|
Yeah there's tons of diving/snorkelling around Railay - was there last week, and like Shnicker said, lots of dive cruise advertising - just don't expect much of a nightlife on the mainland (Krabi, Ao Nang), even if you say you aren't interested in partying there!
|
#
?
Mar 15, 2010 07:07
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 29, 2024 15:50 |
|
|
Steve. posted:Does anyone have suggestions for good diving islands off the west coast of Thailand? We're as keen to party as we are to dive, but since we can do that on Koh Tao I suspect we'll be more interested in the diving. I'm not a diver either but there are at least a half dozen great dive spots on the Andaman coast. The Similans alone (you stay on Koh Lipe if diving there thanks to a legal loophole that Chinese bungalow operators figured out with the Sea Gypsy people who live there) are one of the world's finest collections of dive sites. I snorkeled off of Lipe one day and saw clown fish and a giant clam and herds of parrotfish and everything else you see on TV. That's without a tank. brendanwor posted:Yeah there's tons of diving/snorkelling around Railay - was there last week, and like Shnicker said, lots of dive cruise advertising - just don't expect much of a nightlife on the mainland (Krabi, Ao Nang), even if you say you aren't interested in partying there! Lack of nightlife is a signature effect of a dive town. If you find a spot with nightlife that usually means the diving can't be all that great, and vice versa. raton fucked around with this message at 09:31 on Mar 15, 2010 |
|
#
?
Mar 15, 2010 09:24
|
|
|
Sheep-Goats posted:Lack of nightlife is a signature effect of a dive town. If you find a spot with nightlife that usually means the diving can't be all that great, and vice versa. Yeah, probably true in general, though IMO the nightlife on Koh Tao is loving great, and seems like I'm not the only one!
|
|
#
?
Mar 15, 2010 09:38
|
|
|
brendanwor posted:Yeah, probably true in general, though IMO the nightlife on Koh Tao is loving great, and seems like I'm not the only one! I hated the nightlife on Koh Tao. My biggest complaint about the place (also it's a little pricey for a Thai island) 
|
|
#
?
Mar 15, 2010 10:15
|
|
|
What are the best islands in Thailand? My best friend and I are flying into Singapore at the end of April and will be working our way north, and so far the only cool place appears to be Ko Tarutao National Marine Park. Everywhere else appears to be uber-developed and swamped in tourists. I don't expect to find any undiscovered wonders in Thailand, but are there some places that are at least less developed than Phuket and Ko Phi Phi? Oh by the way neither of us gives a gently caress about nightlife, we just want cool beaches and jungle and snorkelling.
|
|
#
?
Mar 15, 2010 14:18
|
|
|
I bumped into some red shirts. Didn't know they'd be there so all I had was my 50mm lens :/       Pahonyotin rd, March 15 2010.
|
|
#
?
Mar 15, 2010 15:48
|
|
|
freebooter posted:What are the best islands in Thailand? My best friend and I are flying into Singapore at the end of April and will be working our way north, and so far the only cool place appears to be Ko Tarutao National Marine Park. Everywhere else appears to be uber-developed and swamped in tourists. I think you mean "undeveloped" not "cool." All of the islands are cool. If you want your Robinson Caruso hut in a jungle thing the best thing to do is get in a time machine and go back about 40 years. However, there are still spots on the islands in Thailand that are not very developed at all -- a whole island though, no (apart from some of the totally-jungle places in near Tarutao where there aren't even bungalows). The NE coast of Phangan and the East coast of Chang spring to mind, Koh Lanta maybe also. A good beach is the first thing that gets developed on an island, though, and dive sites are next, so often your most laid back locations on Thai islands don't have the powdery white sand beaches that everyone demands of their Thailand time. What you're asking is "Is there some place that would be a perfect spot to develop in a country full of tourist minded entrepreneurs and a constant supply of tourists that isn't developed and that will be just mine?" Try Micronesia or some place in Indonesia, or maybe even Western Africa. Drawbacks to those may include the expense or fact that the nearest village may be grumpy Muslims instead of cheerful Thais or relative inaccessibility. Some tourists are disappointed that Thailand isn't third world enough for them. Maybe you're one of them. A warning in general then: Thailand ain't a mess of bamboo huts and people hunting monkeys and wearing bones in their noses. PR posted:Thaitaxidriver.jpg raton fucked around with this message at 19:12 on Mar 15, 2010 |
|
#
?
