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brendanwor posted:Disagree, a good pair of jeans (not cheap poo poo from kmart or walmart or whatever) will go down far better if you're out clubbing or at a bar etc., unless you're middle aged. And ya it's kind of hot in jeans but not really that bad. *~tEaM jeAnZ~* Btw Ringo, have you met up with caberham yet? Did he wind up sleeping at knifepoint in his hotel room with a half-Thai, half-Indian girl?
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Dec 2, 2010 03:10
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Pompous Rhombus posted:*~tEaM jeAnZ~* My pair of Lucky jeans definitely went a long loving way. It wasn't until a motorbike crash that I got a tear through one of the knees. Now they look even better. 
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Dec 2, 2010 05:30
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DNova posted:I have a hairy chest and I don't want to look like a guido Everyone will call you King Kong anyway.
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Dec 2, 2010 17:34
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Sheep-Goats posted:Everyone will call you King Kong anyway. Or if you're in Japan, Tom Cruise. Every white guy looks like Tom Cruise to a Japanese person, apparently. Shampy posted:My pair of Lucky jeans definitely went a long loving way. It wasn't until a motorbike crash that I got a tear through one of the knees. Now they look even better. I will see if I can dig up my old riding jeans for a photo (note to self: next time buy more than 1 pair of motorcycle trousers). No crash damage, but they've got holes in them from being $17 Diesels, and oil stains down the legs from having a leaky gas tank.
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Dec 2, 2010 17:45
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Hey goons, I'm currently working in India  and have a nice long off coming up 13-19 Dec, wanting to GTFO of India. I want to try out the underwater housing for my camera so I'm thinking about possibly spending a few days getting dive certified and spending my week in the water. Also considering spending a little less time on the beach and sticking to snorkeling and spend the rest traveling around. Flights to Bangkok are relatively cheap so I think that'll probably be my starting point. A friend visited Koh Tao last year and won't stop blabbering about it. A little searching makes it look like the scuba destination... don't really want big crowds on my week off, India has plenty of those. I saw this:Steve. posted:Snorkelling on Koh Tao is alright, but it's mostly a dive island - most of the really cool stuff to see is too deep for snorkellers. You could do a free diving course, though - that could be fun Also, any Bangkok photo goons want to meet up and take pictures sometime? Not as awesome as caberham's 85/1.2 but I'll bring my 135/2 to play with 
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Dec 2, 2010 20:19
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spf3million posted:Are there better places to snorkel which are relatively accessible from Bangkok? I don't have a ton of time so I don't want to spend a day each way on a train/bus. Basically just another lovely "what should I do??" request... Nah, Koh Tao's the best. It can definitely be more accessible - depending on if you've got the money, that is. Fly from BKK to Samui with Bangkok Airways (not cheap), then ferry to Koh Tao. Leave in the morning and be on Koh Tao for lunch.  Seriously, as if you don't want to be here. brendanwor fucked around with this message at 20:54 on Dec 2, 2010 |
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Dec 2, 2010 20:51
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Did something happen to make plane tickets all the sudden cost over 2k to get to BKK or SGN? They were like 1200 a week ago edit could it be the korea thing? Ribsauce fucked around with this message at 03:28 on Dec 3, 2010 |
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Dec 3, 2010 01:12
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Pompous Rhombus posted:*~tEaM jeAnZ~* Haha what's the story behind that? Remember reading it a looong time ago but forgot the details. But no, no knives for caberham but it's quite possible he'll wake up with a sore rear end as he can not tell guys from chicks, at all! Don't know how many times I told him "that girl you just talked to..."  spf3million: Sure, can meet for a few beers after work. Let me know when you're coming.
