Which island/s would you guys recommend for chilling out, smoking bananas and not having to worry too much about cops?

I know Koh Tao was safe couple of years ago, but in the last few years, more cops are working there and they've started busting a lot of tourists, from what I've heard.

How is it in Koh Lipe? Lanta?

where are they coming from? is it too much of a hassle for them to go apply for a tourist visa from the thai consulate/embassy in that country before they arrive? they are free atm so all it takes is to go apply for it and usually wait overnight. that would give them the 60 days instead of 15 days when they arrive by land

if getting the visa is out of the question just do what lon said here. i think the fee is 1900 baht though (i just had to correct that one you know )

i´m flying to thailand 28th of November, i´ve read on the Bangkok Post that there are red shirt protest planed, do you think this will be as bad as last year yellow protests? should i worry about the airport being closed or bangkok being unsafe?

hi

going to phuket, thailand in january so if you guys could give me som advice on

bars
beaches
internet- like is it available at most hotels and how much does it cost?
restaurants and other fun things to do

If you read through this thread you would be able to answer a lot of your questions. I know the thread is large and very time consuming, but it is worth it.

yea im sure but 9k is a little bit to much

agree with fredd

renstahl, if you are coming here in a month or so i suggest you read the last 1-2k posts atleast. it will be worth it. also it's not easy to answer such vague questions like you asked.

if you are staying longer and plan on moving around thailand you should get cdma internet imo. read my post from yesterday for cliffs

Lessu mind updating the CAT CDMA situation? - does anybody using this still experience random disconnections or are they more stable now? Anyone tried it in Samui?

fwif I got the cdma about 3 weeks ago even though I was told (by the people selling it!!) that it would not work where I live (In Chalong a bit up in the hills supposedly too far away from a signal tower (they are building one nearby though) )
but it has run without any disconnects at all and download speeds in the 75kb/sek area

the random disconnections were reported by the previous user of my cdma model. i've had it for like 7-8 months now and it very rarely disconnects. download speeds vary a lot though

I also used it on the road from rawai, phuket to khao lak and it worked fine atleast until the checkpoint. also worked well in khao lak where i got the fastest download speeds ever (somewhere between 220-250kb/s dl'ing torrents)

location matters a lot. even small changes might affect the quality of service you are getting since you need to be quite close to one of their towers to be able to get good service.

they have a lot of them though and if you want to buy one they will let you try one out. just go to the office in the morning and they should let you try one for the day as long as you return it by the end of business.

and like i said the model the phuket office is selling now costs 6.5k and atleast last month they were giving 3 first months free

if you are travelling even a bit during the year and if you sometimes experience problems with your primary internet i would get this as a backup

is there a way to get some kind of map for the CAT CDMA towers? would be handy to use this as a way to choose a place!

http://www.mobiewave.com/3g-wireless-router_tower-map

that's a map for phuket. there are also pdf-links on the left for places for all the towers in thailand. couldn't find a map like that for other places than phuket though

http://internet.panphuket.com/home-internet/cat-cdma

another map for the phuket towers

but it's always better to try the actual cdma and not count meters from a map

been meaning to post this for a while. general info for people traveling by coach.

from BKK book at sai tai mai coach station direct, all the staff very helpful there. do not try and use local travel agent.

coach down to samui was the nicest ive ever been on. big fat reclining seats, air con + blanket. they came round and gave us peanuts, cake and drinks just leaving bkk. 2 drivers, who drove very well. toilet on coach. stopped after 5 hours for 20 min break where they gave you a couple of those little yohgat drinks. then half hour before arriving at don sak, we get coffee and face cloth (if the hostess had brought me a bacon butty i think i might have married her ;-)

got to don sak port after ten hours, where you walk on as foot passenger, coach drives on ferry, crossing was a little over an hour. then 15 mins where it dropped me at nathon.

so great for getting your stuff around. didnt have to move it once till nathon.

ticket was about 970 baht.

gently encourage the guy loading your monitor to keep it upright and point out its delicate and it will be fine.

only little niggle was bloody awful thai soap they had on t.v. made neighbours look like academy award material, but it was only on for a couple of hours leaving bkk as it was night bus, only two other falang on bus. but it really wasnt a problem.

and these coaches go everywhere!

hope this helps, as some people have had some real nightmares traveling around on coach, oh and could have played 5 aside on the ferry, there was so much room, no head to toe business ;-)

hope this helps.

yeah true, spose just cause there's a tower, dont mean its working or that great, cheers.

How do you guys handle transferring money in and out of poker sites on Thailand? At least Moneybookers can't be used from a thai ip

MB works fine for withdrawing but depositing does not work but you can use teamviewer with someone in your home country or whatever

like mmerli said already you can use moneybookers for everything else from here other than depositing

and if i ever need to deposit anywhere i just use my finn computer with teamviewer

i appreciate the thread, but i can't wade thru and i have my doubts it gets where i'm asking.

anyway. how much is a simple 1 bed room in phuket per month?

anywhere between 6kthb and 30kthb/mo dependin location, length of stay, and level of simplicity.

Dont know in which thread to post this so ill post in both.

Im having my uncle coming to bkk tomorrow, ill need to book a room for him today but i dont know what hotels are good in the range of 4k baht per night. I heard about this dream hotel, anyone have any info on dream or some other recomendations?

Thanks guys!

Hey guys, Ive been spending the last 2 months in Ko Samui with some trips to Ko Tao and Ko Phangan, but its getting rainy and boring here so im looking to find a place in BKK for a month.

Do u experts have any suggestions/tips for me about condos and the best areas to stay ? my budget is around 25k

thanx in advance

Read the FAQ?

Stay in Koh Tao or Koh Phangan and deal with the rainy season. Its practically over and those islands are fuuuuuuuuuun especially if you like to scuba dive and/or party.

Hi!

I am in Pattaya now but am thinking of going to Phuket for a couple of months to see if we should move there. By "we" I mean my swedish fiance and 2, 5 year old son.

I have a bad economi right now and am going to grind like 8 hours per day, when I am not grinding I will train MMA, thaiboxing or gym, or relax on a beatiful beach. We are not going to go out, or eat at expensive restaurants.

While I am rebuilding my economy we are going to live in a cheap hotel room and I will probably use Cat cdma (correct?) internet.

With this info in mind I would hope for some good tips on where on Phuket island we should live. We have lived in Karon some years ago but things have changed a bit since then.

To sum it up, good Cat cdma signal, nice beach, good training (hopefully MMA), and close to a place where children meet and play.

Thanks!

Thomas