Mar 15, 2010 19:03
|
|
|
Shnicker posted:I don't dive, but I went to Lipe last week and did some snorkeling and the water was amazingly clear. I just came back from Railey two days ago and I didn't do anything of the sort, but it seems like there were quite a few different groups offering diving tours of a bunch of islands in the area. I don't think you could go wrong with Lipe. There are a bunch of islands in that group too. Sheep-Goats posted:I'm not a diver either but there are at least a half dozen great dive spots on the Andaman coast. The Similans alone (you stay on Koh Lipe if diving there thanks to a legal loophole that Chinese bungalow operators figured out with the Sea Gypsy people who live there) are one of the world's finest collections of dive sites. Looks like Koh Lipe is the place to go. I was so close just a few weeks ago (Langkawi) but due to limited time I didn't get to head over for a few days... With regards to diving/partying, I agree. Good diving = average night life, average diving = good night life. I found Koh Tao has an acceptable balance: the further dive sites are actually quite good, and there's always something happening at night. It can be as crazy or as laid back as one wishes, and with a couple of weeks there I'm sure I'd wish for some quiet nocturnal activities at some point... brendanwor posted:Yeah there's tons of diving/snorkelling around Railay - was there last week, and like Shnicker said, lots of dive cruise advertising - just don't expect much of a nightlife on the mainland (Krabi, Ao Nang), even if you say you aren't interested in partying there! Railay, hey? I shall look into it. I know it's a climbing mecca but I had no idea about the underwater action, too. Thanks. Sheep-Goats posted:I hated the nightlife on Koh Tao. My biggest complaint about the place (also it's a little pricey for a Thai island) I didn't mind the night life... it's fairly simple. Beach, bar, music, beer, buckets, random fireworks, and so on. I didn't go anywhere particularly fancy... but the places I went to definitely didn't suck, either! What didn't you like about it? I'm not being critical, just curious. It is a bit pricey, although coming from a place where things are expensive it's still a lot cheaper than living here. I don't mind it - I've been there a few times and have some friends at various dive resorts - so I'll probably keep going back.
|
|
#
?
Mar 17, 2010 02:02
|
|
|
Sheep-Goats posted:Try Micronesia or some place in Indonesia, or maybe even Western Africa. Drawbacks to those may include the expense or fact that the nearest village may be grumpy Muslims instead of cheerful Thais or relative inaccessibility. Re: rural Indonesia is full of grumpy Muslims - not really. The further you go, the more bizarre you become, but I went all sorts of places I didn't expect to be welcome and everyone was really nice even if they did want to touch me. For example, I went to the home village for a religious school that trained some of the Bali bombers and had a great time. I also visited the school and it was no worse than the Catholic school I went to back home, only slightly more politically minded. Basically though, if you go to some village where white people are only seen on TV, you're not going to be in an area where religious grumpiness is common. Fundamentalism is an urban thing in Indonesia. In the sticks people are too poor to afford a religious education and have to get by without it, so the more rural and isolated you go, the less politically religious things get, until you start to hit animism and suchlike. I'd recommend Flores in Indonesia for something closer to untouched. There are some amazing things to see there and the whole island is Catholic, so you can even go to Mass if that floats your boat/you share Sheep-Goats' concern about scary eastern religions.
|
|
#
?
