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lol internet. posted:Get ready to see a lot of hello kitty police officers in Thailand folks! That article is 6 years old 
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Jul 5, 2013 21:58
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eviljelly posted:I often led groups of one (ie one diver plus myself) or two when I worked on Koh Tao. 4 was the biggest group unless there was a bigger group that wanted to be together. Not sure how much smaller you can get How does this group size thing work exactly? I'm curious. On my first trip to Thailand I started with @Koh Tao @Big Blue in a group of six, but this wasn;t consistent throughout the school. One of the instructor girls got 'unfortunate' (according to what my instructors attidude was) and only had two students after the first day. When I made my second SE asia trip I was over at the Gili's at manta's and never ever had a group over 4, sometimes the divemaster went up with the rear end in a top hat that couldn't breath right and was out after 40 minutes and we could stay down with the instructor, sometimes not. Atleast things felt a lot 'looser' comparing to Koh Tao. (Maybe because we were doing advanced?) I learned to recognize the benefit of small groups when I was diving in Bali and we were two and could stay under 60 minutes+. So what's the deal, what are the mechanics behind group size? I understand an instructor might earn more carrying larger groups, but a dive school might earn more carrying smaller (because of greater customer satisfaction?) Can you enlighten this from an insider perspective?
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Jul 5, 2013 22:29
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MrNemo posted:So I've got the chance for a few days holiday coming up in a couple of weeks and want to try diving in Thailand. I know there is at least one goon in this thread out there diving so can I get some recommendations? I seem to recall Ko Tao being mentioned as the place to head for, any recommendations for outfits to dive with there? Or places that would be better to hit up? Koh Tao is a great place to learn but if you're already qualified then there's much better diving around. Having said that, though, I haven't been to the Ang Thong Marine Park or the Chumphon Marine Park before. Sail Rock and Chumphon Pinnacle are the only two dive sites I get out of bed early in the morning for when I'm on Koh Tao. Koh Tao will be in the throes of high season soon. The diving will be good (the whalesharks have come back) and the place will be crowded. I'd dive with Big Blue for a couple of reasons: - I've only ever dived with them on Koh Tao. I've done all my training with them, so they're my default choice. - I don't know of any other schools who regularly visit the aforementioned marine parks. - The location and people are great. It's a hilarious place. - Decent equipment and divemasters. - Dive boats that don't suck. - Longtails that don't suck leave from the beach to the boats moored offshore. No need to drive to the pier or use a longtail that does suck. If all you have is a computer and mask you'll be fine. There's no shortage of rental gear for fun divers. No need for a wetsuit unless you're using it as protection against sharp things rather than thermal protection. That said, there are a bunch of decent dive shops out there. Just avoid Ban's and you'll be fine. Spend a few days wandering about and getting the feel for them before committing, or dive with a few different shops and pick whichever you like the most to dive with again. Easy.  Here's a long video about Koh Tao: http://youtu.be/Ekfdf9Un2Ws The guy who made the above video is affiliated with DJL but if you disregard that I guess the video gives a pretty thorough overview of the island although there are a few other things I'd mention, mostly food related... MothraAttack posted:edit: If you want to spend some cash, it seems like the Andaman side of things is also worth some money. Is this true, dive Goons? An emphatic "yes" from me. The diving over there is fantastic and I really need to go back for more. eviljelly posted:when I worked on Koh Tao. Have you left again? We're constantly playing Koh Tao tag. I'll be back there in a few weeks...
