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Profondo Rosso posted:Whats the dopest national park in south to mid Thailand that's not in the middle of nowhere? Khao Sok is probably the best park in the country and is maybe 2 hours Phuket and Surat Thani, maybe less.
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Jul 23, 2014 13:19
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| # ? May 24, 2024 03:56 |
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Profondo Rosso posted:Whats the dopest national park in south to mid Thailand that's not in the middle of nowhere? I spent a couple of days in Khao Sok a few years ago and I loved it.
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Jul 23, 2014 16:11
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Look at this Thai music blog with English descriptions after you click the albums and song samples geez http://monrakplengthai.blogspot.com/?m=1
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Jul 24, 2014 01:58
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Holy poo poo, that's a goldmine.
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Jul 24, 2014 02:34
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Return trip to Phnom Penh/islands off Snooki booked. Apparently a hotel party at the Plantation's rooftop suite is in the cards. Be there or be square.
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Jul 24, 2014 09:56
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Noice. When is your BITCH rear end going to be there? I'm away on business from August 5th to maybe the 12th or 14th.
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Jul 24, 2014 10:29
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ReindeerF posted:Noice. When is your BITCH rear end going to be there? I'm away on business from August 5th to maybe the 12th or 14th. edit: nevermind Soy Division fucked around with this message at 10:58 on Jul 24, 2014 |
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Jul 24, 2014 10:49
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So Ao Nang is a lot better than Patong, thanks guys. Khao Sok looks amazing, but The official Khao Sok .com website has packages that average $700-$1000 which is way out of our budget. This place looks much more reasonable http://www.khaosok-treehouse.com/tours.html , anyone have any other recommendations for accommodations/tours?
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Jul 24, 2014 11:24
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A glimpse of the majority player in Cambodia tourism and maybe a hint at what you can expect from Cambodia in the next few decades: http://globalceo.com/cambodias-crisis-the-global-land-grab-continues/ ==== Also as of yesterday the Junta has ordered all "parties" on Koh Phangan to stop. Bogans and 20 year old Swedes cry out in dismay, sex pensioners smirk at someone else's fun being ruined as usual, fans of Koh Phangan don't mind so much as the Full Moon Party was easily the shittiest thing about an otherwise great island. ==== Also also the king has publicly approved the Junta's plan for reorganizing Thailand's political system for the next year. The system will feature a 250 person council of sorts appointed by the military. Critics of the Junta and/or the King claim that this system is being set up with a primary goal of completely eliminating Thaksin's political influence. The Junta states that this will be an interim setup to bring an orderly end to the constant protests. raton fucked around with this message at 16:03 on Jul 24, 2014 |
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Jul 24, 2014 12:36
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Thai politics are just plain embarrassing to watch these days. I thought the whole 'council of good people' solution to their ills was just an improvised response when protestors realized they hadn't actually considered what they would replace the government with... Gonna be mad as hell if Chuwit isn't on the council. 
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Jul 25, 2014 00:30
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Sheep-Goats posted:Also as of yesterday the Junta has ordered all "parties" on Koh Phangan to stop. Bogans and 20 year old Swedes cry out in dismay, sex pensioners smirk at someone else's fun being ruined as usual, fans of Koh Phangan don't mind so much as the Full Moon Party was easily the shittiest thing about an otherwise great island.
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Jul 25, 2014 04:26
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Gail Wynand posted:Sounds like this is a bit inaccurate, the only info I was able to find is that FMP is still on, just all the ridiculous half moon/new moon parties are off. It wouldn't surprise me if what I saw on the internet didn't pan out on the island.
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Jul 25, 2014 06:12
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fuckin Cebu Pacific is just the worst goddamned airline. I'm supposed to head out to Dumaguete for a long weekend... it starts to rain right around boarding time this afternoon. So they hold off and make everyone wait so they can check weather again. 40 minutes later "Sorry everyone, the flight is definitely cancelled" (despite the fact it had stopped raining). Went to rebook my flight, they have nothing else this evening and the flight tomorrow morning has been fully booked by other transfers. So I'm at the rear end end of the standby list. So much for my diving trip leaving tomorrow morning. Ridiculously unhelpful in getting things rebooked, the only alternative they had was a city 5-6 hours drive away. gently caress off Cebu Pacific, you stupid lovely worst airline. And then the son of a bitch cab driver who took me back from the airport tried to cheat me by not running the meter. Eat my amoebic poo poo motherfucker, this isn't my first southeast Asian rodeo. You get the same price I always pay.
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Jul 25, 2014 10:40
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Oh hey look who's experiencing The Real Manila.
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Jul 25, 2014 13:14
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Heh, apparently the junta is going to shutter every party on Koh Phangan except Full Moon. You can't make this up.
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Jul 25, 2014 15:43
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No loving way. It's a troll to trum up business. And Khao San still lives!
