I would estimate 30-50% cheaper. Additionally, most of the cheap places will simply not be advertised on the internet at all. You only see the high end of the market online.

i was there couple a days ago, the agents outside just gave back the passports to some guy with 6 tourist visas, saying they couldnt do anything, we had 4 and could get it, so i guess thats the cutoff. so either get a new passport or go somewhere else.

didnt seem to matter where the visas where from. non of my visas are from laos, they just counted the stickers

Hi guys, I'll be staying in Phuket for new years eve, hopefully in Patong. Any recomendation on website for hotel reservations? I am seeing that there are many already full booked so I should get it asap. I am guessing that the prices are increasing quite a bit but as I am only there for 5 days it's not a big deal but wouldn't like to spend as less as possible (with internet preferably)

Any recommended hotel can also be helpful

P.D: Hope to see some of you on the China thread and come over!

cant recommend any hotels from patong but whatever you decide book it fast. the days around new years eve are the peakest of the peak season in phuket. everything is super expensive, fully booked including flights so if you need to fly to phuket few days before the NYE BOOK THE FLIGHT NOW

also book the flight out from phuket after the new years NOW. they WILL be full if you leave the booking too late

so flights bkk to chiang mai will be super busy on 6th of jan, or back to normal?

Hey guys - just wondering if anyone has had music lessons. I'm assuming you can get them (pretty good quality) in chiang mai but want to hear about experiences. I used to be pretty good at the drums and would like to learn more guitar and/or drum lessons. Have any of you guys taken lessons??? Cost/level of english/come to your place or meet them? Hopefully some drums (obv at a store or something) I have met some badass musicians but never took it to the lesson stage.
Thanks guys

I made a post about this in chatter few weeks back. your lucky that you got the visa danny as from what the visa co guy told me the cutoff is 2 meaning a 3rd visa would be denied. i guess there is some grey area in this all because i researched what he told me before changing my travel plans and saw that infact some people applying for 3rd were denied....

Rutang fyi you can take a shot at lao but the only sure shot atm is Promh penh and i would recommend you go with a tour company vs doing it yourself as they tend to get things pushed through/have leverage with the embassies.

may not make sense since you live in pkt but the company in Bkk i always use is this http://thaivisaservice.com/ which is owned by a falang guy who can give you up to date visa situations/good advice at any given time. I was going to go to lao till i called him and he advised against it. ive used him almost 2 years now and trust him alot. GL

Yeah, I already have the flight, 29 Dec-4th Jan, cost quite a bit more than normal (from HK) but my worry is now for Hotel, which I am seeing pretty expensive

who is it in your avatar?

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_R...hiang_Mai.html

thoughts on any reasons not to go here for 4 days in chiang mai in january '11?

I have heard about US citizens living in Thailand and not having to pay taxes on their poker income despite filing with the IRS. I have no idea how that could possibly work (I would think you would have to pay ~15% SS/medicare tax almost no matter what.) How does it work for those of you that do live in Thailand and are US citizens?

As a usa citizen/resident looking to travel/live in thailand for a while.

Are there any immunizations I'd need to get before going there?

I'm looking at possibly heading into thailand after the first of the year, how should I go about getting a visa?

hep A/B and typhoid

dont get the google. seems you are already immune to that.

It seems very overpriced at ~2000 baht plus.

At that price, I'm expecting a well renovated room with a modern bathroom. From the pics, it doesn't look like this house has either. Garden looks nice but rooms look dingy.

What are some "must see" things when visiting thailand?

-Koh Phi Phi Ley
-Ping Pong ****ing Show
-Full Moon Party
-Walking Street, Pattaya
-Urologist

About to activate the 2nd entry on my tourist visa, anyone who did it before from BKK before care to share the fastest way to do it?

Because any time you have a problem with somebody richer or better connected than you, you lose. There's also the fact that corrupt police spend a lot of time chasing bribes and very little time actually combating crime. Which shows starkly in the real Thailand, rather than the fantasy Thailand you seem to have concocted in your mind.

