Glad to hear it's going well.
I kind of think Thailand is better now than 15 years ago. More western amenities (Ikea as an example) and much more and better international food options.

I got a season pass, it's the pinnacle of entertainment.

Yah, I'd have to say the megaphones and super loud tuk-tuks are another slight negative. But I lived in Mexico a couple years and it's way worse there. Every vendor thinks they need their own damn annoying sound to sell their wares (megaphones, bells, whistles, recordings, etc.).

Can't comment on 15 years ago, but the food variety is outstanding here. Thai is good, but I don't eat it super often as I like to change it up often. Ramen, Indian, Korean BBQ, shawarma, burgers, etc. There's a pretty elite option for all those near us. We even stop by Ikea for the Swedish meatballs every now and then.

Can you speak a little bit of Thai already, kid?

remember going to a ping pong show was in bkk solo on an overnight layover, decided to go out drinking, bumped into a bunch of girls out on a bachelorette party who were going to a ping pong show and asked if I could join and off we went,\

started off doing ping pong tricks which was fun and everyone would cheer, we were giving each other high fives and pounding drinks

it was not sexy

but truly incredible

and then it got weird, that says a lot because it's already incredibly weird watching post menopausal women doing vagina athletics


thought tossing darts was pretty insane until i saw her pull a string of razor blades out and then proceed cut things with them to prove they were genuinely sharp - i deeply hope it was some slight of hand stuff

was deeply intoxicated obv when i went so it still all feels like a fever dream and I'm still questioning to this day whether i actually witnessed what i believed to have witnessed

high fiving stopped, cheers had long since abided, and we just kind of silently shuffled out at the end unsure of what we just witnessed and why we were part of it with no party mood anymore and just drifted our separate ways

Had some friends from Vegas here last week and they wanted to do a ping pong show. Much tamer than I remember years ago. I remember the razor blade trick also but they didn't do that this time. My friends loved it but it wasn't nearly as disgusting as shows 10-20 years ago. Show was at Thigh bar in Patpong for the record.

I've kinda stalled with it. I'd say my vocab is around 300 words and I can say a handful of generic sentences, but only understand basic stuff. I'm kinda lacking motivation at this point. In the past, I was excited to learn Spanish and French b/c I was chatting in those languages with local girls on Tinder and using it to get more dates.

But now that I'm married, that angle is out the window and it just seems super unlikely that I'm gonna befriend any/many locals that only speak Thai. It seems like Thais that I'd have more in common with have a more western mentality and already speak a great deal of English. I dunno, I'm more introverted and don't like to chat unless it's stuff that interest me deeply like travel, languages, sports, etc. and I think someone that speaks Thai only is very unlikely to have those in common.

On top of that, there's like no interesting Thai media to get me hooked. I like anime and K-Pop, so using those would be a great way to keep learning Japan/Korean and with Spanish and French there were infinite great films and series, books, music, etc. that I was using to learn. I've tried with Thai and so far have come up with very little that interests me. Thai cinema is possibly the nut low. Every new movie that comes out just seems to be a campy horror flick and there aren't too many high quality series to binge.

At some point, I might just break down and do like a 1-2 month intensive course someone to kinda force myself to learn more. I'd like to use it to start visiting different areas of Thailand not frequented often by tourists to get more of an authentic feel of local life.

You're ahead of most people I know. I've got like maybe 30 words and I'm fine with that. I have friends who have lived here 30-40 years and I speak more words than them. Speaking Thai really isn't needed at all.

Go to Yasothorn for bang fai in May. That's a pretty unique experience

fossil, if i knew years ago that you liked kpop there's zero chance I would have grown to like you as a poster

Ha, that's a fair comment re: K-pop

I wouldn't say I'm a fan though. Really I only like Blackpink and have maybe 5 of their songs in my library. My main point was that at least it's something culturally interesting about the Korean language, as well as the fact that there are tons of great TV series and movies in that language. If I were spending 5 years in Korea instead of Thailand, then there'd be lots of interesting material to motivate me to go far with the language, whereas in Thai, there's very little.

Thanks, looks like a solid excuse to check out Isaan.

Korea has the best movies. Hollywood only makes movies for idiots and woketards now days.

Going to book my flights in the next day or 2. 7th April-7th May. Renting a condo right beside Jomtien Beach Pattaya for $500. Overall I'm happy with Pattaya as my base. It's cheaper and quieter and will be a good location to grind some mtt's and hit the beach/gym. Want to have a solid 3 week routine there and see how it feels. If I like it, i'll likely come back to Thailand in October and give it a go for 9 months.

I'll check out of the condo early and spend the last few nights in bkk for a bit of fun. Tempted to fly to Phuket for a few nights also after you guys' recommendations.
Return flights from NYC to Thailand coming in at $1,200 bucks all in.

Does anyone have any advice on any essential items I need to bring with me? Or anything that sticks out to you that would make my life easier if I did X or Y before leaving? Whilst there, I'm going to need to buy a monitor and I guess a thai phone/sim? Will want some sort of backup internet.

