|
Strong Sauce posted:I am pretty sure the entrance fee for foreigners to get into the Golden Palace is the scam Honestly in some places it's hard to tell which things are scams. The best thing to do to prevent getting scammed is arming yourself with knowledge. For instance, I bought my visa to Cambodia in advance and knew roughly what the "bus scam" consisted of. This way, when my bus driver stopped at a restaurant just outside Aranya Pratet, I enjoyed some overpriced curry and not paying $50 more for a visa than I had to. A few people on my bus got taken by this scam because they spoke with us all individually (so we couldn't warn each other about what was going on) and made it seem like buying the visa there was the right thing to do. When I arrived in Siem Reap, I had a guest house picked out beforehand so the taxi driver didn't shuttle me to whatever joint he had a deal with. Aside: it was the Happy Guesthouse, the best place I've stayed anywhere in the world, ever. It was $7 dollars a night because I sprung for A/C.
|
#
?
Mar 24, 2010 13:23
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 9, 2024 06:31 |
|
|
Yeah the Palace is always closed till 1pm for x reason. More than 3 people tried this on me so it was pretty comical by the end.
|
|
#
?
Mar 24, 2010 14:16
|
|
|
Strong Sauce posted:I am pretty sure the entrance fee for foreigners to get into the Golden Palace is the scam
|
|
#
?
Mar 24, 2010 15:06
|
|
|
Inspector Hound posted:Honestly in some places it's hard to tell which things are scams. The best thing to do to prevent getting scammed is arming yourself with knowledge. For instance, I bought my visa to Cambodia in advance and knew roughly what the "bus scam" consisted of. This way, when my bus driver stopped at a restaurant just outside Aranya Pratet, I enjoyed some overpriced curry and not paying $50 more for a visa than I had to. A few people on my bus got taken by this scam because they spoke with us all individually (so we couldn't warn each other about what was going on) and made it seem like buying the visa there was the right thing to do. When I arrived in Siem Reap, I had a guest house picked out beforehand so the taxi driver didn't shuttle me to whatever joint he had a deal with. Aside: it was the Happy Guesthouse, the best place I've stayed anywhere in the world, ever. It was $7 dollars a night because I sprung for A/C. Yeah, people can knock Lonely Planet all they want but it does give a pretty good warning about the most common scams. Eventually you'll get a pretty good bullshit detector on your own. I did the Khao San to Siam Reap bus odyssey because hey, 250 baht (this was like 5 years ago) and like Inspector Hound, the place they dropped us was actually a great deal. ReindeerF posted:You actually caught me out in a white lie. I have been TO the palace and I have accompanied people to the gates and I have run around the palace, but I have never actually been IN the palace, heh. If you ever do a Chula class, use the little paper student ID they give you to get in to everything you've never bothered visiting because of whitey tax at the Thai price. Edit: actually, can't you usually get out of it by showing your passport with Non-Immigrant B visa?
|
|
#
?
Mar 24, 2010 16:08
|
|
|
I got my Thai visa the other day and there was a picture of the king hanging on the wall at the consulate. My first impression was that he looks like the classic kind of weedy, spoilt young kid who just sort of grew into the role on his father's coat tails. Counterpoint?
|
|
#
?
Mar 24, 2010 17:06
|
|
|
freebooter posted:Counterpoint? Lèse majesté laws? Actually his father was only a prince, he succeeded because the old king didn't have any proper sons of his own. Then his older brother later died under mysterious circumstances. The present king was actually born in the United States, where his father was studying medicine at the time. Thailand hadn't had a reigning king for about ten years when he took over and the ones before him weren't particularly popular; he (or probably more accurately: royalist elements and a military government looking for popular legitimacy) pretty much reinvented the Thai monarchy after WW2. Dude is in his eighties and his health hasn't been helped by a fairly serious car accident he got in to in Switzerland when he was younger. I think he's blind in one eye or nearly so.
|
|
#
?
Mar 24, 2010 17:35
|
|
|
ReindeerF posted:Well yeah, being that Jean Claude Van Damme is the King of Belgium you would expect more rear end kicking. And jean claude isn't our king (it's tintin  )
|
|
#
?
