is there anyone who will go from chiang mai to vientiane by bus in the next 10 days or so?

I can hook you up with locale of all the Police stops. But I'm not sure I should publicly post that.

PM me.

PS When you coming to Phuket? Is it just for your Fiance's parents visit or for longterm?

I am going to stay 3 months for starters and will decide thereafter what to do.

Please go ahead and PM me the police stops thank you. I will fix a driving license but would like to avoid the stops until I have.

I do not know if it is possible to get driving license with just a tourist visa?

Thanks!

Just have to reiterate that I really do not recommend these ticket search sites. They do not search low cost carriers.

Just to try it out I searched Kayak for the tickets I bought a week ago for my trip from Perth-Samui return. I paid $600. The lowest price Kayak could find was $1260, because they do not include flights on airlines like Air Asia or Tiger Airways in their searches.

The lowest ticket prices to anywhere will be found on the web sites of the budget airlines that fly to those destinations. Internet travel sites like Orbitz and Kayak have an agreement with full service airlines not to list these fares in their searches.

NP. It's been a little project in my head for a few weeks. I'm working on the maps. Will PM when finished.

Specifically, some of the "avoidance routes" are something that are map-nonexistent or difficult to show on a map and must be shown in person.

PS in answer to one o your questions, some stops are easier to go thru on MBs and some easier in cars. Some they just stop everyone.

The good news is, even if you get fined for no license it's still just a 300THB fine and then you drive off.

I've been dodging police checkpoints for 2 years now. it took me about 10 300baht fines to figure out most of their locations though
And this is all because I'm too lazy to get the 400baht license........

Anyway you will be going through the Chalong circle a bunch when visiting Kata/Karon/Rawai etc. so a good tip is to try and dodge going to the circle between 9.00-15.00 because when the police are there its usually during those times. Also they will often stand on the Kata road since most tourists are coming/going from/to there. Luckily there are shortcuts/detours connecting basically all roads leading to the circle, so if you have to go when the police could be there you can still do it

You need to update your Location bro! I suggest "Dodging the Thai 5-0"

sometimes it's a little more hassle. they'll hold your motorbike 'til you go to the policestation and pay the fine. usually there will be motorbike taxis around to take you there when this happens, though.

also, you then get a free pass for the rest of the night, for traffic violations

Thomas.T, you don't have a ID formatted like a driver's license anywhere? a ID card or something? you can get away with almost any small picture ID. If you go to bangkok for a day, you could also go to Kho San road and get a fake ID.

both airasia and nokair are usually much cheaper than kayak or orbitz for flights in the region. Check with them first.

it is, i just did it 3 months ago.

you'd have to dodge it later than 15.00 too if you want to make it 100%. 3-4 days ago i had to drive through the circle 3 times within 2-3 hours and i was stopped each time. this was around 6pm. the last time i had my license in my hand ready since it started to get pretty ridiculous. that was the first time for over a year i was stopped at the circle though. maybe i've ran good since i always see tourists getting pulled over there

Yo guys!

Nice to meet you all on sat, was a nice evening out!

Maybie i'll come back some day!

Enjoy thailand and gl to everybody there!

Cheers,

Beyn

GL in Macau

can anyone recommend me a nice resort/hotel for my mother in or around kata. has to be virtually on the beach and have a spa.

Zach's mom stayed in the MovenPick on Karon Beach. It seemed quite nice. Only have to cross the beach road to get to the beach and it has a sickLAG pool.

Hey guys....

me and 2 other 2+2 er's have been in bangkok for 2 days now and are planning on moving over to phuket to get a villa in a few weeks. Currently we are staying at Nana in Bangkok in a hotel for a few nights. We are wondering where to head to after this? should we go straight to Phuket or is there any where else around thailand that would be a good idea to go visit before we settle in Phuket.
Also where would be the best place to stay in phuket as soon as we get there?

There is a decent contingnt of 2p2 in Chiang Mai and they seem to like it up there. Perhaps a few days/week to check it out then head to Phuket.

As for where to stay in Phuket.

For 1st few days (while villa hunting) I reccomend Kata Beach Studio or the hotel right next door, "Aloha Residence"

http://www.katabeachstudio.com/

What's the standard price to get your phone unlocked? I went to Central Shopping Center in Chiang Mai today and a guy asked me 400 baht for it. I didn't have the phone with me so I had to pass, but i'm going back there later.

more than that i believe

what kind of phone is it? for my sony ericsson i just had to call at&t and ask for the code to unlock it.

Nokia N80, it's locked to the provider I used in my home country (Estonia).

Is there anyone here who went to Chiang mai on a 1 yr visa obtained thru the CM university?
if so pls PM me, i have a couple of questions

400 baht is not bad. the cost usually depends on the type of phone, you can also try cellphonehacks.com to unlock it.

yeah a few of us. i just started my course and not getting my 1yr visa til june (they will let my tourist visa expire before they give me a year), so i probably can't help you with that much. just post your questions here and i'm sure some others will help.

On it as well, got it in November last yr.

whats the cost for a year of classes? what are you studying? classes in english or thai? when/how often do you go to class?

we're thinking about either heading to cm or zee berlin after our contract expires (bout 8 months).

edit: also, are you taking undergrad or graduate classes?