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Dec 3, 2010 03:08
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Ringo R posted:Haha what's the story behind that? Remember reading it a looong time ago but forgot the details. But no, no knives for caberham but it's quite possible he'll wake up with a sore rear end as he can not tell guys from chicks, at all! Don't know how many times I told him "that girl you just talked to..." A goon (Isaac Asimov) visiting Bangkok met some half-Thai, half-Indian girl, I think on Khao San Road. They sorta hung out for a few days or something, and it culminated with her going nuts in his room one night and threatening him with a knife or box cutter or something if he left, so he laid down in bed next to her the rest of the night too terrified to fall asleep or flee. It happened when I was living there, because I remember really wanting to buy him a beer and get the full story IRL. He bailed though. If anyone has archives/search and wants to dig it up and c/p it here for posterity (so Ringo can add it to the OP), I would be much obliged. Ribsauce posted:Did something happen to make plane tickets all the sudden cost over 2k to get to BKK or SGN? They were like 1200 a week ago Don't think it has anything to do with Korea, just seasonal probably. We're in the high season now.
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Dec 3, 2010 04:04
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Hi everyone, Bangkok is an interesting experience. Yes I was wrong for the first 2 giving me my tranny radar detection rate at 0%. But afterthat I can see them! Im staying at nap park hostel and it's a pretty nice hostel but the variety of people there is crazy. Its 10:30am in the morning and instead of leaving for the floating market im waiting for this cute dutch chick and going to go full on dork room with her and do some sight seeing  And there's this drunk Austrilian dude playing this loud movie and lying on the ouch burping and full of hiccups :uggh:I will post more tonight because it is so weird that everyone is in the hostel checking facebook and not going out when it's nice outside. I have an excuse  Here's a pic of one of the monuments in the grand palace. Click here for the full 853x1280 image.
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Dec 3, 2010 04:51
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Pompous Rhombus posted:A goon (Isaac Asimov) visiting Bangkok met some half-Thai, half-Indian girl, I think on Khao San Road. They sorta hung out for a few days or something, and it culminated with her going nuts in his room one night and threatening him with a knife or box cutter or something if he left, so he laid down in bed next to her the rest of the night too terrified to fall asleep or flee. Hahaha, this is excellent. caberham posted:Hi everyone, Bangkok is an interesting experience. Yes I was wrong for the first 2 giving me my tranny radar detection rate at 0%. But afterthat I can see them! It's okay dude, if you come across any of them in future just make sure you let them know you're straight and aren't interested by saying 'phom rak katoey na, ter yaak bpai rongram khong phom mai' 
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Dec 3, 2010 06:04
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I am going to be in Nha Trang from Jan 3 to Jan 7. Any hotel/hostel suggestions? I contacted the Ha Van hotel regarding availability almost a week ago but haven't heard anything back yet.
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Dec 3, 2010 07:49
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Any goons in or near Hua Hin? I'm curently living in Pak Nam Pran and wouldn't mind having a beer in Hua Hin since it's so drat boring here at night.
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Dec 3, 2010 22:16
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Pompous Rhombus posted:Don't think it has anything to do with Korea, just seasonal probably. We're in the high season now. It sucks
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Dec 6, 2010 02:50
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Is the 3-1-1 liquids rule in effect for flights around southeast Asia?
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Dec 6, 2010 02:57
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Ribsauce posted:A couple weeks ago I found a 1200 roundtrip RDU : SGN or BKK leaving late Dec/early Jan and returning in April and now I can't find a single day for under 1900. Late Dec/early Jan (especially late December) is about the worst time of the year to find a cheap ticket in general, I think. It's also peak season for Southeast Asia, so it's going to create a perfect storm of high ticket prices for you, especially as you get closer to the departure date. $1900 is pretty bad though, I fly from Florida and can usually manage $1200-1300 or so. Try looking at other airports, especially flying out of DC. If you don't mind the hassle of making your way there (either Chinatown bus or connecting Southwest flight or something) you can probably knock a bit off the pricetag. I've heard that small travel agencies serving ethnic groups can have the best fares; try asking waitstaff at your local Thai (or whatever) restaurants if they've got anywhere special they book their flights to visit home. I found a Thai one through a Google ad of all places and they had some nice fares, but I lost the link a while ago. You can also check out individual airlines' pages to see if they have promotions running: THAI, Singapore Air, EVA, Korean (sucks IMO but often cheapest), JAL, whatever lovely American airlines, Cathay Pacific, etc. Promotional fares don't always turn up in a Kayak search. You could always check out Air Asia's route map and connect up with a cheap flight from southern China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, the Philippines, etc, but you'll get dinged on baggage surcharges if you aren't travelling light.
