Based on this, or is there another news link?

that place has it's defenders, but i'm not a fan.

The Pad Thai shop on Patak Road definitely has the best pad thai, imo. I was never really a fan of the one near the night bazaar for some reason. I'm still yet to find anywhere as good in CM though

Ate only one time at the pad thai place across night bizaar and i was not impressed at all, it was even one of the worse pad thai i ever ate. For me a place near the chalong circle has the best pad thai, it's open 24/7.

i thought it was pretty good when i would get it but i was always pretty drunk and it was like the only option at like 1am so it's always going to seem pretty good.

Ah, ok cool I haven't tried any of those pad thai places yet. Thanks

Is it possible to live in Thailand (Bangkok, Phuket, or Chiang Mai) indefinitely without work and live off of money saved and playing poker? And if possible what is the best course of action concerning visas and what not? I'd really like to travel to Thailand but am not sure how long I will want to stay, so anywhere from a month to a couple of years.

Thanks.

is the pad thai place you are all talking about to the right of "ping pong bar" and has like 4 tables and a TV on the wall near the kitchen, or is it the place to the left of ping pong?


also, need to do a quick visa run before the 3rd (i have a USA 2 entry visa and have been here almost 90 days). read in earlier posts malaysia is the place to do it if I want to just get it done quick. so do i just book a flight into kuala lumpor and then just fly back to phuket asap? I guess what i'm asking is what exactly do i need to do to get my 2nd entry activated/who do i talk to there?

thanks

Does anyone have a suggestion on the nicest beach in Thailand to have a wedding on? Got a friend coming over in October to marry some broad and he's asking me where's best

to answer your questions: yes it is possible. I have (for example) stayed here for a bit over 2 years now on tourist visas. you have to leave the country every 90 days this way (can come back same day)

i would start from reading the sticky

i ate here with kiwi jonny like a month ago and pad thai was soooooooooo good. only downside was the guy takes a while to make it, but seriously its pretty damn tasty. i advise wearing mosquito repellent bc i was getting f*cked with SO BAD by those while waiting for food.

that place has a really good Lad Na Mu... but that's not a place anyone is talking about. the patak road place is about 1.5 km closer to my house than that.

Vincent, Jonny, and I are flying to KL tomorrow at 815 on airasia, returning on the 1240 flight to phuket if you want to join us.

Thanks for the info, I figured that was the case but I wasn't sure.

It sounds like people are talking about 3 different ones, but the one I think is by far the best (and I think the one Myironthumb is refering to) is opposite a small guesthouse near the last 7-11 you pass before entering the mountains to Chalong circle.
Basically it's on the same side as Ping pong bar but at the other end of Kata about 200meters before the new added lights at Kata temple (the ones that are only ever flashing yellow)
The restaurant has like 4-5 concrete stairs up and the kitchen is on your right

That, it was on Thaivisa and they're blaring it on the radio constantly.

ty for offer but jonny just said we might need to flip for the last ticket! haha not down to wake up that early for that.

dont forget the McD!

the flights they are taking are definitely the easiest way to do a visarun here especially if you are willing to drive your bike to the airport (to make the whole process easier, cheaper and flexible). it is like 8 hours door to door total

if you are not willing to wake up that early airasia offers another chance leaving phuket around 2pm and coming back around 8pm. the wait is longer in KL end though

btw are you coming to bball rutang?

I'm back from Laos and I was successful in getting a double entry Tourist Visa. After all I only had one previous double entry from Laos in my passport and one single entry from Denmark so I was pretty sure it would work.

For those who've never done it before, here's the process:

Day 1

-Fly from wherever you're staying to Udon Thani. AirAsia has direct flights now 4 times a week from HKT so that's a big plus for us Phuketers.

-In the airport lobby there's a "limousine" service offering direct minibus rides to Nong Khai for 200 baht. Go there and get a ticket. It's about a 45 min drive.

-Nong Khai is a small town on the Thai-Laos border. At that end all you need to do is walk through the immigration exit with your passport and "exit slip" (the small white form you filled out when you entered the country).

-Right after the exit there's a desk on the right selling bus rides across the bridge for 20 baht. Buy one of those, wait for the bus and ride it across the bridge to the Laos side of the border.

-At the Laos side get a "visa on arrival" form and fill it out. Go to the application window and hand them the form, your passport and pay the fee. It's either gonna be $35/$35 or xxx/$1550 baht depending on whether you arrived after 6pm or not. Note that the USD charge is less than the baht charge so bringing USD just for this is smart. Wait at the "recieve passport" window for your passport and walk through immigration.

