henrik2000

Thanks, Darkie's song is great. I toured many a Tawan Daeng, temple fair etc. etc., but it rarely comes so graceful (when performed live with audience).

Hi all, thanks for some good information!

Hello, can you name any precise Thai locations where there is Khmer language and perhaps Khmer culture (if different from Thai) alive in Isaan (not in Cambodia)? I do NOT mean: - Khmer *temples* like Phanom Rung - whole provinces like Buriram, Surin, Sisaket but exact towns, villages or districts where Khmer can be heard on the street (if any). I did meet Thai Khmers speaking Khmer (differing from Cambodian Khmer) in Southern Thailand as "migrant workers". And I have been to southern parts of each Buriram, Surin, Sisaket provinces before (cities, villages, Khmer temples), but there I don't remember meeting anything Thai-Khmer. I can easily distinguish between Khmer and Thai languages and I speak some Khmer, Thai Khmer and Thai. Could you - mention certain towns or clear locations where Thai Khmer is alive - say with authority that Thai Khmer isn't spoken publicly anymore in TH? Thanks!

Ralf and Yosib, thanks for your input!

Hello, is Constitution Day Dec 10 like Sunday? Meaning offices close, and national parks, pools and restaurants are busy like on a Sunday? Or is it rather like a work day? On December 10 I will be touristing in upcountry Isaan, and some places on my list - should be avoided on public holidays - are only open on weekends and public holidays (but can't be phoned) And what about December 5? Thanks for your experience!

Thanks for tip + screenshot, very useful! Indeed using your suggested procedure, i quickly found an Air Asia flight on a (serious and well known to me) 3rd party site that was cheaper and easier to find + book than at Air Asia itself. For next January, the cheapest exit flight still seems to cost 33 Euro (Krabi - KUL).

Hi, thanks all for good news regardings 60 days visa exemption! I hadn't been aware of that. So to play it safe, i should have an outbound ticket for around day 58, right? (Even if want to exted from 60 to 90 days in-country.) And i take i don't need to show a hotel reservation (i would have to make a bogus reservation). (Like others, i don't remember any immigration clerk at the airport ever asking for my hotel.)

Hello, i (EU national, EU resident) would like to spend 89 days (single-entry) as a tourist in Thailand with this arrangement: prior to departure, get a TR visa for 60 days from the online service at an upcountry Immigration, extend by 30 days for 1900 THB This worked well in the last 2 winters. Was there any change lately? (There's the "Non-O" visa (?) giving me 3 months on a string, but personally I find the conditions too complicated.) My first accommodation in TH is not an official hotel, so as a precaution I would get these bookings to show to visa officers and airlines: hotel booking for days 1 – 10, later to be cancelled free of charge outbound flight ticket for day 57 of my stay, not to be used, likely not refundable (sth like DMK-Cambodia) (some people consider this outbound ticket unnecessary) Do you think it's a good plan? It worked well the last 2 winters. Are there any new rules affecting this plan? Thanks! PS. If you have a tip how to find the cheapest outbound ticket, I'd be interested (lucrative search phrases like "Air Asia Thailand promotion"? Certain airlines?)

Hello, would you recommend Professional Dental Cleaning in Jomtien (preferred) or Pattaya? (Actually, I will also do time in Chaiyaphoom, Roi Et, Nakhon Phanom.) In my neck of the West, what's called Professional Dental Cleaning takes about 45 minutes and is done by a dentist's nurse at the dentist's clinic. It costs 3000 – 4000 THB. Several mechanical and sonar (?) methods are used to remove plaque, toothpaste residue, mango fibers etc. There is no bleaching, so the teeth will look a little less yellow, but not glaringly white afterwards. (I am not asking here about the usefulness of Professional Dental Cleaning, just about the availability in some Thai locations.) I do speak basic Thai, including "pain" and "can not"; still I guess some English on the nurse's side would be good. I would like to make an appointment before going there, preferrably for 1 pm or 2 pm, and it should be only 1 visit. Do you have good experiences somewhere in Jomtien (preferred), and what did it cost you? Thanks!

Hello all, this discussion ended in February 2024. Since then, did you note any changes with regards to foreign tourists (not residents) being allowed or prohibited on certain roads and beaches around Sattahip? There are all the military checkposts. I know how the situation was in February 2024 - quite difficult if you want to roam freely with a bicycle (no fun on Hwy, yet Nang Rong Beach and Nang Ram reachable via Hwy 3126 and Curve Beach Café, not via forest back roads). If any areas or roads have been opened up since Feb 2024, or if even more has been closed for foreigners, please tell me. Thanks!