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Dec 6, 2010 04:50
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Just an FYI for anyone in India, the government has declared that airlines have been charging exorbitantly high fares for the past month and are putting pressure on them to lower prices. I'd wait to buy anything in India for the next week or so as people expect prices to drop ~20%.
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Dec 6, 2010 07:27
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DNova posted:Is the 3-1-1 liquids rule in effect for flights around southeast Asia? It depends on the country, check their websites. The rules will be there.
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Dec 6, 2010 07:33
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I can happily report that Bangkok in December is not as hot as Bangkok in September or October  A while ago I booked a walking tour with a Thai dude, and we did it yesterday. It was excellent. Small groups (just the guide, my friend, and myself) and a lot of interesting sights. The guy's a machine - encyclopaedic knowledge. Even though we visited a few of the sights I'd seen before, like Wat Saket and Wat Pho and so on, being with someone who knew WTF was pretty cool. It wasn't cheap but I'd do it again tomorrow if I could. $150 for six hours, excellent English, small private groups only. The dude's name is Chawanwit Kupdhabhorn - call him Kay - and he's licensed. kgym_chawan @ hotmail.com. Very highly recommended. I made the mistake of hanging out with a bunch of Qantas guys last night. This unfortunately meant the misery that is Soi Cowboy. I can't really complain - I wasn't buying the beer - but that place sucks. Tomorrow: Don Mueang to Phuket, Phuket to Khao Lak. Time to get my underwater on!
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Dec 7, 2010 03:51
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Hey so I will be in Koh Phangan during the Lunar party in January and I am trying to book a relatively cheap place on the island (around $20-$30/night) I dont want to be right on Haad Rin since I will be staying an extra 3 nights after the 19th and I want to be in a more remote section of the island. Does anyone have a good recommendation for a hotel?
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Dec 7, 2010 05:08
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GZA Genius posted:Hey so I will be in Koh Phangan during the Lunar party in January and I am trying to book a relatively cheap place on the island (around $20-$30/night) I dont want to be right on Haad Rin since I will be staying an extra 3 nights after the 19th and I want to be in a more remote section of the island. Does anyone have a good recommendation for a hotel? Pick a beach first. What kind of environment do you want? How laid back? How secluded? How accessible to shops? How much in the way of nearby nightlife? You will be able to get to Haad Rin from anywhere on the island (or any neighboring island) for the full moon party, so don't worry about that. The only reason to stay on or near Haad Rin itself would be if you were going to try to gently caress three different drunken Swedes that night or something. I stayed at a place on the southern tip of "Cape Had Rin" (the very southern bit of the island) that I quite liked. About a thirty minute walk over a gangplank over the sea and then over a hill through a bit of jungle to get to Haad Rin proper. The bungalow was perched on a rocky cliffside covered with tropical plants and had a beautiful view of the sea and Koh Samui and was quiet at night. Unfortunatly I don't remember the name, the nearest beach is Had Leela (link) and from there you walk straight east along the southern tip of the peninsula to get there. Had Leela is a good place to stay too, close to Had Rin Town and the party, but there is a hill in the way so you don't have to hear it at night, and the beach there is decent, and you can walk around and see the place I'm talking about and let us all know what the gently caress I'm going on about here. tl;dr: Pick something on Had Leela. Bring a flashlight, the walk over the hill at night is not lit at all and the road is a rutty dirt one. edit: Oh hey the first bungalow listed in the "link" link above has to be the place I stayed: Lighthouse bungalows. Be aware though that if you take someone back there (who is Thai) they will complain about having to walk too far -- it's at the outer edge of what Thai people consider a tolerable walking distance (which is probably about half what you consider tolerable). Lighthouse is also pretty cheap and the "concrete" rooms are super nice for the price, though I stayed in a non-concrete cheapo and have no complaints at all about it (other than the loving monkey who would jump on my roof every morning to steal bites of papaya off of the nearby papaya tree -- I got a picture of the little fucker pissing on my roof one morning). Coco down on Had Leela proper is pretty nice but much pricier. There was a bookstore in Had Rin town where I picked up a copy of the Gilbert edition of Ulysses and read that poo poo while sitting in my Robinson Caruso hut (with good access to most of the amenities I could ask for a reasonable walk away in Had Rin Town).  