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You might be underestimating how fried you're gonna be after that flight.
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Dec 20, 2022 22:35
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Yeah. Looking at your av, I think there is a good chance you are on the east coast. If that is the case, you are looking at 20-24 hours just to get to BKK. Then sitting at an airport for 6 hours to fly another hour then attempt to do the party that night? Seems like a sure way to screw up the start of your trip. The full moon party happens every month, right? So skip it this time and go back again with your timing a little better. Also, looking at your reg date, at the low end you are mid 30s, but more likely late 30s or 40s. Unless you are used to that sort of thing, your body won't like it. Also, the climate change is another thing to considers. So nearly no sleep for nearly 40 hours, a drastic climate change with temps going up 20-30 degrees from what your body is used to plus massive humidity. There's also the real possibility you will make it all the way to your hotel and then pass out for 15 hours and miss the party entirely. I say do it and let us know how it goes.
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Dec 20, 2022 22:43
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We were going to start with a beach anyway before we eat ourselves out of our clothes. just figured I'd try for that and yeah, if we just crash out we crash out. still on a gorgeous beach for a few days. as far as sleep, I work in healthcare. Sleep is a theoretical concept.
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Dec 20, 2022 22:47
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Sounds good. Can I come with you? Been really missing BKK recently. I have a strong feeling I am gonna end up living there at some point.
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Dec 20, 2022 22:54
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Go in April so you can hang out with me, my wife, and my baby. Depending on the timing we could watch the NFL Draft over breakfast!
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Dec 21, 2022 00:28
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C-Euro posted:Go in April so you can hang out with me, my wife, and my baby. Also songkran
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Dec 21, 2022 00:37
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More goons need to move to Bangkok to play Battletech with me.
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Dec 21, 2022 01:05
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Electric Wrigglies posted:Hello thread, I got something a bit unusual. I'm planning a wedding in Vietnam and specifically on a boat in Ha Long Bay. Neither family is from Vietnam, the location chosen as the most viable location for both families to travel to and still be interesting. Just be aware, Ha Long Bay in Dec/Jan is not going to be 30c and sunny. More like 17c and cloudy.
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Dec 21, 2022 03:15
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Atlas Hugged posted:More goons need to move to Bangkok to play Battletech with me. I'm in Singapore, been wanting to play battletech and space hulk again for like 20 years but don't know anyone here into either. Maybe we can meet halfway-ish in KL one day?
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Dec 22, 2022 11:42
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Sooper Gila posted:I'm in Singapore, been wanting to play battletech and space hulk again for like 20 years but don't know anyone here into either. Maybe we can meet halfway-ish in KL one day? If you want to play Space Hulk you'll have to make the trek all the way up here (isn't it like an hour flight?) as I have the 2014 release and it's too heavy to travel. It's also not out of the realm of possibility that I'll pass through Singapore again in a year or so since I have friends there and it's so close.
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Dec 22, 2022 11:44
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How many days would you guys suggest for siem reap/Angkor wat? I was thinking get in, rest, spend two days on the temple complex, get out the fourth day. Is that pushing it? Is it worth an extra day?
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Dec 22, 2022 13:02
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FizFashizzle posted:How many days would you guys suggest for siem reap/Angkor wat? I am about to leave Cambodia (in Singapore Airport now) and was in Siem Reap for 3 days/nights, although unexpectedly. Flew in in the afternoon, rested and went out to Pub Street. Next Day did Floating Village: Warning, this costs an additional $30+. I was fine with it but maybe not for you. I was suppose to do the Angkor Wat sunrise the day after because I thought I would be flying out early the next day but I looked and my flight to Phnom Penh was at 7PM at night so I talked to my driver to switch the Sunrise to the following day. So on my 2nd day he took me all the way up to Banteay Srei, Butterfly Reserve and some temples east of Angkor Wat like Pre Rup. That night I went to sleep early to get up for the sunrise at Angkor Wat. Earlier you go the better position in front of the reflecting pool you get. Beware, people still do not understand how a flash works. After sunrise, we temp left Angkor Wat, went to Bayon Temple and there is a sort of walkway that leads you from the north of that temple that goes to Baphoun, Terrace of the Elephants, and Terrace Of The Leper King (Preah Ponlea Sdach Komlong). First two take a while, last two are relatively quick. We also drove through the Gates surrounding Bayon Temple then went to Ta Keo, and Ta Prohm