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Quick questions! What should I see in Thailand besides Chiang Mai and Bangkok, assuming I have like two weeks there? I'll be doing some jungle poo poo near bangkok but am not sure if the islands are worth it. Also, what should I hit up in Cambodia other than Angkor Wat?
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May 5, 2014 13:33
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| # ? Jun 9, 2024 20:27 |
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"Jungle poo poo near Bangkok" makes me nervous. Sounds like Bang Krachao. Khao Yai at best. We don't really have jungle here - and I'm a trail runner, so I know almost every inch of anything resembling jungle within an hour's trip. I'm not a big Chiang Mai fan, but others may disagree. If you feel the need to hit Northern Thailand, probably one of the Maes would be better. Mae Hong Son, Mae Sai, whichever. Mothra will pop up with a recommendation. What is it that you want to do while you're here? See nature? Party? Relax? Do physical activities? Cultural stuff? It helps to have some idea of your interests. As far as Cambodia, I love Phnom Penh. Yeah, at first glance it's a decayed (but gentrifying!) post-colonial third world capital with a lot of poverty. It's also that on second glance, but there's so much more there that makes it my favorite city in Asia. If you just show up and sit on the riverside for two days, though, you probably won't think it's all that great.
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May 5, 2014 14:08
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I promised myself that this time ill save money and don't go on another trip to SEA this year. Well poo poo, looks like im spending another 5 weeks in the fall/early winter  Do they need train operators in Thailand? Driving trains there should be interesting compared to finland. Edit: i also drive big trucks, but i like mine with brakes and not in a canyon. Barfolemew fucked around with this message at 15:44 on May 5, 2014 |
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May 5, 2014 15:40
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Nawp, I'm firmly in Bangkok now (weird Sathorn backpacker ghetto represent!) where I totally didn't feel the quake. It could have been my exodus from the north, I suppose. And yeah, definitely do Mae Hong Son. Heard nothing but good things out that area. If you want real off the beaten path, go south to Umphang via Mae Sot, but since you've got two weeks and it's your first time here it might be a bit much.
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May 5, 2014 16:20
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Barfolemew posted:I promised myself that this time ill save money and don't go on another trip to SEA this year. Well poo poo, looks like im spending another 5 weeks in the fall/early winter As someone with a non English speaking country's passport your work in Thailand options are basically running a business of some sort. Import/export is the usual one. You could probably drive a truck but you'd get paid Thai wages. As far as trains go you probably need a cousin or an auntie pulling strings and possibly bribing someone to get the engineer spot or anything like it.
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May 5, 2014 17:19
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The Saddest Rhino posted:Pattaya is practically Mainland China central now, don't go there. I know this is an old post, but I can't believe this wasn't pointed out before: Pimpingfar Chokrapinnpass, a marketing officer at the Tourism Authority of Thailand, admits as much: "We want visitors to have authentic experiences of our culture and people, but it's not always possible because of the way the industry works."
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May 6, 2014 03:25
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NaanViolence posted:I know this is an old post, but I can't believe this wasn't pointed out before: My favorite thing about this article is this picture:  Also the file name on The Guardian for that is chinese-beehive2 or something. Want to shovel all of those ladies into a stinking pit
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May 6, 2014 03:33
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If I wanted to use Thailand as a base to pop in to bordering and /or nearby countries, which travel visa should I get? I'd probably like to do a month's worth of days in Thailand with side excursions to Myanmar and Cambodia. Is this really doable or do I need to just do something like Thailand->Myanmar->Cambodia? Also, has anyone experienced problems getting a visa if you don't have an onward flight ticket?
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May 6, 2014 04:58
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No visa, as an upstanding first worlder they'll let you come in for 30 days if you use and airplane, and either 15 or 30 if you use a bus (depending on SE Asian voodoo hoodoo). If you don't have an onward ticket you can try faking one (someone else will tell you how but its some drat thing about going online and almost buying a ticket and then printing the page). The Thai government doesn't give a poo poo about this -- if they don't want you there they just tell the airlines to take you back to wherever you came. The airlines have to eat the cost. Therefore you'll either get asked for proof of onward travel at the gate at your destination country (if they ask they won't let you on unless you have it) or not at all. If you did apply for a visa you'd find they don't ask about the ticket there. They just tell you you need one so they don't get a bunch of angry emails from people who the airline denied. The airlines also rarely check for these things, but sometimes they recently got stuck with a free fare and so they check everyone scrupulously.
