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Gail Wynand posted:At the airport or before? They want me to email copies. I'm very likely going to just let that reservation expire.
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May 8, 2014 04:47
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That is seriously bizarre. Did you lose the card or something? I've never heard of any airline ever asking for that.
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May 8, 2014 04:48
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It may be some extra security theater after MH370.
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May 8, 2014 05:27
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MothraAttack posted:Yeah Nok Air flights up north are totally fun and worth it. Where you headed in Burma duckmaster? Ready to test a new frontier? I'm going to, er, the main city and the other one with some friends. I literally know nothing about Burma.
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May 8, 2014 06:29
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So for people travelling solo in SEA or living here, I recently got that Tinder dating app and it turns out that it's a really good way to meet people. I know it's meant to be a hookup thing but I've had a few fun dates out of it (sans random hookups) and met some fun people. It seems to be full of people living and/or just travelling through but since it brings up things based on location it seems like it would be pretty fantastic for people travelling through who don't want to just hope they find some people to drink with at a bar or something.
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May 8, 2014 13:43
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Please tell me you've seen something like this. http://humanitariansoftinder.com
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May 8, 2014 18:19
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MrNemo posted:So for people travelling solo in SEA or living here, I recently got that Tinder dating app and it turns out that it's a really good way to meet people. I know it's meant to be a hookup thing but I've had a few fun dates out of it (sans random hookups) and met some fun people. It seems to be full of people living and/or just travelling through but since it brings up things based on location it seems like it would be pretty fantastic for people travelling through who don't want to just hope they find some people to drink with at a bar or something. Every single male goon in this thread clicked your profile to see if you're female. I certainly did, and it was inconclusive. As was your posting history.
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May 8, 2014 21:20
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duckmaster posted:Every single male goon in this thread clicked your profile to see if you're female. Just you buddy.
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May 9, 2014 02:38
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MothraAttack posted:Please tell me you've seen something like this. This is pretty much brilliant.
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May 9, 2014 03:14
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MothraAttack posted:Please tell me you've seen something like this. Also known as: "People I met in Chiang Mai" 
moflika fucked around with this message at 04:15 on May 9, 2014 |
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May 9, 2014 04:12
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Atlas Hugged posted:Just you buddy.
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May 9, 2014 04:15
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duckmaster posted:Every single male goon in this thread clicked your profile to see if you're female. I did not for one instant think that a girl would post something like that.
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May 9, 2014 04:43
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kru posted:This is pretty much brilliant. I'm spoken for, but would love to have had Tinder when I was in Mae Sot just to see what would have popped up.
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May 9, 2014 04:45
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So I'll be in Cambodia for 2 weeks next week for a Thai visa run. My questions are how would you use that time? Ankor Wat is a must, as is Siem Reap. Also, is it easy to get to Chiang Mai from Cambodia?
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May 9, 2014 07:13
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Getting to Chiang Mai from Siem Reap is easy by plane, there are a few daily Air Asia flights. I thought about coming by land but it's a really long trip that only makes sense if you make a few stops on the way.
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May 9, 2014 07:47
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Thanks! I'll head over to their website for prices later! I'm sure avoiding the roads as much as possible is a smart idea.
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May 9, 2014 08:19
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Do you just want to see Cambodia in particular? Laos is closer to Chiang Mai and they issue double entry tourist visas if you plan to stay a minute.
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May 9, 2014 08:20
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On that note, any recommendation on where to go for a visa run from Chiang Mai for a couple of days?
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May 9, 2014 08:24
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If you're border hopping then Mae Sai or Mae Sot and spend a night to get the feel of the place. If you do the latter I can give recommendations, but it's like a six-hour bus ride vs. Mae Sai's four. If you're getting a visa, go to Vientiane.
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May 9, 2014 08:27
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MothraAttack posted:For any Burma nerds like me out there, there's a great handful of Burmese restaurants in the back of the Phra Khanong market in Bangkok. The "Monar" shop offers legit noodles and tea leaf salad (khao sway thoke and lahpet thoke), and just down from it is what appeared to be an ethnic Karen restaurant (look for the red, white and blue flags) with vats of forest curries and stews. I never quite got into Burmese food even though I love indian, thai and chinese. Burmese always seemed like a poorer cousin of Indian and Thai. Maybe I should give it another chance.
