|
I've been to Koh Phangan in September, it was fine. Rainy here and there, but Thailand's rainy season isn't bad - I don't know why it scares people off. It rains for an hour most days, sometimes longer, and then it's fine. If you're thinking of Phang Nga Bay near Krabi then I can't answer that.
|
#
?
Apr 5, 2012 00:09
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 24, 2024 14:59 |
|
|
I've been to Koh Tao in September... it was hot, didn't rain much, the diving was good and there were one million people on the island. I imagine Phangan will be similar.
|
|
#
?
Apr 5, 2012 01:07
|
|
|
There's a lot of ATM's in Cambodia and they give you US currency and it's queer but there's a lot of ATM's here.
|
|
#
?
Apr 5, 2012 02:39
|
|
|
There are certainly enough ATMs here. Compared to Thailand, where the ATM is the national flower, I wouldn't say "a lot." Once you get outside the cities Acleda is about the only thing you see most places and even in the city they're a bit sparse. Can't complain, though. First time I came here there was one "ATM" and it served only people with accounts at that bank - and it was like the only bank in the country. You had to go to a jeweler or into the bank with your credit card and make a fake charge, essentially. Now there's even a casino in the middle of town. Crazy loving country. They even have an overpass! Heh. That, surprisingly, was one of the most unexpected things when I first saw it. That and the 40-story office buildings.
|
|
#
?
Apr 5, 2012 03:42
|
|
|
Oh, well, yeah, I'm in Siem Reap and there's quite a few here in the town area. Probably don't go out into the country without money but who does that anyway? EDIT: I'd probably do it. I got in without a photo that I didn't know about because I didn't do any research. Guy asked me for it when I filled out my form, he told me I had to pay an extra 100b and then only charged me 800b for the visa and that was it. It was my best border crossing ever. Helmacron fucked around with this message at 04:05 on Apr 5, 2012 |
|
#
?
Apr 5, 2012 03:57
|
|
|
I'm going to Phnom Penh in two weeks, to renew my Vietnamese visa (10 months already!) and I'm reading about Cambodian e-visas that cost about $25. Are those reliable or am I better off going through a travel agency or the embassy here in HCMC? Also, is PP going to suck during new year (getting soaked, everything closed)? We'll be there April 15 to 18.
|
|
#
?
Apr 5, 2012 04:14
|
|
|
Not had any experience with the e-visa, but how are you traveling? You can get a visa on arrival. Phnom Penh is usually very quiet during new year as most of the locals head out to the provinces. Some businesses will probably be closed too. Last day of the holiday is the 16th though so everything will be back to normal after that.
|
|
#
?
Apr 5, 2012 04:46
|
|
|
Tytan posted:Not had any experience with the e-visa, but how are you traveling? You can get a visa on arrival. By bus, from HCMC. Flying in is like $300 and bus is $12, the choice was easy to make (even with a 3 years old kid). I'm having my company make sure I can get our new multiple entry 3-months business visas at the Vietnam embassy in PP, since I cannot get them on arrival at the airport.
|
|
#
?
Apr 5, 2012 04:59
|
|
|
Big advantage of e-visa is you don't lose a full page of your passport for the giant visa stamp - also you breeze through immigration, don't have to worry about bringing photos, have less paperwork and avoid the sudden and unexplained and unilateral visa price hikes at land borders (not an issue if you're flying in). It costs $5 more as I recall, but that's nothing. The system itself is totally reliable, I've used it in the past many times. It usually takes about a day to process and get your visa by email (might want to apply ASAP, since Khmer New Year is coming up and as Tytan mentioned things slow down). However if you're traveling for fun and want the big visa as a memento you should just get one on arrival. ReindeerF fucked around with this message at 08:21 on Apr 5, 2012 |
|
#
?
Apr 5, 2012 08:19
|
|
|
Speaking of mementos, here's one I'd forgotten about found in the fridge: I felt pretty safe with them.
|
|
#
?
Apr 7, 2012 08:42
|
|
|
Inspiring marketing slogan. It could've been "Yangon Airways: If Crash we Kill Pilot's Family"
|
|
#
?
Apr 7, 2012 19:30
|
|
|
They'll even send you a picture of the family member along with the casing with your seat number on it 
|
|
#
?
Apr 7, 2012 20:43
|
|
|
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/apr/07/vang-vieng-laos-party-town I just had to post this here. Title says what it's about. A rather sad story (especially the interview of the somewhat unfortunate named 'Dr. chit') .
|
|
#
?