Mar 17, 2010 02:23
|
|
|
I actually had Indonesian housemates for quite a while here in NYC and they're great people. I also had a girlfriend in college who taught English there when she was 19 or something and got stared at in a pretty aggressive way one time and followed home (bare shoulders) and hassled about the fare for the ferry (she'd only kept enough to pay the actual price, not the foreigner-inflated price). I was just trying to be colorful I guess. Re: prices on Koh Tao, yeah, still stunningly cheap if you're coming from the west. I didn't like the nightlife on Tao just because it was so minimal and subdued -- maybe it's just the part of Tao I was on but people really seemed to be concentrating on diving.
|
|
#
?
Mar 17, 2010 03:10
|
|
|
Where on the island were you? Sairee can get crazy at night, particularly Lotus Bar. Ah, Lotus... good times. As I said, it's nothing fancy but there's always a party happening, somewhere, for some reason, and there can be hundreds or even thousands of people on a small stretch of beach. It's definitely not as crowded as Koh Phangan is around full moon parties, but it seems to attract a more mature traveller too. I kind of like it - you're right, there is a tendency for people to concentrate on diving but as both a diver and a partier I like the balance - it's not so diving focused as to be dead at night, and it's not a giant party only destination. I guess that's why I think the people tend to be more mature. Some of the smaller bays/beaches are fairly quiet - I'll probably spend a night or two at one of them during the month I'm planning to stay on Koh Tao.
|
|
#
?
Mar 17, 2010 03:28
|
|
|
Sheep-Goats posted:I actually had Indonesian housemates for quite a while here in NYC and they're great people. I also had a girlfriend in college who taught English there when she was 19 or something and got stared at in a pretty aggressive way one time and followed home (bare shoulders) and hassled about the fare for the ferry (she'd only kept enough to pay the actual price, not the foreigner-inflated price). I was just trying to be colorful I guess. That's cool, I wasn't sure if you were trying to dogwhistle a Muslim=terrorist viewpoint or not. There's certainly some issues with crazy stalkers in Indonesia, thanks to some oldschool ideas about appropriate dating techniques. This stands for girls and guys, but girls tend to get the worst of it. It's not usually an issue for tourists though, because the tolerance threshold isn't usually broken for a few weeks at least. One thing I should have said is that if you don't speak the language, don't go travelling in rural Indonesia on your own. Possibly no one will speak good English and you'll find it hard to find someone who can speak bad English. But basic formal Indonesian isn't hard for English speakers to learn and most locals under 60 or so will have learned it at school and from TV, so you shouldn't have much trouble there if you put the effort in beforehand. You could also hire an interpreter I guess, but I've never tried that. In Indonesia, you can hire someone to do practically anything, and it's rarely expensive.
|
|
#
?
Mar 17, 2010 03:41
|
|
|
Steve. posted:I didn't mind the night life... it's fairly simple. Beach, bar, music, beer, buckets, random fireworks, and so on. I didn't go anywhere particularly fancy... but the places I went to definitely didn't suck, either! What didn't you like about it? I'm not being critical, just curious. Agree! Sheep-Goats posted:Re: prices on Koh Tao, yeah, still stunningly cheap if you're coming from the west. I didn't like the nightlife on Tao just because it was so minimal and subdued -- maybe it's just the part of Tao I was on but people really seemed to be concentrating on diving. Interesting that you thought it was minimal and subdued... Last time I was there, some of the places I've gone to along Sairee eg. Lotus Bar absolutely go off till the early hours. I mean, sure, it's not like the good clubs in BKK, but if you like beach bars, fire twirlers, loud music and lots and lots of alcohol - without being surrounded by disgusting fat eurotourists, gogo girls and hawkers like on Phuket or whatever - then it's awesome. Steve. posted:Where on the island were you? Sairee can get crazy at night, particularly Lotus Bar. Ah, Lotus... good times. Oh man, just noticed this. God drat I have had some good times at Lotus Bar, definitely rates up there with the best of the Thai island clubs/bars IMO. brendanwor fucked around with this message at 07:34 on Mar 17, 2010 |
|
#
?