Mar 24, 2010 21:02
|
|
|
I got scammed once in Surat Thani. The guy told me the ferry had already left (or a bus, can't remember where I was going) or whatever so I could stay at his guesthouse. I was tired and was like eh gently caress it so I did, I mean it was alright, I had a bomb meal at the night market, and so on so it wasn't too bad. Anyways, 3 weeks later I happen to roll back through the same town, to the same travel agency with a few other people and the guys tried to shoot an angle on me for the same scam. Everyone else (there was like 7 of us) was like "well gently caress, guess we can't take the ferry tonight, lets all stay here" I was like "hell no these guys already worked me over once, the ferry is running, trust me" and I ran and grabbed a truck and was like "everyone get in, if I'm wrong I'll make it up to you somehow" and we all piled in while those con artists watched a fortune of precious white people money drive away. The ferry was running and some dudes bought a bunch of beer for everyone and the ride was excellent and for once in my life I was the man. Also this chick was the single hottest chick I saw my entire time traveling, a girl from Israel (there must be some secret water there which produces the absolute hottest girls in the world, I never met a native Israeli that wasn't smokin', maybe because they all join the army so they are all ripped up like the terminator..anyway) who I tried to hit on but she was so hot I had no chance. true story and also why I need to quit my job and go travel again soon. that was the only scam I fell for, there was also the blackjack con I went along with I posted before which was scary at the time but funny later. It is kinda long I know I have it somewhere I'll post it sometime
|
|
#
?
Mar 24, 2010 23:53
|
|
|
Pompous Rhombus posted:If you ever do a Chula class, use the little paper student ID they give you to get in to everything you've never bothered visiting because of whitey tax at the Thai price.
|
|
#
?
Mar 25, 2010 02:32
|
|
|
I would like to do 2 months in SE asia this year. is that enough time for.. Thailand/Cambodia/Vietnam and maybe the Philippines? I'll be traveling solo so, any tips on how to get the most enjoyable experience as a solo traveler? also i'm 22 years old and this will be my first time in SE asia. Drudkh fucked around with this message at 04:49 on Mar 25, 2010 |
|
#
?
Mar 25, 2010 04:45
|
|
|
Used to post in the older SE Asia thread for a bit, but haven't been around here in awhile. I've been living in Hanoi for 3 years now, but I am too lazy to really hash out anything of interest at the moment. Other than to say Laos is cool as gently caress! Went for Tet in 2009 and probably had my best trip ever. I agree with OP in that Luang Prabang, while pleasant, is just boring. Get the hell out of the two cities and just drive around. Actually, just go to Nong Khiew (Kieu or however you want to spell) which is the most idyllic place I've ever been. See photos from trip: http://www.flickr.com/photos/grottingj/sets/72157613273566780/ Note how many are from Nong Khiew. Only thing to beware of in Laos is stupid backpackers mocking you for paying so much for you bike because they got their sweet ride for $4 a day thanks to "local connections". The truth is their bike is poo poo and can barely accelerate with their hippie beer gut rear end on it. You'll be happy with your baja 250 when you're on "powder snow"-esque dirt switchbacks in a national forest. --- Fun story: This same fine loose dust feels soft on a small fall, but when I ate it coming over the crest of a hill and the bike came down on my leg I managed to create an almost instantaneous grapefruit sized lump on the outside of my hip. This is in the national forest along the border with Thailand, 4 hours away from even a Deliverance-y town, days from the fine medical care available in the international city of Vientiane. I ended up finishing up the trip, just limped everywhere and couldn't "get wild" in Vang Vieng. Decided to have it checked out in Hanoi and I basically had taken a small chip out of my hip. Nothing to do but suck it up. Although its gotten better over the last year, I was recently training in preparation for a rugby tournament and noticed a strange divot developing in my thigh just below my hip. Turns out I'd torn a good piece of the muscle off the bone, so i've got that going for me. I'll try to find the picture of the bruise that ran from my rear end to the back of my knee. Although I laugh now, its pretty drat scary to think what could have happened with a slightly weaker hip. So be careful. --- I think I can probably offer a slightly different viewpoint on travel in SE Asia since I work drat hard, earn real money, and generally only have short time for trips (relative to the backpackers). This creates a fundamental difference in my mentality about what I want to do and what I am willing to pay. Hopefully I can write up a guide to Hanoi if I get bored one of these days. I definitely think the guide books get it wrong because Hanoi is really not about sites or monuments. Unfortunately its impossible for a guide book to feature 20 blank pages and just say, "Hey, just relax, have some coffee and watch life go by."
|
|
#
?
