im staying at guest house in khao son road at the moment, which i know everyone here hates. ill be getting out within the next few days though to Ubon and then the islands... its the siam oriental guest house which costs 450baht double bed and bathroom with cold shower and ac.

i want to go to Ko Chang island but may struggle for accomodation, i guess ill have to start emailing/ringing around. has anyone been to this island and know what to expect/do theere?

[QUOTE=Pumpui;2117866]kaah you are probably talking about bkkdude.


Girls arent after the money more than anywhere else in the world... Some of us are fish, some are shark bkk is simply a big fishy...
and who loves fishies more than poker players?

on a last note. chili poker is still ***** rigged. QUOTE]



Funny post pumpui. If bkk is a fish, then the whores who take advantage of him are the sharks. He pays them off with with bottom pair everytime.

I agree chili poker sucks, its filled with short stackers.

Can anyone recommend places to stay in phuket and koh samui? Looking to stay for a month and willing to pay up to 1.5k USD/mo if the place is nice enough. Internet and close proximity to the beach are a priority.

i would like to visit thailand but i heard thats ppl ther are not too friendly...isn't it?

It sucks, they just go around scowling all the time.

nnation if u read this chimpmanz is bkkdude.. perm ban him

I need info? i signed up for a thai class. i get the 1 year student visa.. but according to what i read on their form i would have to leave the country and goto an embassy for them to issue it or whatever?
Can i stay in the country and get it?

no you can't.

also, you'll want to really check into that 1 year visa; last news I heard is
language school don't actually give 1 year visa, only "real" college/universities can do that, what you gat is actually 3month visa that get extended every 3months IF you're still a student at the school so you really have to study for 12 month to get a 1 year stay.
Sorry if it's not clear

to sum it up:
1)you apply for school, get paper for "student" visa
2)go abroad -Laos or wathever will do- get 90 days "student" visa
3)after 90 days, IF you're still a student at the school, get paper from school and go to immigration office (ie: in Bangkok, no need to go abroad) to apply for 90 days extension
4)repeat for 1 year total maximum.

oh yeah, and -iirc- it's all single entries so if you want to travel abroad => more problems, you'll have to reapply for extensions and pay each time you leave the country

and Thai visa rules changes 5 times a year, so maybe what I just wrote is worthless , but basically caveat emptor with this language student visa

oh well..
it's not that bad cause if i have to cross the border, i don't need to hit up a bangkok embassy... so just cross come back and im good for a year cause i plan to study thai for the whole year

d'oh! actually, yeah obv. you'd need to go to a thai embassy abroad to get the visa the first time!

went to siam square and that aquarium today. also got off random stops on the BTS and walked round authentic thai markets and houses, without a dreadlock in sight! i loved it! still i kinda like khao son road too,. atleast for how long i intend to stay here.

also the siam orient inn is actually pretty good.

only problem im finding is best way to get to bts from khaoson road. at the moment im spending 150baht on taxi then money for the bts.

how much do you guys tip taxi? i made a 111 baht fare 200 baht because 4 other taxis before this guy refused my trip to khao son road from the bts and one other guy refused meter. the guy i tipped did try and scam me though by saying at the end he'd have no change but meh

Hello Thailanders,

A friend of mine and I will be arriving on the 18th to Bangkok. Any recommendations on where to stay and what to do are appreciated as well as information about cool cats getting together for some drinks.

We have round trip tickets from Bombay that have us arriving and departing Bangkok a month apart. In the interim we'll travel Thailand and maybe catch some flights out to Laos and/or Vietnam and/or...???

Cheers,
Bill

NEVER tip taxis...

never tip most people... its the reason everything cost so much more now.. its tourist tipping tipping. poor thais get used to it then try to scam u more and more.

usualy with not much traffic.. khoasan is about 85 baht, taxis do hate to go there.. even them think that it smells...
only reason to go there is for the club named 'the club'

I just round up to nearest 20, because the coins are whatever. I usually dont tip more than 20 for anything or whatever coins I get back on my bill.

I never take a unmetered taxi, its not that hard if you figure out how to talk to the taxi drivers. 111 from nearest BTS to Khao San on meter sounds pretty much, heavy traffic?

Motobikes >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> taxis if you are alone, but then there is no meter at all and you are all on your own...

