rushandy

Oh, and don't take out small amounts from cash machines as one poster advised. You'll b charged 180 baht (I.e. £3.70ish) per transaction usually, which will make for a really terrible total conversion rate.

As others have said, take cash and exchange at superrich.

Personally, I wouldn't bother with 50s over 20s unless you know your bank in the UK can get pristine ones for you. We took 50s over but half of them were rejected due to unbelievably minor things. The differences in exchange rate between 50s and 20s is pretty small really, about 100 baht when exchanging £1000. Not worth the hassle of sourcing mint 50s here in the UK, unless you can arrange this easily with you UK bank (we couldn't).

Next time I'm just taking 20s.

Thanks for the write up.

I went here with my family a few years back. I stayed at the beach resort too and absolutely loved it. It really is the most idyllic place I've been to in Thailand.

Thanks MJCM,

That's exactly the kind of info I need. Now that I know what the options are, I should be able to sort it out.

I like the sound of the NCA bus onto Surin, so I'll start with that one.

Cheers

Andy

Hi fellow members,

Posted this in the general travel area but it didn't get much of a response, so reposting here in the hope that some friendly locals might be able to point me in the right direction...

Hoping someone can help me out here. I'm travelling to LoS over Christmas, and rather than just spending 3 weeks on the Mrs' farm near Chaiyaphum, I've decided to do a bit of backpacking as well and do a short trip to Angkor Wat as it's something I've always dreamed of seeing.

So anyway... It looks like the easiest route for me will be from the Chaiyaphum area to either Korat, Surin or Buriram, stay overnight, early morning to the border at o'Smach (or Poi Pet if in Korat), then onwards to Siem Reap.

There's tons of info out there on getting from Buriram / Surin / Korat to the border and then on to Siem Reap, so I've no worries about that bit. However, I can't for the life of me find any info regarding how I might get from Chaiyaphum to either Buriram, Surin or Korat using some kind of public transport.

So I have a question I hope you guys can help me with...

What (if any!) are my options to get from Chaiyaphum (or Kaeng Khro) to either Buriram, Surin or Korat, preferably in relative comfort :-) There must be a bus or something, but I can't for the life of me dig up any info.

Any info you can provide me with would be great.

Thanks

Andy

Thanks for that Angsta.

Any particular reason why you'd advise this route over my original plan?

Hi fellow members,

Hoping someone can help me out here. I'm travelling to LoS over Christmas, and rather than just spending 3 weeks on the Mrs' farm near Chaiyaphum, I've decided to do a bit of backpacking as well and do a short trip to Angkor Wat as it's something I've always dreamed of seeing.

So anyway... It looks like the easiest route for me will be from Chaiyaphum to either Surin or Buriram, stay overnight, early morning to the border at o'Smach, then onwards to Siem Reap.

There's tons of info out there on getting from Buriram / Surin to the border and then on to Siem Reap, so I've no worries about that bit. However, I can't for the life of me find any info regarding how I might get from Chaiyaphum to Buriram / Surin using some kind of public transport.

So I have 2 questions I hope you guys can help me with...

1) For an overnight stay, which of the two places (Buriram / Surin) would be best. Which town is the most appealing if I just want to get a nice hotel, have something to eat and maybe catch a band or something? I like to be in the middle of things so will be planning to stay in the city centre.

2) What (if any!) are my options to get from Chaiyaphum to either Buriram or Surin, preferably in relative comfort :-) There must be a bus or something, but I can't for the life of me dig up any info.

Any info you can provide me with would be great.

Thanks

Andy

"wouldn't the so called power of these companies not squash the legalisation so they can produce the medicine and clean up by controlling the drug in the market? Please think people..."

Cannabis is already grown legally in the UK by GW Pharmaceuticals to produce Sativex:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KODPTH9eZA0

This medicine is basically a whole plant extract but has been mostly rejected by NICE on the basis of it costing too much.

Did you read it? What sections of the article do you disagree with?

Thanks both.

I'm going to go with the approach you suggested Tim. The last time I visited Thailand was a couple of years ago, so I doubt I'll be considered a 'border hopper' just trying to extend my stay.

Any advice as to which documents I should have with me when I try to enter Cambodia / re enter Thailand? I'll have copies of the flight tickets with me. Would anything else be beneficial?

