- Jun 3, 2011
- 13,495
- 2,120
- 126
dude these guys are so big, they each got their own name.
- Jun 3, 2011
- 13,495
- 2,120
- 126
JEDI
Lifer
- Sep 25, 2001
- 30,160
- 3,300
- 126
um.. rule of thumb in far east countries:
stay indoors 10am - 4pm.
it's the tropics of Capricorn.
hot and humid!
- Jun 3, 2011
- 13,495
- 2,120
- 126
you are not wrong.
While i am still here, i'm going to do a small review, having seen enough to get a good idea of what's around.
Bangkok has slight Night City vibes, but not enough to warrant a visit on just that ground.
This was until recently a shanty-town and you can see the enormous, modern buildings shoulder to shoulder with corrugated-steel shacks.
My friend from Buenos Aires asked me if there is as much poverty, and the answer is no, nowhere near. BSAS has hordes of people dumpster-diving at every hour of the day, families on the street, BKK has none of that.
something thats valid for both BKK and Phuket, is that luxury is everywhere. However, luxury is NOT expensive. I have the Four Seasons next to my hotel, and their all-you-can-eat super fancy buffet is $30 per person. Sure, you can find the bar that bumps cocktails to $9 each and beers to $4, but overall the price for the rest of the food is pretty much the same as everywhere else.
Thailand as a whole is unexpensive.
As i arrived at the airport, for $30 i bough a SIM with 30 day unlimited 5G data, AND i am using it for tethering right now without issues.
Wifi is very common everywhere.
The Metro system is initially a bit confusing, but once you figure it out it's very convenient and by far the best way to get around.
im currently paying about $150 for 9 nights in a hotel 30 sec walk to the beach.
My AirBnB in BKK was more or less the same money, $300 for 10 days - mini-apartment all to myself.
Foodwise, Thais are less into eating and more into snacking. Which makes sense with the heat, as you don't really want to eat a full meal then walk out at 2PM.
Street carts selling food are ubiquitous, but again, they are just to grab a bite, they'll sell you ONE chicken wing on a stick.
Thais have no concept of continental breakfast, they eat fried chicken at 7AM.
Starbucks are everywhere and they make lovely, cheap cold drinks.
Taxis are not as scammy as they paint them out to be. Thais in general are not scammy. I only had 1 guy charge me like $9 for a small rack of ribs which im sure was overpriced but, you know, it was one time.
In Phuket you will get tuktuks and taxi constantly asking you "taxi? taxi?" but they are nowhere near as annoying as anywhere else i've been - they will not for example, swarm you and try to touch you.
English is pretty much everywhere. Ofc you should expect the occasional situation where the person does not speak english, but most of the time they will be able to easily communicate. Most signs are also in english.
The city is .. not DIRTY, but it's badly built. Sidewalks are optional. There's power cables everywhere that constantly fry in the rain. Traffic is bad, so forget takin taxis during the day.
Thais are polite and absolutely not aggressive. They do however take their own gooddamn sweet time to fucking do anything. Espresso? that's at least a 5 minute wait.
7-11 are everywhere, and they sell everything you need.
Beer and booze are cheap; they do however have weird OTC sales hours. Bars dont follow these rules, but they do sometimes have no-alcohol days (it's a buddhist thing).
Walking in Bangkok is really difficult. Not only you need to be an experienced jaywalker (e.g. anyone from a non-US country), but the heat and distances will kill you.
I would much rather recommend - if you want to visit Bangkok - to go during the "winter" months. Then you can enjoy what is essentially a much cheaper NYC.
As we said, weed is legal.
NO, it's not 2%. The range is between 18-23% and easily rivals the kindbud you find stateside. Street smoking is still illegal. Cigarette smoking is pretty much confined to smoking areas, most restaurants will allow you to smoke at the table if in the open, but even Patong BEACH has a f* smoking area.
Thais LOVE uniforms. Basically everyone looks like a cop.
