i'm going to be doing this in the next couple of weeks and I think i'm heading to koh phi phi, ive heard its pretty decent there. I think the most popular place to scuba dive is koh tao? but id be intrested to hear from anyone who knows more about scuba diving in thailand before i get anything sorted.

also, give us a shout when your in thailand and head to phuket for a big night out

JMa:
I did my Open Water with Dive Asia in Phuket last year and just did my Advanced Open Water on a liveaboard to the Similans with them as well, this week.

Phuket is a good place to get your certification, but Phuket is expensive. The diving is a bit pricier and the day to day living is as well...plus Phuket can be irritating in it's own right. It's heavily touristed and the problems associated with that are really obvious.

If you want a bit cheaper course, try visiting Khao Lak, slightly north of Phuket. You'll have access to all the same dive sites, and prices day to day for hotels and expenses and for courses will be slightly cheaper.

Another cheaper place to get certified is Koh Tao. It's on the east coast of Thailand, and the diving is usually better May to September, and the opposite on the west coast by Phuket. You may want to get certified there and then go for a liveaboard on the west coast. If you do a liveaboard, you may want to get your Advanced Open Water at the same time, as then you can go and see the stuff at depths deeper than 18m; and there is a lot to be seen.

Phuket has a variety of excellent day trips if you can't afford the time or money to do a liveaboard. On a day trip to Koh Bida near Phi Phi, I saw rays, sharks, morays, sea and pipehorses, turtles and even octopi (obviously a personal fave) etc. Did not see any mantas or whale sharks on the liveaboard, but was not disappointed. You still see some amazing things on 14 dives.

Look for a dive shop with dive master service, their own boats, and reputable staff. In Phuket, SeaBees, ScubaCat, Warm Water Divers, Dive Asia are all recommended. Dive Asia is the company I've had the most experience with. They have professional staff, well planned trips and are a CDC center which means they are one of the few places in Thailand that train other instructors. They're a good company.

In BKK now, but will be around to answer questions until I leave on Wednesday. (man, I love this city)

Just arrived in Bangkok yesterday, and unable to connect to Fulltilt, is FT down or shoulda start to worry ?

I have no problem connecting to fulltilt

Hey guys, I think I've finally decided to move to Thailand. I'm planning on living there longterm with my gf and 3-year-old son.

We need to know:
Where should we live? I like being in the city, but it also has to be safe and kid-friendly. We also need enough space where I can work, but the gf and kid can hang out separately. Does anyone know about hiring a part-time nanny?

We have iphones. I guess we need to hack these get on some Thai mobile network?

Any other ideas? Thanks!

Think you can get live in maid for like 200$ a month or so.

Have you ever been in Thailand? Imo you should go here and look around for a bit before deciding to stay here long time.

How do you expect to get 3 year visa?

phnoes will work fine, you might need a thai SIM card...

Did you mean 3-year-old a visa? Are there problems getting children visas?

So, the gf doesn't like the city. She wants to live somewhere with a yard, but we'd like to still be able to get around without owning a car. Our plan is to fly in somewhere and stay at hotels till we find a place. Any tips on what city we should fly into / where we should look?

I was pretty tired when making the last post.

You say you want to stay long time, how long are you talking. Months or years?

cookie, I guess we don't know for sure yet, but we have internet income, so it would be great to save most of that for a few years.

The gf is sold on chiang mai. How is broadband internet in some house outside the city? Could we get a dedicated business line?

Rhett, I would go on a scouting mission like 3 weeks before your gf and daughter get there. Check out Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Phuket, hell, even Vientiane and some smaller Thai cities. Bring along a digital camera so you can consult with your partner about where to live. How much would you prefer/are you willing to spend?

whats the best site to find flights from bangkok to North america?
i usualy use cheaptickets but they do not deal with flights from bangkok

I'm getting some really good first impressions of Bangalore, India. Maybe the nightlife is not as good for college kids there, but it seems cheap, with good internet access, and monkeys, cows, and trees in the city!

rhett,

myironthumb got his iphone unlocked a couple of days ago and his works perfectly with a thai sim card. you can either get it unlocked in bangkok or do it yourself by downloading some software but i dont know where from.

fletcher19, thanks for the info. I think we might do that.

yeh it was really easy, i just downloaded a software called ziphone(goolge it, costs like $30), plugged my iphone in and followed the instructions. 10 minutes later my thai simcard worked in it fine

also about moving here- chang mai's really really nice but there are no beaches up there. i dont know how good it would be for long term living, but i'm sure some guys who live up there can tell you more about it.

Anyone interested in going to stay in Thailand for around 2 months. Looking for people to maybe share an apartment over there

so im leaving for thailand in 15hrs and i still have no clue where im going to stay the first 4-5 nights. anybody got any suggestions for a hostel/hotel in bangkok?

Ko Tao. Most popular but rightly so.

cheers jay, yeh ive heard this from a few people so i will go there and do it.

Don't go to the South and yes to your 2nd question

1. $1200
2. Not a 3rd World Country
3. No probs
4. Don't do drugs - drugs bad

Hi, currently staying in bangkok for some days, one of my friends left already and second one is staying in chiang mai. Ive been in Thai for a month now.
If anyone of you is also here in bangkok, and is interested in going out to party, talk poka or whatever then contact me. Here or email: kaomi@hot.ee (i dont know my own number atm, so leave me yours)

man 1 day back home.. for 3weeks
i want ***** back already this is painfull.

I thought I posted this but cant find it. I need a new Dental Bridge and cost here is over $4000. I saw on 60 minutes and heard that the cost in Thailand is like 25% of that. So I was thinking of going there getting it done and combining with a vaction for two weeks.

My questions are

1. How Close is Bankock to the Vaction spots beaches?
2. Will I be safe the few days I am there for Dental work in big city?
3. What kind of cost to stay on beach nice place?
4. What is the wetahe like in July/August ? Good Time to go?

I e-mailed one place and they seemed cheap and gorgeous facility
Dental Hospital
88/88 Sukhumvit 49
Sukhumvit Road, Wattana
Bangkok 10110
Thailand

1. bangkok is about 200 kilometres from pattaya (beach but very overrun)
2. yes it is surprisingly safe here, the worst you will experience is probably people trying to scam you out of a few $
3. not quite sure of prices in pattaya but around 50$ to 100$ if you want a really nice place
4. July/August is the hot and somewhat rainy season, not the best time people say. I havent experienced it myself though