Mar 25, 2010 12:30
|
|
|
Marius posted:Fun story: This same fine loose dust feels soft on a small fall, but when I ate it coming over the crest of a hill and the bike came down on my leg I managed to create an almost instantaneous grapefruit sized lump on the outside of my hip. This is in the national forest along the border with Thailand, 4 hours away from even a Deliverance-y town, days from the fine medical care available in the international city of Vientiane. Were you wearing proper riding gear? I had a bitch of a time finding anything in Hanoi, there was some Russian store under a big building that had a bunch of poo poo more suited to winter, found a mesh jacket two sizes too small (sleeves later lengthened in Laos) and a pair of trousers that fit at another store that the guy at Flamingo Travel recommended to me.
|
|
#
?
Mar 25, 2010 14:28
|
|
|
Drudkh posted:I would like to do 2 months in SE asia this year. As for traveling alone, I'm sure others will have specific tips, but my advice would be to just not be shy. Go on some of those goofy day tour and booze cruise things that book groups and hook up with people there. Take buses, stay in smaller guest houses, etc.
|
|
#
?
Mar 25, 2010 15:34
|
|
|
Drudkh posted:I would like to do 2 months in SE asia this year. I'd second what ReindeerF said. If you leave the Philippines out you will probably find travelling easier and less stressful. Since the first three countries are all close to each other, you can easily travel between them. Also travelling around an island nation like the Philippines will take longer. Thailand/Cambodia/Vietnam have loads to see, so a few weeks in each would be fine. As for travelling solo, I haven't done it myself but from talking to others I'd suggest staying in hostels, specifically those that have good reviews online from fellow solo travellers, and that have a bar/communal area to meet people. In hostels I've been to, people would generally go and visit temples etc. during the day, and then head to the bar in the evening and meet some people, then head out for the night. That way you also might pick up people who want to spend the day with you. Me and a friend met a solo traveller at the hostel bar, and ended up going round the city with him. A lot of other people I've spoken to even found travelling buddies, people who were going the same route. If you stick to Thailand/Cambodia/Vietnam I reckon you'll meet lots of people heading in the same direction as you.
|
|
#
?
Mar 25, 2010 15:44
|
|
|
Hey guys, I have a quick request. A Thammasat business school group that I'm kinda mentoring on a project has a very brief survey they need for a major project. The English is a little off, but this is Thailand, heh. Still, the answers are directed at exactly the kind of people who've been in these threads. I normally don't litter up threads with requests, but it'd really help them out if you guys could take 2 seconds to fill it out: http://qtrial.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_2ccghRlj2eSFzbC&SVID=Prod Thanks in advance for any help you can provide
ReindeerF fucked around with this message at 17:14 on Mar 25, 2010 |
|
#
?
Mar 25, 2010 17:12
|
|
|
"Too long website's name"  Done. Now where's my free iPod?
|
|
#
?
Mar 25, 2010 17:40
|
|
|
Marius posted:Used to post in the older SE Asia thread for a bit, but haven't been around here in awhile. That does it, now I have to go. These pictures made me go nuts with excitement. I found a guy that can borrow me his riding gear (he won't be needing a mesh in autumn here in belgium anyway). I guess it's better to take stuff like that with me. Did you buy those bayas in vietnam and drove them to laos, or did you rent them in laos? And if you bought them, where did you find a good shop in vietnam? I'm still not sure what route to take. There is so much in SE asia I would like to see. Also still not sure if i should buy or rent/ go on my own (with friends) or take tours. What are the must sees in vietnam? I would def. like to see Ha Long Bay. Pompous mentioned not to bother with a certain city in vietnam but I forgot wich one it was and can't find it again. In laos I would like to see the planes of jars if possible and in cambodia angkor wat obviously. looking forward to your guide on hanoy.
|
|
#
?
