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Anyone going to be in Bangkok for Chinese New Year?
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Jan 3, 2014 17:37
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| # ? May 16, 2024 13:37 |
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I will be! I'll have only been in the region for a few days though so I'll more than likely be a little clueless.
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Jan 3, 2014 22:28
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The girlfriend has decided on Kanchanaburi for a couple of relaxing days. Here we come Tiger sanctuary!
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Jan 4, 2014 06:41
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Be sure not to google Tiger Sanctuary Kanchanaburi before going, heh.
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Jan 4, 2014 08:29
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Is Lub D Siam Square a good choise for sunday - thursday (1.3 - 6.3) stay at Bangkok? I'm looking at their private room with a bathroom, don't really like dorms that much. It's the start of my holiday so im willing to spend a little more so i can relax after working my rear end off. Lets say 900 - 1400 baht per night (flexible) Good access to BTS would be awesome as i'm planning to do some shopping, visit the aquarium, catch a movie in a nice theater etc. I did the tourist thing last time so im not planning doing any of the tourist attractions. Maybe one or two nights of drunken silliness in Khaosan Road. And ill be alone until 6.3 when my friend catches up to me.
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Jan 4, 2014 09:25
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Lub D Siam is pretty good. The Skytrain is literally right outside, and MBK is across the road. Their private rooms - both with and without bathroom - are small but comfortable and well equipped. I like to stay either there or at the nearby Holiday Inn Express. Depends if I want to talk to people or not.
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Jan 4, 2014 09:33
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Cool, thanks! I don't mind chatting as im alone the first part of my trip.
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Jan 4, 2014 09:40
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Barfolemew posted:Cool, thanks! In that case the deck outside the hostel is good for hanging out with a few beers - either bought from the front desk or from the 7-Eleven a few doors down towards MBK. I've met some pretty cool people there. The hostel arranges various events on most nights, though I've never been on one. Also, the private rooms are on the upper levels and there is no elevator.
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Jan 4, 2014 10:21
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Aw man I really missed having geckos in my room. Two of them keep chasing each other around and chirping and I couldn't be more entertained just watching them to pass the time during the hot-as-balls afternoon. Also, found a great Padang food restaurant just around the corner from the place I'm staying for the next three weeks. Southeast Asia 
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Jan 4, 2014 10:48
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Yeah, how's your trip going this time Crono? I didn't realize you were back already. Isn't it the archipelago nations this time? I forget.
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Jan 4, 2014 12:32
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It's strictly Yogyakarta, for now. As part of the SE Asia Studies concentration for my master's, we're given the chance to spend the winter break between semesters with a little immersion studying in the region. I would have gone with Khmer, but the school basically doesn't consider Cambodia important enough to get a professor and teach the classes, so I chose Indonesian. Got in on the first and it's great. I'd been to Jogja before but strictly as a tourist, and it's nice to just sort of aimlessly walk around and build a map in my head of the neighborhood. Good gado-gado here, cheap snacks there, pretty girl at the fruit stand there, etc. We start 4 hrs of class a day on Monday though, so I'm looking forward to that. The other archipelago stuff comes over the summer, when-- assuming I get a security clearance in time-- I'll be working at the embassy in Manila. That one I'm REALLY psyched for, but can't even really think about yet.
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Jan 4, 2014 15:29
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I loved Jogja, a very special city in my heart. Not too big, nothing like Jakarta but still a lot of things to see and do. Loved the nights at La Asmara watching live bands, I hope it's still open. The raven tattoo on my forearm is a graffiti I took a picture of in Jogja, as a souvenir.
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Jan 4, 2014 16:10
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My desire to get out and explore more of the city is running up against my lack of transport. I don't speak enough Indonesian to hop buses around, and just getting a lift from a cyclo or moto-taxi guy defeats my purpose of wandering and exploring-- I wouldn't know where to tell them to go. I am thinking of trying to rent a moto myself but the crazy traffic is giving me a great deal of pause over it and I don't know that I'll overcome it in my time here. What part of Jogja did you frequent, Senso? We're set up just south of the university at UNY, along Jl. Adisucipto (the airport road).
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Jan 4, 2014 16:23
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Allow my mountain biking rear end to introduce the concept of getting a decent entry-level Trek or something.
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Jan 4, 2014 16:52
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CronoGamer posted:What part of Jogja did you frequent, Senso? We're set up just south of the university at UNY, along Jl. Adisucipto (the airport road). Google Maps is making GBS threads itself right now, at least in China. If I remember correctly, I liked the "backpacker" area of Jl. Prawirotaman, nothing original. La Asmara is in that area. Our office was up north, I forget the street. I don't speak Indonesian either but I would pick a taxi, go somewhere I didn't know and then walk around and take pictures of the graffiti and take coffee breaks.
