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If you ever need to fly through LAX into Asia you have my condolences. It's such a lovely airport. Ugh. Even Don mueng is better.
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Jan 15, 2014 08:19
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| # ? Jun 8, 2024 19:09 |
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LAX is a national embarrassment. I still can't believe that's our major Pacific air gateway. Anytime a foreigner days they're flying through LAX I feel duty bound to apologize for my country, heh.
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Jan 15, 2014 09:05
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I haven't been through LAX in about eight years but it wasn't that bad, what has changed? Worst I've ever been in in the US was Logan, it was like being in a stereotypical soviet union style airport in the 80s.
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Jan 15, 2014 09:25
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LAX has like ceiling tiles hanging down, wiring sticking out of the walls, a long-rear end walk from terminal to terminal - there's nothing about it that doesn't scream "we don't give a gently caress." Bradley Terminal, which is a newer terminal, is basically a pile of poo poo that's so poorly laid out you feel like you're camping out for a Star Wars premiere just to clear security and the rest of the place is a mish mash of leftover chairs and tables and things. Even Suvarnabhumi, which, while new, is not one of the world's finest airports, makes LAX look sad. Compare it to some place like HKG or KLIA or, God forbid, Changi, and it's just pathetic. Imagine what some Thai guy thinks when he exits his nice new airport, gets on his A380 and lands in a shithole, heh.
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Jan 15, 2014 09:59
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LAX is the only place security has ever stopped me on suspicion of being a terrorist, though they had decent enough cause. I booked my flight naively thinking an hour would be enough to transfer from an international flight arriving in LAX and then catching a departing domestic flight. Oh boy was that not the case. Worse, my checked baggage had a broken wheel, so I had to literally carry the drat thing. This resulted in my sprinting across an airport in a panic with a giant suitcase in my arms. When it was clear I wasn't a terrorist, they did let me skip the line and make my flight.
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Jan 15, 2014 10:02
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I hate to come in here worrying again but the lady is getting concerned with all the news coverage. Apparently there is now a possible threat of the airport air traffic control tower being shut down. Assuming the flight into BKK goes fine and the tower is shut down while we are there, what are the options for getting back home? Also, how hard will it be to get transportation out of Bangkok?
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Jan 15, 2014 10:10
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Atlas Hugged posted:so I had to literally carry the drat thing. This resulted in my sprinting across an airport in a panic with a giant suitcase in my arms.
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Jan 15, 2014 10:10
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ReindeerF posted:How you pulled a Hurley without yelling DEATH TO AMERICA at the top of your lungs I'll never know. It had to hit you at some point, heh. Who?
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Jan 15, 2014 10:41
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Atlas Hugged posted:Who?
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Jan 15, 2014 10:51
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Senso posted:In Indonesia, connections to the outside world are cheaper than local ones. For example, a 50Mbps line for non-Indonesia might cost you $500 and for the same price you might have 5Mbps for local Indonesian traffic. It's supposedly explained by the poor local infrastructure and all the islands (making cabling difficult, some islands use microwave antennas to transfer traffic I think). Philippines have a similar problem as far as I know. Sort of. The telcos refuse to cooperate, so communication between them runs via hong kong. Dumbest penismeasuring contest ever. l
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Jan 15, 2014 11:46
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Cynic Jester posted:Sort of. The telcos refuse to cooperate, so communication between them runs via hong kong. Dumbest penismeasuring contest ever. l That is priceless.
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Jan 15, 2014 13:26
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dantheman650 posted:Apparently there is now a possible threat of the airport air traffic control tower being shut down. Assuming the flight into BKK goes fine and the tower is shut down while we are there, what are the options for getting back home? You get to extend your stay and blame it on someone else, why would you want to go home?
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Jan 15, 2014 14:13
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Seriously its not like an extra couple days in Bangkok is gonna break the bank. Getting there is the expensive part.
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Jan 15, 2014 16:38
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Is he worried about being in a situation like die hard 2? Where crazy terrorists take over the airport and control towers causing his flight to crash?