edit 2: Don't start your posts with "Hey" or "So" or "Hey so" ok. ====== ATTN Goons of the SE Asia thread I just bought a ticket from JFK to BKK for a month's visit. Leaving Feb 10th. Hoorah. Going to see that fortress thing in Cambo and take a scuba lesson (didn't ever do that while I lived there) and probably go visit some hilltribes (again). The rest of the time eh I'll do whatever. raton fucked around with this message at 01:57 on Dec 8, 2010 |
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Dec 8, 2010 01:45
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Sheep-Goats posted:ATTN Goons of the SE Asia thread I just bought a ticket from JFK to BKK for a month's visit. Leaving Feb 10th. Hoorah. Going to see that fortress thing in Cambo and take a scuba lesson (didn't ever do that while I lived there) and probably go visit some hilltribes (again). The rest of the time eh I'll do whatever. Shame, I'm in BKK for a few nights the week after next, then for a bit over a week in late April. Need to organise a larger meetup between the people ITT sometime.
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Dec 8, 2010 07:09
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GZA Genius posted:Koh Phangan I stayed in Ban Mae Hat. Very laid back and quiet. Kayaking and snorkel are good. They were unfortunately building some larger resort style place though. Theres a sandbar that connects to the small island across the way Ko Ma with some cheap primitive bungalows. Its secluded though, poor access back to town and the party, which is good and bad
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Dec 9, 2010 06:43
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GZA Genius posted:Hey so I will be in Koh Phangan during the Lunar party in January and I am trying to book a relatively cheap place on the island (around $20-$30/night) I dont want to be right on Haad Rin since I will be staying an extra 3 nights after the 19th and I want to be in a more remote section of the island. Does anyone have a good recommendation for a hotel? I'll be in Koh Phangan then, too. We're staying at a place named Thongtapan - It's on Thong Nai Pan Noi. It looks alright, but I can't remember pricing. It should be on their website. Accommodation on the whole island books fairly quickly for times around full moon parties, particularly for those (like the one in January) that are in peak season...!
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Dec 9, 2010 11:29
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Thanks for the suggestions! After a little thought I just said screw the whole vacation on a budget thing and I decided on this place: Havana Beach Resort: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g303907-d642743-Reviews-Havana_Beach_Resort-Ko_Phangan.html It looks to be in an awesome location away from the full moon people and the facilities look nice.I heard that Thong Nai Pan is the better beach on the island. Should be a fun time!
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Dec 9, 2010 23:38
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GZA Genius posted:Thanks for the suggestions! After a little thought I just said screw the whole vacation on a budget thing and I decided on this place: The top right side of Phangan is very secluded compared to the rest of the island, you'll see why once you see a roadmap for the island. You won't have any problem getting to the full moon party still, but you might be going by boat! Don't worry though, I'm sure a place like that will have a boat to already arranged to take people down there and there will be a number of options to get back. Plus if you pass out on Had Rin the nice Thai people will throw cardboard over your face to keep you from getting killed by a sunburn.
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Dec 10, 2010 00:44
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Booked my ticket to BKK landing on the 14th, leaving on the 19th. Anyone free to grab a beer? Also any guest house recommendations? I'm contemplating going to Ko Toa for some snorkeling for a few days, possibly somewhere a little closer since I don't have a ton of time. Looks like I can catch a flight to Surat Thani for pretty cheap but spending a half a day on a boat to Ko Toa (6:30 boat ride each way) doesn't like the best. Also possibly meeting a friend who's working in Pattaya, so something down that way would probably be better as far as beaching goes...