Mar 25, 2010 21:55
|
|
|
mrfart posted:That does it, now I have to go. Sapa's the crappy place. The rest of northern Vietnam is great though. Buy/rent: depends on how long you have, and what your budget is. Same with a guide; if you have a Real Job and limited time, a guide would be great. If you're going to be there for 2 months on a backpacker budget, maybe not the most economical thing. Baja's are expensive to buy in Vietnam, due to restrictions and taxes on their import. I dealt with Flamingo Travel in Hanoi and they were great, I highly recommend them. Marius might have some other suggestions though.
|
|
#
?
Mar 26, 2010 02:33
|
|
|
Ringo R posted:"Too long website's name" quote:Done. Now where's my free iPod?
|
|
#
?
Mar 26, 2010 03:19
|
|
|
Pompous Rhombus posted:Were you wearing proper riding gear? I had a bitch of a time finding anything in Hanoi, there was some Russian store under a big building that had a bunch of poo poo more suited to winter, found a mesh jacket two sizes too small (sleeves later lengthened in Laos) and a pair of trousers that fit at another store that the guy at Flamingo Travel recommended to me. Ha, no proper riding gear. Jeans and a few layers of jackets and shirts. I actually bought some driving pants in the Russian store, but I took out the knee pads and used them for ski pants when I was in Japan in January. mrfart posted:That does it, now I have to go. Definitely bring what you can as you won't be getting anything too great in VN. Those bikes were rented in Laos as you can't find 250's for a reasonable price in Vietnam. If you want to cross over from VN to Laos you'll probably need to go Minsk or maybe some type of 125 enduro if you can find it. I flew from Hanoi to Vientiane and rented bikes there, but its not a cheap flight ($300 for about 1 hour or less). The rationale for me is that I only had 9 days. Problem with bike trips as described before is that Thailand is a real country requiring real permits generally, while Laos and Cambodia are kind of a free for all. Then Vietnam is pretty much the dick of the group and just makes life difficult however they can. Its really easiest to split it up and get different bikes, etc, but thats certainly not the cheapest option. A trip from Hanoi through northern VN and into Laos is probably doable, but I dont know where the bike goes at the end unless you drive back to Hanoi. I agree with Pompous about Sapa, but driving through Lao Cai and Ha Giang is gorgeous. I've heard of flamingo travel, but don't know anything better. I generally don't rent bikes in VN anymore.
|
|
#
?
Mar 26, 2010 13:15
|
|
|
Marius posted:Ha, no proper riding gear. Jeans and a few layers of jackets and shirts. I actually bought some driving pants in the Russian store, but I took out the knee pads and used them for ski pants when I was in Japan in January. I'd say helmets are the possible exception to bringing your own gear; if you're not super-picky it's not too hard to scare up a decent full-face helmet in Vietnam or Thailand, and they're kind of a PITA to pack well in a suitcase/backpack anyways. I probably wouldn't bother bringing one unless I had something really nice I wanted to use, or could get the airline to let me take it as a carry-on. Still might run into problems/surcharges with Air Asia and the like if you go the latter route though. I did Hanoi > Vientiane > Hanoi two summers ago on a Vietnamese Minsk, fairly straightforward. I got lazy/crunched for time at the end and put the bike on the train from Danang to Hanoi though. It's a decent option for one-way rentals in Vietnam; as long as you can get the bike to a semi-major city on the main rail line, you can send it back up to Hanoi for a pretty reasonable fee and have the rental shop pick it up at the station.
|
|
#
?
Mar 26, 2010 14:13
|
|
|
Does anyone have any recommendations for hostels in or near to Khao San Road? It'll be my first time in Thailand so I don't mind spending a bit more than normal on the first few nights if it's a nicer place that I can get over my jet lag/culture shock in. One with a bar would be ideal as I'd like to meet some other travellers as I'm heading out on my own. I fly out next Monday (April 5th) and arrive on the 6th. I'm nervous and excited in equal measures! In most of the guest houses is it OK to drink/clean your teeth with the tap water, or should I always use bottled water? Is anyone going to be around in Bangkok next week and want to meet up with a friendly mid 20s English guy?
|
|
#
?
Mar 29, 2010 20:38
|
|
|
Ted Ed Fred posted:Does anyone have any recommendations for hostels in or near to Khao San Road? It'll be my first time in Thailand so I don't mind spending a bit more than normal on the first few nights if it's a nicer place that I can get over my jet lag/culture shock in. One with a bar would be ideal as I'd like to meet some other travellers as I'm heading out on my own. Everyone here recommends Lub D hostel-wise (http://www.lubd.com), though it's near Silom rather than Khao San. Fine to shower and brush your teeth with the tap water, but always use bottled water for drinking.
|
|
#
?