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Jul 6, 2013 04:00
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Morricone posted:That article is 6 years old
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Jul 6, 2013 06:07
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Rojkir posted:How does this group size thing work exactly? I'm curious. On my first trip to Thailand I started with @Koh Tao @Big Blue in a group of six, but this wasn;t consistent throughout the school. One of the instructor girls got 'unfortunate' (according to what my instructors attidude was) and only had two students after the first day. When I made my second SE asia trip I was over at the Gili's at manta's and never ever had a group over 4, sometimes the divemaster went up with the rear end in a top hat that couldn't breath right and was out after 40 minutes and we could stay down with the instructor, sometimes not. Atleast things felt a lot 'looser' comparing to Koh Tao. (Maybe because we were doing advanced?) I learned to recognize the benefit of small groups when I was diving in Bali and we were two and could stay under 60 minutes+. Instructors and Divemasters typically get paid per tank or per session on Koh Tao. For instance, a Divemaster typically gets paid between 100 and 150 baht per tank that a customer. I forget how it worked out for instructors, but basically there's a breakdown of how the money works out per day of the course, roughly. The factory model is to shove as many people in a class as PADI allows - most new students won't know that this is a poo poo way of learning because they won't have any point of reference. Customer satisfaction tends to be lower, yes, but they make up for this by having a fabulous resort and by having an enormous marketing wing. Diving with a factory also sucks because their boats carry so many divers, you will end up seeing a lot more bubbles than fish and the shy fish tend to get chased away. It is possible to luck out at these factories and get in a small class. In my newbie days I went to one of these factories to get my Open Water and Advanced Open Water and managed to have a class consisting of myself and a Divemaster Trainee and an instructor, but that was near low season (end of October). A few dive shops opt to go smaller. The shop where I did my Divemaster training and later worked at, New Way Diving, was one of these. They make a conscious decision to make the groups smaller because their owners and managers know that it's lovely to get your dive cut down significantly because your buddy is a heavy breather; that it's nearly impossible to give individual attention to students when you have big groups; that, especially when you are looking for smaller things, you get a much better diving experience when you have smaller groups (even in 4-packs, it's annoying to have to show an awesome nudibranch in a tiny corner to one person at a time - takes forever). New Way in particular boasts being the first boat out every day, so you have the dive site to 'yourself' (i.e. just the New Way divers) for the first dive, although towards when I left, Coral Grand and Seashell were edging earlier and earlier. The other thing that some dive schools do which I think is pretty smart is to pool the Divemasters' (or Instructors') pay. I pooled my pay with the other main DM at New Way, which meant we logged all our pay together on the same paysheet and then we got paid half each at the end of the pay period. We worked it out between ourselves such that each time we went out was a 'shift', no matter if it was 1 customer or 4, although we tried to even it out a bit so one DM isn't stuck doing all the poo poo work (other criteria: OW or Advanced, morning or afternoon, leading dives or doing scuba reviews, etc). This meant we weren't whining if we 'only' got a 1-pack. Pretty nice for the customers, I think. Any more questions, I'd be happy to field. And yeah, I'm gone from Koh Tao for now... I might come back in the winter!
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Jul 6, 2013 08:31
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Oh, and as for the diving supposedly being not so great on Koh Tao, I gotta defend the island on this one. It's true that Koh Tao is no Sipidan, but the diving is still good, especially considering how easy it is to get there, how low the prices are, and how fun it is to be on the island itself while you're not diving. Finch! said he would only get up early for Chumphon Pinnacle and Sail Rock - I'd definitely add Southwest Pinnacle to that if the conditions are good, and also Green Rock and Twins. And not everyone likes the same kind of diving! Most people (myself included) enjoy seeing big fish or big schools of fish at big dive sites like Chumphon Pinnacle or Southwest Pinnacle, but some divers, especially experienced ones, enjoy or even prefer really taking their time to look for tiny little nudibranchs and such at shallow pretty sites like Twins or White Rock. My most prized find in all my time on Koh Tao was a baby scorpionfish about half the size of my pinky nail: 
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Jul 6, 2013 15:57
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Thanks for the enlightenmend man, I really appreciate it. I'd love it as well if Finch would chip in on this one. As an inexperienced diver (I guess about 20 something dives now, but my log is with my travelling stuff in the basement) I'm just trying to find a frame of reference because my three experiences have been so massively different. After your post I can imagine a good question to ask would be about groupsize? Or would you go more direct and ask for the payment structure of the DM/instructors involved immediately? Do you think there is a quality difference in native dive instructors vs westerns (so I mean diving with a thai outfit in Thailand, or an Indonesian in the Gili's vs your usual bunch of runaway Europeans etc). I'm asking because my most awesome dive has been with indonesians in Bali, while my little mind never contemplated locals as good instructors before. This is probably the little bit of racism that all dive schools that employ westerners tap into, but I'm just curious about your experience with local colleagues. Also, can someone suggest a diving destination aside from Tao or Gili, for some awesome dives plus super nice chilled out island (or town) experience?
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Jul 6, 2013 23:09
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Wouldn't actually mind trying this in Bangkok. Anyone know where it's located? http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/05/hitler-fried-chicken_n_3550351.html Morricone posted:That article is 6 years old
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Jul 7, 2013 04:43
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lol internet. posted:Wouldn't actually mind trying this in Bangkok. Anyone know where it's located? Reminder: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydRxCUZp8Bg Relevant to your interests: http://www.bangkokpost.com/breakingnews/358663/hitler-chicken-off-the-menu (It's in Ubon, not Bangkok, and it doesn't look like that any more) The Hitler is cool thing is probably dead and buried for over a year now if it's getting talked about in a British newspaper. If it ever actually was a thing it was almost certainly because of the video I posted in this post. raton fucked around with this message at 05:24 on Jul 7, 2013 |
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Jul 7, 2013 05:16
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If you need a Hitler fix, there's a nonstop parade of swastika white power shirts and house gates with giant red-and-white swastika and things. I can cook you chicken and scream in limited German if you come through.
