Would be an awesome couple of months though.

I got 2nd in a poker tournament for 12k and want to spend at least half doing something for myself i'll never forget. A trip to Thailand sounds right up that alley. Crossing fingers that money gets off safely and then I will have to seriously consider my options.

I also work full time and have a good job. I don't know how well it would go down with my boss if I told him I wanted to take off two months to party in Thailand. Woudn't want to come back and then not have a job and have to have go through the long process of sending out resumes and going to interviews.

Just a curious question, do travelers go to Thailand and then just end up living there? How does that work? Do they get a job and then get sponsored? Is it hard to get residence there?

come on, 12k is enough to quit ur job

There aren't really many working options there mate so no on the whole and its hard to get a work visa even if you do, although there are exceptions. It would be hard to get a job that pays well enough to live a decent life. The guys I know that work there either have their own businesses there or work for a friend that has a business. Teaching English is the other option a few do, but it only pays around $1k per month so is not really a fun existence.

LOL depends what stage of life your at, if your a young guy with few responsibilities fair enough, no way I would for that amount.

has anyone done the standard backpackers trip from Thailand through laos of chiang kong > Luang Prabang > Vang Vieng > Vientiane? How much time should I allow for it and is there anything else worth doing in Laos?

btw im in BKK on 12th July for about a week so if anything cool is going on it would be awesome to be part of it

Did it a few months ago although I flew to LP and started from there to VV>Vientiane>Udon Thani>Bangkok.

I did-

7 days LP (4-5 would be plenty for most)
3 days VV
5 Days Vientiane (2-3 would be plenty for most)

nice ok - how was vv? it is as crazy i hear (everyone totally wasted 24/7 tubing down the river...)??

Most people really enjoy it but I didn't bother doing it as I'm into photography so was out and about doing that instead. Very beautiful scenery in that area. If its partying your after VV and Vientiane are your places, LP was just a really beautiful and relaxed place to hang out. Nicest 'city' I've been to in asia I'd say.

nice one mate cheers, i hear the boat ride from chiang khong to LP is really cool, VV i just heard about the tubing etc, and vientiane ive heard nothing about but its the capital so whatever. 2 weeks is more than enough to see the main things in Laos then? Thats cool if it is, works really well for my 'schedule'

Vang Vieng has a lot of neat stuff around it. Kayaking, caves, hikes etc. I don't care for the town itself, but the area is great and really beautiful. Laos can get relatively cold in December and January and I'm not sure if you would be able to go tubing. I'd do 1-2 full days in Vientiane, it's a great place to live but not that interesting to visit. There are no guides explaining what there is to do or where to stay so many people end up bored. 99% of backpackers vanish when the sun goes down, I don't know why this is, especially since beer is very cheap almost everywhere.

Make sure to stay in the tourist area near the Mekong. They have everything from nice hotels to hostels with dorms. A guesthouse with a clean but unimpressive room, private bathroom, tv, a/c, and maybe a fridge or balcony will run you ~$15. All guest houses are pretty much the same. Vientiane is far larger than people realize and I think a lot of the "worst place ever" stories are from people who ended up staying in some random area their taxi driver suggested.

Skip the plain of jars. I've never been but no one I've talked to has liked it.

I was there Dec/Jan and the weather was perfect actually probs about 18-25 degrees or so most of the time.

I can recommend this place in Vientiane was nice and clean, close to bars and the mekong etc. Was also ok for bringing girls back.

http://www.avalonbooking.com/

That's a pretty good location, just make sure the driver knows where it is.

the riverside hotel is clean, relatively cheap, and CAT CDMA cards get a signal from across the river there

thanks for all the replies re: drivers licenses... it looks like I'll grab an international license just to be safe, and I'll probably enlist the help of someone who's been through the process of getting a license when I get there. But ya, sounds easy enough!

In regards to the CM dinners, I hope they become a regular thing, looking forward to meeting some fellow permo vactioners...

Hey guys i wanted to move to canada but some people suggested i head to somewhere cheaper like Thailand.