Mar 29, 2010 21:37
|
|
|
Ted Ed Fred posted:Does anyone have any recommendations for hostels in or near to Khao San Road? It'll be my first time in Thailand so I don't mind spending a bit more than normal on the first few nights if it's a nicer place that I can get over my jet lag/culture shock in. One with a bar would be ideal as I'd like to meet some other travellers as I'm heading out on my own. Ted Ed Fred posted:I fly out next Monday (April 5th) and arrive on the 6th. I'm nervous and excited in equal measures! Ted Ed Fred posted:In most of the guest houses is it OK to drink/clean your teeth with the tap water, or should I always use bottled water?
|
|
#
?
Mar 29, 2010 22:19
|
|
|
Ted Ed Fred posted:Does anyone have any recommendations for hostels in or near to Khao San Road? It'll be my first time in Thailand so I don't mind spending a bit more than normal on the first few nights if it's a nicer place that I can get over my jet lag/culture shock in. One with a bar would be ideal as I'd like to meet some other travellers as I'm heading out on my own. http://www.khaosanroad.com/sam_sen_sam_place/index.html When I arrived at khaosan road, I thought i had made a big mistake comming there. Compared to the rest of thailand it was really bad; But then i arrived at that guesthouse and it all seemed much better. It was a 10 minute walk from khaosan. But i liked the little streets/bars/restaurants around it A LOT more than khaosan itself.
|
|
#
?
Mar 29, 2010 22:35
|
|
|
can anyone rec some good non sex bars in bangkok?
|
|
#
?
Mar 29, 2010 23:19
|
|
|
Drudkh posted:can anyone rec some good non sex bars in bangkok? What is your budget/demographic?
|
|
#
?
Mar 29, 2010 23:27
|
|
|
Drudkh posted:can anyone rec some good non sex bars in bangkok? Still, Rhombus is right to ask because there are about fifty million bars in this town covering all interests and demographic.
|
|
#
?
Mar 30, 2010 00:03
|
|
|
Drudkh posted:can anyone rec some good non sex bars in bangkok? If you gave me a handfull of confetti and dropped me off at any street corner in Bangkok I could probably hit a place where you could sit down and get drunk by throwing it with my left hand. Be more specific please. ReindeerF posted:Generally speaking, yeah. Brush and shower and what not with the faucet water and drink the bottled. Bangkok's municipal water supply is actually okay at the treatment level, it's the pipes and the individual buildings where you have to worry. That's why we don't drink it. Still, it's unlikely you'll have any issues from brushing teeth and, frankly, if you're going to get the shits from minor exposure to Thai germs you want to get them over with early in your trip, heh. That's why I just started eating and drinking whatever I could once I thought about it and not worrying about "did this ice come out of a bag!?" In general I'd like to add that your food in Thailand is as clean as you're going to find anywhere in Asia (apart from Japan). Getting the shits from bad water is possible, but Thai people are pretty clean with cooking and the government makes some small efforts to increase general food safety knowledge. Don't worry about it too much. I never hesitated to chow down at a streetside anything and I was never really worried about the ice. I did drink bottled water, though. Get the kind that isn't the very cheapest one in the weird half-opaque bottles that cost half of what any other bottled water does -- I literally saw a fat old lady filling those up in a tub in that alley that runs out of the back exit of that horrible Israeli collection house thing at one end Khao San one day. raton fucked around with this message at 00:46 on Mar 30, 2010 |
|
#
?
Mar 30, 2010 00:41
|
|
|
But sex bars have cheap happy hour drinks and free buffet they are the cheapest 
|
|
#
?
Mar 30, 2010 04:13
|
|
|
In Pattaya whenever there was a celebration in a bar they'd have a free buffet and a roasted suckling pig which is sooo amazingly delicious and all you'd have to pay for it was one beer. With the amount of bars in Pattaya (thousands?) it usually wasn't too hard to find. *sigh*
|
|
#
?