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May 9, 2014 08:34
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I've heard it described as a mix of Thai and Indian, but the "worst" of both. It tends to be really oily and heavy on the fish and shrimp paste. You generally can't go wrong with the samosas, noodle dishes or tofu or tea leaf salads, though. Still it's not something I get a craving for too often. Also, Burmese street food in Burma has a sanitary level closer to India than Thailand, so you have to be really judicious. The stuff for sale in Chiang Mai and Bangkok is generally safe.
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May 9, 2014 08:38
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MothraAttack posted:Do you just want to see Cambodia in particular? Laos is closer to Chiang Mai and they issue double entry tourist visas if you plan to stay a minute. Yeah I'd like to see some of Cambodia, heard nothing but good things. Also right next to Koh Kong border so it makes sense.
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May 9, 2014 11:05
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I went to Burma yesterday, for an Andaman Club visa run. The stupid new interpretation of some existing clarification of some reinterpreted and clarified rules means a lot of people are not being allowed to do the 15/30 day overland arrival trick more than three consecutive times, at least at Ranong. Other observations: the drive between Chumphon and Ranong is kinda interesting and rural Thailand is awesome, the Andaman Club is a very weird place with no guests but a million staff and insanely cheap duty free booze, and the night boat back to Koh Tao from Chumphon is very tolerable with a valium to assist with sleep.
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May 9, 2014 12:40
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Alan_Shore posted:Yeah I'd like to see some of Cambodia, heard nothing but good things. Also right next to Koh Kong border so it makes sense. Head down to Kampot and Kep down by the coast and near the Vietnam border. Kep has a nice hiking trail that's maintained by a French guy and you can eat Cambodia's finest crab noodles. Kampot is a nice sleepy town that has tours to Bokor mountain where you can explore the ruins of 1920's French colonial buildings. Rent a bike in Kampot and see the countryside. I rode upstream until I reached a Chinese dam construction site, then later was invited to hang out with a family under their house near the river until the daily downpour ended.
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May 9, 2014 14:16
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Finch! posted:I went to Burma yesterday, for an Andaman Club visa run. The stupid new interpretation of some existing clarification of some reinterpreted and clarified rules means a lot of people are not being allowed to do the 15/30 day overland arrival trick more than three consecutive times, at least at Ranong. Interesting, yeah. There's also a flight from Myeik to BKK now so expect to see lots more touristic development in Burma's Mergui archipelago. I assume this will include diving, although I'm not sure how much of it has been dynamite fished. The beaches look amazing, at least. And yeah, all Thai border crossings with Burma (with maybe the new one near Ayuthaya being the exception) no longer accept more than three consecutive land crossings in your passport. Thai customs at Laos and Cambodia are still apparently accepting it, though. Also second renting a motorbike in Kampot and Kep. Perfect place to learn in SE Asia. I too made it to the dam. Didn't bother to venture into the sad Kampot zoo, but did have a nice beer by the waterfalls.
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May 9, 2014 15:56
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MothraAttack posted:Also second renting a motorbike in Kampot and Kep. Perfect place to learn in SE Asia. I too made it to the dam. Didn't bother to venture into the sad Kampot zoo, but did have a nice beer by the waterfalls. Southern Laos is my nominee for best place to learn to motorbike in SE Asia. I was inspired by Pompous Rombous's photos of his motorbike trip around the Bolaven Plateau back in 2009 or so and finally did it myself for a couple of days three years ago. Good roads and no traffic.
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May 9, 2014 19:03
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MothraAttack posted:Please tell me you've seen something like this. Reminds me of pretty much everyone in Peace Corps
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May 9, 2014 19:57
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Is the joke that white people aren't allowed to take pictures with minorities, or
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May 9, 2014 22:09
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CronoGamer posted:Is the joke that white people aren't allowed to take pictures with minorities, or I thought it was white people using pictures with minorities as a means to get laid.
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May 10, 2014 02:26
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lemonadesweetheart posted:I thought it was white people using pictures with minorities as a means to look superior and then develop self pity when they don't get laid.