I heard a lot about Thailand but isn't it illegal playing there? I"m an sng player by the way so i don't make that much money so i would need my expenses to be low.


Someone said $1500/month is enough. Would it be possible to move to Thailand on $1500/month and rent my own apartment or would i have to have a roommate like in those Thailand houses i keep hearing about.

I think it is technically illegal but I have never heard of anyone with problems. No sites are blocked that I'm aware of, and banks are no problem in relation to poker.

$1500 is plenty but as always it depends on lifestyle. Where you live will also make a difference in your budget. Bangkok, Phuket will be more expensive while Chiang Mai,Chiang Rai, Udon Thani, etc will be cheaper.


ETA: This will give you an idea of apartment prices in Chiang Mai area

Hey, the thing is i just plan there to play online poker and thats pretty much it. I'm just trying to make money and then after x amount of time, i can come back to the usa. I'm don't party or do anything like that anymore.


By the way, would i be able to get american tv shows in english like nba/nfl there?

If you are attempting to live on a small budget, then I consider Thailand one of the best places in the world to succeed.

For example, here in Chiang Mai.
- Local meals, street food/stalls etc $1-$2 a meal
- Western food in tourist cafes $3-5
- Local public transport is cheap.

Full apartments start at around 250 but you can also rent studio type places starting at $100. I looked at a couple of decent rooms lately that were in the 150 range. I stayed here for a couple of months for about 160/month plus electricity.

If you want motobike, can get for 100 or less per month.


You can get a few american channels but for live events I use computer to stream.

Hey rod yes i'm trying to live on a small budget. I'm a sng player and someone told me basically what i made playing sngs... expect to make at most half of it because sng games lost a ton of players. So if i go to canada, i'm pretty sure i would at best win whatever amount and then it would cover all my expenses... which means i would not make a dime.


How much would you say would be enough to live on a budget there per month for someone like me? My plan is to just play 6 hours a day and just try and make money. I probably won't even go out that much.


What is motobike? I was expecting i would spend about $300 a month on food max if i went to canada. I basically would just buy chicken breast and broccoli and eat that because i want to eat healthy.

If you are a native english speaker my advice would be get a teaching job in thailand and grind on your free time you ll have a better time than if you spend your time grinding a low income in thailand with no money to do much more.
Thailand lost a big advantage with black friday, if you need alot of player online now you have to play at some really awefull times like 2AM to 9 AM. If i was from the us and needed to move to another country to mainly play poker i would go south or north instead of on the other side of the globe for that.

wow i completely forgot about the time difference. I wouldn't be grinding from 2am to 9am though, i don't think i could do that.


I kept thinking i could grind from 12pm-6pm us time like i would if i went to canada.


yes i am a native english speaker but i don't want no teaching job.

How much it cost you to live here, only you can answer. I can give you prices but I have no idea how much you would actually need.

Furnished room- 100-200
Apartment/condo- 250+
Visa - 30 / month
Food- $1-$10 per meal

Most everything else is up to you, beer, girls, travel, etc.

Motorbike is small 100cc commonly used here.


If cheap is your main goal, another place close to you would be Guatemala. Although I have no experiance in having address changed on poker sites from there. Going to cost you about 1000 each way to get to Thailand, only 100-200 to get to Guatemala. Expenses are a little more there but the airfare will easily make the difference. I have a couple of post recently on Guatemala, search if you're interested.

Hey, i don't think i would want to move to guatemala.


By the way, what time do you grind around in Thailand? You don't play like 2am-9am time right? But since Americans are not allowed, don't that mean the general time for USA players don't mean much anymore since everything is based on europe time now?

Before FTP closed I was playing 2-3 hours at night around 11-1 and then 2-3 hours in the morning 7-9 or so.

Sng traffic has really decreased overall with the higher buyins taking a big hit.

Im setup for Party but have not started playing there yet, and just sent in my papers for PS yesterday.

Best thing to do would be to login to the various sites and verify the amount of games running at times you're interested in playing.

Visa costs are going to be more than $30/month when you account for border and visa runs. You'll also probably want some kind of 3G or CDMA connection as a backup.