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henrik2000

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  1. henrik2000
    Strictly lazy day trips out of Amphawa, Samut Songkhram province, about 80 kms SW of Bangkok in December 2023. Pics looked crisp before upload.
  2. henrik2000
    Strictly lazy daytrips out of Phetchaburi town. December 2023. Pics looked crisp before upload. Phetchaburi province on Mapy: https://mapy.com/s/mabuhomoco (can't make it clickable)
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  3. henrik2000
    Thanks. As mentioned, pics are from around New Year 2023/24. Back then it should have been open, but wasn't. At least the still accessable front terrace served well as a rain shelter. (As much as i hog Thai seafood every day, i'll cycle out of my way for a *good* pizza.)
  4. henrik2000
    Strictly lazy day trips out of Prachuap Khiri Khan City and out of Bang Saphan Yai (Prachuap Khiri Khan province) around New Year 2023/24. Pics looked crisp on my machine at moment of posting. Intended sequence jumbled up after upload
  5. henrik2000
    Oh, also to do with the surface. Maybe you've mostly been on paved roads. Dirt roads are full of thorns, some of them extremely tiny but effective, others monstrous (pic above).
  6. henrik2000
    Thanks. If you wanted, you could copy a pic and paste it into a reply box, either by right-clicking or by Ctrl C, Ctrl V, and comment on that one. (I just tried that, it works on my system.)
  7. henrik2000
    "Bike paths"? It was exactly here:
  8. henrik2000
    Did you get those: (Schwalbe Marathon Mondial tire after off-roading in upcountry Uttaradit.)
  9. henrik2000
    Schwalbe Marathon Plus - exactly the one i use. I have the Schwalbe Marathon Plus Tour - which is made more for offroad. Last winter i cycled 4000 kms in different parts of Thailand, with a lot of forest and fields (i.e. full of thorns), and didn't have 1 single puncture. That's phantastic compared to earlier trips. For the Marathon Plus the manufacturer recommends using a pump with pressure gauge, they say you can't properly check the pressure with your thumb on that tire. I do have a small pump with pressure gauge to attach to the bike - and find it very difficult to get even the minimum of 3 bar into the tire. It's much easier with a big stand pump or compressor. The Schwalbe Marathon Plus (Tour) has a protection level of 7/7 according to manufacturer, but it isn't foldable, if you wanted to bring it into Thailand from the West. Schwalbe also has a tire called Marathon Mondial (?), which is foldable, very small in its paper box and has a protection level of 6/7 (beware, you have to pick the right, more protective, less smooth-running "Mondial" variety). This Mondial gave me exactly 1 puncture on another 4000 kms of country bicycling in Thailand (industrial strength thorns), which is still very good compared to using cheap local tires + tubes (20+ punctures on yet another winter sojourn). I would also recommend Schwalbe AirPlus inner tubes, i believe they have a big advantage over cheaper inner tubes, and they are helpful even if you have low-quality tires. (There maybe other good manufacturers, but Schwalbe is just so well established in my territory.) -- Another good thing if you do have a puncture are Thai people. Workshops are everywhere and usually super-friendly, often insisting on helping me for free (barely managed to give them some oranges). Several times when they saw me pushing a flattened bike, cars and trucks would stop, put my bike inside (including inside family vans) and take me to the next workshop. (I do carry the equipment to fix a puncture, but in Thailand prefer a workshop.)
  10. henrik2000
    Daytrips out of Khung Wiman, Chantha town, Laem Sing in Jan 2025. (Uploaded Pics looked crisp on my machine.)
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  11. henrik2000
    I think it is very much a matter of personal preference - for a bike, for certain kinds of roads -, not what's generally best for Thailand. If you go country, my number 1 tips would be unflattable tires, and certainly not the tires that come with cheap bikes.
  12. henrik2000
    Day trips out of Khao Saming near Trat town. (Pics looked crisp on my machine before upload.)
  13. henrik2000
  14. henrik2000
    Day trips out of Phimai, Chaiyaphum, Det Udom village, Surin.
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  15. henrik2000
    Thanks, yes, i forgot that option. Even though in January prices might be higher.