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Jul 7, 2013 16:27
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In this random little coffeeshop in Chumphon all of the stools had pictures of a Hitler Kitty that said Heil Kitty. If you're into that sort of thing.
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Jul 7, 2013 16:58
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Hitler sanook mak
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Jul 7, 2013 17:02
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I've had a lot of fun this week posting pictures to facebook of BLACK COCK rice whiskey and sending around a shot of some kind of canned good called "I LIKE VAGGIE."
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Jul 7, 2013 17:04
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No idea about the reliability of "bangkok.coconuts.co", but... seems reasonable? http://bangkok.coconuts.co/2013/07/08/sword-wielding-taxi-diver-charged-killing-american-over-51thb-fare-dispute quote:According to the police, Cherdchai picked up Pilkington near Central Bangna department store and was planning on taking him to his residence in Sukhumvit Soi 85. During the trip the pair encountered a traffic jam and Pilkington become irate. The passenger allegedly yelled at his driver, claimed he had been cheated and then walked away from the cab with the meter displaying a THB51 fare. Is it still knifing when it's a sword? Is it still a sword when it's 18 inches long or when it's a machete? How is a machete capable of knifing? I'M SO CONFUSED
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Jul 8, 2013 05:20
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From what I gather from multiple sources, witnesses have verified there was an argument with the foreigner throwing his coffee at the driver from outside the cab. Obviously the "knife" is on video. So far as I know, the driver is the only source for the 51 baht story. The dead American worked for Caterpillar Thailand, which sounds like a pretty well-paid position, but that hasn't all been verified. The 51 baht part sounds weird because it's such a tiny fare to bother to cheat on and it's about right. It's entirely possible he was some drunk idiot expat package farang who decided to berate the Thai guy, but it's also entirely possible that this Thai guy was hopped up on yabaa or something and lost his poo poo. We don't know yet. What is good advice is to avoid humiliating Thai people in public when possible in all situations. Whatever transpired before, screaming at the taxi driver and throwing coffee at him was not going to end well, even if death weren't part of it. I've had one bizarre encounter with a taxi driver who seemed to get really tired of my friend and I talking drunkenly a lot in his back seat and who pulled over really fast, yelled at us to get out and looked really crazy. My friend speaks fluent Thai and tried to calmly ask what we did, but the guy was bizarrely angry as gently caress. We legitimately were smiling and laughing and hadn't said or done anything to offend him as neither of us are aggressive at all. Anyway, when it was obvious the guy was angry, we did what you do here, which is defuse the situation by walking away. Unless you're under immediate threat of harm in some way, you can almost always walk away as long as you haven't started trouble. When in Rome, and what not. This guy, if he's lived here at all, should have known that and shouldn't have gotten into an altercation. Obviously, killing him was just outrageous, but if the eyewitness reports are accurate, it also wasn't random violence. It was an argument in public that surely could've been avoided. Of course if you are going to humiliate a taxi driver in public, make sure you're a good runner. EDIT: For context of anyone not familiar with the taxi driver deal, in Bangkok the majority of the taxi drivers are basically rural poor people (often farmers on off-season) who come here looking for work. Some of them can be pretty rough, many of them will be relatively uneducated or just unfamiliar with urban norms. Cabs are usually rented, mostly per-day for about 400-500 baht per-day plus fuel. Often, the guy you're talking to, if you can converse with him, will admit that he just arrived last week. It's not uncommon for them to have pretty rough backgrounds and sometimes, if they don't get their fares for the day, they don't eat and they sleep in the taxi. They work very long hours much of the time and it's not uncommon for them to be hopped up a bit on at least Red Bull, if not something more - or sometimes for them to be drunk. The vast majority of taxi experiences I have range from normal to pleasant, but there are a number of these guys on any given day who are primed to snap and if you can avoid being the thing that makes them snap that's a good thing. EDIT EDIT: Dude had lived here for three years, lived with his Thai girlfriend and spoke Thai fluently, reportedly. If I had to guess, based on my experienced here, it may be one of those "I know what the real price is, don't try to rip me off!!!" farang moments gone wrong. I've definitely seen that before. ReindeerF fucked around with this message at 07:21 on Jul 8, 2013 |
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Jul 8, 2013 06:01
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Two loving idiots. Jai yen yen khap CronoGamer posted:Is it still knifing when it's a sword? Is it still a sword when it's 18 inches long or when it's a machete? How is a machete capable of knifing? I'M SO CONFUSED The machete: ladyboy of edged weapons raton fucked around with this message at 06:05 on Jul 8, 2013 |
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Jul 8, 2013 06:01
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Missed dessert chat, but my god khao laam I could eat truckloads of. Must be bought from some rural street vendor on the side of some makeshift rest stop along a highway in the sticks. Best dessert ever I swear they put crack in it or something, its messy gooey heaven. I had some HiSo hotel version of it and it just paled in comparison to the street version. Bamboo tubes of sticky rice 4 lyfe.