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Jan 15, 2014 16:49
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What is the possibility of flights to BKK being blocked/cancelled on Feb 1st? I'm flying in for Chinese New Year and I'm worried our plans will be foiled. I also have to fly internally from Don Meung and I'm worried about not ever reaching the airport if I take a taxi. Otherwise I think it will be pretty interesting to see. Also, hello even more hordes of rude Chinese tourists: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/laos/10572583/Chinas-120mph-railway-arriving-in-Laos.html B-Rad fucked around with this message at 04:00 on Jan 16, 2014 |
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Jan 16, 2014 03:34
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Nobody really knows. These things can escalate very rapidly. I'll be in Bangkok this Saturday and am just hoping things stay calm enough so that I can catch my flight to saigon 4 days later without any problems.
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Jan 16, 2014 04:49
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Anarkii's right about unpredictability. At the moment, there's no threat to the airport, though keep an eye out because many international carriers are canceling and consolidating flights due to substantially lower demand. As for protest seizure of an airport, still seems unlikely, but the protests often block areas near Don Muang, so allow extra time. Suvarnabhumi is unaffected so far. I went riding around the protests at 04:00 at Victory Monument and Ratchaprasong and it's nothing compared to the Reds a few years ago in the same places. My sense is they simply don't have the numbers and support is dropping among the middle class. EDIT: When in Chiang Mai, visit the zoo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEVRXrj_q2I ReindeerF fucked around with this message at 09:47 on Jan 16, 2014 |
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Jan 16, 2014 08:38
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Tomorrow I fly to Bangkok, to travel around SEA for 6 months. As I'll be travelling on my own I'm doing an 8 day guided tour to begin with to help with the culture shock, going around Bangkok, Chiang Mai and then trekking in the northern hills. I finish back in Bangkok. After that the world is my oyster! I can't wait!
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Jan 16, 2014 14:34
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ReindeerF posted:Anarkii's right about unpredictability. At the moment, there's no threat to the airport, though keep an eye out because many international carriers are canceling and consolidating flights due to substantially lower demand. As for protest seizure of an airport, still seems unlikely, but the protests often block areas near Don Muang, so allow extra time. Suvarnabhumi is unaffected so far. I'm flying in to DMK on Sunday and will need to get to the railway station, hopefully with enough time to hit up a Big C; what's the best way to do this considering the current situation?
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Jan 16, 2014 15:22
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The Aguamoose posted:Tomorrow I fly to Bangkok, to travel around SEA for 6 months. As I'll be travelling on my own I'm doing an 8 day guided tour to begin with to help with the culture shock, going around Bangkok, Chiang Mai and then trekking in the northern hills. I finish back in Bangkok. After that the world is my oyster! I can't wait! gently caress a guided tour. Google. Goons. TripAdvisor. And the most important part. Chang. That's a vacation.
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Jan 16, 2014 15:51
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Spiderjelly posted:I'm flying in to DMK on Sunday and will need to get to the railway station, hopefully with enough time to hit up a Big C; what's the best way to do this considering the current situation?
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Jan 16, 2014 19:43
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Anybody know of a reliable way to book traintickets in advance or at least get a good price estimate? The official Thai Railway site isn't being very helpful. Specifically I'm looking for price estimates from Chiang Mai to Bangkok and from Bangkok to Surat Thani.
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Jan 16, 2014 22:37
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Go to any travel agent in Thailand.
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Jan 16, 2014 23:04
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The website is clunky, but still works. And there's no shenanigans too. Unlike Vietnamese travel agents. I'm surprised that LA Thai town is sub par. I miss my super dense east Asia living. The subway is worst than the bts. Bangkok has grown with the subway, bts, and the airport express. But too bad some of the planning is still retarded.
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Jan 17, 2014 03:02
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Villain of the Week posted:Anybody know of a reliable way to book traintickets in advance or at least get a good price estimate? The official Thai Railway site isn't being very helpful. http://www.seat61.com/Thailand.htm I booked with the second agency he listed. They deliver the tickets the day after I arrived in Thailand. They hosed up and didn't send me one ticket for a ferry so I emailed them and 2 hours later a courier dropped off the missing ticket. My trip to Chiang Mai was pleasant but from Surat Thani was terrible. The train was the older style and I was in a top bunk at the end of the carriage. Also I recommend flying. Bangkok Airways is great. You get places quicker. Next time I'm in Thailand it's flights only. Madd0g11 fucked around with this message at 04:22 on Jan 17, 2014 |
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Jan 17, 2014 04:18
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24 hours from now I'll be on the plane on my way to Bangkok. I have a hotel booked, hopefully I can get there from the airport  Going to be in Bangkok from Sunday morning until Tuesday morning, when I'll fly to Krabi, take the bus(?) to Ao Nang, and then skitter out to Railay on a boat. Probably going to bounce back and forth between these two sites until Friday, when I return to Bangkok. Then flying back out of the country just after midnight Sunday morning. Any advice for what to do with two days in Bangkok? My hotel is on Sukhumvit Road and I was just planning to kind of wander around and find interesting things to eat and take pictures of, but I should probably figure out something more specific.