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May 10, 2014 03:08
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Like, I get it when it's coupled with pretentious "be the change you want to see in the world" quotations and other dumb bullshit but I think it's stretching it a little to say "this person has a picture with African kids. what a total snob" I mean, I almost never put pictures up on social media as is because I'm lazy, but-- as a former Peace Corps volunteer, so we're clear that I'm biased here-- I think I'd be annoyed if I had pictures with the students I'd taught for two years or the coworkers I had gotten to know over that same time and people dismissed it as "he's trying to look superior and be something he's not".
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May 10, 2014 03:28
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Yeah, I mean some of those pics are completely normal for a traveler or expat. I can imagine the dude with the thing on his head as some NGO worker who just wants a goofy picture. I think more broadly -- and as I say this a now ex-NGO worker in rural Thailand -- it riffs against a part of the development set that really flaunts their image of helping out. Especially in Thailand, for every cool volunteer/worker that's really invested with their children or projects like CronoGamer was in the Peace Corps, you get 5 short-term "voluntourists" that really aren't doing much at best, and at worst just lining the pockets of tour or NGO operators. Add in all the sleazy, sleazy orphanage tourism that goes on from Cambodia to Kampala and it's an easy target to lampoon. But yeah, it really works best when coupled with those quotes or background. Some of this pictures are also just straight-up weird for a dating app.
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May 10, 2014 04:26
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CronoGamer posted:Like, I get it when it's coupled with pretentious "be the change you want to see in the world" quotations and other dumb bullshit but I think it's stretching it a little to say "this person has a picture with African kids. what a total snob" Do you use those pictures as your profile picture on a dating app?
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May 10, 2014 04:42
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There's also this http://gurlgoestoafrica.tumblr.com/  Yeah, you can argue that "It’s great how kids are so colour-blind at that age. They don’t see them as Africans, they just see them as horses." 
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May 10, 2014 04:44
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MothraAttack posted:Yeah, I mean some of those pics are completely normal for a traveler or expat. I can imagine the dude with the thing on his head as some NGO worker who just wants a goofy picture. I think more broadly -- and as I say this a now ex-NGO worker in rural Thailand -- it riffs against a part of the development set that really flaunts their image of helping out. Especially in Thailand, for every cool volunteer/worker that's really invested with their children or projects like CronoGamer was in the Peace Corps, you get 5 short-term "voluntourists" that really aren't doing much at best, and at worst just lining the pockets of tour or NGO operators. Add in all the sleazy, sleazy orphanage tourism that goes on from Cambodia to Kampala and it's an easy target to lampoon. But yeah, it really works best when coupled with those quotes or background. Yeah I mean, I'm not saying all of them are okay... but things like this and like caberham's gurlgoestoafrica link, I think they automatically assume "white person in developing country=target for mockery" and I just don't agree with that. People submit pics to the GGTA tumblr but without any context. I lived in Cambodia for 2 years, spoke decent Khmer, lived with a host family and am putting my host brother through college. But if I uploaded pictures of me with my host cousins, or with the elementary school kids that used to play with my bike or ask me the English names for things, and someone saw that they'd send it in and it would just be assumed that I was one of those insincere voluntourists. ReindeerF has lived in SE Asia for years and years now and has family there, if he had pictures taken there would those be any different? I guess it's just a problem of social media use, and I never upload photos at all so it's not an issue but if someone likes using social media they shouldn't be jeered at for living in a developing country. Again, a lot of these people *are* deserving of mockery I think, but you really can't tell just from one photo and I think it's a kind of reverse snobbery in action. mrg220t posted:Do you use those pictures as your profile picture on a dating app? Well, I don't use dating apps period so we're looking at a different population here... but if I did use Tinder I wouldn't want to have to disregard certain photos just because my friends in them had darker skin than me.
