craigt3365

I'm pretty sure that is the 332 cut off where Ed's bar is. About 1/2 on 332 between Suk and 331. On the right as you head south...if I am not mistaken!

It's a fantastic beach. I attached a shot from Google maps. If you are on Suk, take the road just before the Eastern Star golf course towards the beach. To do this, you have to go UNDER the bridge and do a U-turn. If you go over the bridge, you have to go about 1km down the road and do a U-turn to get back to it. As you can see from the map, it's just past where 332 connects with Sukhumvit. The first overpass, go under. On the side your turn left is a police box. After the U-turn, it's the first left. Fairly big road.

There is a great restaurant at Phayun beach, right on the sand. Turn right when you connect with Phayun Road. When it hits the beach, turn right. You can't miss it. Great seafood. Right under the trees and tables on the sand.

You can also get onto the navy base and go to their beach. It's quite nice from what I've heard. I've only seen it from a boat, but looks great.

Have some free time at the airport? On a train or bus? QuizUp is an incredibly addicting (and free) interactive trivia app that’s currently being downloaded more than 130,000 times a day. Since its launch on November 7, it has taken hold of pretty much everyone who’s played it (as this BuzzFeed piece explains).

QuizUp lets you play quick, 7-question trivia games against real people in more than 250 categories, from “World Geography” to “Game of Thrones.” The Geography categories are perfect for travelers (challenge our editor in any of these—his username is CoolHat), and are a great way to test your knowledge of the world.

The interface is beautiful and easy, and the games are quick enough to be perfect time-wasters even for those with short attention spans (or short layover times, etc.). You can compete against friends, or let the app match you with another player from around the world—either way, you’re playing in real time and earning points towards upgrades with every game. Play in the airport, or on the train, or anywhere else. It’s fun and addicting and you just might pick up some knowledge along the way.

QuizUp is available for iPhone only for now but an Android version is on the way.

Read more: http://www.johnnyjet.com/2013/12/travel-app-of-the-week-quizup/#ixzz2nss4VuNE

Big C sells them, Foodland and a few banks give them away from time to time, Makro sells them....etc. They are dirt cheap and reusable. Thus, reducing waste. Plus, if no bag is offered for your can of coke at 7-11, you'll just grab it and walk out the door rather than pay an extra few baht for a bag. Great idea.

I'm constantly telling the clerks to fill the bags up more. And to NOT put items in a bag (like the big bottles of soap that have a nice handle on them) that don't really need one. It's a struggle here.

This isn't about the bottom line. It's about reducing waste. Tesco in Europe already does this. I loved seeing all the shoppers with their own bags. If you didn't have one, you could buy one and keep it for future use. Great stuff.

Let move this over to the Pattaya forum.

Topic Moved.

I got a free GPS app for my tab that covers Thailand. It's not as good as TomTom or others like that, but it was OK. I like it better than Google maps since you don't need internet access, only GPS. You might think about this.

As for the tiger temple, it's a highly debated attraction. Many are advocating not to go there. Do the research on your own. But seems to be quite dodgy. Most elephant camps are in the same category. And many are hurt every year riding and being around these magnificent beasts.

http://www.travelfish.org/sight_profile/thailand/central_thailand/kanchanaburi/kanchanaburi/392

As you probably know, the bride in Kanchanaburi is not the original bridge. It's OK, but the train ride is pretty cool. Plus visiting the section where they cut the path out of solid rock. Worth a visit if you have time.

http://wikitravel.org/en/Kanchanaburi

Others can help here, but Ayutthaya can easily be done as a day trip from BKK. Getting in and out of the city with your own transport can be tough. Unless you know the city quite well.

Kanchanaburi can also be done with a taxi hired out of Bangkok. We did that several years ago with my mom and dad and it was great. No worries about driving, where to turn, police, etc. And it wasn't that expensive. Not much more than you'd pay for the car rental. You can do Kanchanaburi with only 1 nights stay. Leaving BKK early one day and returning late the next. But, there are plenty of things to do and see there. Erawan falls are beautiful.

Just be careful when staying on the river. Especially on the weekends. Huge floating disco boats go up and down. We heard Boom, Boom, Boom till the sun came up.

Once you get some good reusable bags, you never want plastic again, for a variety of reasons. If they offer good firm cloth bags with handles for sale, they hold so much more and are so much easier to handle. They also don't tip over easily in the car.

I have been using the same bags for about a year now with no signs of wear. Personally I would outlaw all plastic bags, cups and straws and require that they be made of paper the way they used to be. At least paper is biodegradable and will go away with time. Paper is made from crap wood scraps, and is even recycled into new products, such as making drinking cups from used newspapers. Trees are a renewable resource and eventually become fertilizer when thrown away.

In the West where people have been taught to hate litter, we actually get 2 garbage cans. One is for garbage and the other is for anything that can be recycled.

Kudos to Tesco.