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Jan 4, 2014 17:04
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I had a trek when we were in Cambo, PCorps-issue. Rarely took it around PP but I remember it being doable. I wouldn't buy a bike just for the three weeks, but maybe I'll try to find a place renting them... I'll try to make it over to Prawirotaman next at the very least. Thanks!
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Jan 4, 2014 17:13
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Barfolemew posted:Is Lub D Siam Square a good choise for sunday - thursday (1.3 - 6.3) stay at Bangkok? I'm looking at their private room with a bathroom, don't really like dorms that much. You can also try searching for deals on agoda.com, which is helpful in finding comfy and well-reviewed rooms in the 600ish range, usually with Skytrain access.
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Jan 5, 2014 03:43
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There are also all these weird little guesthouses no one knows about scattered about town that you'll see from the skytrain. For example, up by Thong Lo there's one next to the station as well as a Sawadee Guesthouse branch a few streets up. No reason, heh, just there.
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Jan 5, 2014 07:13
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Two weeks from this moment, I should be in Bangkok, which is pretty exciting. I've got my passport, got my plane ticket, and as I've read I don't need to arrange a visa in advance coming from the U.S. For my itinerary, I have a hotel booked for a couple of nights, then I'll take a local flight to Krabi, get to Ao Nang somehow (probably a bus), and catch a boat over to Railay, where I'll stay three nights, although I'm sure I'll spend time in Ao Nang too, not just Railay. Then back to Bangkok for one night (cue the song  ) and then home. A short trip but all my schedule allows, sadly.Any thoughts on what I should do with my time in Bangkok? I already plan to wander around and eat lots of food. In Railay I'm going to climb and probably do some kayaking, but for Bangkok I don't have any solid ideas. As a side note, my parents are convinced I'm going to get murdered. There was an American who got into a fight at a bar in Ao Nang last summer and got fatally stabbed, it was discussed in this thread...and he happened to be a friend of some of our relatives. Small world. I'm personally not worried, I'm certain that the place I currently live places me in more danger of violence than over there, and I'm also highly unlikely to get myself involved in a bar fight. I'm more worried about flying than anything...
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Jan 5, 2014 08:50
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On Bangkok, if you really want to eat and eat as part of your trip you should probably hit a legit night market or floating (note: nothing floating about them anymore) market. That's the best shot at a wide variety of cuisines. I generally recommend taking bus 556 out to Don Wai Floating Market from just West of the Rama VIII Bridge for floating markets during the day and for night markets it's a tough call because it varies by cuisine you want. Sukhumvit SOi 38 is a bit farangified, but it's accessible and has an okay variety. For a real night market, I'd say Khlong Toey or maybe Huay Kwang/Saphan Kwai - but those two might be a bit tough for a foreign tourist with no Thai language. I dunno. Chinatown's only worthwhile for oddball Chinese foods like straw noodles, but it's good. My personal favorite is my former neighborhood night market at Nonthaburi Pier, which you can get to easily by boat. If you're a little uncertain, there are actually food tours now that you can book, which is not a bad way to see the food culture with a guide, frankly. As for safety, yeah, the guy who got killed broke the cardinal rule in Thailand - never create a conflict around alcohol, women or real estate. He was drunk and shamed the band on stage by screaming at them and refusing to leave until they played his song. Granted, total overreaction by the Thai guys that would be appalling anywhere, but not entirely unpredictable. As well, Southern Thailand is very clannish. Treat people right and they'll take care of you like family, but publicly shame them or rip them off or something and you've got a blood feud on your hands. Finally, just don't play The Eagles, man. Or My Way. Heh. ReindeerF fucked around with this message at 14:35 on Jan 5, 2014 |
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Jan 5, 2014 14:33
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ReindeerF posted:Finally, just don't play The Eagles, man. Or My Way. Heh. The latter extends to most of Southeast Asia, I think. At least in the Philippines, its been known to get people shot.
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Jan 5, 2014 15:56
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MothraAttack posted:You can also try searching for deals on agoda.com, which is helpful in finding comfy and well-reviewed rooms in the 600ish range, usually with Skytrain access. Yup, i did some searching and if i add a little more money and go fom 27 euros per night to 40, i can pretty much have a 4 star hotel with a pool. And if i catch a good deal in agoda, even better. Decisions decisions... Thanks again, i completely forgot that agoda has some awesome deals sometimes, especially in the "low" season, if Bangkok really has one.
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Jan 5, 2014 16:15
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anakha posted:The latter extends to most of Southeast Asia, I think. Never go to La Habana, in Saigon then. Oh god, I'm getting Eagles PTSD!