This is a bit shallow, like everywhere else in the world, tip if you feel like it, but a say 10 or 20 % tip is just way way above the avrage here.

IMO its only tuk tuks (never ever take a tuk tuk unless for the fun of it) and tourist traps that try to rip people of (the taxis at patpong obviously goes into my tourist trap pile...)
Giving a nice taxi driver 100 baht on a 73 baht trip will not turn him into a money hungry whore over night...

I once saw a tuk tuk fly right out infront of my taxi somewhere around central sukhu. rd. made forcing us to hit the breaks, and then he pop'd a wheelie right in traffic again like nothing had happened. Two mid age farangs in the back ofc. Other than for fun don't ever take them, they suck so hard. Always take you to some ****ty store/tailor/bla where they get commission from the owner.

And dont ever book rooms in advance with travel agents like those.
Your destination will not be "FULLY BOOOOKED".
High season does not mean you will spend the first night at the beach ore check into a 5000b/night room.
The 350b/night accommodation they offer you will be worth 130b/night.
The 2400b/night accommodation they offer you will be worth 850b/night.

Anyone have slingbox? Since the internet is so slow here, im wondering how the streaming would be. Any opinions?

I tip at bars and restaurants when I'm handed that black pad thing with my bill inside. IS this standard?

Edit: Nevermind. I just read cookies post.

well don't stay in ksr ldo. actually the main reason I tell ppl to not stay there is because of transportation issues rahter than because of the backpackers....

fiy you just tipped him the equivalent of half a day of BKK minimum wage. I usually round up to next 10baht and that's it. I don't think I have ever seen thai ppl give tips

my internet is sooooooooooooooo fast 8)

turns out language school teachers are hot hot girls
they were quite happy when i went there yesterday without my gf.. they made sure to know if i was still with her

Thanks everyone. I guess in regards to money/tipping etc. im still in that mindset of 'zomg 1 hour taxi journey just cost 111 baht = $4 US. But yeah the traffic from the BTS was standstill for a while.

Really? I never get offereda motobike ride anywhere.

THe first tuk tuk I got I paid 100 baht and it lasted no more than 5 minutes, but i learnt my lesson now. The second tuk tuk I got which was in a resedential area of sukhumvit I told the guy I had to get to the BTS within 5 minutes and he zoomed there for the tuk tuk ride of my life! That cost 40 baht.

I'll stick to the guideline of what a poster said of never tipping more than 20 baht.

If you can find me a room for 280 baht with private bathroom I would, but I sure havnt been able to find one. Also, i wouldn t know exactly where the best place on sukhumvit is.


... What is the best part of Sukhumvit I should visit i.e which stop on the BTS? I'm not interested in shopping or anything like that just seeing interesting stuff.

thanks

If you stay on Khao Son Road which most people here will advise you against I would say the Siam Orient Inn. I checked out a few other rooms at guesthouses and they really sucked. One place had a guy with dreadlocks on each floor next to the stair case on his lap top with leads everywhere.

lol zasterguava, is the "ORANGEJUICE 10 BATH" lady still there? ****.. I love her. I'm gonna marry her some day I swear.

D&D @ khao san is 550b/night for a single room. AC, Tv that shows relative new flicks every night. Pool with bar opened to 02 every night. But you prob need to book before coming sins they have heavy traffic over there.

what's the name of the school?

pro language

i really don't understand why poker players are on a budget
especialy when you travel.. you spend a year working to have fun a couple weeks.. and u count your dimes while you're at it?

imo unless you're a poor hippy college student traveling around asia.. guest houses are ******ed when u can get a pimp hotel for 70$ a night

I'm not sure, theres quite a lot of them but more like 15 baht.

I went to Sukhumvit and checked out some of the shopping centres all of which are pretty awful but OK to check out. This time I got one of the motorbikes which someone advised and could not haggle the price under 100 on either trip but 100 baht seems fine to me, I tipped neither. Its great fun albeit very dangerous.


I plan to visit some temples tomorrow. And watch the Arsenal game somewhere tonight.

motorcycles are much more expensive for long rides.. from khoasan to bts, it seems pretty fair.. even cheap.

bad shopping centers?
Zen world, Siam paragon, Emporium? what the hell.. those places are world class... most hollywood trust fund bitch would kill their maids to go there...