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May 10, 2014 05:52
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CronoGamer posted:I guess it's just a problem of social media use, and I never upload photos at all so it's not an issue but if someone likes using social media they shouldn't be jeered at for living in a developing country. Again, a lot of these people *are* deserving of mockery I think, but you really can't tell just from one photo and I think it's a kind of reverse snobbery in action. Everyone just likes to judge, gently caress the haters. Granted, some groups are much easier to mock compared to others. Peacecorp 2 years? Some guy will probably call bullshit on you being some glorified English Teacher pushing the US agenda. Or that you never carried any longterm skillsets or infrastructure changes. NGO with specialized skill sets? Well that just means over paid foreigner on the field instead of hiring and training local dudes to solve the problems. Businessman creating jobs? Horrible exploiting capitalist! Regular package tour tourist in Phuket? Contributing to an overdevloped tour industry? Backpackers who "like the off beaten track"? Banana pancake eating stingy hippie. So who is actually happy? I guess it depends on whoever is raking in the money. Bangkok airport authority give no fucks about who flies in to their airport paying the airport usage fees. Hostels probably want more younger kids coming in instead of package tourist. Hotels just want the family group. ETC ETC ETC
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May 10, 2014 07:15
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Sure, there's a bit of reverse snobbery. Making fun of these types of pictures is popular among the NGO crowd, but you do get a bit through the looking glass at some point. I think lack of context invites broader judgment. People back home are apt to see all foreigners doing stuff in the developing world abroad as misdirected or silly. As expats I think we all have some stigma to some degree over why we're not living/helping out/doing something useful at home. Edit: fun story about NGO workers -- there's a Mae Sot Facebook group the town's expats use. The comment shitfit that ensued after the town's burger joint had an eating contest was the biggest holier-than-thou dickwaving contest I'd seen online in ages. Then there was another time someone trolled the group by asking where to adopt a "war orphan." Good stuff. MothraAttack fucked around with this message at 08:01 on May 10, 2014 |
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May 10, 2014 07:52
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Yeah I mean, I am definitely being far whinier about this than it merits. It's just a defensive reaction because I know that pictures like some of those easily could have been taken at any number of occasions at school or in the village and I never for once had any conceptions of saving the world one downtrodden developing country at a time. Consider this my "gently caress off, gurlgoestoafrica" post and I'll let it be. there certainly are plenty of over-privileged Westerners traipsing around thinking they're fixing the world. But I see way more of the criticism of such from other foreigners overseas, not from people back home, which is also interesting. Maybe expats are just more jaded.MothraAttack posted:
Expat facebook groups are just the best. Trolling for days.
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May 10, 2014 08:23
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CronoGamer posted:ReindeerF has lived in SE Asia for years and years now and has family there, if he had pictures taken there would those be any different? My favorite kids shot is a photo my friend's brother (volunteer teacher in Cambodia for a year in 2003-2004) took when we went to the Killing Fields outside of Phnom Penh. It's two beaming little Khmer kids in front of mass graves with the sign clearly visible right behind them describing how this is where the children were dumped after they were killed. The whole photo was completely accidental, making it innocently, bur very darkly hilarious. As for the white savior complex stuff, I think if that's your profile pic it's fair game probably. Profile pics are always either A) someone trying to portray themselves or something about them or B) humor/irony. I agree with Chrono's point, actually, that maybe you are totally legit living in that situation and it's normal and that's probably accurate for a lot of them, but it does seems a bit pretentious that it's almost always the white person with the brown children, and not either a daily part of life shot eating with the village or teaching school or an official family portrait. Are all the adults in brown-people-countries dead or something? Heh. I did like the guy who's in his scrubs. That one's much clearer, but as has been said - WTF on a dating app? Is it pulled automatically from FB for people dumb enough to "Connect" or something? CronoGamer posted:Expat facebook groups are just the best. Trolling for days. MothraAttack posted:People back home are apt to see all foreigners doing stuff in the developing world abroad as misdirected or silly. As expats I think we all have some stigma to some degree over why we're not living/helping out/doing something useful at home. For the first couple of years it's treated like you're on some extended vacation. The next couple of years, people start gingerly asking if you're coming home. Finally, they tend to break down into groups who stay in touch like normal and groups who think you're weird, but are still friendly when you're around. ReindeerF fucked around with this message at 09:52 on May 10, 2014 |
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May 10, 2014 09:41
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Came to post this, got caught in the debate and forgot! Anonymize www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/725053-final-crackdown-for-border-runners-new-strict-immigration-regulation-in-force-from-today/ I hate posting anything from ThaiVisa, but I'm lazy today. I love the crackdown threads because of two groups. First, the group who claim that sensible visa laws are "insane" or whatever. Second, the howlers who love to endlessly boast that this (whatever this is) will be the final event that drives all the sex pensioners from Thailand and sinks the economy for good. As if, you know, Nana and Pattaya are keeping the country afloat. ReindeerF fucked around with this message at 10:08 on May 10, 2014 |
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May 10, 2014 09:57
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