  16. henrik2000
    What i had was 60 days + 30 days tourist visas or visa waivers. I didn't fully listen to this officer, because i already had researched, and rejected, the visa that he wanted to promote. I think it was for 50+ year olds, which applies for me. Maybe "non-O"? I think it required showing bank statements from 3 different months and maybe other stuff that i found inconvenient in my personal case, even if a trip to Immigration in-country may be inconvenient as well. But let's discuss the original topic at hand.
  17. henrik2000
    I do that.
  18. henrik2000
    Then you trust the phone agreement more than i do. I've had phone bookings gone wrong, with staff forgetting to put my name into their computer or receiving an online booking 1 second before they could put my name into their computer (and then online booking comes first, i was told) accepting phone bookings beyond capacity out of confusion I'd at least write via Facebook, which is possible with some resorts. When i search their phone numbers from Google Maps in Line, mostly they don't show up there. When a place is "sold out", booking sites will not show their prices. I'd like to know the prices before calling, and often they don't have their own website, and on their Facebook they usually don't show prices.
  19. henrik2000
    Recently at Bkk airport, the immigration officer in his booth noted the visa extensions stamped into my passport to allow for 3-months-tourist stays in previous winters, and he may have noted a 1-day-overstay-stamp. For 5 minutes he explained another kind of visa that would make 3-months-stays easier for me (in his estimation), while 50 travelers in the queue had to wait. I didn't look very "quality tourist", but he wanted to have me in-country.
  20. henrik2000
    Hello all, thanks for interesting input. Well i am always wary of phone bookings, and i've been let down before (even if more phone bookings went well). Interesting that some (not all) don't accept reservations more than six months ahead.
  21. henrik2000
    Hello, i try to book a mid-range bungalow (below 1800/night) about 30 kms north-west of Kanchanaburi town for Jan 25-31 or so, in towns like Ban Tha Pong, Sai Yok or Wang Pho, on the way to Erawan and Hellfire Pass, roughly between rivers Kwae Noi and Kwae Yai. There are a lot of bungalow resorts. Looking at many booking sites including meta booking sites, many resorts are "sold out" (see the markers with the red dots inside below), "sold out" now for next Jan 25, 2026. I wonder: Do you know if they are really sold out? Or do they only open up for booking later? Or maybe websites like booking.com show resorts as "sold out", even if they have no connection with the resort? (To direct customers to resorts they can offer.) The few places that actually do offer rooms on booking sites mostly don't offer free cancellation – if you book five nights now for next January, the money is gone. NOT IMPORTANT REMARKS: So much "sold out" and so little with free cancellation is very unusal for me, but I mostly book in less popular areas (and have no experience with Phuket or so). I had cases where places were actually not sold out, but presented as "sold out" on booking.com or Agoda, booking.com showed even places as "sold out" that didn't work with booking.com at all. I tried a number of other booking sites as well, also rather local sites like thai-tour or choowap. I had places shown as "sold out" on booking.com for early next year, but they were available on Expedia. I understand that booking without free cancellation is good for the hotel and that some consider it as more fair. Aware that the area in question is expensive and many resorts are above my budget of 1800 per night – still there are many within budget and fine for me. I do speak enough Thai and could phone around, but I prefer online booking, even if the agency charges 20%. Here I don't ask for specific recommendations regarding location, property, time of travel or vacation preparation.
  22. henrik2000
    Hi all, thanks for new input. Ao Samet Dang would be a tad lonely for me as a place to stay and a base to cycle (this is totally personal, YMMV), but i the restaurant looks very tempting. I'd call them before heading there. I'll go next December, not in May or other hot + wet months.
  23. henrik2000
    Thanks for those recommendations. The 2 recommendations on top look ok. Khrua Samet Dang looks interesting.
  24. henrik2000
    Thanks. Sorry i did not look properly. I've been cycling around those two places you recommend first. But even the Laem Singh place is on the far side of the bridge. Housefulonthebeach would be the area i am after, but i worry it's beyond my budget and i have a hard time seeing prices or pictures of rooms or if the whole place is only rented out to one big party (checked website and Google Maps).
  25. henrik2000
    Now i explicitly asked for recommendations NOT in Kung Wiman, and then the only replies are about Kung Wiman...

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