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Jan 17, 2014 04:18
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Sukhumvit Road stretches for like 500kms, but if you booked near Asok like I did (too late to change without losing money) you'll be close to one of the largest protest sites. Having access to BTS + MRT kinda makes up for it but getting there or getting around in a taxi might be difficult.
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Jan 17, 2014 04:29
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 I just checked the protest map and my hotel is at that intersection. Guess I know what I'll be taking photos of! (If this is going to get me killed, someone please let me know before I do it)
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Jan 17, 2014 05:06
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Kylaer posted:(If this is going to get me killed, someone please let me know before I do it) I don't know man, a historically important death in Bangkok for something other than auto-erotic asphyxiation would be kind of cool.
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Jan 17, 2014 06:11
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Yes, take one for the team. BigSuave (P.B.U.H.) did, but no one has since then. It's about time. From Asoke, here's a list of crap you can do from Asoke Intersection without using the BTS: 1) Eat the best pizza in Bangkok at Pala which is underneath the BTS station next to Terminal 21. 2) Go to Terminal 21 and sign your friends up for marketing emails on their giant touchscreen display - send them photos. 3) Eat decent Thai food in a very typical (and oddly, but comfortably secluded) Thai restaurant setting at Suda on Soi 14. Walk across to Hemingway's and have a mojito at the bar afterward. 4) Walk West to Soi 10 and walk around tiny Chuwit Garden Park, which was built by current Minister Chuwit, a famous brothel owner, out of spite after the police bulldozed all his brothels on that spot one night when he refused to sell his land. Take photos, tell this story. 5) Walk West to Soi 11 and have drinks at Cheap Charlie's, a Bangkok institution. Further down Soi 11 are a shitload of Bangkok's most famous bars and clubs. Pretty decent burgers at Firehouse. 6) Walk West to Soi 8, have a beer at WE 4 U and pretend you're at a bar full of old sexpats in Lamai on Samui, because when you look around inside the bar that's what it feels like. 7) Walk West to Soi 4 in the evening or at night. Soi 4 is where Nana Plaza is, a famous sex district. However, everyone should go there and people watch at least once. Ladyboy hookers chasing Middle Eastern tourists, in their white Thawbs and Burqas, pushing strollers while bargirls coo HAANNSSUMMM at fat old Western sex tourists in Chang singlets. If drunk and it's late, eat a Nanaburger. 8) Walk West to Soi 3, the Arab (and a bit African) quarter and have awesome Middle Eastern and Ethiopian food. There's a whole complex between Soi 3 and 5 to wander around. Eat at Shahrazad during the day and evening, it's the most highly renowned locally. Late nights, eat at Nefertiti restaurant (order Fag Lebnani - I swear it's called that). Have Shawarma, hummus and nan at the restaurant next to Bamboo Bar down by Bumrungrad Hospital. 9) Walk West past Nana, under the overpass (stay on the left side of the road - even numbered roads) to Mahathun Plaza. Take a left into the plaza and walk down to La Monita. Best Mexican food in town, maybe in Thailand. Next door is El Osito, a mix of Spanish and other things. Not quite as good, but the Reuben sandwich is excellent (for Thailand). 10) Walk East to Soi 20. Go to Bei Otto. Have German beer, bread and sausages. Best Western sausages in Bangkok. 11) Walk East to Soi 22, go to Titanium Ice Bar and have an Ice Shot in the frozen room surrounded by vomiting Russians and freelance hookers. 12) Walk East to Benjasiri Park, just past Soi 22, around 19:00 and watch the water fountain light and music show. 13) Walk East to Soi 23, enter Soi Cowboy from the back door. Have a drink at the normal looking bar on the corner. People watch. If you want a Hangover II reference, enter Tilak bar (a large gogo) which was where Allen picks up the uzi and accidentally shoots up the bar. Watch old men falling in love with hookers. That's all my free time for now. I missed a ton of poo poo, but that area is basically a giant foreigner ghetto full of bars and restaurants and brothels and shops selling poo poo to tourists. In between are a few streets with things popular among locals and expats. ReindeerF fucked around with this message at 09:28 on Jan 17, 2014 |
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Jan 17, 2014 08:03
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Eating a nanaburger sounds gloriously dirty.
