It's been 3 years since Ive been but here's some tips...
First thing i will stress is LEARN THE LANGUAGE. Even if only a little bit of it.
Most people know how to say hi and thank you, but if you can say "how's business"
or "good luck" or "how are you" or even the numbers...Thai people LOOOOVE it
and will treat you SOOOO much better and even give you most things for cheaper
than a tourist who can only say yes or no and refuses to even try. Trust me...
It's worth it
ISLANDS
I would say Koh Tao (Turtle Island)is my favorite island.
It's on the East coast of the country, on the Gulf side and is the smaller and most
northern of 3 islands, the other 2 being Koh Phangnan and Koh Samui.
It's what Koh Phi Phi was before it became what it is now...which is over priced
touristy garbage. But thats just an opinion.
Koh Phangnan is AMAZINGLY beautiful as well, but unless you like thousands of
people all around you on the beach, it's best to stay away from there from a
period of one week prior to and one week after the full moon, as they has
notorious parties. It's basically an over hyped all night long drunk. Anytime
other than during the full moon, i would TOTALLY recommend Koh Phangnan.
The beach is amazing and the water is spectacular
I would also highly recommend a hotel called Tommy Resort
800 baht per night (25 cdn) gets you an AMAZING room and the resort is at
the end of the beach so a bit more relaxed and quiet. Super friendly staff too.
If you wanna shop....do it in Bangkok or Chiang Mai.
Chang Mai has tons of crafts and many culture rich gifts
In Bangkok...MBK ( a 7 story mall with everything) is pretty much the best place
to find whatever it is you are looking for.
MBK has pretty set prices so no haggling here, but it's hellishly cheaper than
anywhere else in Bangkok.
Places NOT to shop:
Khao San Road...UNLESS you absolutely LOVE the item and haven't seen it anywhere
else. KSR is such a tourist trap and everything is overpriced.
Patpong/Silom/Night Market
Just because its a pain in the ars to shop there. Club staff and random people
always asking if you "want to see P****" or "ping pong show"
You can only say "no thanks" so much with a smile on your face before you get
pissed off
If you wanna snorkel, scuba dive or rock climb...Krabi, and the smaller islands
around it.
If you wanna feel a more cultural side....go north to Chiang Mai or
to a lesser known city in the Northeast. Very friendly people there
as well.
If you wanna party...go to Koh Phangnan
------------------------
Things to do in Bangkok
------------------------
First off...when you get off the plane...DON'T follow the crowd after you collect
your bags.
They walk into a taxi trap and pay twice as much as usual to get to the city
Turn right and go up 2 flights of escalators to the departures level and grab
a cab there. Try to avoid the ones that approach you. Tell them no thanks, and
instead, find one that's just dropping someone off. 300 baht plus toll booth fees
is The absolute max you should have to pay to get anywhere in Bangkok
Khao San Road is great if you've never been to Bangkok. That seems to be where
everyone goes. 2 blocks away from there is a Road called Soi (street) Rambuttri
and there is a fantastic hotel there called the Rambuttri Village Inn
Clean rooms,with the priciest being 25cdn/night. 2 rooftop pools, a wicked
internet cafe downstairs thats open 24/7, and a 7/11 30 seconds away. All that and you
are just 2 minutes walking distance from KSR. It's a lot quieter here as well
Here's the website:
http://www.khaosan-hotels.com/
The staff there are awesome and always friendly and will help you with any
questions you have. Just make sure you say hi to a girl named Aom for me.
-----------------
DEAD BODY MUSEUM
------------------
Kinda creep but educating.
Plus most tourists don't really come here so it's that much better, in my opinion,
cause you are doing something most people don't
It's located in the Sirirat Hospital and is used for educational purposes for med
students
Most cabbies will charge you an arm and a leg to get there, but you can easily do
it yourself. by walking 10 minutes to the ferry station, paying 1 cdn dollar
then going 3 stops away and walking 4 blocks.
The museum is free and is similar to that exhibit they had here in Calgary and regularly in Vegas....but this one has actual bodies soaking in Formaldehyde and just tons of creepy stuff. It's an eye opener, that's for sure.
----------------------
TEMPLES...aka...WATS
---------------------
Same as above....most touristy temples can be reached by taking the boat at a fraction
of what a Tuk Tuk or cab driver would cost you. Just ask at the ferry station
ticket office and they will never rip you off
---------
SHOPPING
----------
MBK...enough said
A cabbie will usually take you for no more than 100 baht (3 bucks)
-----------
Tattoos
------------
I've done lots of walking around and checked out many different shops looking for one that looked half decent and finally found one that was worthy enough to mention.
It's called Tattoos by Eek, and is located under the Macdonalds on Kao Sahn Road.