Hello, what about day trips into Laos from Nakhon Phanom to Tha Khek by bicycle. I (EU citizen) wonder about Laos visa fees and my Thai visa. I understand the situation like that: TR Visa 60 days single entry: 35 Euro TR Visa 60 days multiple entry: 175 Euro (Thai embassy site) Laos Visa on Arrival: 40 USD (single entry? 2 day trips might be ok) On a tour of Isaan with rental car and bicycle I will stay in Nakhon Phanom for about 7 days. It would be around days no. 40 – 47 of my 2 months TR visa. I plan to buy another 30 days at a provincial Thai immigration to get exactly 89 days total in Thailand. (The 3 months Non-O is too complicated for me.) Bicycling (not by car!), I would prefer a boat crossing out of NKP town into Laos. I would not like to use the Friendship Bridge III, but it seems after the boat crossing there is no Visa on Arrival available, it's only after the Friendship bridge? Maybe I could get a Lao visa online then. Day trips into Laos seem very expensive with those visas above. I speak basic Thai and Isaan-Lao. There seems to be no day-visa or visa-runner visa for Laos? (Myanmar used to have it for foreign visa runners from TH, I used it once from Mae Sai.) But if there is a day-visa for Laos, which radius does it allow you? Of course I could shift Isaan destinations so that Nakhon Phanom is at the end of either 30 oder 60 days in Thailand, but that's complicated in my case, and I want to stay 89 days total, with the last month in the south. Thanks for your insights! PS. I understand that Laos is very hilly, fascinating and deserves more than 1-2 day trips. Still I want to do only 1-2 Laotian day trips by bicycle. If the visa situation is too complicated and costly, 0 trips. I understand that Laotions and Thais drive on different roadsides. There is a slight chance I might stay in Mukdahan to do Laos day trips from there.

Chomper, thanks for phantastic details! I will print your post, put the paper into my passport and re-read it a few days before take-off. Meanwhile, i did have a phone talk with a THAI representative in my territory to register my bicycle, and he sent me an e-mail to prove that my bicycle was accepted for transport. The phone talk was only about the inbound flight. For the outbound flight, still to be booked, i will follow your route outlined above. I do have a bicycle transport case, the Evoc Bike Bag Pro, which is somewhat larger (i think 143 cm long) than what you show above, and i had to give the measurements in that phone call, and they were noted + accepted. It is interesting to know that non-bicycle items inside the bicycle case lead to rejection. Some people say the same about intra-European connections, but it wasn't true in the cases i tried. I am always tempted to stuff my big thermos into the bicycle bag, because it eats up so much space in the regular luggage... also there's the foldable picnic mat... a massage towel... but maybe i should (try to) keep those things in the regular bag. I still have to find out if there's something like "AirTag" for Android. Thanks again!

Hummin and Will, thanks for new input.

Then it may be a rental car again. I just wanted to ask anyway.

This also happened to me when i pushed a flattened bicycle on remote gravel roads. Company trucks or families in SUVs stopped, loaded up my bike and took me to the next workshop - and it was hard to give them even an orange for thankyou (they gave me a bottle of water though). (Even some bicycle workshops insisted on working for free...) But that's different from requesting a 100 km taxi-like trip when you have no accident or emergency.

Hi all, thanks for your input! Yes, i feared this. Maybe i didn't make it clear enough in the first post: There will be trips like "from Nakhon Phanom to Bueng Khan", and Nams Taxi won't go there. Agreed that out of Pattaya or into Pattaya perhaps i could ask them (even though they even refuse to service Don Meuang). I know there are "limousine services" for tourists around Krabi, Khao Lak, Phuket, but i guess they are costly and not available in the dusty northeastern plains. And i don't want to hunt around locally for a driver at each destination.

Hello, to transport a bicycle around on a holiday trip, last year i had a Honda Jazz 1.5 which had the right size and was fine for me. The same renter (which i like) this year has no Honda Jazz and asks what else i like. And i have no idea about sizes and convenience when putting a bicycle without front wheel into the back. I need the car now for 2 months (this renter has nice monthly rates and i was happy with the service last time). As station wagons (big back door), the renter only offers "Toyota Yaris 1.2 or similar, load 2 small bags 1 large bag" "Nissan March 1.2 or similar, load 1 small bag 1 large bag" By comparison, the unavailable Honda Jazz 1.5 has "load 1 small bag 2 large bags" Do you recommend those other cars? They have less power, but that doesn't concern me. I want the loading space without much tonnage. From vague memory, some years ago a Yaris felt a bit smaller and more awkward than a Honda Jazz regarding bicycle transport and even general driving comfort. Are there other mainstream petrol cars that have about the size of a Honda Jazz and a big back door? I have no idea. I don't want a pickup and preferably not a huge SUV. I would love park assist (sound, video, no need automatic driving), but i guess it's not in a smallish car like Honda Jazz. It seems that other standard rental cars like Toyota Vios, Toyota Altis or Nissan Almera are only sedan type, so they have no big back door. Thanks for any suggestions!