If anyone is in Pattaya in April and wants to have a meal/drink/shoot some pool please send me a message as i'd love to meet some fellow poker players. 33 y/o Irish male currently living in NYC.

Plug adaptor(?), internationnal driving license.

You can get a tourist sim card at the airport (https://www.ais.th/en/consumers/pack...l/tourist-plan), no need to change your phone. You can get cheaper package for longer stay but for your first trip, I would not bother about it.

Plenty of shop/facebook marketplace to buy monitor

Yes please, do at least 4-6 days in Phuket and check out Rawai, Kata, Patong and Phuket Town, it'll be a shame to fly all the way down here to spend all your days in Patts/BKK.

read up about songkran. especially in pattaya, it's very long and intense (iirc 11th to 19th of april every year) and many expats really seem to hate it. it might be impossible to go anywhere without ending up completely wet all the time. it probably depends on how far out you live in jomtien. i've never been there, but i've just read that pattaya songkran is especially intense.

install bolt & grab app for super cheap transport. use motortaxis (via bolt / grab). i wouldn't drive myself on such a short trip, especially if you plan to drink. but if you do want to rent a motorbike, apply for international drivers permit before you leave (but you're probably too late, but who knows). use grab eat & foodpanda for food delivery. install line app before you arrive (with your home number) and set up automatic backup.

phuket is awesome, i agree, but without a motorbike it's imho a lot less good; especially on a short visit and if you want to see a lot of different stuff. taxis are available, but their prices are much higher than in bangkok.

yeah, i'd just buy a tourist sim at the airport. dtac / ais / true are the three providers, it doesn't really matter what you use. just buy a 30 day tourist sim and then buy a new one towards the end or prolong it.

don't exchange (much) money directly in the airport at arrival hall, the rates are terrible there; but generally very very good in most major cities otherwise. if you bring any USD, make sure that all the notes are crisp and don't have any writing on it. exchange places will not accept it otherwise.
best way for you as an american is to have a charles schwab account that reimburses all your atm fees and uses interrate exchange rate. if you don't have that, it might be possible to still set up before your trip.

have fun.

If you want to save a few bucks, buy your sim in jomtien or anywhere that is not the airport, cell data costs like nothing in TH outside the airport. Generally exchange rates at the airport are also terrible yes, but the superrich exchange has good rates, very small spread, same as everywhere else, you just need to find it, it's a bit hidden at the basement.
If you have a locked phone, you may want to buy an unlocked one in the US, generally all things tech tend to be cheaper in the US, less taxes and monopolies. However small things, plugs and adapters, your best option is usually gonna be MINISO shops, they tend to have what you need and good prices.
You can also use bolt for all transport in phuket, yes the rates are higher than elsewhere, same as many other stuff, but still reasonable. I wouldn't recommend to use regular taxis/tuktuks at all, like 80% will try to rip the farang off. In Pattaya you can also use the baht bus, google it.
I just arrived back in the city of angels but have to leave on Friday so can't meet, sorry. Have fun.

Thank you all for your help.

Zarshka- Just ordered the adapter plugs from Amazon thanks. I got my International Drivers Permit a couple weeks ago thanks to you guys' recommendations earlier. Also nice heads up about the tourist sim card, good to know.

Ramabranch-I'm gonna have to man Looks like paradise form the videos I have been watching.

Trontron- RE Songkran: I don't mind water it's gonna be hot anyways :P Already downloaded Grab and Bolt it should come in handy. I assume I can just add any US visa card to it. Got my IDP already Just downloaded line also.

As for cash, would you recommend doing something like getting $2k usd worth of thai baht here in USA and just bringing into Thailand or wait till I get there and then convert? I'm not sure what's best. I read I may need to show proof of funds for my sta so prob gonna bring like 1K usd and 2k(usd worth) in thai baht and see what happens...

FWWM- Thanks for the heads up with waiting for the sim. Only thing i'm worried about is that i'll need to get a grab or bolt from bkk airport to Jomtien and may need to use a thai sim to do so? Anyways i'll figure it out. Nice head sup for being ripped off on the tuk tuks. I know how it is. Walk around central park in Manhattan and guys are trying to sell you all sorts of crap. I'm confident in my abilities not to get hustled (women not included in this statement. They seem to have a way of getting to me)

You don't need a Thai sim, you can book your transport in advance, at the airport or use grab/bolt with the airport wifi. I'm not sure what the grab/bolt prices are for long distance transport but probably ok. Don't pay more than 1500 baht, ideally it should be 1000-1200 but inflation is everywhere. There are also buses if you want to save. As for changing cash it depends what rate you can get but I doubt you beat the rate of good exchanges in TH with what you can get in the US. Again, nobody asks proof of funds, I've never seen anyone put out their wallet at immigration and I've been there many times, you need your passport and boarding pass, that's it.

Change for usd/thb in good exchange shops is almost 0% (for CLEAN 100usd notes). ATM are charging 220 bahts (+ your banks fees for withdrawal, max 30k). So bring cash and dont change at airport and look for the best exchange).