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Jul 25, 2014 16:04
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Well, in all fairness the Full Moon Party is known to the world as a place for people to take drugs and pass out puking on the beach. Khao san is known to the world as a place for white guys with dreadlocks to buy cheap buckets and puke in The Club while their girlfriends buy overpriced teeshirts with Heidi Klum on them.
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Jul 25, 2014 16:08
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Apparently the junta has banned alcohol on trains now too?
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Jul 25, 2014 18:33
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Gail Wynand posted:Apparently the junta has banned alcohol on trains now too? Okay, now that is going too far.
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Jul 25, 2014 19:44
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Gail Wynand posted:Apparently the junta has banned alcohol on trains now too?
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Jul 26, 2014 01:18
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Gail Wynand posted:About to leave Phnom Penh, had an awesome trip, thanks for all the suggestions. 1) Pai, north of Chiang Mai. It's about a 5 hour bus ride from Chiang Mai or 25 minutes on a 10 seat plane for about $60 which was the best flight I have ever had and can safely assume will be the best I am ever going to have. Absolutely stunning - seriously, I would have paid double just for the view. Pai is very much on the backpacky side of Siem Reap though; it's not "the real Thailand" by any stretch of the imagination but then again what is. Rent motorbikes and explore the countryside then go back and get drunk with 18 year olds. Couple of waterfalls, some bridges over gorges and Kulen Mountain should keep you occupied for a few days. I did about 6 days and wasn't sick of it but was ready to go. And again, gently caress me, that flight. Absolutely amazing. 2) Literally got back from Koh Rong yesterday and can hardly feel my body, formulate words or speech. Our boat stopped twice on Sanloem and it looked quiet and idyllic if that's what you want. Me and two mates went to Koh Rong and you can do the peaceful trekking and beaching stuff if you want or you can party till the early hours (although it's much more chilled out than the Thai islands). Koh Rong was cool but let's just say if I had kids I wouldn't take them anywhere near it. Snooki is an absolute loving dump and best avoided. If you absolutely must go, Serendipity beach if you're an 18-25 year old backpacker, Otres if you're a 25+ year old traveller/tourist and Victory if you're absolute scum. I don't know what Orcehtenual (or whatever its called) is for, presumably rich people.
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Jul 26, 2014 01:53
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retpocileh posted:So Ao Nang is a lot better than Patong, thanks guys. Khao Sok looks amazing, but The official Khao Sok .com website has packages that average $700-$1000 which is way out of our budget. This place looks much more reasonable http://www.khaosok-treehouse.com/tours.html , anyone have any other recommendations for accommodations/tours? I stayed here a few years ago: http://www.khaosokmorningmistresort.com/ They sorted out a cheap two night (I think) trip on to the lake with a bunch of other people from other resorts. I think a lot of the places are kinda the same. It's a nice place, I really want to go back but this time with a few more people. duckmaster posted:1) Pai, north of Chiang Mai. It's about a 5 hour bus ride from Chiang Mai or 25 minutes on a 10 seat plane for about $60 which was the best flight I have ever had and can safely assume will be the best I am ever going to have. Absolutely stunning - seriously, I would have paid double just for the view. Pai is very much on the backpacky side of Siem Reap though; it's not "the real Thailand" by any stretch of the imagination but then again what is. Rent motorbikes and explore the countryside then go back and get drunk with 18 year olds. Couple of waterfalls, some bridges over gorges and Kulen Mountain should keep you occupied for a few days. I did about 6 days and wasn't sick of it but was ready to go. And again, gently caress me, that flight. Absolutely amazing. Yeah, the flight to Pai is pretty awesome. The road from Chiang Mai to Pai is also great - what I would give for my car on that road, although I'd need to be careful about rock slides and buffalo. Does Pai still have an epic live music scene? All I did when I was there a few years ago was watch live music, drink beer, and antagonise all the vegan hippies by eating all of the meat. Mae Hong Son is pretty awesome, too. I took an overnight white water rafting trip from Pai to Mae Hong Son and that was epic. MHS itself is really cool and I thought it had a great vibe. Not as touristy as Pai, but the scenery is amazing, the food is cheap and delicious, the people are great, and I stayed in this awesome little jungle bungalow which was literally a five-to-ten minute walk from the central lake.
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Jul 26, 2014 04:12
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ReindeerF posted:Selling, yes. I still drink a beer on the trains and did today with no problem, but now you need plan ahead.
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Jul 26, 2014 04:50
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If I'm going to visit some friends teaching in Taiwan, I see that I can skip the visa application process as a US citizen with a US passport. It does require no criminal record. On my FBI record, there is an arrest that did not lead to any prosecution. It doesn't show up on any other record (my father tried to get it expunged and the person doing the job for him had difficulty even finding it). That's the only black mark on my record. Would that show up when I went to Taiwan?