Mar 30, 2010 04:48
|
|
|
Ringo R posted:In Pattaya whenever there was a celebration in a bar they'd have a free buffet and a roasted suckling pig which is sooo amazingly delicious and all you'd have to pay for it was one beer. With the amount of bars in Pattaya (thousands?) it usually wasn't too hard to find.
|
|
#
?
Mar 30, 2010 07:27
|
|
|
"No seriously you can stop touching my leg, I just want to eat these chicken wings and this mini-quiche"... "What do you mean you want me to touch your leg as well? my hands are covered in chicken wing sauce"
|
|
#
?
Mar 30, 2010 14:31
|
|
|
Ringo R posted:In Pattaya whenever there was a celebration in a bar they'd have a free buffet and a roasted suckling pig which is sooo amazingly delicious and all you'd have to pay for it was one beer. With the amount of bars in Pattaya (thousands?) it usually wasn't too hard to find. I went to some place on 33 with a bunch of coworkers that was run by a guy from New Zealand and he was having free beer until midnight because it was Happy New Zealand Day or something like that and we all got drunk and then at the stroke of 12 everyone just left. The girls were sitting over in the corner with this "WTF is this poo poo" look on their faces. :iamafag: Also when I lived in Bangkok the only halfway decent Mexican food in the entire city was in this bar (that's now closed) on the second story of Nana way in the back, and the other okay place was in a bar in that weird group of Korean/Japanese restaurants to the right of Emporium near that big cabaret (but they only had Mexican on Tuesdays or something). Both of the places near Patpong were (are?) terrible. This always surprised me because, aside from the usage of beans, Thai and Mexican cuisines have an almost suspect amount of things in common. Best burger in Bangkok reputedly used to be made by this long haired farang git who would park his burger cart outside of Nana as well (but the burgers at Mike's stand in Chiang Mai are probably better, I don't know I never got a burger from Nana for obvious reasons). ReindeerF posted:The beer bar expat scene is a nonstop calendar of 50+ year old men having celebrations and wakes and divorce parties in the short time between when they open their bar and when their bar girl wife spends all their money, the bar closes and they run back to England, heh. And they all go back to "get it done on the NHS" hehe. We also had one guy at one of the schools I worked at who compared the price of everything to what a bargirl costs in Pattaya. "What? 1000B? No thanks I'm not going, I could get three girls for that in Pattaya." He also spoke better Thai than all of us. raton fucked around with this message at 20:06 on Mar 30, 2010 |
|
#
?
Mar 30, 2010 19:56
|
|
|
brendanwor posted:Everyone here recommends Lub D hostel-wise (http://www.lubd.com), though it's near Silom rather than Khao San. I want to go back to Thailand. I wish it was closer to the US East Coast.
|
|
#
?
Mar 30, 2010 20:36
|
|
|
I'll be arriving in Bangkok on April 6th, first time in Thailand. Going alone so would be fun to meet some people. From what it sounds like, a bunch of other people are going to be there at that time, so if anyone's interested in meeting up, hit me up at uncle.ivan.sa at gmail. Leave me an email or a local number and we'll hang. I'm a regular non-neckbearded mid 20s friendly dude.
|
|
#
?