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Jan 5, 2014 16:28
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I have a couple of different friends that run guesthouses and one thing I found entertaining is that they basically take a 20%-70% hit to list on sites like Agoda, depending on what options they choose for presentation, but if you call up a guesthouse and offer them 80% of their listed rate they're like, "No." I understand why, but it still cracks me up. Obviously if you stay long-term that all changes, but most Agoda stays aren't long-term.
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Jan 5, 2014 16:53
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laterooms.com and booking.com charge a flat 15% of the booking in commission; lastminute.com charge 17.5% plus they make the property charge the booking through a virtual AMEX card which can ramp up another 3%+. I don't know what Agoda charge but having worked in hotels all over the world I can tell you that any property which refuses to take a direct booking for at least ten percent off the list price is run by complete idiots who are going to treat you like absolute scum. Give them a wide berth and find someone who knows how to run a hotel.
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Jan 5, 2014 20:57
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Yeah, it varies greatly by provider and there are a shitload of upsales that go on - like, "Oh, would you like to appear on the front page? That'll cost you 50% of every booking." and so on. For short-term stays in this part of the world, anyway, I find that the reticence to offer a discount is usually either based on high season or based on general intransigence (i.e. "We don't give discounts for short-term stays.") Most people don't think in revenue management terms and most of the small guesthouses and hotels here are, as you know, seriously mom and pop operations. If you've got inventory sitting there unused, sell it for anything above cost unless there's a chance it's going to fowl up a future booking in terms of the duration.
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Jan 5, 2014 21:02
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRqCRMKk2A4&t=54s
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Jan 5, 2014 23:41
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http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/06/world/asia/cambodia-crackdown-on-dissent.html?_r=0 http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-01-06/an-phnom-penh27s-freedom-park-subdued-following-protester-crac/5185984  quote:Phnom Pehn - Freedom Park subdued following crackdown on Cambodian anti-Hun Sen protesters Seems people are calling the last election rigged. Anyone in Cambodia right now? Give us the word on the street? Negative Entropy fucked around with this message at 00:10 on Jan 6, 2014 |
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Jan 6, 2014 00:03
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Heading back home to Tokyo tonight. Do not want.
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Jan 6, 2014 05:19
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Kommando posted:Seems people are calling the last election rigged. Not in PP but the election being rigged is the countrys worst kept secret. People in the cities tend to be reasonably educated (in that they can read and write, speak some English, have enough money to sit around and discuss politics etc) and overwhelmingly appear to support the CNRP. People in the countryside are not as well educated and unfortunately have been convinced and subdued (and in many cases simply paid) to vote CPP. Add to that the election fraud - tens of thousands of votes cast by people who don't actually exist - and Cambodias political system designed to maintain the status quo and the CPP won it, but barely. It's not all black and white of course. The CNRP is a coalition of the opposition parties so their only unified aim is to beat the CPP. The one thing holding them together is their figurehead leader Sam Rainsey, who unfortunately is probably just as corrupt as Hun Sen. The CNRP have refused to take their seats in Parliament (the lower house - the Senates voting system is rigged to the point that anyone but the CPP winning a majority is virtually impossible) and are holding more rallies and marches around the country but particularly in PP. It would seem that both sides are getting restless and looking for a fight. Add the current garment workers strike, which could not have come at a better time for the CNRP, and it's starting to become a bit of a tinderbox. Garment workers currently get paid about US$60/month and want the minimum wage to be raised to US$160/month. The government has offered US$100/month. Unsurprisingly, the CNRP are siding with the garment workers, who appear a bit more militant in their methods. It's hard to tell what direction this will take next. Some are saying Rainseys strategy is to let the protests and rallies continue until the government makes a wrong move and global opinion turns against them, similar to what happened in Thailand. Rainsey doesn't realise however that the rest of the world only cares about Thailand in the sense of, "Maybe we shouldn't go to Thailand this summer" whilst everyone thinks Cambodia is still a land of poverty and landmines and couldn't give a poo poo about it. When someone died in the protests in Bangkok it was front page news on the BBC website; people die in Cambodia and the main stories are about the weather in North America and BitCoin.
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Jan 6, 2014 05:40
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I didn't expect anything less from Hun Sen than what he's done, but I have been surprised by the confluence of popular activism, the scope of it and the harsh response. In prior crackdowns, Hun Sen was cracking down on political enemies threatening his continued leadership of the country, but now he's got a large group of angry people around the country whose land has been seized illegally, he's got large groups of garment workers who have been treated like poo poo in addition to the political enemies and it's really starting to add up to popular pressure instead of just political pressure. The only thing that surprised me about his response, and the responses he's surely greenlit with a nod, are how large-scale they are. He's not rolling grenades into SRP's HQ anymore, now he's got armies of police and military - and various surrogates, of course - physically beating people around the country to keep them in line. As I said in the D&D thread, his promise to rule until 84 or whatever it was looks like it may be coming into question and his hopes to hand over power to his son sound pretty untenable at this point. And, yeah, every election over around here is chock full of vote buying and election rigging and so on - it's the norm. As for how this affects things on the ground, I'm not there, but I'd be shocked if tourists were affected (unless they wander into a protest area at the wrong time, maybe). Still, I'm sure duckmaster and Tytan can speak to that.