Temple (this one is unique since trees have grown inside it and has wrapped/destroyed parts of the temple). Finally we looped back to Angkor Wat before my driver took me to the airport. So anyways, if you read all that, my answer to you is I think 2 full days is quite enough. Unless you're super into temples. I thought I was but by the last day a lot of the temples just blur together. I think they're amazing, but you're also dealing with the heat which does beat down on you. If you read back some pages people were saying there's so many temples you could do it for a long number of days. They're right, but also I'm not sure how valuable doing all that is IMO. Again I loved my 3 days there, but I personally don't think you need anymore than 2 full days to get an understanding of Siem Reap temples. My recommendation for you: Angkor Wat, the whole Angkor Thom complex (basically what I did on the 3rd day), you definitely want to check out Ta Prohm Temple and Bayon Temple. Ta Prohm Temple for the trees overrunning the place, Bayon Temple... because of the bas reliefs. I also saw Neak Poun and Preah Khan Temple as well. So basically tell your driver/guide you want to do this area for 2 full days and they should know what to do to get the most out of it for you. But yeah 2 full days gets you a good sense of the temples 3+ days is like the extended edition. Banteay Srei was really cool but its far away so you'll see less if you go there. Edit: Oh yeah one of the factors in switching the Sunrise Day was because of the World Cup Finals. Doubt I could have watched it and rested 2.5 hours to get up at 430am
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Dec 22, 2022 13:53
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Strong Sauce posted:I am about to leave Cambodia (in Singapore Airport now) and was in Siem Reap for 3 days/nights, although unexpectedly. I'm in Siem Reap right now and basically agree with all this. Two days at the temples is enough, I was kind of tired of it after one day tbh.
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Dec 22, 2022 14:14
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Also, great choice on the timing. It's really fresh and chilly in Siem Reap right now, just bring some sun lotion if you are sensitive. Very enjoyable weather. And DM me if you would like the number of a tour guide who is a real history buff and can't wait to tell you all about the various kings and wars and temples. It was definitely a bit much for me at the end.
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Dec 22, 2022 14:35
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FizFashizzle posted:How many days would you guys suggest for siem reap/Angkor wat? Probably not. I live in Cambodia and have been to Angkor a few times.. The first time was just one day, doing one of the Tuk-tuk tours. Then, in the middle of covid when there were no tourists there, I got the seven day pass and spent a two weeks in Siam Reap, going every few days to bike all around the complex and taking tukuk tours of everything that's included in the pass outside of the city. I think doing one of the Sunrise TukTuk Tours is enough. Other than the special few temples - which you see on the tour - almost all of the temples are very same-ish. You'll probably be tired of them after that. Don't get me wrong, I loved it. Taking the time to explore every corner of the places was an amazing experience. However, cramming as many temples as you can see in two days is just not worth it unless you have a particular fascination with the history of the Khmer Empire. JasonV fucked around with this message at 16:21 on Dec 22, 2022 |
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Dec 22, 2022 16:19
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Yeah for me a big part of the joy of Angkor Wat is that it is so big that you can just wander around like an old timey explorer and ruins covered in vines and trees will be sitting there with no-one around to just walk around, poke your head in, have a look around with what takes your fancy, etc. If you try and checkbox it (I have to see this particular building and this under sunrise, and walk this trail to see this) it takes away a lot of the magic that could be had by spending extra time.
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Dec 23, 2022 11:27
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I definitely recommend taking a day to do some free form exploration, yeah. What that looks like is up to you—I rented a bike and pedaled around revisiting places the tuktuk had showed me, taking my time where I wanted it or just enjoying going around the complex.
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Dec 23, 2022 11:32
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the war museum in siem reap is very good if you're into that kind of thing. loads of old tanks and planes etc that you can get right up next to and poke your head in, plus they have free local guides who lived through the various periods of horrific poo poo the country has seen and can give you first hand stories. its largely outdoors so prepare for rain
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Dec 23, 2022 14:23
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We did the mountain bike tour of Ankor when we were there years ago. I think it was always recommended here. It is from a non-profit that supports local schools. It was rare that we saw other people at some of the smaller temples that we went to. https://offtrackcambodia.com/
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Dec 23, 2022 23:07
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how many days would you guys suggest for Hanoi? Want to do the touristy Ha Long Bay thing, want to post in front of the "we shot down John mccain here" memorial, want to eat all the food.
