Cambodge1

I know this are well, my girlfriend used to live in soi pridi banomyong 34 and I used to sometimes stay at the Varindavan Hotel just around the corner from that school. There is a big mosque on Suk 71 near here, the call to prayer always used to wake me up when I stayed at my girlfriend's place. The only Embassy in this general area is the Nigerian Embassy.

I usually buy shirts and trousers from the Sukhumvit Robinson store. I used to buy from tailors but I found the quality to be very hit or miss. If Robinson have a sale on you can pick up nice gear very cheaply and if you buy in bulk you can negotiate further discounts.

I regularly sleep with ladyboys and take all the necessary precautions. Sadly, many ladyboys will not insist on the use of a condom. I was talking to a ladyboy in Pattaya last week and the topic of conversation turned to HIV. I said that I'd seen statistics that 40% of Pattaya ladyboys are HIV+, she said it's probably 50%! Would be no different in Phuket.

Don't blame Abhisit for the spiralling cost of staple foods, it is a wordwide problem and most of the blame can be placed on Ben Bernanke of the US Federal Reserve for his reckless printing of money which is being used by the financial oligarchs to speculate on commodities.

Food riots and civil unrest will be a MAJOR issue in third world countries this year. Tunisia was just the start.

Too much supply where I am - no wonder they don't make much money.

There must be 30 motorbikes waiting at anyone time and quite often they spend hours waiting for a customer in the queue. This is no doubt repeated all over the place.

Are you serious? You think they don't make much money? They make more money than most of the people who use their services. They make about 15,000 a month on average after expenses. And they only work about 3 hours a day to get it. The rest of the time they simply sit around, gossip and play games with their friends.

The only reason there are as few as there are is that you have to have a friend to get in the queue. They have a very strict guild system, and a very wealthy one as far as unskilled labour goes. Let's see...I can go to university for 4 years, and be an orderly at a hospital making 7000 baht a month working my tail off, or I can drop out of school completely, do nothing and make twice that amount working only 3 hours a day.

Believe me...everyone wants to be a motorcycle taxi driver. It is a highly sought after position. For all the talk about Bangkok elites, the motorcycle taxi drivers are the rural Issan elite.

Yep, spot on, motorcycle taxi drivers make dam_n good money.

I merrily carted 2 litres of spirits through Thai customs upon arrival eight times in the past two years, it wasn't until my last trip that i discovered (on this forum) that the limit in Thailand is 1 litre. I guess I'm lucky they don't check the duty free bags too often, the bags they pack the booze in Sydney are bright yellow too.

Take a meter taxi from the airport to the airco bus station.

Or take a meter taxi to the Kosa hotel, smack in the middle of the entertainment area.

Buses to Roi-Et, how often?

Will try to find out tomorrow.

thanks mate

I'm flying into Khon Kaen at 7am this Sunday and need to catch the bus to Roi Et. If someone could offer some tips on where the bus depot is in relation to the airport and how often buses run to Roi Et I would appreciate it. Also if i have to kill a few hours in Khon Kaen where would you suggest that i go.

cheers

Cambodge

Khon Kaen. Flights to and from BKK 3 times a day. Around 2000 Baht. Then get on a Nakhonchai Air bus. (The 'Air' bit refers to suspension or air-con or something, has nothing to do with aeroplanes).

Where is the bus terminal in relation to the Khon Kaen airport? I'm flying in to Khon Kaen at 7am in a few weeks and need to catch a bus to Roi Et. Any information would be appreciated thanks.

The chances of being in a club when the police spring a random drug raid are remote. My understanding is that farang patrons are generally asked to leave anyway and only the Thais are subjected to testing. It's also likely that they will only be interested in amphetamines and cocaine.

If I was the OP I would not be cancelling my trip to Thailand just because I smoked a couple of joints in Amsterdam. Don't let the prudes on this forum scare you off.