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Jul 8, 2013 06:36
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Does anybody have tips for Lombok? I'm looking at spending a few weeks there in September - including the Gili Islands. So far I'm looking at Kuta (Lombok, not Bali) and Gili Trawangan but I have no firm plans...
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Jul 8, 2013 07:51
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ReindeerF posted:From what I gather from multiple sources, witnesses have verified there was an argument with the foreigner throwing his coffee at the driver from outside the cab. Obviously the "knife" is on video. So far as I know, the driver is the only source for the 51 baht story. Yeah, my first take on the situation was that the cabbie drove into a heavy-traffic area just to get the guy to have to pay more and the American called him out on it. Both were completely in the wrong. It's one thing to storm out of a cab when you're fighting over the price if the guy tried to rip you off (although sometimes you need to remember that it's, like, $1.50 that you're arguing over...), but for the American to throw the cup in the cabbies face was so stupidly over the line. not that it warranted execution of course but jesus, how loving dumb and bad at human interaction can a white man in Thailand b... oh, right.
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Jul 8, 2013 09:23
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ReindeerF posted:I've had a lot of fun this week posting pictures to facebook of BLACK COCK rice whiskey and sending around a shot of some kind of canned good called "I LIKE VAGGIE." Give me your FB because this owns
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Jul 8, 2013 14:08
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Finch! posted:Does anybody have tips for Lombok? I'm looking at spending a few weeks there in September - including the Gili Islands. I'd really recommend Gili Air over Trawangan. They're pretty much the same in terms of amenities and such, but Trawangan is sort of a tourist cattle-car and Air is much less crammed full. Both of them have terrible beaches, very cheap (legitimate) dive shops and great restaurants, but Trawangan's in an awkward position where it's too crowded to be particularly relaxing but also too small to support things that benefit from crowds (like clubs).
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Jul 8, 2013 17:01
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I agree and just as I was typing this came along in my fb feed: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10200703978696582&set=vb.1074862558&type=2&theater
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Jul 8, 2013 21:24
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Tomato Soup posted:
I'm actually just about to get on to the embassy to try sort this out. Does anyone know how much a Vietnam land crossing visa costs? Could save me the hassel of a long international call. I have a feeling that Korean travel agents are trying to rip me off.
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Jul 9, 2013 02:47
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Vietnam Visa
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IIRC it's technically $35 but works out to about $50-60 after the bureaucratic fees. It's worth taking one of the tourist minibuses if you're not driving yourself, it's a lot less of a headache (pretty much any guesthouse desk worker can set it up for you and it usually involves them taking care of the visa too).
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Jul 9, 2013 02:58
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That's not too bad thanks. Any idea of how long it takes? I'll be in Siem Reap then PP for maybe 3 days each. I assume that's more than enough time?
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Jul 9, 2013 03:03
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MothraAttack posted:Other dive Goons, what's the consensus on Koh Phangan? We went to Sail Rock three times and loved it, and had much smaller groups than you might get at Koh Tao. Of course, that's the Koh Phangan divemaster perspective. What's up? Okay, so I've been to Koh Phangan and Koh Tao and went diving at both and honestly the place where I had a WAY better time was actually Ko Lipe in the Andaman. Ko Lipe is absolutely surrounded by islands which all have absolutely no developmen8t and have just amazing waters full of bright marine life. In fact, in many circumstances you don't even have to dive but you can snorkel, and a full-day tour can be had for very reasonable prices. Just my experience. edit: also, I've just moved to HCMC and I expect to be here for quite some time. So I guess I'll be chilling in this thread occasionally 8) ReindeerF posted:I've had a lot of fun this week posting pictures to facebook of BLACK COCK rice whiskey and sending around a shot of some kind of canned good called "I LIKE VAGGIE." Yeah I think a rite of passage for anyone going to Thailand. Jesus that stuff is absolute poo poo, that strong chemical black licorice flavor is gag-worthy and its probably half the price of anything else available, for good reason Play fucked around with this message at 05:10 on Jul 9, 2013 |
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Jul 9, 2013 05:00
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duralict posted:I'd really recommend Gili Air over Trawangan. They're pretty much the same in terms of amenities and such, but Trawangan is sort of a tourist cattle-car and Air is much less crammed full. Both of them have terrible beaches, very cheap (legitimate) dive shops and great restaurants, but Trawangan's in an awkward position where it's too crowded to be particularly relaxing but also too small to support things that benefit from crowds (like clubs). Awesome, thanks. I'm not really sold on any of the Gili's - I was only really considering Trawangan because some Koh Tao friends like it. The more I look into Lombok, the nicer it sounds. Should be an interesting couple of weeks.