Apr 7, 2012 21:37
|
|
|
Ringo R posted:Speaking of mementos, here's one I'd forgotten about found in the fridge: That's a marketing campaign aimed at competing Myanma airlines, who has/had a reputation for crashing their planes. Or so I am told. quote:http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/201...laos-party-town
|
|
#
?
Apr 8, 2012 01:49
|
|
|
Flew in to BKK last night around midnight and had a strange time getting through customs. I was asked all of the usual questions regarding my visit, and when asked when where I was staying I said "Khao San Road". I figured I could just get a cab there and find a place to stay after some price comparisons. Apparently this was the wrong answer to give. They ladies at customs gave me a weird look and called their supervisor over. They then started telling me that I need a real itinerary because "Khao San dangerous place". Seriously. I had to then lie to them and convince them that I would spend the night at BKK and leave in the morning, where apparently Khao San becomes safe. They seemed to like this idea and let me go. I walked straight out of the airport, got a cab and headed out to dangerous Khao San Road where I drank beer and had pad thai all night.
|
|
#
?
Apr 8, 2012 02:28
|
|
|
Never tell a Thai person you're staying on Khao San. Also never tell a farang you're staying on Khao San.
|
|
#
?
Apr 8, 2012 03:48
|
|
|
I always research a specific guesthouse (usually just pick a random one out of a guidebook or wikitravel) before I cross a border, just to put on the immigration forms.
|
|
#
?
Apr 8, 2012 11:14
|
|
|
I always write "Nonthaburi Pier." Mostly I just hate writing our my long-rear end Thai address. They must think it's a guesthouse name. If the gummint wants to find me it's not like they can't check my credit card statements, bank account or mobile contract, heh.
|
|
#
?
Apr 8, 2012 20:00
|
|
|
Got a 10 baht tour 6 hour tour of a ton of Bangkok's beautiful temples via tuk tuk the other day. They dropped us off at two silk factories on the way, saying that they needed some gas voucher. All in all it was worth it because we spend a combined 5 minutes in the suit factories once they realized we were definitely not buying anything. The last stop was a travel agency. Now, I'm not sure if I was too paranoid at that point about trying to get scammed or what, but our agent was a terrific salesman and almost sold the three of us on some huge package deal from the 8th until the 20th. He kept stressing that since it's Thai New Years, we were not going to be able to get busses and all of the reservations have been booked months in advance by smarter travelers. The guy was super aggressive and almost sold us, but something in my gut told me that I needed to take a chance. Did I make a good decision? Is there somewhere I can go and get a real rate for a bus to Chiang Mai? I would like to go to Mae Hong Son and do that package where you go hill tribe trekking/elephants/rafting. The guy kept saying that we were not going to be able to get a bus here and even if we got it, all of the tickets to go to this thing would be all out. He also said we would be stuck in Chiang Mai with no way back because of the new years. Please tell me this is all slightly bs.
|
|
#
?
Apr 9, 2012 01:49
|
|
|
You'll get a seat don't worry. Thai people are good salesmen. I highly reccomend flying to Mae Hong Son. You can bus / train to Chiang Mai if you want but fly that last bit. Other awesome things to do in Mae Hong Son are to motorcycle around visiting the temple and market and some nearby hilltribe villages. There's a tourist booth at one end of town with rockin maps. The place that does the best hilltribe tours is down by the lake at the temple end. Do a three or four day one. The market there usually sells a type of dark brown wild jungle honey that has intense floral flavors and is awesome. Also you can find packages of the little green Burmese cigarillios easily there -- these are a good gift for your dad if he smokes as they're eminently pleasant, exotic, light and easy to transport / mail. A northern dish to try is Khao Soi, a curry soup with chicken and noodles that is hard to find elsewhere -- the food court under the Chiang Mai cineplex makes one that I like. Also they make delicious sausage in the north, it's light brown and replete with herbs, some street vendors will have it. They also cook adifferent types of rice in cane up there and it comes out all glutenous and tasty so try it it's cheap anyway.
|
|
#
?
Apr 9, 2012 02:21
|
|
|
So my Kindle finally died the other day and I've been reduced to reading paperback books like some kind of barbarian. Any thoughts on where I can pick up a cheap e-reader in Hanoi? Most of the electronics stores I've asked at don't seem to know what I'm talking about.
|
|
#
?
Apr 9, 2012 05:01
|
|
|
In Hanoi I don't know but I was able to get a Kindle Touch in HCMC for about $150 if I remember correctly, in one of these but I don't know if they have Hanoi branches.
|
|
#
?
Apr 9, 2012 05:44
|
|
|
 (it's terrible, in case anyone was wondering)
|
|
#
?