I'm not really sure what part of your arse you pulled this from, but it's not remotely true. One of the safest countries in the world? Safer than Japan, Norway, Sweden, Canada, Australia, etc?

Thailand is far more dangerous than any of the countries most of us currently live in. The murder rate is double that of the US, and ten times higher than in more peaceful western countries. Thailand lags behind only Colombia and South Africa in terms of firearm murders. Crime is rampant, Building codes are unsafe, Tourism operators are mafia cowboys who routinely cut safety corners to save money, food poisoning is commonplace, and then you also have tropical diseases like Malaria and Dengue Fever. 6 months ago the army were shooting people at random in the street in the main tourist area of the capital city. Islamic militants make the southern part of Thailand too dangerous to visit without armed guards.

Just because you lived there for a year and are still alive doesn't make it "one of the safest places in the world". Thailand one of the most dangerous tourism destinations in the world.

Stop repeating this idiotic lie please. There are a lot of great things about Thailand, but safety is not one of them.

Hahahaha.

http://taxes.about.com/od/taxhelp/a/ForeignIncome.htm

Cliffs
330 days outside of US
File taxes claim deduction of up to 91500
You still have to pay SS/medicare tax.

This is what it comes down to. Since 9 out of 10 people are poor, you have a big edge. But if you run into that 1 person who has more resources than you, you'll be screwed. In BKK, there are lot of people who have a big edge on you.

The other thing is that Foreigners are always assumed to be at fault. If you are driving and some drunk moto pulls out and you kill the rider, you will be paying a lot of money and going through a huge ordeal whereas in the West you would be OK since it's clearly moto rider fault.

It is nice to get caught for speeding and get let go for $3 bribe, but you can run into potentially huge problems and face huge payoff costs even if you are completely innocent on bigger problems.

I never looked at official stats and I will review the ones you posted. However, I was also under the impression that Thailand is super safe when it comes to crime - particularly violent crime.

I have traveled around and stayed in dozens and dozens of Thai cities from one end of the country to the other. I like to drive around and I like to wonder around, particularly after dark. I have never really encountered a "sketchy Thai alley"... you know... somewhere where you think something bad might happen. I felt super safe everywhere. Even the Muslim provinces seem OK. The Muslims are targeting Thais in their internal conflict and all the Muslims down there seemed to be OK with my presence and very open and friendly.

I know that these sort of experiences don't translate to real world facts. But I also know that compared to other less developed countries, Thailand absolutely has to fare pretty darn good. I can go to pretty much anywhere in South America and I can't do that sort of stuff down there. You are dealing with road bandits and the poor areas of cities are VERY bad. WAAY worse than anything I've ever seen (I've never been to Africa...) You simply can't just wonder around town at night in many cities. Even when you go to 'safe rich areas' where there are cops with M16s guarding the place it's still often sketchy.

That is what it comes down to, I think. In Thailand, you will get most of the benefits of less developing country (cost) without any substantial drawbacks. (safety.)

The irony is that because so few people go to some of these cheap countries, the only options for westerners are expensive. Check out Bogota, Cali, Medallin hotels... you will not find anything decent for less than $100/night. Many African countries seem to be the same...

It seems to me that you have a very narrow definition of "safe", based mainly on your likelihood of being mugged in the street. It's true that Thailand is much safer than somewhere like Mexico, South Africa or Colombia in this particular respect.

to add to the thailand- safe/not safe stuff, i always felt super safe while i was there. i didn't feel in danger at any point, even when walking the streets at night. could be that i was in nicer areas, not sure...but i felt fine.

I was actually referring pretty much strictly to stranger on stranger violence or robbery which is my chief concern in any country and basically a non-issue for foreigners in Thailand.

I just quickly scanned your list of links but I'm not scared of any of those things so they do not effect the 'how scary' number he asked for, at least for me, and do not impact how safe I consider the country to be. Most of that stuff is strictly a concern for Thai's imo.