My Thai girlfriend's passport expired in July this year. Does anyone know how much it costs to renew it or obtain a new one?

thanks in advance for any info

My brother is gay and he lived in Vientiane for several months a couple of years ago. His employer provided a serviced apartment at a decent hotel. I know that he had several boyfriends and probably a few casual partners in that time and he never had any problems bringing guests back to his room. I visited twice and stayed at the same hotel and I certainly had no problems with my guests.

I wouldn't worry about the local laws as they are rarely enforced, if at all.

I've not stayed at the PBR resort myself but I've heard good reviews on other boards. As mentioned above, expect to see a lot of ladyboys coming and going. I tried to get a room there in May but they were booked out.

Thailand has problems with rubbish but as others have mentioned these problems pale in comparison to other countries in the region.

I'm often in Cambodia and I have a Khmer friend who is always amused when I finish my cigarette and start looking around for a bin to put the butt in. He always grins and then actively encourages me to just throw the butt away usually proclaiming this behaviour is "no problem in Cambodia".

It will take a long time and much effort by governments to shift these ingrained attitudes towards littering.

I had my credit card copied at an ATM on Sukhumvit soi 11 about 2 years ago. My bank rang me about 2 weeks after I had returned to Australia, someone had made purchases totalling $14,000 AUD. There were jewellery purchases, TV's, $3000 karaoke bar tabs, someone had a real party with my money. The funny thing was I did some research on all the the items and one was a charge at a clinic called the Sukhonta clinic in Bangkok, an HIV treatment centre, karma I guess.

My bank immediately issued a new card and refunded all the money in full upon me signing a simple declaration however the whole process took 2 or 3 months.

This ATM was located in a very busy area, I wouldn't be surprised at all if these criminal gangs were able to install them in shopping centres.

I flew back to Sydney from Bangkok yesterday morning and noticed an unusual number of customs staff standing behind the passport control area eyeing off people waiting in the queues. This may not be unusual however I don't recall seeing this before and I've travelled to Bangkok many times. I got the impression they may have received some sort of tip off and were on the lookout for specific behaviour.

As a casual drug user I must admit that I did have a bit of a paranoia attack even though I knew there was nothing illicit in my bags. The guy at passport control gave me the once over and marked my customs declarations slip with "N1". Not sure what this code means but I was waved through customs without having my bags x-rayed.

From memory I can recall sniffer dogs snooping around the baggage carousel almost every time I've returned to Australia from

Bangkok, the only time i've ever experienced any hassles was on my first trip when I was asked by a customs officer a few cursory questions about where I had been and who i was with etc.

In Bangkok I've only ever noticed one sniffer dog and that was in the departures hall upstairs. They often have a dog at the Phnom Penh x-ray machine but I've only ever seen it asleep.

As for the young Australian guy, no sympathy from me, I personally know people whose lives (and their family's) that have been devastated by smack, he'll probably do a 4-5 year stretch.

I visited Hua Hin and Pattaya last month and used these guys for all four legs of the trip: http://www.thelimopattaya.com/

I will definitely be using them again, they have very nice modern cars with seatbelts and the drivers were always on time and friendly. You can probably get cheaper but I've found you get what you pay for with taxi services. They even had a can of beer on ice for me when I arrived in Bangkok which is a nice touch.

I cannot begin to describe how bad the food and prices are at Little Italy.

The Dubliner on Sukhumvit Rd does a great breakfast.

The shakedowns seem to be coming more prevalent, I've been stopped and searched 3 times in Soi 18 in the past year, always by two cops on a motorbike. They are definitely looking for drugs. A friend got caught with a small amount of contraband in his wallet and after some haggling and threats by the two cops he handed over 7000 baht to sort the matter out.

This topic has been discussed extensively on other Thailand forums, particularly Stickman's weekly blog, people travelling in taxis have even been pulled over and searched. Soi 22 seems to be a popular spot due to it's proximity to a nearby slum where drug dealing and use is rife.

Thanks for the suggestions everybody, much appreciated.

Cheers

Tony

I am travelling overland to Isaan from Laos in late December. I'm staying a night in Udon Thani and then need to get to Roi Et. I would appreciate any suggestions on how to travel between these two towns. Bus, taxi or songthaew?

Cheers

Tony