If you are going for a beach holiday, i would recommend you skip BKK entirely and just fly into Phuket, or another of the islands.
Rather than a cheap holiday, Thailand looks good for someone that wants to enjoy a upscale holiday .. spa's, massage, fancy hotel, etc .. but then wants to pay much less for those services.
Thai food is nice, but you can also find pretty much every other food within walking distance - kebab, italian, pizza, chinese, BBQ, burgers, etc.
AirCon is everywhere.
I have seen very, very little street vibe. I mean fashion, anything that you could identify as "modern culture". And i dont mean US-culture, but anything at all that you could say "oh yeah this has got to the their equivalent of X culture".
Everyone wears a mask pretty much always. They are NOT mandatory, anywhere except flights.
Helmets are not mandatory on bikes (but they are for non-Thai travel insurance purposes).
Thais tend to dress conservatively in general. I don't mean "repressed", but i couldn't identify any obvious fashion trends.
Did not see a single club. Did not really hear much music.
Thai women are .. kinda meh. Honest, don't come here if you are expecting hot chicks. You want gorgeous women? Go to Jamaica.
Is thailand worth it as a holiday destination? Eh .. yes. There's better, but if you want a non-committal, not risky or adventurous, fairly standard beach holiday, then absolutely yes. This has been an extremely trouble-free experience, which you may well value. If insteasd you are looking for something more extreme .. let's say, you want to smoke every brain cell at your disposal - then Morocco is a better choice. You want to go to the bar and get fucked up drunk every day - go to the caribbean, Cuba, St Domingo, etc. You wanna fuck until you wind up with a limp noodle, Jamaica. Looking to make your nostrils explode? South america. (the top bit, e.g. Costa Rica) or maybe you want to engorge until you bloat - then Europe is a better choice, Spain, Italy, France.
If you want to be in a hotel and have everything taken care for by someone else, and not have to pay ten grand a head for the service, then thailand is a top tier destination.
- Jun 3, 2011
- 13,495
- 2,120
- 126
Would it be your nightmare if you fell for a girl like that and considered her your one true love for eternity?
- Jun 3, 2011
- 13,495
- 2,120
- 126
- Jun 3, 2011
- 13,495
- 2,120
- 126
fucking monsoon, has been pissing down for 3 days straight.
currently packing to head back to bkk then england.
will post big photo thread in a few days.
currently packing to head back to bkk then england.
will post big photo thread in a few days.
- Jun 3, 2011
- 13,495
- 2,120
- 126
JEDI
Lifer
- Sep 25, 2001
- 30,160
- 3,300
- 126
Nice colla
How hot/humid was Bangkok and Phuket?
(I might be there around Halloween 2023)
Nice collage but No pics of street hooker's?
How hot/humid was Bangkok and Phuket?
(I might be there around Halloween 2023)
- Jun 3, 2011
- 13,495
- 2,120
- 126
Surprisingly, Thailand - at least what *I* saw, was not seedy at all. I have see go-go girls, massage girls, but no "obviousky-hookers" girls.
I figure that all the prostitution is centered in Pattaya, which is a city completely separate from Bangkok. Thailand is after all, a Buddhist country with pretty deep moral values.
How hot was it?
Im not sure i can describe it.
I left house at 6:45AM to go walking, by 10:00AM i was seriously considering calling an ambulance.
I had to wait half hour and drink a huge lyches ice smoothie and eat all the ice to even consider start walking again, and even then it was walk 10 minutes - pause 5 minutes.
It's HOT.
Morocco is hotter, but dry. Thailand is choking hot with humidity.
Phuket was much nicer, because of the sea breeze.
- Jun 3, 2011
- 13,495
- 2,120
- 126
To write a simple overview of my 18 day holiday, i would say:
1. Bangkok is kinda like New York. Go for the clubs, restaurants, shopping malls, etc. Go in the winter, because there is no advantage to having hot weather.