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Jan 1, 2023 00:42
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FizFashizzle posted:how many days would you guys suggest for Hanoi? Depends what you're doing before and after to an extent, but imo 3-4 days in Hanoi and 2-3 in Ha Long Bay would be enough to enjoy both and see/do what you want. Ninh Binh is another touristy but beautiful trip out from Hanoi that you might want to consider if you're planning to spend a bit more time there
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Jan 1, 2023 09:48
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Strong Sauce posted:Hi thread, I will be in Thailand/Cambodia between Dec 3/Dec 20. I eventually plan on crossing the border via Poipet So I guess this is a reason why you shouldn't go to places that are a bit seedy https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/eight-bodies-found-ruins-cambodia-casino-fire-2022-12-30/ quote:POIPET, Cambodia, Dec 30 (Reuters) - Cambodian rescue teams recovered several bodies on Friday from the charred rooms of a casino-hotel where a fire killed at least 27 people a day earlier, with more than 20 people still missing. quote:Chanathip Khokmanee, a provincial official in Sa Kaeo on the Thai side of the border said hospitals there had treated at least 112 people with injuries like burns, broken bones and respiratory problems. ----- Also I caught Covid while over either in Cambodia or my last day in Bangkok. Please consider wearing masks despite the fact that most people in Cambodia (other than service workers) are not.
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Jan 1, 2023 10:44
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Strong Sauce posted:So I guess this is a reason why you shouldn't go to places that are a bit seedy Yeah I saw the fire on the news the other day, really sad stuff. Were you in Poipet at the time?
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Jan 1, 2023 10:56
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webmeister posted:Yeah I saw the fire on the news the other day, really sad stuff. Were you in Poipet at the time? no i've been back to the states for a bit. i realized after posting that i'm probably out of my depth to make any assumptions about the city or the government and it is a pretty big tragedy so i apologize if anyone feels like i was being insensitive.
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Jan 2, 2023 10:55
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Considering SE Asia for a last big travel before kids. Currently looking at 10 days in October this year in either Thailand or Northern Vietnam. We like looking at old stuff, nature, awesome views, good food, museums and a mix of wandering around/soaking up the vibe of a place and going to specific sites. Too old for backpacking but not millionaires. We are coming from the UK and have been to a fair few countries, but our only experience of Asia was the Golden Triangle in India a few years ago. I really disliked Delhi as a place to be (still saw some amazing stuff though) and much preferred Jaipur, if that's useful info. I know this is a big thread so I've been back a few pages - if you've posted anything that might still be relevant in TYOOL 2023 I'm happy to read through post histories. Otherwise, I'm looking generally for input/recommendations to further my thought process. TIA!
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Jan 2, 2023 21:57
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You could do a lot worse than heading to Khao Yai National Park. It's only a couple of hours from Bangkok and you can do guided tours during the day and at night (though the night tour is just from the back of a truck and not on foot for obvious reasons). If you're lucky, you'll get to see actual wild elephants. We missed a herd by literal minutes because we took a pitstop to play with a big rear end scorpion the driver saw in the road, but thems the breaks. The jungle tour was fun but pretty exhausting, so it will depend on how much you enjoy seeing tropical birds, snakes, and monkeys while trying not to stand on anthills. Unfortunately I don't have a lot of concrete details to share because it was my wife's friend who organized our trip there last year. Still, it seems like the kind of thing that is hard to do wrong. There are enough resorts and services that some solid Googling should get you something reliable if no one else in the thread has anything more useful to add. Ayutthaya is also the go-to "see old stuff" place in Thailand. It's the former capital and can be easily reached from Bangkok for a daytrip. For some reason people seem to enjoy the "Ancient Siam" park, but I don't personally get the appeal. It's on the edges of Bangkok and purports to showcase a variety of monuments and historical buildings from around Thailand, but most of them are just recreations and not the original structures themselves. It's convenient I guess, but not exactly authentic. If you like riding bikes, it's a good place to do that though as the intention is you rent a bike and spend the day going from site to site in the park. For food, I like places like W-District in Phra Khanong. It's a good place to sit, have a bunch of beer, and try food from the many vendors. It is an excellent place for vibing.
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Jan 3, 2023 01:02
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It doesn't look like there's a reasonable way to go Khao Yai - Chiang Mai? Considering Bangkok - Khao Yai - Chiang Mai but thinking whether an overnight in the national park would be worthwhile? However, having to go back to Bangkok to leave again feels like it eats precious time. That might just be the nature of travel in the country but I want to make sure I'm not missing something.