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Dec 10, 2010 12:16
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Pattaya has a small island (Koh Larn) about 30 min boat ride away. It has a few alright (nothing stunning) beaches. A friend went on a dive with one of the diving shops in town. They went to a shipwreck or something. He said visibility was pretty poor. I will probably be busy those days but send me a pm and I'll slip a few pills into your drink and steal your 135 f/2.
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Dec 10, 2010 16:10
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I am finally financially sound enough to plan a trip to Thailand, which I've basically been wanting to do since the inception of this thread long ago.  I have a couple of questions for the veterans...I've only had experience with domestic connecting flights. If I have a connecting flight at an international airport, do I need to get my bag and go through customs? If I do, is 1hr 45min enough time? Depending on the airline we end up going with, the layover is going to be in Seoul or Hong Kong (if it matters). For long haul flights, which airline is preferable: Korean Air or Cathay Pacific? I'm kind of leaning towards Cathay Pacific because on the way back we'd get a layover long enough (13 hours) to head into Hong Kong for a bit.
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Dec 10, 2010 23:00
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trigger posted:I've only had experience with domestic connecting flights. If I have a connecting flight at an international airport, do I need to get my bag and go through customs? If I do, is 1hr 45min enough time? Depending on the airline we end up going with, the layover is going to be in Seoul or Hong Kong (if it matters). Nope, it'll be checked through to your final destination, unless it's a weird combined ticket deal. They'll tell you when you check in. 1:45 is enough time to make a connection. Cathay x1000 assuming it's not much more expensive. I don't have a ton of experience flying nice airlines, but Cathay has been the nicest. Korean is pretty bare bones, I rank it down there with the American carriers.
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Dec 10, 2010 23:34
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trigger posted:A) I've only had experience with domestic connecting flights. If I have a connecting flight at an international airport, do I need to get my bag and go through customs? If I do, is 1hr 45min enough time? Depending on the airline we end up going with, the layover is going to be in Seoul or Hong Kong (if it matters). A) Should be the same as traveling in the US -- you hand it off in Chicago (or wherever you're getting on the plane) and pick it up in Bangkok. The only time you might have to fetch a bag and run around with it is if something horrible happens with missed connections and changing to another airline or something like that. B) People like Cathay a lot these days. I'm of the opinion that if you can save a hundred buck on your Thailand ticket you should probably do so because having a spare hundo in Thailand is like having 400 or 500 extra bucks in your pocket back home. My rent when I lived in Thailand (back when you got 40B for a dollar, the Baht is really strong right now) was about 150 a month for a decent, small room in a great neighborhood in Bangkok, for example.* *Please note my normal human example. I had a coworker in Thailand who'd compare everything to how much a hooker in Pattaya cost. :iamafag:
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Dec 11, 2010 01:29
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I started teaching English in Rayong a few weeks ago and have had a nice time enjoying my stay. For the long holiday a few of my coworkers decided to go to Pattaya. This city is loving crazy. Every god drat foreign man looks like a half-inflated basketball. Its like all the ugliest people from around the world end up in Thailand and the ugliest of the ugly end up in Pattaya. It's still fun bar hopping and seeing crazy poo poo though.
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Dec 11, 2010 07:06
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I'm planning a trip with four friends to Vietnam/Cambodia/Thailand. We'll be there for about a month from January - February, and I have one question: where is the best place to go if I want to ride an elephant? I've heard that Northern Thailand and Da Lat in Vietnam are both good bets. Any suggestions, goons?
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Dec 11, 2010 09:28
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I'm in Chiang Mai now and will be heading to Laos before my visa runs out on the 19th. Anything cool to see or do on the way there? Also, any Chiang Mai suggestions? It's a nice change from Khao San but I'm not really up for organized trekking tours or anything like that. How easy are the national parks to the west to access?