-You'll need to catch a ride to your hotel in Vientiane. There are several options but I usually take a taxi cause it has aircon. It should be in the range of 200-300 baht depending on your negotiation skills. Trip time is about 25 mins.

Day 2

-Wake up early and go to the Thai Embassy. The embassy opens at 8.30 but I would suggest you try to arrive at least 30 mins before that cause there is usually a line. Try avoiding mondays, especially in high season, cause the line is gonna be 3 times as long. They stop accepting Visa applications at 12pm and they're not shy about sending people away on the dot.

-After they open the gate you walk inside the courtyard and receive a numbered ticket. Have a seat in the covered seating area and wait for your number to be called. Ship your application form and your passport at the window. You'll be directed to walk inside the building on the left. There you wait for your number to be called again and you go to the window to make your payment (if any) and then they stamp your ticket. Do not lose it cause it's your receipt.

Day 3

-Now you don't have to wake up early. They return passports with visa's after 1pm. You can show up early if you like but the process is pretty fast. About 30 mins.

-Reverse the process for getting back to Nong Khai, then Udon and fly back home.


The forms
Filling out the Laos form isn't a big deal cause they're not picky about details. Just try to get the majority correct and make sure you have one passport photo (no glueing required).

The Thai form is a different matter. They've been known to deny people visas because of mistakes in the form. There are touts outside the embassy that can do all the work for you for 100 baht but you run the risk of them making a mistake. So far I've done it myself once and used the touts twice and it's never failed. I think from now on I want to do it myself though just for safety and it's not that hard. You can even print it out from the embassy site and have it filled out beforehand.

That being said, here's a few pointers:

-Bring two passport photos. You'll need to glue them on the top of the form side by side. There is glue on a counter inside the embassy.

-Bring photo copies of the main page in your passport and of your Laos Visa (which you received upon arrival). The touts outside can do that for you and I think they charge 20 baht. There's also a photo copy service that's cheaper than that (might be free?) inside the embassy on the second floor of the application building but I'd rather just be done with the whole thing before I get inside. If you use the touts for copies I'm sure they will let you borrow their glue-stick as well. If you forgot the photos I think there's shops that do that as well outside the embassy but I've never had to.

-Make sure you have a contact number in Laos. I lucked out cause my hotel (Ramayana) was on their contact list but I wouldn't count on that in the future.

-When applying for a double entry tourist visa, make sure you write "x 2" after the place where you check in "tourist visa" and for duration write 60 days x 2. Other options for duration might work as well.

-The touts will offer to do the whole process for you for 1.5-2k baht. I wouldn't recommend this cause it's not legal and who knows what can happen to your passport. If somebody has experience with trying this I'd like to hear how it went.

good tr, exactly what i did

they charge now $5 for "overtime" ? When i went 2 months ago it was $1 for overtime ($36 total for the visa)

also the visa fee is different for different nationalities. $20-$42 depending on where you are from

pay in USD to get the best rate

That numer was off the top of my head. You're probably right and it's 35/36.

I had no idea it's different depending on nationality.

I forgot one thing:

On the form you'll need to write down your address in thailand as well as a name and address for a local guarantor. I wrote in "hotel", my thai cell phone no. and my thai address in each field and that seemed to work.

I think just knowing any passable thai address might do in a pinch.

It is possible to take the earliest flight from Bkk to Udon Thani (Nok air from bkk) and hand in the visa application on arrival day. But you need to run good in flight being on time, limousine service leaves straight away, Laos visa doesn't take to much time & there aren't to many people in front of you at the embassy.
Don't count on it but for Bangkok people it is worth a shot but keep your return flight open.
I haven't done it myself but have a few friends who have. They say chances are about 50/50

@ All,

I know i kind of spewed in my last update but what do you guys think about the Full Moon Party? I'll be in Khanom Beach on thursday afternoon/night and heading back Sunday. But if I'm not there a couple days in advance and don't have a package pre-booked is it just a no-go? Or can I take a ferry there for the night of and ferry back to safety the next day to khanom?

Enjoy reading all your stories/updates, and am thinking about getting some teaching cert. in Phuket later this year, mostly b/c Phuket sounds sweet.

for BKKers this is doable and if I ever did this I would get my Laos visa beforehand from bangkok so there would be no wait time at the border