It's not pleasant to walk around the city, you'll be taking transport pretty much always and the road traffic is stupid.
It's much cheaper than NYC and you will have a good time.
2. Phuket (Patong beach in my case) is a very relaxed beach holiday, unbelievably cheap, and you should just go, relax, do nothing, eat, swim. Do go when the heat is strong because the water is incredible.
1. Bangkok is kinda like New York. Go for the clubs, restaurants, shopping malls, etc. Go in the winter, because there is no advantage to having hot weather.
It's not pleasant to walk around the city, you'll be taking transport pretty much always and the road traffic is stupid.
It's much cheaper than NYC and you will have a good time.
2. Phuket (Patong beach in my case) is a very relaxed beach holiday, unbelievably cheap, and you should just go, relax, do nothing, eat, swim. Do go when the heat is strong because the water is incredible.
I have a sneaky suspicion that you kept the best pics for yourself
- Jun 3, 2011
- 13,495
- 2,120
- 126
.. i didnt break the law.I have a sneaky suspicion that you kept the best pics for yourself
Not that i have any moral issues with that, but THIS TIME i didnt break the law. All i did was sleep, sweat, drink water and eat. A sip of whisky here and there.
They sell there plastic hip-flask sized bottles of J&B which for some reason i found very appealing, considering that they cost less than if i bought a plastic hip flask, BUT they come full.
I'm gonna be off to Agadir in february (as opposed to anywhere they got cocaine) because i'm saving money to .. get this .. buy a house.
We got areas here that are the equivalent of your Detroid, you can buy a house for $50k. Like, not a shack, a decent house.
- Jun 3, 2011
- 13,495
- 2,120
- 126
eh, not just yet no. Also im not sure you even could buy a house in marocco for that little money. Just doing a little AirBnB. Man i fucking love AirBnB. I know people say shit about it because of the prices, but you need to look at the deals, not at the expensive stuff.
I mean, this is an expensive one, 16 days rent will cost me $600 https://www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/40019920
But i can get a room for 16 days for as little as $300. TOTAL RENT. The flight is $100 round trip.
Yeah ok add a bit of taxes, you probably need to pay extra for luggage, but, where the fuck can you have 20 days of holiday for under a thousand bucks all included.
And hash is practically free in Morocco. The last i know of, it was 30 CENTS OF A US DOLLAR for a gram.
rh71
No Lifer
- Aug 28, 2001
- 52,853
- 1,048
- 126
We went to Thailand for a 1.5 weeks via bus tour around 3 cities (Chaing-Mai, Chaing-Rai, and Bangkok) back in Nov '06. The heat/humidity is certainly the biggest memory I came back with. We couldn't wait to get back on that air-conditioned bus every time. Obviously with a tour bus / guide, it's more touristy stuff and doesn't give you an authentic experience, but we visited many temples, some rice farms, rode an elephant, local entertainment, quick trip to Laos, and had a few days via hotel on our own in Bangkok to wander. I agree the food was nothing special, which was unexpected. I actually got sick after walking through an indoor/outdoor food market which was super tight and crowded. A mask would've been a good thing for sure back then, but unsuspecting. Didn't do Phuket because of the tsunami there only a couple years before. Overall, good to see once, wouldn't go again.
Attachments
Last edited:
TRENDING THREADS
-
Discussion Intel current and future Lakes & Rapids thread- Started by TheF34RChannel
- Replies: 23K
-
Discussion Zen 5 Speculation (EPYC Turin and Strix Point/Granite Ridge - Ryzen 9000)- Started by DisEnchantment
- Replies: 10K
-
Discussion Speculation: Zen 4 (EPYC 4 "Genoa", Ryzen 7000, etc.)- Started by Vattila
- Replies: 13K
-
Discussion Intel Meteor, Arrow, Lunar & Panther Lakes Discussion Threads
- Started by Tigerick
- Replies: 7K
-
Facebook
Twitter