Going to Thailand....

[Pagal4321]

Heading to Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Ko Samui all in a 2 week span.

Anybody got any can't miss things to do or see?

[doozwimp]

Sweet. I'll be going there around april or march. In the same boat as I'm not really sure what to expect from the country but I've heard it has a lot to offer. Here is a list of things to do in Thailand that I found. I want to check out muay thai kickboxing for sure.

http://www.worldtravelguide.net/coun.../Thailand.html

[Bring_Back_Shantz]

Originally Posted by doozwimp

Sweet. I'll be going there around april or march. In the same boat as I'm not really sure what to expect from the country but I've heard it has a lot to offer. Here is a list of things to do in Thailand that I found. I want to check out muay thai kickboxing for sure.

http://www.worldtravelguide.net/coun.../Thailand.html

If you're going to check out REAL kickboxing make sure you go to one of the arenas in Bangkok, or Chiang Mai.
I went to a really awesome arean in Chiang Mai and saw some great events.

DO NOT bother watching the "Kickboxing" you'll see on exibition at a lot of bars around Bangkok or Rayong. It's entertaining, but it's totally staged.

[BlackEleven]

Go see the ping pong girls ...

[return to the red]

Originally Posted by BlackEleven

Go see the ping pong girls ...

or the girls with the turtles

[Bring_Back_Shantz]

Originally Posted by BlackEleven

Go see the ping pong girls ...

Dude, trust me, the ping pong portion of the show was the TAMEST part.

[DementedReality]

Originally Posted by Bring_Back_Shantz

Dude, trust me, the ping pong portion of the show was the TAMEST part.

well i had no idea what Walking Street in Pattaya was. uh, lets just say i am still scarred.

google Pattaya.

[coaster]

If they haven't demolished the building, Muay Thai boxing at Lumpini stadium in Bangkok was a highlight for me. It was slated for demo in 05 but was still going in 07 when I was there.
Do not waste your money on the boxing in Ko Samui. Just horrible, mostly due to the mismatches.
Here is a handy thai phrase you might want to use. Nit noy pet (sp) It means not too spicy.
You are going to love Thailand
Sawadee

[Magnum PEI]

Be careful with Beer Chang. It claims to be 6.5 percent, but I think that's more of an estimate.

[Old Yeller]

Originally Posted by Pagal4321

Heading to Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Ko Samui all in a 2 week span.

Anybody got any can't miss things to do or see?

Do a 2 day hill trek just outside of Chiang Mai... afterwords get a Thai massage from the blind (in the West part of the old city I believe, I'm foggy on that though).

The thai massage will be horribly painful but you'll be amazed at how good you feel afterward.

[FunkMasterFlame]

Its true about thai massages, you feel unbelievably awesome afterwards, it just sucks getting there. Those little ladies have thumbs of steel.

[chris lindberg]

I hada buddy who lived in Thailand for a year, the first Ojibway (Native Canadian Indian Tribe) ever to do so I believe, he named his daughter Thai, strange ways of going to bathroom I hear.

[kdogg]

Skip Bangkok if you can (I really think it is one of the worst cities on earth), if you can't, check out the Grand Palace, then go next door to Wat Pho to see the reclining buddha and get a massage from the Wat Pho massage school (I would die to have another one of these things, if anyone knows in a place in Calgary I could get one, please pass it on).

At night try and catch the sunset on a open air rooftop bar on a tall building. I think the one I went to was called Vertigo.

Tips for Bangkok:
- never trust anyone
- never believe the grand palace is closed
- never get into a tuk tuk
- be prepared to negotiate for every cab ride or service you will get outside of your hotel....cab drivers are a#@holes. They will never turn on the meter and charge you 10 x times you should be paying.

As for the other places, I have not been there.
________
Hotsunga

[Bring_Back_Shantz]

Originally Posted by kdogg

Skip Bangkok if you can (I really think it is one of the worst cities on earth), if you can't, check out the Grand Palace, then go next door to Wat Pho to see the reclining buddha and get a massage from the Wat Pho massage school (I would die to have another one of these things, if anyone knows in a place in Calgary I could get one, please pass it on).

At night try and catch the sunset on a open air rooftop bar on a tall building. I think the one I went to was called Vertigo.

Tips for Bangkok:
- never trust anyone
- never believe the grand palace is closed
- never get into a tuk tuk
- be prepared to negotiate for every cab ride or service you will get outside of your hotel....cab drivers are a#@holes. They will never turn on the meter and charge you 10 x times you should be paying.

As for the other places, I have not been there.

I'll have to disagree with a few of those points.

1) Bangkok is great depending on what you're looking for. I wouldn't want to do a full week there, but a few days is pretty cool.
2) tuk tuks are awesome. If you have an idea of what a cab will cost to get somewhere then you can make a deal with a tuk tuk to get there cheaper and they are so absurd it's awesome

Otherwise I agree with not trusting anyone, and making the cab drivers turn on the meter.

[Bring_Back_Shantz]

just a few tips that I just thought to add.

1) when going from Bangkok to Ko Samui to Chiang Mai, fly whenever possible. It's dirt cheap and you'll burn a full day traveling if you take a bus/train/ferry.

2) If you want to save some money one cool thing I did was to go to Chiang Mai last and catch the night train to Bangkok for my flight home the next day. The train is cheap and has a bar car, and you can meet some pretty cool folks.

[BuzzardsWife]

Lucky you! Have a great trip. I would love to shop there!

[Stumptown]

I'm with kdogg, though I wouldn't go so far as to say Bangkok is one of the worst cities on Earth (pick one of the big cities in West Africa...), it only took me about two hours to figure out that Bangkok is not my kind of city. I was only there for a couple days, but the only thing I did that's at all worth recommending was the Jim Thompson House - beautiful garden, a nice collection of antiques, and a welcome respite from the bustle of the rest of the city.

I'm not really that into shopping, so that part of the city was lost on me. Plus I don't like haggling, and if you don't haggle you can't help but feel you've been ripped off. So that was a lose-lose. Food was good, though.

[Claeren]

I love Bangkok, amazing city.

But I am more into the backpacking thing, and just cruising on river taxis and taking in the little traveled areas of the city are enough for me. (Although that whole Siam Square/Siam Discovery/MBK area has really exploded and is good for a night too!! VIP movies at Siam Square Theatre are wicked too! Lazyboy recliners with heat and message, free socks, pillow, blanket, private lounge with magazines, all for the price of a movie here at home!)



Claeren.

[Clarkey]

I hate humans and especially large groups of them, the Stampede midway is hell to me, with that said I loved Bangkok. It was sensory overload the whole time I was there.

You should go to Chinatown in Bangkok. We ended up there by accident and it was my favorite part of the trip. There were zero tourists and you really got to see 'real life'.

[kdogg]

Originally Posted by Bring_Back_Shantz

2) tuk tuks are awesome. If you have an idea of what a cab will cost to get somewhere then you can make a deal with a tuk tuk to get there cheaper and they are so absurd it's awesome

Not from my experience. A tuk tuk driver might give you a cheaper price, then take you to a jewelry store after jewelry store, then to a tailor, then back to another jewelry store, claiming he will get a gas card if you spend 10 minutes in a each store to "help him out".

The tuk tuk drivers that didn't take me to those stores, charged me 3x times what a cab SHOULD of been anyways.


There is not an honest person in that city. Everyone is working together to somehow screw you or waste your time.
________
DevilishMistress