Mar 31, 2010 05:00
|
|
|
Sheep-Goats posted:Also when I lived in Bangkok the only halfway decent Mexican food in the entire city was in this bar (that's now closed) on the second story of Nana way in the back, and the other okay place was in a bar in that weird group of Korean/Japanese restaurants to the right of Emporium near that big cabaret (but they only had Mexican on Tuesdays or something). Both of the places near Patpong were (are?) terrible. This always surprised me because, aside from the usage of beans, Thai and Mexican cuisines have an almost suspect amount of things in common. There is of course good beef and there are good tomatoes and there is a variety of cheese and there is good bread and there are even good jalapenos, but all of them are imports and very expensive and you can't run an affordable restaurant on them, so most people don't even bother. In the last two years, though, we've had a small explosion in Mexican joints in Bangkok. It started with Sunrise Tacos, which is a pretty crap chain by the guy who brought Subway to Thailand and runs Sunbelt Asia. Soon after we had Tacos & Salsa (now near Soi 22 on Sukhumvit) which is run by a real Mexican guy named Jorge who does more Mexican style food, some of which is pretty good (he even has pastor). Around the same time we had another joint called something like Bangkok Tacos in Silom, which was more lackluster and didn't make it. Then a younger Thai person who had lived in America (read: wealthy scion) opened a couple of Taco Bell-ish joints in Villa/Tops outlets in Thong Lo and Soi Ari where the food is pretty much like Taco Bell, so still better than most Bangkok Mexican food (see Patty's Fiesta, Charley Brown's, etc) but not really good. Then we had Los Cabos open up this year on Sukhumvit Soi 14, which is housed in a cool colonial era place redone to look like a Mexican joint back in the states. The guy who opened it has been executive chef for a lot of well known places in Thailand like Great American Rib Co and Tequila Reef and the food is good quality, but it's so painfully Cal-Mex and misses the mark in so many ways (not at all spicy, for example) that it hasn't gained much popularity - lack of any real salsa is a common complaint. He flies in his poblano peppers for the Chile Relleno, though, so those are good. Finally, we had La Monita open about the same time and I can honestly say that this is the first place where the tacos and burritos would compete back home. It has a variety of homemade salsas with lots of fresh ingredients in them, the beef is actually grilled - not boiled or baked or pan fried - and the sour cream, cheese and avocado are plentiful and taste right (if you want them). It's at Phloen Chit BTS at the back of Mahathun Plaza. I'll drop a link here because it's completely worth visiting (try the steak burrito): http://www.lamonita.com Overall, the best Mexican is still Miguel's in Chiang Mai, but La Monita has better tacos and burritos in my opinion. Miguel's in Chiang Mai is the same guy who does Mike's Burgers in Chiang Mai, which is also the best burger in Thailand and Michaelangelo's Italian and another Mike derivative. Everything he does is brilliant for some reason. More than anyone ever wanted to know about Mexican food in Thailand. ReindeerF fucked around with this message at 08:47 on Mar 31, 2010 |
|
#
?
Mar 31, 2010 08:45
|
|
|
Uncle Ivan posted:I'll be arriving in Bangkok on April 6th, first time in Thailand. Going alone so would be fun to meet some people. From what it sounds like, a bunch of other people are going to be there at that time, so if anyone's interested in meeting up, hit me up at uncle.ivan.sa at gmail. Leave me an email or a local number and we'll hang. Sent you an email, maybe see you in Bangkok next week!
|
|
#
?
Mar 31, 2010 10:24
|
|
|
ReindeerF posted:Overall, the best Mexican is still Miguel's in Chiang Mai, but La Monita has better tacos and burritos in my opinion. Miguel's in Chiang Mai is the same guy who does Mike's Burgers in Chiang Mai, which is also the best burger in Thailand and Michaelangelo's Italian and another Mike derivative. Everything he does is brilliant for some reason. Seconding this. I found a Mexican place in Pai that kind of blended Thai/Mexican that was also pretty good. Sunrise in BKK was OK for scratching the itch, but it wasn't amazing or anything. They had jalepenos at Subway, but they were called "Mexican peppers". Didn't know the two were connected though. I would actually get Burger King from time to time in Bangkok because while it wasn't a world class burger or anything, you were at least guaranteed a beef paddy and a bun, rather than winding up with a thin steak on a baguette or whatever Thai people think a hamburger is. When they opened the Mos Burger at Paragon I about died of happiness.
|
|
#
?
Mar 31, 2010 15:12
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 9, 2024 06:31 |
|
|
Pompous Rhombus posted:I would actually get Burger King from time to time in Bangkok because while it wasn't a world class burger or anything, you were at least guaranteed a beef paddy and a bun, rather than winding up with a thin steak on a baguette or whatever Thai people think a hamburger is. When they opened the Mos Burger at Paragon I about died of happiness. I used to get my burgers from this Chinese restaurant in the back of I think the first block of Siam square -- by first I mean closest to MBK. Pretty fair burger. I left before they opened Paragon so haven't had a Mos Burger though. Mike's in Chiang Mai is a real burger but I lived in Bangkok  TY for Mexican food info Reindeer.  Oh, Bangkok, what don't you have anymore. (The answer is Ethiopian food. I couldn't find Ethiopian food when I lived in Bangkok either.) raton fucked around with this message at 22:42 on Mar 31, 2010 |
|
#
?
Mar 31, 2010 20:22
|
|