Mar 17, 2010 04:04
|
|
|
Steve. posted:Where on the island were you? Sairee can get crazy at night, particularly Lotus Bar. Ah, Lotus... good times. I don't remember which beach I was on. Also I don't remember much of a transport system on Koh Tao. On most islands there are songtaew running around the ring road and you can hang out and get a ride eventually, which means if you're not already staying on party beach you can go there and get back if you want to do that. Tao it seemed more like you were on a schedule. Maybe I just didn't figure Koh Tao out well enough.
|
|
#
?
Mar 17, 2010 06:51
|
|
|
Ringo R posted:Pahonyotin rd, March 15 2010. Here's some yellow shirts to balance it out.  November 2008, from the Suvarnabhumi airport. Spent three days there, surrounded by protesters.
|
|
#
?
Mar 17, 2010 14:45
|
|
|
Whoa, you need to tell us more, right now. What did you do those three days? Did they feed you? And "j.jussi"... terve?
|
|
#
?
Mar 17, 2010 16:53
|
|
|
Ringo R posted:I bumped into some red shirts. Didn't know they'd be there so all I had was my 50mm lens :/ Wow, these are some seriously great pics. Love the guy with the flag on the scooter. Like the modern SE asian version of a knight with lance.
|
|
#
?
Mar 18, 2010 00:51
|
|
|
Went to a party in Thonglor last night at a club called Demo. Night was called CMYK, pretty good electro night actually, with a lot of I guess would be pretty rich thais. 300Baht for a Long Island Ice tea but all you need is one to get flattened. But it is pretty hard to party with the locals unless you know a couple. Most actually have pretty english but they are all in their own groups like the same party would be like back home. However, I still think way better then partying on Koh San.
|
|
#
?
Mar 18, 2010 12:23
|
|
|
Steve. posted:I was in Taiwan a few weeks ago and it was awesome! Yay Taiwan! I've only been there twice (once for a month, and then once again for a week) but I love the place and enjoy talking about it and discussing travels there with other people.
|
|
#
?
Mar 19, 2010 19:37
|
|
|
da keebsta knicca posted:Went to a party in Thonglor last night at a club called Demo. Night was called CMYK, pretty good electro night actually, with a lot of I guess would be pretty rich thais. 300Baht for a Long Island Ice tea but all you need is one to get flattened. But it is pretty hard to party with the locals unless you know a couple. Most actually have pretty english but they are all in their own groups like the same party would be like back home. However, I still think way better then partying on Koh San. Yeah I recommended Demo in this thread only a week or so ago. Great club, quite hiso and probably the best dance club I've been to in BKK (for those into their top notch electro and house with spatterings of trance here and there). But it's not a tourist club and it's not like the shitholes on Sukhumvit where merely being a farang is enough to get Thai girls (read: Isaan girls) to talk to you. brendanwor fucked around with this message at 23:04 on Mar 19, 2010 |
|
#
?
Mar 19, 2010 22:58
|
|
|
Favorite part of Cambodia so far is the rich families with Lexus, Hummers, and Land Cruisers. They have the companies name and logo written in huge letters down both sides of the car so the person can be like "Yeah bitch got mine... 'LEXUS' going to take my family to KFC and live the high American life".
|
|
#
?
Mar 21, 2010 12:38
|
|
|
brendanwor posted:Yeah I recommended Demo in this thread only a week or so ago. Great club, quite hiso and probably the best dance club I've been to in BKK (for those into their top notch electro and house with spatterings of trance here and there). But it's not a tourist club and it's not like the shitholes on Sukhumvit where merely being a farang is enough to get Thai girls (read: Isaan girls) to talk to you. I don't really know where to start with this. da keebsta knicca posted:Favorite part of Cambodia so far is the rich families with Lexus, Hummers, and Land Cruisers. They have the companies name and logo written in huge letters down both sides of the car so the person can be like "Yeah bitch got mine... 'LEXUS' going to take my family to KFC and live the high American life". Did KFC push Khmer Fried Chicken out of business, or are the two coexisting?
|
|
#
?
