classes, but the stadium muay thai fights, yeah they are complete tourists traps. I've only ever been to one in Phuket, obv it was advertised like Ali vs. Tyson or whatever, but it was that kinda price and super lame. Later I found out every night is a fight like this and advertised as clash of the titans. Not just Thais, they always have some foreign fighters, but they not worth seeing.
Samui is the same, even worse, because on some streets you can't avoid the ad truck passing through like 200 times a day with the same annoying megaphone speeches.
I assume the concept is the same in BKK. Obv Thais pay like nothing for entry. With the classes it would depend how many peeps and stuff I suppose

what about the ping pong shows?

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