I play on ipoker absolutely no problem

Just read that :

Saudis Ban Thai Tourism...
Due to wine, women & crime

Based on an article from Arab News

Travellers and travel agents were not informed of a ban on Saudis travelling to Thailand and so many Saudis, who visited the country at the beginning of the summer, have returned to face questioning from the Kingdom’s authorities.

Thailand has for the past 12 years been on a list of countries that Saudis are not allowed to visit. The list includes Israel, Iraq and Bosnia.

Many Saudis still continue to apply for tourist visas to Thailand, which are easily obtainable. There are no direct flights from the Kingdom to Thailand. Connecting flights are available in Dubai and Qatar. The Thailand Tourism Commission states it received 9,000 Saudis tourists in 2006. People this summer have once again been asked not to visit Thailand unless for business reasons, a rule that many members of the public are unaware of.

People believe the ban has been reinforced because of men who visit Thailand to drink alcohol, visit prostitutes and then be robbed and at times murdered.

The administration has stressed that those who have travelled to Thailand as tourists and come back will be questioned about why they travelled there. They would also be prevented from travelling for six months to three years and fined SR5,000 for breaking the ban.

However, not all visitors to Thailand have been questioned on return but an employee at a travel agency said: Those who have not been questioned will most likely be questioned when they renew their passports.

Lolz

It's definitely not always easy to tell.

Some signs:
- adams apple (LOOK FOR IT!)
- tallness (thai chicks are almost always short-ish)
- those who seem 'overly effeminate' are often overcompensating for their lack of BEING A WOMAN
- the voice
- something not quite right that you can't quite put your finger on


Also, from what I've heard, don't accept drinks from (seeming to be) chicks at bars - katooey are known to spike ur drink and u end up in the morning not knowing much of what happened or how it happened, and with a wallet cleared out (and if your lucky you don't get aids - which is much more common in thailand, in particular among gays/katooeys)


UB, FTP no probs

Stars also works fine.

I am now 100% going to Thailand at the end of the year because of this thread. I got the Pimsleur Thai language set, and I have the brand-new (just published this month) Lonely Planet Thailand in the mail from Amazon. I am so hyped it's ridiculous. I plan on staying 90 days, and traveling everywhere. The only constraint is money, but I can live cheap and I don't drink.

One thing that hasn't really been addressed by this thread unless I missed it is any contemplative resources. Thailand is one of the strongholds of Theravada Buddhism, which is the tradition that my meditation practice comes from. I am not so much interested in seeing temples and so forth, though I'm sure that I will, but in maybe studying with Thai teachers for some period of time. Apparently Goenka Vipassana offers the same 10-day course that I have taken here but I would like to do something different.

Previously unmentioned ladyboy detection technique: ladyboys tend to hang out with other ladyboys, so that cute girl hanging out with a bunch of ladyboys isn't a girl. Same thing if you see a pair and one is an obvious ladyboy.

Here's a useful link for you guys: list of durex condoms . I never know what the hell I'm buying because the labels are either in Thai or they're called something like "pleasuremax" and don't have a description.

Talking about ladyboys...



Yes it's a man

if your going out alone, how hard is it to get together with other tourists or locals or does everyone keep to themselves?

yea they hunt in packs.

very easy if you're outgoing. find an irish bar, live music bar etc where backpackers will be hanging out and you'll probably see a line of 10 individuals leaning on the bar not speaking to each other, this will be the backpackers who arrived that day and haven't drank enough yet.

just spark up a chat about which thai beers/whiskey/buckets to try. all else fails, you could get a thai gf in minutes, failing that taxi drivers will show you a great night out.

Thanks for the reply Jay,

im sold

Also, for the ladyboys, check the hands, they have big man hands, not like the usual very small thai girls hands.

People

Write more in this thread, k thx

Plz!