Apr 9, 2012 07:01
|
|
|
Heading to HCMC Thursday for a week, then to Phuket for a few days. Can anyone give me any rules on what water to drink/avoid and fresh food? I'm in the US and we americans have baby stomachs.
|
|
#
?
Apr 9, 2012 15:24
|
|
|
Drink store bought bottled water. In thailand you often get water with your meal. It is safe to drink. They get their drinking water from osmosis machines, which you can use as well if you see them. Just put an empty water bottle under the tap, 1 baht coin and press the button. Food is pretty safe. The only time I had issues in Thailand was when I ate Indian (I don't remember having any in Vietnam).
|
|
#
?
Apr 9, 2012 16:03
|
|
|
One thing is to avoid shellfish, it will often cause problems for foreigners. I ignored this advice and was okay, though.
|
|
#
?
Apr 9, 2012 17:05
|
|
|
I'm planning on flying into Thailand, then traveling up to Vietnam by bus/train/what ever. I'm want to stay in the area for about 5-6 weeks, but not sure exactly how long. Would it be wiser/cheaper to book my flight back from Vietnam to the US at the same time I book my flight to Thailand, or would it be ok if I just book my flight once I'm ready to leave Vietnam? Could I even just try and find a cheap open seat once I arrive at the airport?
|
|
#
?
Apr 9, 2012 19:25
|
|
|
Thai people care about their food and understand hygiene fairly well. The only ingredient that's a threat is plaa raa, a kind of savory sauce made by fermenting fish. It looks like mud and smells like rear end and usually gives Thai people the shits too (shocker). It is pretty tasty, though! Anyway, ready everything you can. I was constantly afflicted with the shits when I lived in China, in Thailand I didn't have issues with bad food any more often than I do in the US. You'll hear warnings about the ice but that's almost always fine, too. You'll almost always have tube ice (the cubes are shaped like tubes) and that's made from RO purified water. I always drank bottled water when I lived there. Tap is fine for washing, bridging teeth, etc, and probably for drinking too apart from the occasional sanook induced disaster at the treatment plant.
|
|
#
?
Apr 9, 2012 19:33
|
|
|
Slightly unrelated but if you're coming from the US, I strongly recommend you load up on pharmaceuticals and contact lenses while you're in Thailand. Ciprofloxacin costs less here than the co-pay you'd have to pay in the US, and you can just grab it at a pharmacy. Contact lenses are ridiculously cheap too - a pair of Bausch + Lomb SofLens 59 were 180 baht (~$6).
|
|
#
?
Apr 9, 2012 23:54
|
|
|
From the second you get out of the airport, start eating everything you can and drinking water with ice and all that jazz. You're either going to get the shits or not at some point, so you might as well introduce the local bugs into your body early rather than later. As the others have said, things aren't that amazingly unsanitary here (this isn't Cambodia after all  . Of course it is the developing world and you'll see the lady behind the counter sneeze into her hand while preparing food and you'll see flies circling around and you'll spot rats next to the sewer grate and so on, but what can I tell you, you're probably going to be fine, so eat and drink up!Oh, don't be worried about brushing your teeth and showering and such with the tap water unless it smells funny or something. One of the most eyerolling conversations you'll hear as an expat are the two tourist couples next to you discussing who drinks the bottled water and who dared to put ice in their drink, while watching eyebrows go up in surprise. I know that's not what's going on here, but it's why this topic riles me up. I just want to tell people, "Hey, look around, there's DSL and airplanes and 3G mobile phones - you're not Indiana Jones, just eat." The main rule to follow is don't drink the tap water and if a restaurant's busy it's probably 'safer' to the extent that such a thing matters (because the food doesn't have a chance to sit there rotting as it's being cooked). ReindeerF fucked around with this message at 03:59 on Apr 10, 2012 |
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2012 03:56
|
|
|
I've been twice in SE Asia (including Cambodia and Malasia, which looked much more unhygienic than Thailand) with two different groups of people, eating everything on the street and none of us got any problems. Pack some Imodium just in case and you're good to go. The worst place I've been in that regard was Egypt. Ten days in, all my friends had gotten at least some mild discomfort, which made them be pretty careful. I said gently caress it and kept stuffing my face with everything I saw on the street/desert while laughing at them for being such cowards. Joke was on me when some overcooked beef stew on the night train back to Cairo locked me in a filthy moving bathroom without toilet paper for about 10 hours. Then I got to Istanbul and spent New Year's Eve shivering and sweating in a hostel bed  PS: I thought it was generally accepted that fermented foods are about the safest to eat when travelling :? tzz fucked around with this message at 08:20 on Apr 10, 2012 |
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2012 08:16
|
|
|
Sheep-Goats posted:I highly reccomend flying to Mae Hong Son. You can bus / train to Chiang Mai if you want but fly that last bit. Other awesome things to do in Mae Hong Son are to motorcycle around visiting the temple and market and some nearby hilltribe villages. There's a tourist booth at one end of town with rockin maps. The place that does the best hilltribe tours is down by the lake at the temple end. Do a three or four day one. I'm traveling with two other people and they convinced me to take the buses to save money. Both busses were awful. I don't think I'm going to worry about the money for the way back. 10 hours to Chiang Mai, immediately followed by 6 hours of brutal twists and turns in a van... I felt like I deserved a medal for surviving it. Trip here aside, Mae Hong Son is gorgeous. I have not had the time to do all that much, but I'm already falling for the place. This is only my 1st stop after Bangkok, and it's a complete 180 from there. Thanks so much to everyone who recommended the place! Going to look into a bit of trekking to a hilltribe village to keep myself busy for a couple days. A friendly expat I met recommended that I visit some night market and go watch the sun set on some hill? I'll have to look into renting a motorbike tomorrow. Aside from the food, are there any must do's here?