Also you should pay an agent to open you a bank account while here, it will save you a lot of money, usually they charge 3/4k bahts

(Proof of fund or declaration is not a thing under 15k usd and otherwise declaration is pretty chill process).

sim card also costs nothing at the airport. yes, it's more expensive than a year long (or 3 month) contract, but if he only stays 5 weeks, i'd just buy it at the airport.

i think his 2 options are basically: pay 999 thb for a 30 day tourist sim with unlimited speed and 50-100gb data or go to a dtac/ais/true shop and pay 600 thb for a 90 day phone contract (=200 monthly) with 10mbps. yes, the latter is cheaper, especially on a monthly basis, but the difference is minimal for 5 weeks and he saves an hour of his time and will have data on his cab / bus ride to pattaya and on his first day. just not worth it to sweat about the price difference, imho, especially on a first trip.

yes, superrich is good, but in the basement, as you say. that's why i said "don't exchange in the arrival hall".

yes, it's hot outside. but as soon as you sit under air condition with wet clothes, you'll quickly be very cold. and sitting on a motorbike that gets hit with super soakers and crashes, is also not a great thing, hehe. but yeah, you'll be fine, mostly.

your cheapest & by far best option in regards to money is to get a US bank account that reimburses all atm fees and charges you interbank rate. charles schwab is the most well known account for that, but there are a few other options.

the 2nd cheapest option, but far less convenient, is to bring usd cash with you and exchange it (vasu exchange in bkk or superrich main branch in bangkok have the best rates, but nearly all other options are very good as well). you'll pay around 0.5% compared to interbank rate. the downside is that you will need to carry / bring all of your cash with you in advance.

the most expensive option is to just always use ATMs with an account that doesn't reimburse fees and charges you a bad exchange rate on top of it, this will cost you between 3-6% compared to perfect solution.

no need / use to exchange THB back home. either use ATM at the airport or just exchange a few thousand thb at the airport to give you enough cash for transport and arrival.

yes, long term you should have open a bank account. afaik it's currently quite difficult on a tourist visa, even with an agent. but maybe that has changed. but if you come long term, then certainly open a thai bank account.

yes, i'd prearrange transport if you head to pattaya directly. there are lots of services that offer it. https://cherrytaxiservice.com/ is one of the cheap / popular ones. airport to pattaya will be 1000 thb. you can just write them in line and a driver (respectively handler) will wait for you at the airport).
most other similar services charge you 1200 for it. all those established options are fine. no reason to pay more than that.
if you go to bangkok first, just take a normal taxi, they'll use a meter.

I agree with the convenience and it doesn't really matter but is that a new thing with the 3 months contracts? Currently I have a multi-country SIM but at least as of last year you could still buy monthly or even shorter prepaid stuff at least on the dtac (happy) app for like nothing, like 80 baht IIRC plus 20 baht for the SIM card initially or something like that. Probably not 100 GB but it was good enough for any regular use, certainly good enough as a backup.


You'll have a hell of a time finding a taxi driver in BKK that will drive you to pattaya or anywhere else long-distance with a meter. They will all want to arrange fixed prices or not go. But they can be negotiated to reasonably prices usually, you may have to try several ones.

He's not even on a tourist visa, he's on the 30 day visa exemption, as far as i understand, so yeah that's likely not gonna work, save your money for the agent. It can also be done without agent just try several branches of BKK bank in tourist areas. Jomtien/pattaya should be fine. But yeah totally without visa probably not and also not what you need urgently on a first visit...
If he comes back later for longer he'll need to check with visas anyway and might need a good agent, he should worry about it then...

I've ordered a taxi from BKK to Pattaya using an app before.

I would recommend Na Kluea over Jomtien for multiple reason. Its like a super sweet spot if you want to be far away from party scene yet close enough city center.

Jomtien:
Streets from Jomtien to Pattaya city centre are much more narrow, crowded and dangerous
Wrong side of the beach road (beach road is one way street and you come from the wrong side)
Not much english speaking people around that area


Na Kluea
-If you live there the only busy road on your way to centre would be beach road
-Right side of beggining to beach road
-As soon as you enter beach road you have thai baht bus that brings you anywhere for 10 baht
-most condos walking distance to beach road 5-30 minutes depend on how far you go
- Don't have any bars around Na kluea area which is quiet and a lot of families live here
- have a shortcut to avoid all busy roads except the beach road of course

Since you mentioned gym/beach a lot:
All three beaches Jomtien/Pattaya/Wongamat are not safe to swim and are polluted but should not be the issue in april because you will get splash with water anywhere in April during Songkran.
Most condos in Na Kluea area have private gym for tenants but most of them wants you to monthly rent. All tough lacking heavy weights.
Check thailand-property for cheaper monthly rents than booking/airbnb.

I have been living here for years if you have any further questions DM me.

^^^^solid post
I like jomtien if you stay on the coast as it's fairly quiet and they have songthaews that take you to walking street. Definitely nothing special about the place but compared to that absolute shithole of a town Pattaya (imo) it feels like an oasis but will definitely give na kluea a shot next time I'm forced to go down there. Sounds pretty nice and good point about entering Pattaya from the north. As much as I hate Pattaya, the baht bus is the absolute nuts.