Btw has anyone tried the Rosetta Stone Language thing? Or what stuff have you all used to master thai like true champs? :-)

saudia arabia's problem with thailand probably has more to do with the gem scandal than social vices.

http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-921679.html

I'm heading out to Bangkok at the end of September to meet my friend who has some family out there, were looking to get a place together for about three months. I've looked around online and hes talked to his brothers some (locals) but I'm finding a huge variation in price and not a whole lot of info on quality.

We're looking for a reasonable but not lavish 2 bedroom near a BTS stop, the location doesn't have to be so great as long as its easy to get around. We want to keep it around 25,000 baht, furnished, with internet and all that.

I've found a few links that could work, but I've also read in here that the online listings are ripoffs, any suggestions?

http://bangkok.craigslist.org/apa/402999362.html
http://bangkok.craigslist.org/apa/402029220.html
http://www.thaiapartment.com/AptDetail.asp

Looks like that last link doesn't work...

http://www.bosstower.com/A.html

It's been over a year since I stayed here but at the "Centre Point" serviced Apts' on Petchburi Road, Soi 15 I had a room for 29,000 a month. It was a large room with small kitchen and on-suite Bathroom. Fully furnished with cable T.v and free internet access. Good room service, nice clean swimming pool and a small but decent Gym. I had to
haggle the price down from 32,000 though and (please note that I walked in and negotiated )I paid for two months and gave a months deposit if I recall correctly. The walk to the BTS was a full 10 minutes. Outside the grounds was Burger King, Swenson ice cream, Pizza hut, a 7/11 as well as local street vendours during the day. It is only a 10 minute Taxi drive to the infamous "Nana" area where I am sure you will venture, however 10 minute Taxi rides in BKK can become 30! However I would like to suggest you book a Hotel for a couple of nights and then have a look when you get there so you get a feel for the places you look at. Also you are in a better posistion to haggle, just be polite and smile and you should be able to save a few Baht. A few suggestions for your Hotel for the first few nights would be
www.Amari.com/Boulevard

www.landmarkbangkok.com

www.majesticsuites.com

www.ConradHotels.com/Bangkok

and I have to mention this one because, well everyone has stayed here! www.nanahotel.co.th.

All above Hotels are in the Nana area and next to the BTS. With the acception of the last one they are a good place to stay whilst finding somewhere more permanent. Hope this helps. Kob Khun Khrap.

ps www.centrepoint.com

Wow... a bit under 1000$ a month for a room 10min from the bts. Sorry sir but you are a fish at renting.

Wow... a bit under 1000$ a month for a room 10min from the bts. Sorry sir but you are a fish at renting. .....

Yes, thank you for your consructive opinion, we await your suggestions. I do accept though that price maybe on the top side, however I am from the UK and at that time the exchange rate was healthy at 70 baht to the pound sterling and I felt having looked at various other appartments it was the best value for what I wanted at the time.All said and done it all comes down to personal choice and where your going to feel the most comfortable and for that reason it is probably a good idea to get out and about to check some places over. A copy of the Bangkok post been a good place to start.

Right, back to my pond.

The bangkok post is probably the best place to find overpriced apartment aimed at farang on expat packages.

You paid way too much and made it sound like if it was a good deal. It's misleading for newbies. ( anyone with some common sense would not pay 1000 for an apartment in bangkok especially far from the BTS and in a inconvenient area )

There are a lot of better options all over the place and if somebody want the info they can pm me ( like the last 4 guys looking for a place in bkk did )

Lol sure the centrepoint is a very good deal for 1000 bucks
no not at all
I can show you at least 10 apartments better/similar in the center of the city for 15k max a month.
For 25k you can rent a 3-4 bedroom townhouse in Sathorn...

I think you have absolutly no idea of the apartment/condo rental market in bangkok atm...

Since i got a few pm asking " what can i rent for 1000bucks"

My first choice would probably be the riverside Win long apartment( next to the oriental/shangri la and bts ), for 1k ( 30 bahts ) you can have the "presidential" suite, sorry no pics. But here is a pic of the executive suite :



not too shabby.
Plenty of other choices if i have time i'll post a list.

how many sqm's is that?

60