Young green rice fields - i forgot to mention them as a preference in the first post. If you know of areas that should have young green rice fields (ideally still flooded) in December, January, i'd be interested.

Hummin and Lorry (named so by a Payak truck owner?) - thanks for input! Hummin, thanks for the link. That area south of Loei looks lovely. On bicycle, i'd love even smaller roads than shown in those pics, but they can be found certainly - the environment is nice.

Hello, I want to travel to Isarn and maybe beyond with a car my own imported bicycle for 70 days. Start and finish would be Pattaya. I did that before and always had a rental car big enough to swallow the bicycle. Once at the destination, I rarely used the rental car, but only my bicycle or any kind of taxi transport (taxi much more relaxing than self-driving and affordable to boot). Only for moving to the next destination, the rental car would be used again. So instead of the rental car – are there private taxis to take bicycle + me from one accommodation to the next? The distance would be 50 – 200 kilometers per trip. Then 5-7 days without car. There may be trips of 700+ kilometres perhaps occasionally. A Honda Jazz is big enough (I know from experience). Please note: bus or train are NOT an option. I know some busses and trains carry bicycles. But I need transport door to door, not station to station, and with my own timing (mostly daylight hours). Of course a taxi service is less individual than a rental car, but I'd love to have the rental car and the self-driving off my hands. I reckon one could ask around, and a pickup owner might agree to carry me for a fee occasionally. I do speak basic Thai. But I want a more reliable service that can be counted upon. If you know about some such, ideally nationwide, please tell me. Thanks!

Champers and Proton, thanks for new input! Can i see the special acts in SinLapin Isaan's somewhere online? In my experience, the only way to know of any superstar gig is to go there and talk to the cashier (not the waiters) or to wait until an announcement is on the video screen behind the stage. But i may be wrong. Well i'd need a good show around end of November or early Feb.

Hello, next December till early February I have 70 days to explore Isaarn and maybe more by car bicycle in back of car (with some rest days before and after, aware of visa rules). I use the bicycle for many leisurely day trips only - in the countryside, often on field tracks; never sportive, no bikepacking, no highway. An outdoor app based on Open Street Maps and showing satellite pictures is good for that. I wanted to ask if you have any good advice from your own experience - areas, accommodation, inviting venues etc. I DO NOT look for bicycle lanes or such. My qualifications: I already cruised many Thai areas with car + bicycle and like it a lot I speak enough basic Thai to get along with landlords, waiters and people (also a bit of Isarn-Lao) I don't need the lower and upper North because I have been there. Same for the Isthmus from Samut Sakhon down to Nakhon Si and for Central Thailand from Ayutthaya to Phichit and Uttaradait I LIKE: small towns and villages + quaint rural idylls with at least 1 casual relaxing eatery (NOT totally isolated accommodations in the middle of nowhere where you completely depend on your host) casual country restaurants that make a good lunch stop on a full day bicycle outing casual small places on the Mekhong coast (not paved airport-like promenades); hot springs old Thai live music: morlam, luukthung, Carabao-style songs for life; but not rock, rap, folk or “90s”. Just one cheery live music venue in an otherwise dull small town makes all the difference for me staying 5-7 days in one place, prefer apartment or bungalow over hotel room, best with possibility to sit outdoors, but difficult to get I DO NOT NEED: tourist attractions, fine dining, beer\girly bars, caves, sports bars, Instagram hotspots, 4 star hotels, dinosaurs, dedicated bicycle lanes or parks (boring), Christmas celebrations, New year's “countdown” OTHER QUESTIONS: From December 1st to Feb 11, do you recommend a certain order of destinations or to visit or avoid certain areas\places at certain times? I want to AVOID any festival (yes), even if it's a must-see. I'm happy to avoid very cold nights\mornings and rainy spells. 10 - 20 years ago I've been to many bigger towns like Ubon, Udon, Khon Kaen, Nong Khai, 101. This time it would be interesting to have NICE accommodation in any SMALLER place that I never heard about - your suggestion? Maha Sarakham? Amnat Charoen? Bueng Khan? Big or small town, I'd prefer apartment over hotel room. Thanks for all suggestions from experience!

Thanks for that. But does Google report something as "temporarily closed", when it is closed for ONE day? This would be misleading and I don't think so. On special holidays Google has a special remark in the list of business hours. On the other hand Google Maps has enough perfectly wrong information also, which might be even damaging in this case, if the place is open, but is reported "temporarily closed".

Thanks! Google Maps reports it as "temporarily closed" - let's see if it comes back.

Thanks, yes, i go there sometimes, i also saw Takkaten Chonlada there. But the performance feels slightly robotic to me and sometimes i have the impression the rhythm doesn't change for an hour - then i start looking if i see any real musicians in the dark background, and not just ever changing singers + dancers in the foreground and an AI morlam generator in the back.