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Jul 26, 2014 06:36
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Was it successfully expunged, or not? Does it still show up on your FBI background check? Of course for an arrival visa they won't actually be doing a background check and will probably just ask, so... let your own ethical compass guide you there. If you're planning to move there or something obviously that changes things, but... hailthefish fucked around with this message at 06:54 on Jul 26, 2014 |
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Jul 26, 2014 06:52
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hailthefish posted:Was it successfully expunged, or not? Does it still show up on your FBI background check? No, it was not successfully expunged. Yes, it still shows up on the FBI check. It is only for a tourist trip. Thank you for the information.
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Jul 26, 2014 07:43
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Keep looking for info before you hop on the plane, though. To be on the safe side you could, you know, get a regular tourist visa and just explain the situation. I just don't want your dumb rear end to be at the airport in Taipei getting shoved back on another airplane and being shouted at by Taiwan Immigration while protesting "A person on the internet told me all I had to do was lie!" hailthefish fucked around with this message at 09:33 on Jul 26, 2014 |
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Jul 26, 2014 09:25
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I would be shocked of you got turned away on a stamped arrival in a place like Taiwan as an American. Gail, can't verify the restaurant car yet, but i can ask soon if you need the info.
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Jul 26, 2014 11:11
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ReindeerF posted:I would be shocked of you got turned away on a stamped arrival in a place like Taiwan as an American. quote:Gail, can't verify the restaurant car yet, but i can ask soon if you need the info.
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Jul 26, 2014 11:37
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I'll sort it out for you this week on one of my train trips by taking a beer into the restaurant car and seeing what they do, heh.
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Jul 26, 2014 11:56
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Gail Wynand posted:No big deal, just was thinking about a Thailand train trip soon, and there's no point in long train rides if you can't be lightly buzzed the entire time! It's the only way to survive 10 hours on a train.
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Jul 26, 2014 14:48
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Just had an animated discussion with the friendly lady in the restaurant car. She basically said no beer anywhere on the train. My experience has been of you're discreet they don't care, but she said dining car absolutely not. EDIT: Just had a long and even more animated conversation about this with two very friendly and gay and touchy feely railway police and they were adamant on no beer period. I haven't had an issue yet, but in retrospect maybe best not to take a chance. ReindeerF fucked around with this message at 15:46 on Jul 26, 2014 |
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Jul 26, 2014 15:21
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It's so... cute? Quaint? Misguided? Anyway, it's so hilarious that whoever is now in charge of Thailand thinks alcohol and parties are the cause of their problems.
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Jul 26, 2014 15:48
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A 13-year-old girl was raped and murdered on a train by a railway employee who was drunk (and high on meth) a couple of weeks ago, so I imagine that is why they are being especially stern about booze at the moment.
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Jul 26, 2014 17:23
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Ganguro King posted:A 13-year-old girl was raped and murdered on a train by a railway employee who was drunk (and high on meth) a couple of weeks ago, so I imagine that is why they are being especially stern about booze at the moment. Railway employees were allowed to get shitfaced on the job previously? Seriously bummed about no alcohol on trains though. Sitting in the restaurant car with the windows open going 60 mph across the thai countryside while getting tipsy was one of my favorite ways to travel over there.
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Jul 26, 2014 22:11
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Pai is a 5-hour bus ride? gently caress, I got there in 2 on a motorcycle. 
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Jul 26, 2014 23:14
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Cheesemaster200 posted:Railway employees were allowed to get shitfaced on the job previously? Smeef posted:Pai is a 5-hour bus ride? gently caress, I got there in 2 on a motorcycle.
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Jul 27, 2014 02:16
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Cheesemaster200 posted:Railway employees were allowed to get shitfaced on the job previously?
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Jul 27, 2014 04:47
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It's tough to say with the religious stuff. Like the Christian nutters in America, they have outsized punching weight due to the sympathetic constituency. All the drinking hours and selling alcohol hours and rules about no drinking on temple grounds or in government parks and the laws against abortion and all of that come from this sort of evangelical equivalent here. Their poo poo seems to stick, even if it's not really observed where no one's watching. For example, it actually is really frowned upon to drink at a wat, but if you go to any wat that's like 5 second off the beaten path and out of the light of Bangkokian scrutiny, you'll find people in all four corners drinking, smoking and playing dice, heh. Same with alcohol sales. 7-11 follows the rules, but the Chinese lady next door doesn't give a poo poo. The thing with the train is that it's a rolling piece of government property, so it's tough to say. My guess would be that sales will stay banned in the restaurant car, but you'll be able to bring your own.
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Jul 27, 2014 07:03
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Okay, which one of you didn't tell me you were in Hua Hin? I was out for a batchelorette party last night and some American guy tried to pick me up by talking about Dungeons and Dragons.
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Jul 27, 2014 07:07
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