|
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2012 14:59
|
|
|
The must dos is the hilltribe trek and the temple up on the hill. There's a few cool caves up around there too. Savor the cool misty mornings too, you won't find them anywhere else in Thailand, especially not in loving April. When travelling in Thailand if your travelmates say "we want to do x" and you feel like doing y just go do your thing and meet up later. You could have flown and met them tomorrow down by the lake for example and had an extra afternoon in Mae Hong Son to show for it. Ps: I took a van when I went too. We got into an accident on the way Also the bus I took to Siem Reap literally burst in to flames while it was being towed down the highway with me on it. Oh and one time I took a bus from Missoula to Portland (10-12 hour drive) and the trip took 36 hours thanks to missed connections. What I'm saying is if you see me get on your bus you should consider getting off. raton fucked around with this message at 21:32 on Apr 10, 2012 |
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2012 21:22
|
|
|
Be sure to look for the Coke machine in the hill tribe village chieftain's hut. Bonus points if he has a credit card terminal too. EDIT: Anyone who's in Vientiane or Siem Reap over the next week, keep an eye out for hordes of Thai people in red shirts at giant gatherings and take a picture of yourself with them. Deposed former Prime Minister Thaksin Sinatra is holding huge Songkran rallies for his faithful (THB 6,500 R/T w/accommodations - act now!). Bonus points if you manage to get a shot with old square head himself. No one in the rest of the world will care, but you'll be a hero in most of Northern Thailand (and despised in most of Southern Thailand). ReindeerF fucked around with this message at 02:44 on Apr 11, 2012 |
|
#
?
Apr 11, 2012 02:41
|
|
|
I'll be in PP next week, glad I should be able to escape that.
|
|
#
?
Apr 11, 2012 03:34
|
|
|
quote:You've got more than enough time to get a hotel, go up Victoria Peak, go shopping on HK Island, catch a ride on the Star Ferry, walk around Kowloon, and all the other things that people do when they go to HK. Hooray! Where do I stay? We'll have nine people in our group so a place with suites or connecting rooms would be great (or hotels that could handle adults and kids in the same room I guess). Close to the trains and such would also be nice. Question: shuttle or train to the airport? Lots of hotels offer shuttles and say its 30m but if the train's faster I'd rather take that, if its going to be a huge hassle trying to kid and luggage wrangle on the train because of crowding or what have you I'd rather shuttle. Also is leaving the airport a pain in the rear end? I imagine we can just check our luggage through to our destination upon arrival and just do carryon bags for one night, but how much time should we allocate for getting out/getting back/getting through security?
|
|
#
?
Apr 11, 2012 05:23
|
|
|
Alright folks, I've been given the task of planning a trip, while my friend's task is paying for it. Say you have 2-3 weeks to kill in August and a good amount of cash to blow, where would you go? SEA is just one area that I'm looking into, mainly because our primary vacation activities are eating and sleeping on the beach.
|
|
#
?
Apr 11, 2012 05:29
|
|
|
Psychobabble posted:our primary vacation activities are eating and sleeping on the beach.
|
|
#
?
Apr 11, 2012 06:01
|
|
|
so uh, this earthquake, huh. Anyone in say, Sri Lanka, or uh. bangladesh or phuket?
|
|
#
?
Apr 11, 2012 11:18
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 24, 2024 14:59 |
|
|
Jesus Christ, I'm due in Indonesia next week for a business trip! EDIT: Looks like no real damage was done. Whew!
|
|
#
?
Apr 11, 2012 12:38
|
|