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May 6, 2014 05:36
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Kinkajou posted:If I wanted to use Thailand as a base to pop in to bordering and /or nearby countries, which travel visa should I get? I'd probably like to do a month's worth of days in Thailand with side excursions to Myanmar and Cambodia. Is this really doable or do I need to just do something like Thailand->Myanmar->Cambodia? Also, has anyone experienced problems getting a visa if you don't have an onward flight ticket? Technically you need proof of onward travel but they don't always ask. For your first trip in just buy the cheapest 1-way ticket to Singapore, Malaysia or another neighboring country because you may not even be allowed to leave your own without it. You can line it up with a trip to actually use the ticket or just have it on hand for "proof." A 1-way to Singapore usually costs under $100. Make sure you have a photocopy of any credit card you use to purchase your tickets. I've been asked for it a couple of times since the missing Malaysian plane thing - also why you shouldn't consider photoshopping a fake exit ticket. Just my two cents.
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May 6, 2014 06:30
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Has anyone done a Ha Long Bay tour and is it worth it? Same with Ban Gioc waterfalls.
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May 6, 2014 06:46
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Chiang Mai is boring. There, I said it. Sorry. OR NOT It has a night market, some beautiful resorts, but it's boring. Definitely worth a visit and a look around, but man, I stayed a week once and almost went stir crazy.
Shammypants fucked around with this message at 07:09 on May 6, 2014 |
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May 6, 2014 06:49
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FizFashizzle posted:Has anyone done a Ha Long Bay tour and is it worth it? Ha Long Bay is definitely a place worth seeing. I bought an all-inclusive 3 day tour in Hanoi because it seemed to be a hassle to go there by my own means (and it would have been overall more expensive in the end). That was some time ago, so i don't have practical up-to-date info though.
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May 6, 2014 07:15
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I'd advise against a fake ticket these days as well. Just buy the cheapest AirAsia ticket out in advance if you need proof of onward travel. Also last month when I was trying to check-in and get my boarding pass from a kiosk, I got "Your PNR is locked. Please contact staff". When I got there, they asked me to show the credit card used for booking (which wasn't mine). I had to dig up some old mail on my phone and show them the photo of that credit card before they issued the boarding pass. e: Ha long bay is kinda boring but worth it if you're with your gf or something. For a solo traveler, it's better to just sit by the lake in hanoi and eat bun cha all day. Anarkii fucked around with this message at 07:25 on May 6, 2014 |
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May 6, 2014 07:21
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Ha Long Bay is basically chilling out on a boat for a couple of days in beautiful surroundings. I really like it but it's probably not for everyone. If you like taking pretty photos then I'd recommend it. The tours usually offer various activities (kayaking etc) over the couple of days that you're there, but you can pretty much ignore them if you want. And yeah, who you're with probably makes a lot of difference.
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May 6, 2014 07:36
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I enjoyed Ha Long Bay as a solo traveler, it was kind of nice to chill for a couple of days in a really pretty place away from the chaos of Hanoi. Managed to get a really good deal on a luxury cruise when I booked at the last minute using this site. As for fake tickets, Expedia guarantees a complete refund if you decide to cancel within 24 hours, some airlines do this too but if you're doing it on Expedia, make sure it's not AirAsia or some LCC that you're booking with for your throwaway ticket. Try for a different airline from the one that you're using so it's more effort to look it up to see if it's a valid ticket.
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May 6, 2014 10:42
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FizFashizzle posted:Has anyone done a Ha Long Bay tour and is it worth it? My favorite part of Halong Bay was motorscootering around Cat Ba island.  I've been to Ban Gioc - Detian waterfalls, but on the China side. There were no border guards, so I crossed a few meters into Vietnam and got some sweet, sweet border marker photos.  Technically my first time in SE Asia.