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Jan 17, 2014 10:04
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If a Nanaburger is anything like a Bintaburger... it's kind of like sex on a bun. They just park their little cart outside the bars and let the smell of delicious cooking cheeseburger waft into the bar. Speaking of Bintaburger, I think I'll get one tonight.
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Jan 17, 2014 10:18
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Is Bintaburger the one that also does Philly Cheeseteaks and parks by the bars in the center of old Hua Hin?
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Jan 17, 2014 13:21
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Madd0g11 posted:http://www.seat61.com/Thailand.htm Excellent, thanks a lot!
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Jan 17, 2014 14:09
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gently caress me, I need to open an agency doing this on the side, haha. They're charging a 200 Baht markup per ticket. After expenses you could easily be raking in thousands of Baht a day. All I need is a web site and a guy who speaks Thai on a moto, that's like the entire business, heh. I'm at the drat train station all the time anyway.
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Jan 17, 2014 14:39
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With regards to food, I found this on my last stay in Bangkok: http://www.chefsxp.com/ It's awesome if you're lazy like I am, but also good if you've heard about something delicious and don't want to wander about in the monsoon trying to find it. Or for whatever reason you'd want food to be delivered, I guess. Basically they have menus for 1200-ish places in Bangkok and deliver just about anything to anywhere, and if something isn't available or they can't find you, they call and are surprisingly a) good at English and b) surprisingly good at not doing the typical Thai thing and vaguely indicating there is a problem but not being specific about it. I don't know exactly how it works, all I know is that around 45 minutes after you make an order on their website, some dude on a motorbike delivers it and takes the cost of the food + a 60 baht delivery fee + whatever tip you think is necessary for making old mate battle through mid monsoon traffic because whitey is too precious to go out and do it himself. I had an array of tacos from La Monita and they were surprisingly great.
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Jan 17, 2014 15:33
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Yeah, ChefXP is great if you're stuck in a room working or have a hangover or whatever. The guy who runs it is a pretty aggressive guy. When I moved here everyone ordered through FoodByPhone and they really got their clock cleaned by ChefXP. He lists way more restaurants than he can deliver from if I recall, but he has a shitload and they're pretty good on quality. They once just forgot to bring an order and the guy stuck like 500 Baht in my account for free or something. There's also a Thai one, but I can never remember the name. It lists all the most popular and famous Thai joints and has a shitload of like old school shophouse joints that are famous for noodles. I find that hilarious, because it's like 30 Baht for the noodles and 45 Baht for delivery, heh. Anyway, if you're ordering for the office, probably a good deal.
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Jan 17, 2014 16:26
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I'm finally leaving for my trip tomorrow so have just finished packing my backpack and am rather excited. Stopping in southern India to visit someone for a week first, but will be heading over to BKK next weekend. Really looking forward to seeing what happens for Chinese New Year. Anyone got any advice for what to do when I arrive, beyond "find a bar"? Presumably I should find somewhere to stay first of all... Should I just get a tuktuk from the airport to Khao San rd and see where looks good? Or does anyone have any specific recommendations?
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Jan 17, 2014 20:00
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Think the bkk question has been covered many times already. Really depends on the privacy/budget/comfort/if you want to make travel friends. If it's Chinese New Year, check out China town. There's this place where they make southern Chinese roast pork with a Thai twist. And go buy ringo a beer
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Jan 17, 2014 20:06
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One thing I've noticed in the last few years, and I think MothraAttack stayed there so maybe he can comment, is that the Samsen area (not Samsen Nai where the train station is, the one a couple of kilometers from Khao San in Phra Nakhon) has really turned into what Khao San used to look like. If I were backpacking today I'd probably look there instead. I'm not recommending this place, I just googled it up to give an example of where the area is: http://www.samsensamplace.com/location
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Jan 17, 2014 20:27
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