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Dec 11, 2010 11:57
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Laopooh posted:I'm in Chiang Mai now and will be heading to Laos before my visa runs out on the 19th. Anything cool to see or do on the way there? Go to the Bug Museum.
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Dec 11, 2010 17:38
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Thanks Pompous Rhombus and Sheep-Goats. The weird thing is, for the most part Cathay is more expensive than Korean, but several of the flight searches I did had Cathay being $50-75 less than Korean. I'll probably set up a couple of Kayak alerts for both Cathay and Korean to see how the fares trend before I book.
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Dec 11, 2010 18:08
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Laopooh posted:I'm in Chiang Mai now and will be heading to Laos before my visa runs out on the 19th. Anything cool to see or do on the way there? Mike's Burgers is the best hamburger in Thailand if you're hankering for a taste of home (I've also met Mike he's a nice guy and employs a lot of handicapped people at his restaurant which is fantastic as they get poo poo all for opportunities in Thailand normally). Shaman Books is probably the best single bookstore in Thailand (although Kinokuniya in Bangkok is bit more reliable, it's also hugely more expensive). Be sure to eat some northern sausage. You'd never have guessed that Asians make delicious well spiced and lovingly prepared sausage. I've got a lot of German heritage and when I first skeptically tried one I though "Holy poo poo this tastes kind of like the sausages made at that one butcher shop that my Granmda always insists on going to." The other Chiang Mai must try dish is Kao Soi, a noodles with chicken in a thick curry broth dish that's really only made right in that region. On the road running along the southern border of the moat (I think) there's a shop that sells handwoven Thai silk things. Should probably pick something up for mom there, I did for mine and she loves that poo poo to this day. Also the hilltribe tours are awesome. Don't worry about the rafting and elephant poo poo, but if you can find one to a less-visited area (hard to do around Chiang Mai, just sacrifice some time to get a bit further out before doing your trek) I'd suggest going for it. I've heard good things about this: http://www.treetopasia.com/ but haven't been on it myself. (Don't have to book online, just ask your guesthouse when you get there or just show up). Three kilometers of canopy zip lines or something like that. trigger posted:Thanks Pompous Rhombus and Sheep-Goats. The weird thing is, for the most part Cathay is more expensive than Korean, but several of the flight searches I did had Cathay being $50-75 less than Korean. I'll probably set up a couple of Kayak alerts for both Cathay and Korean to see how the fares trend before I book. Fare pricing is done by computers and one of the most important factors is how full a plane is. If it's totally empty the first few seats are actually a near midrange cost (assuming that those people absolutely require that flight I guess, maybe it's just because some airlines allow them to book the front of the plane up IDK) the seats that sell after that are the cheapest and then the prices slowly increase as each seat fills. So if your Korean Air flight is more full than a Cathay flight you'll see better prices on Cathay. Just get a feel for it and book the ticket, IMO. Optimal time for booking international flights is usually two to three months before leaving (I just got a round trip ticket JFK to Bangkok for 980 bucks, for example) unless you're a retard and are flying out of the country on Thanksgiving weekend or something like that. raton fucked around with this message at 02:53 on Dec 12, 2010 |
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Dec 12, 2010 02:44
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Chiang Mai also has the best Mexican food in Thailand, forget the name of the restaurant (Google it).
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Dec 12, 2010 03:36
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Speaking of burgers and mexican food (and steak), any recommendations for Bangkok? (I've been in India for 4 months, can you tell?)
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Dec 12, 2010 06:45
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spf3million posted:Speaking of burgers and mexican food (and steak), any recommendations for Bangkok? (I've been in India for 4 months, can you tell?) Sunrise Tacos will scratch the itch for Mexican, but it's nothing special. Mos Burger (there's one at the food court in Siam Paragon) owns, it's a Japanese burger chain. Burger King, while not amazing, is at least consistent; if you order a hamburger at a small Thai restaurant you may well end up with a thin steak on a baguette or something.
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Dec 12, 2010 15:01
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