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May 6, 2014 12:46
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The thing with Ha Long Bay is that there are a thousand tour companies that put together trips, a thousand outfits that do the guide part and a thousand boats that run trips, but almost all of them go through the same middleman company and they assign groups to boats entirely at random. So it's a total crapshoot, and the boats and guides vary wildly in quality. Enough that I met a lot of people who came away feeling really cheated. The alternative is to book with a company that operates their own boats, like all the expensive luxury cruises (note: the actual luxury ones, there are totally people who will try to sell you the regular trips at luxury prices). The two lower-end ones I know of are Hanoi Backpackers (the hostel), which does booze cruises for backpackers, and Kangaroo Cafe in Hanoi, which is an expat thing run by Australians that runs their own boat tour and seems aimed more at older people. Both of them have really solid reputations among their target audiences, if you fit either demographic.
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May 6, 2014 12:54
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I present to you the latest bizarre SE Asia pizza, the X-Men pizza from Pizza Hut Singapore:
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May 6, 2014 14:17
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That doesn't sound bad.
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May 6, 2014 14:40
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Jeoh posted:That doesn't sound bad. Actually, if that's nacho cheese, it might be good.. I may order one this weekend. For science. Soy Division fucked around with this message at 15:27 on May 6, 2014 |
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May 6, 2014 15:25
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The problem with that pizza is either you have to eat it in quarter-pie segments, or else not get the cheese on your slice. Where's the X-Men fun if you're not getting the X???
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May 6, 2014 15:53
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CronoGamer posted:The problem with that pizza is either you have to eat it in quarter-pie segments, or else not get the cheese on your slice. Where's the X-Men fun if you're not getting the X??? You could do eights if you carefully bisected the cheese lines.
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May 6, 2014 16:38
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Kinkajou posted:If I wanted to use Thailand as a base to pop in to bordering and /or nearby countries, which travel visa should I get? I'd probably like to do a month's worth of days in Thailand with side excursions to Myanmar and Cambodia. Is this really doable or do I need to just do something like Thailand->Myanmar->Cambodia? Also, has anyone experienced problems getting a visa if you don't have an onward flight ticket? The one-week extensions mentioned earlier is new to me, but like others said you get 15 or 30 days depending on your nationality when crossing a land border and 30 flying in. You can get a visa on arrival for Cambodia, but unless you're flying to Burma from Siem Reap you need a business day in Bangkok to get that visa. It's cheap to fly in via Nok Air to Yangon, or the land borders are now open for overland travel to Yangon, making for probably the most "authentic" travel experience in SE Asia outside of southern Laos/NE Cambodia. If you have time, go by land from Mae Sot to Hpaan (the one-way road alternates direction every other day, so check locally first) and explore the karst caves and hiking trails of Karen State before heading on to Yangon.
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May 6, 2014 17:13
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MothraAttack posted:The one-week extensions mentioned earlier is new to me, but like others said you get 15 or 30 days depending on your nationality when crossing a land border and 30 flying in. You can get a visa on arrival for Cambodia, but unless you're flying to Burma from Siem Reap you need a business day in Bangkok to get that visa. It's cheap to fly in via Nok Air to Yangon, or the land borders are now open for overland travel to Yangon, making for probably the most "authentic" travel experience in SE Asia outside of southern Laos/NE Cambodia. If you have time, go by land from Mae Sot to Hpaan (the one-way road alternates direction every other day, so check locally first) and explore the karst caves and hiking trails of Karen State before heading on to Yangon.
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May 6, 2014 17:39
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Jeoh posted:That doesn't sound bad. "turkey bacon" "chopped parsley" This isn't a crime against humanity like the pizza here in Thailand, but I wouldn't get my hopes up. Gail, please report back on your findings.
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May 6, 2014 18:03
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6ix posted:You can go in and out of Thailand as often as you want without a visa as long as you're out within 15-30 days of arrival via ground transportation or 30 days if you flew in. You should double check because the rules are different for some nationalities. You don't need a visa if you'll be in the country for under 37 days. 30 day stamp from the airport + 1 week extension from a local immigration office. Thanks for the info everyone. If I did decide to get a visa for a longer stay, could I still go in and out a few times?