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Jan 6, 2014 05:54
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Madd0g11 posted:Heading back home to Tokyo tonight. Do not want. You'll be back, we all do. I just applied for a job in Saigon...
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Jan 6, 2014 06:17
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BANGKOK NEWS NOW There is a Bangkok Shutdown protest planned for next Monday (the 13th), though it mostly targets parts of town that shouldn't affect you if you're not going to Siam Square or Asoke (which many would, normally). Silom and the area around Khao San aren't set to be targeted. That said, this kind of thing could get pretty goofy if it actually comes off, so who knows what all they'll seize. This is the same side (Yellow) that seized and closed the airport a few years ago, stranding my mother and many others here for an extra week or so, so anything could happen. Still, as of right now I haven't read about any plans that would directly gently caress over tourists. Definitely, if you have immigration-related issues that you need to take care of at Bangkok Immigration, do it before next Monday, because getting to that area (Chaengwattana) is already a nightmare and only gets 1,000,000 worse when a few tens of thousands of protesters decide to hang out in the street there. May you live in interesting times, indeed.
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Jan 6, 2014 06:59
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Are the yellows still trying to get their council of elite caretakers in or is this for something different?
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Jan 6, 2014 07:04
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Yeah. The current problem is that they want Yingluck to step down, at minimum, and in the long run they'd like their unelected group of "Good People" to guide the country until such time as the people are ready for a true democracy, which, presumably, is one in which they can win elections while still being so awful and condescending at politics. The guess is that they're trying to trigger an overreaction from the government which causes the military, lead by mostly sympathetic figures, to be forced to intervene  Even if Yingluck steps down, they'll still bitch and bitch until they run out of steam or get their coup, it seems. She's shown no signs of overreacting so far, but there is talk of agents provocateurs wielding stolen weapons who may try to gin up a fury. That is sort of the done thing here when you can't get your street war going on its own terms. Just hand out some M79 grenades and some military or police weapons and have people attack both sides, kill a few plebes, and then... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPfI9oxZuEo Except of course for the part where they've appropriated an anarchist anti-hero based on an anti-royalist figure who was hanged for it as their champion. 
ReindeerF fucked around with this message at 07:25 on Jan 6, 2014 |
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Jan 6, 2014 07:15
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Where are the red shirts in all of this? I presume if the yellows get any of their way, they will descend on the capital in far greater numbers than there currently are. That is my real question with all of this. It seems that there isn't much of an end game unless they get some authoritarian regime and crack down on the red shirts burma style.
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Jan 7, 2014 00:54
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I'm about to leave China and I must say that the Beijing goons were very cool and China isn't so bad! We'll keep the healthy rivalry going though, of course!
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Jan 7, 2014 05:38
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Jan 7, 2014 05:56
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Cheesemaster200 posted:Where are the red shirts in all of this? I presume if the yellows get any of their way, they will descend on the capital in far greater numbers than there currently are. The long-term in terms of the population is, yeah, the people have gotten a taste of self-governance and they're not going to give it up. In terms of the ruling classes, though, it's the new business elite (capitalists tycoons) vs. the old order (knights and nobles). There are big downsides either way, but the old order is going to lose in the end and I just can't see a massive nationwide crackdown. I really don't think the Thai people have it in them to mass-murder their countrymen at the level it would take to suppress a country of nearly 70MM people. Sure, you can get Northeastern Buddhist Laos-descended people ginned up against Southern Malay-descended Muslim people, but you need a pretty big army to pull a Burma - and you need the conditions to motivate them, which don't exist here, in my opinion. Finally, the old order here know that the world will come down on them like a ton of bricks if they ever pull something like that. I mean Thailand was Burma's outlet to the world for decades, they don't want to end up like their now-backward neighbor that everyone thought was going to lead Southeast Asia at the end of WWII. So, I think the answer is that there is no plan. This is the last gasp of a crumbling feudal state as it transitions into a democracy. What happens between point A and point B, though, isn't clear for a variety of reasons involving an inevitable succession as well as Thaksin Shinawatra. ReindeerF fucked around with this message at 07:06 on Jan 7, 2014 |
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Jan 7, 2014 07:04
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| # ? May 16, 2024 13:37 |
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And I thought Malaysia politics were bad (they are).
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Jan 7, 2014 07:32
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