I think we have an IRC channel but I've never used it.

I'm pretty busy today, two of my friends are arriving and I need to pick them up and then show them the ropes around here. I may have time later though, drop me a pm of what your plans are and if you have any mobile numbers etc.

NewTeaBag did an awesome job of showing us around when we arrived here but I don't know if he still does his introductory guided tours you could possibly drop him a pm

[x] went to laos
[x] got 6 months visa
[x] beer lao
[x] refused free shag because of uberdrunk
[x] I suck imo

ye #greencurry on efnet but nobody goes there anymore =[

i am up for Qnet or ircnet channel. i dont want to go to a 3rd network for just one channel though.

Anybody know the easiest way to get more visa pages in one's passport while travelling?

I'm in the process of looking it all up now and haven't come up with any options. If anyone knows it will save me some time. Otherwise I'll post when I figure it out.

FWIW, I have only 3/4 of one actual visa pages empty and a couple of the extra pages at the end still that are not marked specifically for visas.

Thanks,

Bill

edit: I have a U.S. passport

So I called the embassy and I just have to go to the embassy in Bangkok and they'll have the pages added in about an hour.

I have no idea why this isn't posted on any website as part of US embassy services.

I did this back in march.

Very little hassle (aside from having to goto BKK).

I got in to the embassy at like 800AM. (Its right near Lumponi park on wireless rd)
Nevermind the huge ass line you outside the gates. SHow them ur US passport and you got straight in.

Off in the back is US consular services and it took like a total of 1 hr from entering the embassy to leaving and twas no cost.

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

Beer LAO FTW!

how do you guys deal with the goddamn mosquitos? theyre fn killing me.

close your windows.
get rid of body odors, feet are a big one.
invest in spray.
don't wear shorts at night.
wear cologne.
go to gogo and not to outside beer bars.
do not hang with backpackers ( look at their legs you'll understand )
if out in the jungle a repelant cream works great.

Hey guys, anyone in Bkk and going to Pantip in the next few days ? i would like to know what the best laptop they have for sale, in the 80 000 range.

I wonder if they have that TOSHIBA QOSMIO x300-xxx ?



And if no, what laptop would you buy ?


thx

cant comment on best value, but can comment on best laptop, 17"macbook pro with winxp running native(bootcamp) is the nuts.

I've been reading up a bit about Thailand cost of living, etc. outside of the forums. I've got a few questions for those of you who are actually doing it.

Would $1500 USD a month afford me a decent standard of living? I'd like to possibly rent a small house if possible, I could stand a small apartment if it meant being able to do more activities. I'll likely have more available to me than that amount but would like to try and save a great deal while living abroad.

Which brings me to the next point. What should I do bank account wise so I can consistently have access to funds? I'd be playing poker, obviously, and would like to be able to move funds off of sites (mostly Stars at first, probably branching out to some other sites once I got there) to said account.

Food. I'd like to be able to cook on my own some, and I'd certainly want to be buying bottled water.

As for living area, I'd want some place with impressive scenery and general population that doesn't hate Canadians/Americans in general. Activities, I dunno. I'd like to maybe get some golfing in. Transportation, is it impossible to own a motorcycle/scooter or anything there? I'd prefer to be dependent on myself for transportation.

1500usd a month is about my budget. A few pointers:

In the suburbs no problem, in bkk downtown or any touristy place no way. I mean you could but it would be more than half your budget.

It's going to be very difficult to find a kitchen in a small apartment in thailand. Most people just eat outside/go to the market.

Aim for the south then, you might be able to find something decent for cheap if you don't mind living away from town centers.

While cheap compared to western countries playing golf often on 1500 bucks is going to be frustrating. The good courses are around 100usd for a round.

It's easy if you can pay it cash, renting can be a pain in the neck.

The big question is : what about your party habits? can you handle thai food or do you need western food often? if you do not go out that often to party / not into the nightlife scene it's going to be ok. Otherwise i suggest going for a cheap apartment, you won't spend much time inside anyway.

Western food can be costly too.



I'm cheating because i pay 3000bahts a month for accommodation and i have free food everyday. But if you cut the apartment budget to the max you can have a ton of fun and save money at the same time in thailand.

With your 50k let's say you go : 10k apartment with electricity/water.

40k for food, golf,party and gas : enough for hours of fun imo.

any word on what/where is gonna be good for NYE in BKK yet?

So far:

-Loads of people are going to go to the square in front of central world for the countdown

-It's going to be frigging expensive at qbar

Should find out more soon.

Do you guys often worry about your laptop? I'm worried about leaving a laptop in my room but do not want to carry it everywhere I go.

What do you guys do? Hide it under the mattress and put Do Not Disturb on the door?

How worried should I be?

Maybe you should quit your 100bahts a night guesthouse.
Seriously
this is insane

The places i'm staying are actually between 1k-2k baht. But still doesn't change the fact that I don't feel perfectly safe leaving a laptop in the room.

Just start worrying about bombs and AIDS instead.

Is good practice to always leave it outside of easy picking. Also, you can buy a chain and lock it somewhere.

Anyway, most guesthouses keep things at reception for customers at a safe place, and they become responsible for the security. This is what I used to do.

This is also useful when you go to the beach to leave the passport and credit cards.

gonna be in phuket with shipitfma and czglory as well as some other ssnl ppl right after the new year...pretty pumped about it and look forward to partying with you guys there. Seems kinda hard to wade through the noise in this thread, if im going for 6 weeks what are some places you guys recommend visiting/how long is enough in certain places etc. Only thing i know for sure is i am flying in to phuket. Also how realistic is it that i can live comfortably for 6 weeks on around 3k?

you mean just in phuket?

it depends. you can get a nice place for about 500usd/mo, eat thai food all day and not party all that much and be fine. i go out every other night, eat mostly western food, and live in a very comfortable house and spend about 4-5kusd/mo

i was planning on staying mostly in phuket but im sure we will travel around some as well, 3k was just a guideline but i definetly dont need to live totally ballin

$3k is just fine.

DOnt listen to douchefromage