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Jul 9, 2013 05:47
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Play posted:edit: also, I've just moved to HCMC and I expect to be here for quite some time. So I guess I'll be chilling in this thread occasionally 8)  
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Jul 9, 2013 05:57
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Brimmy posted:That's not too bad thanks. Any idea of how long it takes? I'll be in Siem Reap then PP for maybe 3 days each. I assume that's more than enough time? You should be fine, as long as you're not there during a holiday or something. I was only in Phnom Penh for three days too. But you should probably go through an agent of some variety (like your guesthouse), they churn those visas out like clockwork and you don't have to do anything but remember to pick up your passport. Dealing with embassy staff is considerably less smooth.
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Jul 9, 2013 05:58
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For whatever reason, Phnom Penh is particularly notable about not dealing directly with embassies. I've never figured out if the embassies aren't well-staffed or if it's just the corruption money trail that keeps it this way, but it's the only city I've been to where not only do people not go to the embassy for visas, the embassy staff can even openly discourage you if you try.
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Jul 9, 2013 06:40
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I've never been to Thailand, but this is pretty much what I picture: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u53KuVU2tXM
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Jul 9, 2013 07:30
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Brimmy posted:I'm actually just about to get on to the embassy to try sort this out. Does anyone know how much a Vietnam land crossing visa costs? Could save me the hassel of a long international call. I have a feeling that Korean travel agents are trying to rip me off. Every embassy/consulate quotes their own price. It's kind of embarrassing that they don't have prices posted anywhere online. So you might luck out and the embassy quotes a cheap price but if they don't really want to deal with a tourist, they might quote a higher price. The reason why I recommend agents is that you know exactly what you're going to pay and don't have to risk the odds. I tried calling the SF consulate and they flat out refused to quote a price over the phone so I just went with the VoA instead of going in person for a price quote.
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Jul 9, 2013 08:23
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Bloodnose posted:I've never been to Thailand, but this is pretty much what I picture: I've gone back and looked at THAI Airways advertisements from the 1970s and 1980s and the major difference between then and today, aside from design quality and production clarity, is that now everyone has pancaked on white makeup over white skin and more Chinese-influenced features. 99% of the country itself still looks like the the old ads, of course. Then. Now. Then. Now.
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Jul 9, 2013 08:36
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Anyone looking for a job in Bangkok?
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Jul 9, 2013 11:00
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Ugh douche chills. Really sad in a pathetic way, especially how he starts it off with an apology. I'm sure he thinks he's not being creepy by being all "NO FUNNY STUFF!!" but ugh.
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Jul 9, 2013 11:27
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The month of Ramadan just started and it means no street vendors are out during the day. I'm going to have to feed myself for a month.  Maybe I will go a whole month without getting the shits. Is such a thing even possible?
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Jul 9, 2013 11:44
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CronoGamer posted:Ugh douche chills. Really sad in a pathetic way, especially how he starts it off with an apology. I'm sure he thinks he's not being creepy by being all "NO FUNNY STUFF!!" but ugh. SurreptitiousMuffin posted:The month of Ramadan just started and it means no street vendors are out during the day. I'm going to have to feed myself for a month. :crickets: ReindeerF fucked around with this message at 12:14 on Jul 9, 2013 |
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Jul 9, 2013 12:08
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SurreptitiousMuffin posted:The month of Ramadan just started and it means no street vendors are out during the day. I'm going to have to feed myself for a month. Where are you? I didn't think Ramadan was so restrictive anywhere in south east Asia and I live in Malaysia.
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Jul 9, 2013 12:17
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lemonadesweetheart posted:Where are you? I didn't think Ramadan was so restrictive anywhere in south east Asia and I live in Malaysia. I'd guess Indonesia. They can get pretty serious about it, at least on Java.
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Jul 9, 2013 12:19
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lemonadesweetheart posted:Where are you? I didn't think Ramadan was so restrictive anywhere in south east Asia and I live in Malaysia.
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Jul 9, 2013 12:20
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