Mar 21, 2010 13:10
|
|
|
Pompous Rhombus posted:I don't really know where to start with this. In what sense? What I said wasn't incorrect. What I was getting at was it's not the kind of place that tourists would go to in the hopes of finding a Thai girl (ie. hooker more than likely).
|
|
#
?
Mar 21, 2010 21:29
|
|
|
brendanwor posted:In what sense? What I said wasn't incorrect. What I was getting at was it's not the kind of place that tourists would go to in the hopes of finding a Thai girl (ie. hooker more than likely). You don't see why someone would take using "Iisaan" as a pejorative to be offensively classist?
|
|
#
?
Mar 21, 2010 21:53
|
|
|
okay, so I'm looking at going to Thailand with a friend in late April/early May. We want to do a padi open water diving course, but we're both studying in China right now, and are fairly strapped for cash. Anyone know of any good diving places that will be relatively cheap? All of the stuff I've found so far seems to run about 300CAD which is a bit much for my budget.
|
|
#
?
Mar 22, 2010 09:37
|
|
|
The courses are 3 days long, usually with a very small crowd (I was on the only person in mine), with a day of training, two from the shore open water dives, and two from a boat. It cost me like 250 american (3 years ago) and honestly, I don't think you will find much cheaper.
|
|
#
?
Mar 22, 2010 11:33
|
|
|
Pompous Rhombus posted:You don't see why someone would take using "Iisaan" as a pejorative to be offensively classist?
|
|
#
?
Mar 23, 2010 03:03
|
|
|
Pompous Rhombus posted:You don't see why someone would take using "Iisaan" as a pejorative to be offensively classist? We both know most Thai prostitutes are from Isaan - I wasn't meaning to imply that everyone from Isaan is a prostitute, however, nor that there's something inherently wrong with being from Isaan! Lien posted:okay, so I'm looking at going to Thailand with a friend in late April/early May. We want to do a padi open water diving course, but we're both studying in China right now, and are fairly strapped for cash. Anyone know of any good diving places that will be relatively cheap? All of the stuff I've found so far seems to run about 300CAD which is a bit much for my budget. Yeah from what I've seen the PADI open water course usually goes for around 10,000B - that's in various places including Samui, Tao, Phuket, Krabi etc, so seems to be pretty much standard
|
|
#
?
Mar 23, 2010 06:53
|
|
|
brendanwor posted:We both know most Thai prostitutes are from Isaan - I wasn't meaning to imply that everyone from Isaan is a prostitute, however, nor that there's something inherently wrong with being from Isaan! You mean the prostitutes servicing farang. There are just as many light skinned passive Thai girls, particularly from the North, working the for-Thais (and usually separate for Japanese / Chinese) brothels and massage parlors. And, of course, the Muslim girls of the South are turning tricks for the Muslim sex tourists crossing the border up from their SE Asian destination of choice -- Malaysia. People often blame the sex industry on the GIs during Vietnam, but Thailand was noted for producing copious ladies of companionship in old rear end Chinese travel logs. The brothels weren't created for GIs, they were re-purposed for GIs, and the darker skinned (eg: less appealing to local men) and more assertive (again, less appealing to local men) Issan girls boomed in value because of that market. The whole Isaan = hooker thing is inaccurate at best. They might be the only ones willing to speak about it (in English) but they hardly have the market cornered. Finally, Isaan girls, hookers or not, are more likely to be open minded and curious than their Central or especially Northern counterparts. Of all Asian countries Thailand is the probably the least jingoistic and the least insular, and among Thais it's the people of Isaan who are the most likely to, say, actually try Indian food or give a poo poo about your political opinions or be interested enough in the world outside of Prathet Thai to go and visit Angkor Wat instead of just hit the casino in Poipet. How valuable that kind of stuff is to you of course depends on you, but for many of us I think those are fairly valuable traits in the people we like to spend time with. Edit: Oh, also if you removed a little of the corruption and reworked where the Chinese derived traders of the 19th and 20th centuries set up their factories I think you'd see a lot of Bangkok girls traveling to Khorat to bed down with the locals rather than the other way around. The poverty in Isaan is, of course, part of the issue. Lien posted:Anyone know of any good diving places that will be relatively cheap? All of the stuff I've found so far seems to run about 300CAD which is a bit much for my budget. Not really going to get much cheaper than that anywhere in the world. raton fucked around with this message at 11:06 on Mar 23, 2010 |
|
#
?