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May 7, 2014 03:19
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Yes, by purchasing a re-entry permit at immigration prior to your exit -- although if you get a double entry visa you could just "burn" an entry (most people get these to stay for six months at a time, but you don't have to) and have your 60 days (extendable by 30 more to 90 total at immigration) kick in when you re-enter. I'm not sure about price point comparison between re-entry permits vs. cost of a double or multiple entry tourist visa, though.
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May 7, 2014 03:33
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Can you get a reentry stamp for a Tourist visa? I thought those were just for Non-O, B and ED visas. Also, do not trust that X-men pizza. Whatever you think that X is made out it, it's probably just mayo and canned cheese spray.
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May 7, 2014 04:09
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How's the political situation in Bangkok holding up? I just read about the PM getting ousted.
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May 7, 2014 14:23
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Our hard-hitting political correspondents are covering it in the SEA Politics thread over here http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3490581
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May 7, 2014 14:48
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSiJAtRJBpI
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May 7, 2014 16:03
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Rejoinder: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVfrIfwXFSQ
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May 7, 2014 16:07
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I posted in this thread a lifetime ago about going to Chiang Mai to get a teaching job (or a media job, but yeah good luck with that). Well I'm in Thailand now (Koh Kood, a tad pricey but beautiful) and after a brief 2 week visit to Cambodia to get tourist visas we'll be in Chiang Mai, fumbling around spectacularly. So if anyone's around, let me know! Would be good to meet people!
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May 7, 2014 16:28
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FizFashizzle posted:Has anyone done a Ha Long Bay tour and is it worth it? Never heard of Ban Gioc, but try to tour Ha Long Bay when the weather is decent and you can go swimming, kayaking, or both. It's a lot more fun than just sitting on a boat admiring the beautiful scenery. The karst formations are beautiful, but anything gets boring after a couple hours.
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May 7, 2014 20:01
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Going to be in Thailand from 6/8-6/14 with the wife to visit relatives. Likely itinerary is 1day BKK/3days Chonnabot, Khon Kaen/2days Pattaya/1day BKK. Any suggestions on good eats? We usually hit local hideaways in Khon Kaen and Pattaya is a mix of Walking Street US grub, Mexican, and stalls, but I'm open to suggestions. Spicy is A-OK. Also, we'll be in Narita Int'l for ~3hrs both ways and will be looking for good meals and Kochakaden if anyone has a good handle on the restaurant floor.
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May 7, 2014 20:19
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Chiang Mai is boring but Pai is worth a visit. The town is a bit of a cliche but the countryside is nice. You can fly one way for about 2000 baht in a 12 seater plane with wide windows and the views are amazing. If you can afford it it's worth it for the views alone. Be sure to tell all the backpacker idiots living on B100/day that you flew there, they love it. Anyway I am in Bangkok to get a Burmese visa. Met two random people yesterday, one who immediately asked me if I knew where to get some weed and one who turned out to be a sexpat. Khao San Road 
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May 8, 2014 00:51
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Qatar airlines just asked me for a copy of my Passport and CC statement to go BKK to Hanoi and back. Is this normal?
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May 8, 2014 03:47
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Yeah Nok Air flights up north are totally fun and worth it. Where you headed in Burma duckmaster? Ready to test a new frontier? For any Burma nerds like me out there, there's a great handful of Burmese restaurants in the back of the Phra Khanong market in Bangkok. The "Monar" shop offers legit noodles and tea leaf salad (khao sway thoke and lahpet thoke), and just down from it is what appeared to be an ethnic Karen restaurant (look for the red, white and blue flags) with vats of forest curries and stews. And that's not normal Fiz, but since Malaysia Air and Thai border crossing crackdowns I've noticed Nok Air also getting strict with presenting your card. A statement, though...
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May 8, 2014 03:53
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| # ? Jun 9, 2024 20:27 |
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FizFashizzle posted:Qatar airlines just asked me for a copy of my Passport and CC statement to go BKK to Hanoi and back. Not just your credit card but your credit card statement? That is seriously unusual.
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May 8, 2014 04:11
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