Thanks

Andy

@GAZZPA

Whilst I don't disagree that there may well be long term side effects of chronic cannabis use, the study you refer to has since been widely criticised. Both the methodology used to gather evidence and the interpretation of the results have been questioned by many experts within the neuroscience field:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/22/marijuana-brain-study_n_5170422.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonkblog/wp/2014/10/22/no-marijuana-use-doesnt-lower-your-iq/

More recent studies (using more robust methodologies) have indicated that even chronic cannabis use amongst teens has no effect on IQ:

http://www.ecnp-congress.eu/presentationpdfs/7/P.6.d.016.pdf

Interestingly, the only precursor for a reduction in IQ was associated with regular alcohol consumption.

The negative societal outcomes you refer to (with regards to the legalisation of illicit substances) also appear not to be borne out by the evidence. It is, admittedly, early days for those states in the US that have legalised cannabis, but the credible studies that have been carried out generally indicate a positive societal outcome, with no noticeable increase in usage despite the wider availability:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jacobsullum/2014/07/10/how-is-marijuana-legalization-going-so-far-the-price-of-pot-peace-looks-like-a-bargain/

Wider ranging studies have also been carried out based on the experiences in Portugal, whose government decriminalised all drug use over 14 years ago. On the whole this appears to have been a huge success, with a wide ranging number of positive outcomes experienced across the board:

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/portugal-drug-decriminalization/

I feel very sorry for the young Irishman. Yes, what he did given Thailand's drug laws was monumentally stupid, but it no way does the potential punishment fit the alleged crime. Unfortunately, I suspect this young man will just end up as yet another statistic of the 'War on Drugs'. I can only hope that in years to come things will change, and we will look back on this period of history as the monumental folly that it so clearly is.

Hi all,

I'm going to be taking a holiday in Thailand with my partner this Christmas. Whilst there I'd like to hop across the border to Cambodia and visit Angkor Wat as it's something I've always wanted to see.

Can anybody explain to me what I need to do with respect to Visas?

I'll be flying into Thailand (and out again) on my UK passport and on pre booked flights, I so can show evidence of an onward journey.

I suspect I'll be getting some kind of visa on arrival (upon landing at BKK) that's valid for 30 days, but I'm not sure what I need to do to enter Cambodia from Thailand, and then leave Cambodia to re enter Thailand after 5 days or so.

Any help you're able to provide would be greatly welcomed.

Thanks

Andy

I second the thera band stretchy bar type approach. I was amazed how quickly the exercises sorted it out.

To give some context (probably should have done that at the outset - apologies) the conversation is in response to a photo of the both of us that was posted on Facebook before we went out on a date.

Hi Zeichen,

Yes, my girlfriend is person 1, the other posters are her friends.

Hi all,

Would anyone be willing / able to translate a few lines of Thai for me? I believe it's Isaan Thai, not regular 'Bangkok' Thai, but I might be wrong!

Any help anyone is able to provide would be greatly appreciated.

Regards

Andy

When is society going to understand that the war on drugs has been a complete and utter failure? All this 'lock up the dealers and throw away the key' nonsense is just ignorance.

Like other posters have said, feel for the guy, as the punishment will no way fit the crime, but I guess he must have known the risks.

Actually, further to my reply, the rules are different for wives of EU nationals - I think I remember reading that you may not even need a visa for her, so go do some googling to check out the rules that apply to you. My partner and I aren't married, so she had to go down the Schengen visa route.

Hiya,

I was in exactly the same position as you a year or two ago when the missus and I did the exact same thing. The rules back then were that you were supposed to apply to the country that was your main destination for the holiday, but that once you had a Schengen visa you could enter any of the Schengen countries. The country you applied to didn't even have to be your point of entry or exit.

We applied to Italy as we were told it was one of the easier countries to apply to, and we could get a visa appointment in Manchester pretty quickly, although in reality France was our main destination. We did visit Italy though, as well as France, Switzerland and Monaco. For the Italian visa we had to provide proof of flights (or ferry tickets), bank statements showing my partner had the money to support herself during the stay in her bank account, and proof of accommodation in Italy showing it was our main destination. We achieved the last bit by making a cancellable booking at a campsite, using this as proof, then cancelling it once the visa had been approved (this was the advice given to us by the friendly Italian visa officer!!). We also had to provide her passport, proof of address, filled in visa application forms etc. Nothing too arduous.

We hada great time, hope you do too.