Mar 23, 2010 10:52
|
|
|
All right, thanks guys. If the price is gonna be about the same everywhere, any recommendations on where to go? General consensus is Koh Tao, but from my understanding there's a load of places to choose from. Davy Jones' Locker looks slightly cheaper than a few of the other places, any reviews of that?
|
|
#
?
Mar 23, 2010 12:14
|
|
|
Sheep-Goats posted:Of all Asian countries Thailand is the probably the least jingoistic Agree with the rest of your post but: Whaaaaa? Thailand is nationalist as gently caress.
|
|
#
?
Mar 23, 2010 13:50
|
|
|
Pompous Rhombus posted:Agree with the rest of your post but: Whaaaaa? Thailand is nationalist as gently caress. Nationalism and jigonism are related, certainly, but they're not the same thing. Jigonism is much more extreme and pig-headed -- I'm thinking of the attitude that some Chinese people exhibit about being from that finest race of Han Chinese, or that stink about Japanese people excluding foreigners from their public baths and/or not renting to them without a Japanese intermediary, etc. I don't mind if someone wants to be nationalistic, what I mind is when they let their sentiments interfere with or spoil the lives of the non-nationals in their country. That almost never happens in Thailand (unless you're from a neighboring country I suppose, but that's a little bit different given regional history). As far as countries in Asia that aren't nationalistic as gently caress.... Uh.... Maybe some parts of Indonesia? Maybe? Can I sneak New Guinea in there? raton fucked around with this message at 20:05 on Mar 23, 2010 |
|
#
?
Mar 23, 2010 20:01
|
|
|
Sheep-Goats posted:Nationalism and jigonism are related, certainly, but they're not the same thing. Jigonism is much more extreme and pig-headed -- I'm thinking of the attitude that some Chinese people exhibit about being from that finest race of Han Chinese, or that stink about Japanese people excluding foreigners from their public baths and/or not renting to them without a Japanese intermediary, etc. I don't mind if someone wants to be nationalistic, what I mind is when they let their sentiments interfere with or spoil the lives of the non-nationals in their country. That almost never happens in Thailand (unless you're from a neighboring country I suppose, but that's a little bit different given regional history). Ehh that seems more like inherent racism, not jingoism. I don't think many Asian countries could be considered jingoistic. I forgot to post about my trip to Bangkok. It was fun but it was too hot. I thought I was smart after the first day when I realized everyone was doing stuff in the shade but that didn't help me on day 2. I looked sort of Thai but still people tried to scam me near the Grand Palace (holding a guidebook gives this away). The first guy who tried to scam me was well dressed and told me that the palace had already closed. Then he drew two "free locations" on my map and told me to go there to see stuff. I wasn't going to go to those places but thanked him anyways. As I was walking away sad that I couldn't see the Grand Palace I realized that the guy was a scammer. The only reason I believed him was because he said the Palace had just closed (instead of being closed for the entire day) and since it was late in the afternoon I believed him. Then I realized that the sign he pointed to with the times of the temple had a piece of paper over it with the time (not sure why I didn't realize this right away). Anyways that whole situation kind of irked me since he nearly caused me to miss seeing the Grand Palace because of his stupid scam and the fact that there was a cop pulling out of the side entrance and didn't spot him (obviously bribed or didn't care).
|
|
#
?