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Jan 3, 2023 20:31
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There should be a way to go Khao Yai - Ayutthaya or maybe Lopburi and that would put you back on the north-south transit corridor. You can get on a train or bus to Chiang Mai from there.
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Jan 4, 2023 02:42
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They're planning on building a high speed rail from Bangkok to Chiang Mai but the shortest distance is basically to run roughshod over a bunch of national parks so don't hold your breath on that one.. it won't be within a couple years. Like Pirate Radar said there is a train. If you go from Pak Chong to Ayutthaya it is like a 2-3 hour train ride, then from Ayutthaya to Chiang Mai is nearly 12 hours. NE line is Pak Chong to Ayutthaya, N line is Ayutthaya to Chiang Mai https://www.thairailways.com/time-table.intro.php There are also buses but it's also like a 8-9 hour journey. Didn't bother looking too much into that. Basically the quickest way is to fly. Drive back to Bangkok (2.5 hours) and fly out of Don Mueang Airport (1.5 hours?). ---- Also I want to note, Google does not have the entirety of the country's transportation mapped out. Even the local buses in Bangkok are not completely accurate. I took a local bus from Nana to Chinatown and the stop they listed when I got on was accurate. However on my way back every single 40 NGV went past my stop that Google assured me was a stop for that bus. Bangkok's Bus site with maps uses Yandex and isn't really accurate with GPS spotting. I ended up just walking to MRT Hua Lamphong which took 15 minutes of walking in the heat. Apple Maps isn't any better either. Grab uses them for their Ridesharing and there were times I had to just select a store near my destination to be dropped off at.
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Jan 4, 2023 03:38
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Long train journeys in Thailand are quite nice. You can get a sleeper ticket to Chiang Mai and then that’s the travel taken care of without wasting too much daylight.
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Jan 4, 2023 04:08
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The first class sleeper busses have gotten good, to the point where I probably prefer them to trains.
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Jan 4, 2023 05:37
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Wondering whether we should extend the trip by a couple of days and aim for day trips from Bangkok and Chiang Mai. Where's the current thread favourite for areas of Bangkok to stay for newbies? Sukhumvit, Banglamphu and riverside all seem to have equal numbers of people saying they're The Place To Be.
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Jan 4, 2023 14:44
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Bollock Monkey posted:Wondering whether we should extend the trip by a couple of days and aim for day trips from Bangkok and Chiang Mai. As someone who just did 10 days in Thailand and travelled around a lot in the country while I was there, 10 days is NOT enough if you plan on getting around to a bunch of places. Some things to consider from my experience: - My flight there was delayed by an entire day. This is not uncommon especially if you're flying out in the evening. For a 10+ hour flight, this ends up being a huge chunk of that 10 days - Jet lag - everyone is different in terms of how it affects them but it will likely mess you up considering the length of your trip. Factor it in - Bangkok is a huge, congested city. Even if you plan conservatively for catching trains & flights in and out of the city, you will still likely end up being delayed a fair bit - You will regret spending a lot of your holiday time in transit. It's stressful. The weather is always humid, you're running around constantly, eating crappy meals in a rush, and I promise even if you're in great health, you will end up getting sick - Did I mention getting sick? 10 days is also not enough time because if you catch a case of Something Gnarly, even 2-3 days of stomach woes will cripple your trip. Travelling whilst ill in a foreign country is a miserable experience - Most of the cool temples / ruins / points of interest have very limited daytime hours. So unless you do all your travelling super early in the morning which sucks for obvious reasons and isn't always possible, your travel time will also eat into your ability to visit these sites when they're open. Therefore, if you want to go to a bunch of different cities, I would say minimum 2 weeks, but more realistically 2-3 weeks. Or if you can only do 10 days, then plan things in and around Bangkok only and save the rest for another trip. There's a lot to do and see in the city itself
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Jan 5, 2023 16:30
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Yeah, that's why we figured the 'ideal' itinerary of Bangkok - overnight Khao Yai - Chiang Mai won't be worth it with all the extra to-and-fro for 10 days. We're not hoping to travel round the whole country in 10 days, and are seeing if we can extend to have a bit longer, but would still want to have Bangkok and Chiang Mai as the two legs. The 10 day idea is based on trips to India and Argentina, where we had 3 bases through the trip (Delhi, Agra, Jaipur / Buenos Aires, Iguazu, Salta).
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Jan 5, 2023 18:59
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If you want a calm, relaxing trip, not traveling too much is as good idea. Or you could be an idiot like me and in around 12 days do Phuket, Phi Phi, Krabi, Chiang Mai, and Bangkok  It's not something I would recommend but certainly don't regret doing.