The guys in there are amazing, and charged less than half as much as anyone else offered
----------------------
LEARNING THE LANGUAGE
-----------------------
Females end every sentence with "Ka" where as males end it with "Krup"
I'll list everything here in female version and try to write it as you would say it or hear it...
Hello -Sa wa dee ka
How are you -sa bye dee my?
I'm good, thanks -Pomme sa bye
Thanks you -Korp khun ka
Excuse me - kor toht/tote ka
How's business? kye dee won knee?
(their response will always be May kye dee..which means no but it's always nice to ask anyways)
Good bye/good luck - choke dee ka
My name is... pomme chi...
Where is... you tee nye
(always said after the object you are looking for...just as...
Where is the TOILET? = HONG NAHM you tee nye?
Where is the RAMBUTTRI HOTEL? RONG RAHM RAMBUTTRI, you tee nye?
The most important word/phrase in the Thai language to learn is No thanks
MAYO KA. It will get the vultures off your back because they will think that you have been there long enough to learn it, and thus know all the scams by that point
________
If a tuk tuk or cabbie is pressuring you to take a drive with them, or
a worker is pressuring you to see a ping pong show and you simply say NO, they
will continue to ask you. Saying "mayo Ka" gets them off your back SO fast
and they laugh with appreciation knowing you did your research
Everyone can speak English there. Well...everyone you will encounter more than
likely does, and enough so that you would never need to learn any of this.
This just makes the trip SO much easier and enjoyable
Thai people always place the adverb after of the noun, where as we place it
directly before.
Where we would say that is a big house, a thai would say house big
There are many examples below, such as now mahk, which literally translates to hot very, soy mahk, which means beautiful very, Nahm lake means water small, etc etc
-------------------
More usefull words
-------------------
Hello- sawadee ka
Thank you- korp koon ka
you're welcome- mai pen rye
excuse me- kor toht ka
How are you? sa bye dee my?
I'm good (thanks)- pomme sa bye dee (korp koon ka)
I'm so so- sa bye sa bye
Not good- may dee
STOP!!!- YUT YUT
Hot- rohn (but pronounced as lrohn....just roll the R)
cold- Now
Very- Mahk
Very hot- now mahk
small- lake
large-
I dont understand.-may cow jye (like rye but with a J)
Do you understand? koon cow jye?
Can I have...- Kor....bin
Can I have a (WATER) please- Kor (nahm) bin
Can i have the (check) please- kor (check) bin
water- nahm
smoke- boo-lee
Washroom- hong Nahm
Hotel- rong raym
Where is...- ...you tea nye
Where is the (HoTEL)? (Rong Rahm) you tea nye
Where is the (toilet)? (hong nahm) you tea nye?
Its right there- you tea knee
Is it far? you gleye my?
Not far - may gleye
left- sigh
right- qwaah
I can speak a LITTLE BIT (of thai)- poot die (pasa thai) NIT NOY
little bit- not noy
Pretty- suoy
Very pretty/beautiful- suoy mahk
YOU are very pretty- KOON suoy mahk
I love you- phum rahk koon (easily remembered as pomme raccoon)
WHAT is your name?- Koon chew ARAI?
What?- Arai? (again....roll the "R", as you would for a French word)
My name is Jon- Pomme chi jon
This is my boyfriend or girlfriend- Nee coo faan
Nice to meet you- yin dee tea dye roo chuck
It's ok/now worries/nevermind- may pen rye
Today- won-knee
Hows business today? Kye dee won knee?
(they most always will reply with 'May Kye dee", which means business isnt good)
Good luck/see you later- Choke dee
(always should be said when leaving someone, especially a vendor)
--------------
NUMBERS
--------------
1-neung
2- sorng
3- sahm
4- see
5- ha
6- hoke
7- jet
8- bpairt
9- gao
10- sip
11- sip neung
12- sip sorng
13- sip sahm
14- sip see
15- sip ha
20- yee sip
30- sahm sip
40- see sip
50- ha sip
55- ha sip ha
56- ha sip hoke
100- roy, or neung roy
101- neung roy neung
110- neung roy sip
120- roy yee sip
150- roy ha sip
300- sahm roy
500- ha roy
554- ha roy ha sip see
750- jet roy ha sip
1000- pahn
1100- neung pahn neung roy
1500- pahn ha roy
1997- pahn gao roy gao sip jet
2000- sorng pahn
3000- sahm pahn
How much does THIS cost?- NEE tao roy ka?
How much? Tao roy ka?
Thats too expensive- pang ben oi
I think that's it. I've been a few times, so if you have any specific questions, shoot me a message.
Bangkok, Thailand