Mar 23, 2010 20:47
|
|
|
Sheep-Goats posted:Nationalism and jigonism are related, certainly, but they're not the same thing. Jigonism is much more extreme and pig-headed -- I'm thinking of the attitude that some Chinese people exhibit about being from that finest race of Han Chinese, or that stink about Japanese people excluding foreigners from their public baths and/or not renting to them without a Japanese intermediary, etc. I don't mind if someone wants to be nationalistic, what I mind is when they let their sentiments interfere with or spoil the lives of the non-nationals in their country. That almost never happens in Thailand (unless you're from a neighboring country I suppose, but that's a little bit different given regional history). I see what you're saying but I wouldn't want to be black or Indian living in Thailand either. Or a Muslim living in the southern provinces, for that matter. I don't think Laos and/or Cambodia are terribly nationalistic. In Laos it's definitely an "eh, whatever" kind of attitude. Probably big chunks of Burma too, given how a number of the states are off-limits to foreigners because the minority groups there that want to secede.
|
|
#
?
Mar 23, 2010 21:11
|
|
|
Strong Sauce posted:Anyways that whole situation kind of irked me since he nearly caused me to miss seeing the Grand Palace because of his stupid scam and the fact that there was a cop pulling out of the side entrance and didn't spot him (obviously bribed or didn't care). Those guys are all over the Grand Palace and they always give you the same "Palace is closed go here instead" line. For the cop to arrest them would be like waving flies off of poo poo. I think I visited Wat Pra Kaew twice when I lived in Bangkok and both times I got approached by those guys even though both times I knew exactly where I was going and wasn't obviously a tourist (aside being white, of course). Its kind of like walking down Patpong -- someone's going to try to sell you a fake Rolex whether you're looking for one or not. Still, it is irritating.
|
|
#
?
Mar 23, 2010 21:37
|
|
|
I fell for that scam in Bangkok. It was a well dressed guy coming out of a bank office telling us that it was a "Buddha day in Thailand Buddhist country" so foreigners weren't allowed to go into the Grand Palace until 13:00. Then he got our map, gave us an itinerary with a few temples and told us to get a tuk-tuk for 80 baht. It was nice at first and we got to see some of the stuff we wanted to visit that day, but then the driver took us to a Chinese jewellery followed by an Indian tailor. At that point we told him to gently caress off, we paid him the 80 baht and took a taxi back to the Grand Palace. Right as we got off the taxi we got another guy trying to pull off the same poo poo on us again...
|
|
#
?
Mar 23, 2010 22:50
|
|
|
I don't get this with Thailand. The king is the most sacred thing they have, outside of buddha. They advice you never to talk about him, the entire country is plastered with images of the guy. But at the doorstep of the royal palace people are scamming like it's the national pasttime. We don't give a flying gently caress about our king here in belgium, but if you go stand on his doorstep trying to scam some tourists, you'll get yourself dragged out of there by security/cops within seconds.
|
|
#
?
Mar 23, 2010 23:22
|
|
|
What right do greasy foreigners have to see the royal palace? They must be sent to jewellery and clothing stores immediately! (It's probably an official scam)
|
|
#
?
Mar 23, 2010 23:26
|
|
|
mrfart posted:I don't get this with Thailand. The Royal Palace is ceremonial. No one lives there so far as I know. The King spent most of his time in Hua Hin at a summer palace (constructed by Rama VI or Rama VII, I think - one of the more recent kings). More recently he lives at Siriraj Hospital. In the sense you guys are talking about it's sort of like Buckingham Palace. It's right in the middle of a massive city, it's surrounded by locals and tourists coming and going constantly and there's a lot of chaos. No one scams you inside the Palace walls, but outside is another story. ReindeerF fucked around with this message at 02:09 on Mar 24, 2010 |
|
#
?
Mar 24, 2010 02:05
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 29, 2024 15:50 |
|
|
ReindeerF posted:Well yeah, being that Jean Claude Van Damme is the King of Belgium you would expect more rear end kicking. I am pretty sure the entrance fee for foreigners to get into the Golden Palace is the scam 
|
|
#
?
Mar 24, 2010 02:38
|
|