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Jan 5, 2023 21:43
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We just left Bangkok after 5-6 days and managed to squeeze in a day trip to Ayutthaya before leaving, and now we're spending the next several days between Chiang Mai and Phuket, so it's not impossible to hit up a bunch of places if you plan ahead and budget time accordingly. With that said we're definitely coming back to Thailand because I felt like we only scratched the surface here.
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Jan 7, 2023 04:13
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I was a good boy and took the train from bkk to my hostel near dmk, which was entirely painless, even with needing to change trains twice. Of course, i then proceeded to ruin my good boy streak by ordering a car for Krabi to Koh Lanta, but the various shuttle services all seem to use minibuses that are not made for people above 2 metres, so car it is. Also, it is warm. A++ will travel to SEA in winter every year now.
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Jan 10, 2023 15:32
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Enjoy your stay and try the weed while it's still legal.
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Jan 11, 2023 12:42
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What's the status on that? I saw a whole bunch of weed and 420 inspired bar logos on drive to the resort, though I did see something about a minimum age for buying buds being implemented.
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Jan 11, 2023 13:27
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As far as anyone can tell, no one really knows. Given that it's Thailand, it's hard to say how much of the reaction against legal weed is a moral panic or genuine confusion resulting from poor planning. It seems like recreational legalization was "accidental", but it's hard to buy that story, and the ruling party doesn't really seem to give much of a gently caress that it's legal. The opposition party, which is supposedly democratic and progressive, is super against it and wants it rebanned. The Health Minister who advocated for it to be decriminalized admits that recreational use wasn't really part of his plan, but at the same time, new bans would be counterproductive when he wants Thailand to be at the forefront of marijuana medical research. So while he's said that he's not in favor of recreational use, he's also not in favor of re-listing it as a controlled substance. It almost reads like he's trying to save face and to come across as an objective scientist while not actually caring about recreational use at all without being willing to admit he's fine with it. There's been a bunch of ad-hoc regulations since it was legalized. You can't sell online, you can't sell from vending machines (it was amazing how fast these popped up and disappeared, though I'm sure they're still lurking in sketchier areas where the police turn a blind eye, but in my area they're loving gone), you can't sell from a truck (my truck guy is gone too  ), and you can't sell to pregnant women or individuals under 20. That all seems fairly reasonable to me, though it does make it tough to get local weed at a reasonable price. Most shops are selling the high end western varieties and you pay for it.I'm paying about 2k for 3g whenever I go in and that gets me about 15-18 brownies (I don't smoke). I talked to a guy who works at my local weed shop and he thinks it's too late to put the genie back in the bottle. There are now literally thousands of businesses selling weed and telling all of them to close overnight is going to have real economic and political consequences. It seems like Thai people don't give a poo poo about legal weed or put another way, they're perfectly fine with it. The moral panic seems to be centered on two things: 1) A twelve year old was caught smoking weed! 2) Recreational use is more popular than anticipated To the first, I just roll my eyes. How many 12 year olds are stealing their dad's bottle of Sangsom or laokhao or have been sneaking cigarettes. Alcohol is bizarrely regulated here in general, but the odds of an outright ban on recreational use are zero. Cigarettes may go in a few years, but the moral panic just isn't there. It's too much a part of everyday Thai culture. To the second, again, I'm not sure I can take it seriously. It's not like weed wasn't popular when it was illegal: it was just illegal. Weed is awesome. Everyone loves weed. The number of people who have used weed and legit hate it is very small. If you're making it legal, of course people are going to loving use it. So it just seems to me like they're trying to make a mountain out of a molehill. Part of this as well could be tied into Prayuth changing political parties. His deputy PM (another general, and he was acting PM over the summer/fall constitution debate when Prayuth had to step aside temporarily) has taken over as head of his party and my guess is that he doesn't want to upset potential voters. Prayuth has to get people to rally to him and not just go along with the current party, so making a stink about weed could be a way to drive single-issue voters to the polls. I also don't think it's a major concern to him either since his new party isn't the one pushing the moral panic. In any case, the latest news is that they're going to start asking Thais to present ID when they buy marijuana buds so that sales can be tracked by ID number. It's unclear if foreigners will have to do the same. I'd really prefer it not be the case because I don't need my name in a database next to how much weed I'm buying.
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Jan 12, 2023 06:56
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