I think all you ban the plastic bag enthusiasts should read some relevant facts before you get

so sure what you are advocating is in fact good for the environment.

http://savetheplasticbag.com/

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/02/16/is-san-franciscos-ban-on-plastic-bags-making-people-sick-perhaps-not/

http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/green-science/paper-plastic1.htm

http://biotech-products.net/documents/The%20Plastic%20Bag%20vs%20Paper%20Bag.pdf

These are just 4 of many sights that show banning plastic bags for, in particular, paper bags is much more

detrimental to the environment than not banning them.

If you have not yet already read them you may be surprised!!!

Well I guess most of you are not actually interested in the facts then?

Interested, but I think most here are saying NO to plastic and paper bags. Reusable cloth bags are better. Even better, no bags at all in many instances. Right???

This is an ENORMOUS baby step, in bringing Thailand into the 21st century, and beginning to create an awareness of the environment, and perhaps the extreme degradation that plastic causes. A first step. Maybe it will get people thinking. Will compel them to re-use bags, and carry the more long term bags that many of us use exclusively. This will save millions of bags over time. Very positive, and kudos to Tesco for trying it. The need to establish respect for the environment here is tremendous. Not sure why so many people think it is ok to foul such a beautiful land. But, a baby step leads to larger steps down the road.

Yes, very good first step. I drove down a road just after a rain storm earlier this year here in Pattaya. The storm drain covers were 100% blocked with plastic bags. They were everywhere. It was disgusting.

I refuse plastic bags as much as I can. Just don't need one when buying only a coke at 7-11.

I thought Nok Air was a budget airline....

totster

It is. Seems these guys are trying to compete with AirAsia X...offering low cost medium and long haul routes.

Finally. Hopefully this will spread to other stores across the Kingdom. I remember in the US when they introduced deposits on bottles and cans. A lot of people complained, but guess what. My next canoe trip down the river saw NO bottles or cans in the water. None along the roads. Heck, in college, we use to find where the big parties were and go around collecting up the cans/bottles. We'd get enough to buy a case of beer!

Rwanda has outlawed all plastic bags. Can't even bring them in on your plane. Traveling around was fantastic.

Congrats on Tesco for this bold move.

MANDALAY, 13 December 2013: Myanmar Airways will assign two recently purchased 12-seat Grand Caravan Ex planes to provide sightseeing flights over Mandalay.

According to a local media report, the flights will last 15 minutes, and will be available just twice a week. The plane will fly over Mandalay Hill, Yankin Hill, U Bein Hill and Sagaing Hill offering scenic flights for foreign tourists.

MA will charge 16,000 Ks (US$16.28). The flights will use Chanmyathazi Airport, a World War II airport that is in downtown Mandalay rather than the international Airport at Tada-U Township, some 30 km away.

http://www.ttrweekly.com/site/2013/12/birds-eye-view-of-mandalay/

BANGKOK, 13 December 2013: Bangkok Airways is offering a promotional economy class fare on the Bangkok to Maldives route January to February next year.

The round-trip fare, excluding airport taxes, is pegged at Bt13,900.

Passengers can make bookings until 5 January to travel between 5 January and 26 February 2014. It saves around 30% off the standard fare.

http://www.ttrweekly.com/site/2013/12/pgs-hot-fare-to-maldives/

What country are you from? Before you come here, try to apply for a tourist visa. I think you can get either a 60 or 90 day visa. Which can be extended in several ways, and then be converted to a "retirement" visa.

You could probably convert a local tour bus inside and leave it looking like a tour bus outside and so long as you were not transporting tourists, you would fit right in. I see tour buses everywhere in Thailand and they park wherever they want to. The trick would be to not appear to be a home on wheels. Should not be too hard.

Did you see pic 3 in my post above? It was the size of the tour buses here. An absolute nightmare to drive around. Unless staying on highways and wide roads. Impossible to fit in most national parks even in the US. We normally had to park outside and drive the car in.

I think I've seen some art supplies in the stationary store on the 4th floor of Central Festival. As you walk into Central Department store, it's on the left.

My last 2 rigs. Don't have a pic of my truck camper though.

Niiicccee. Baja, Sea of Cortez side in the first two photos?

Yes, fantastic camping. But lately, it hasn't been safe to "wild" camp any more. The one in the middle is actually a very remote beach, but somebody still comes by to collect money every day. Who know who the owner is, but not smart to argue with them.

We stayed mainly in RV camps. Nice to have electricity and sewer! And security....

You can actually rent motor homes in Thailand. The main problem is that there are no RV parks with power hookups, water or sewage hookups. Here's a place that rents them: http://www.campermotorhomerental.com/index.php/en/

I heard about this in another thread. Maybe it was you who mentioned it? These are reasonable sized rigs for Thailand. Complete with generator and looks like an AC. They mention they have a list of dump sites.

They are located here in Chonburi. I might have to stop by and see! But at 800 Euro for a week, not including gas, etc., a bit pricey.

Also, they have a brochure you can download for the national parks in Thailand. It's fantastic.

Thanks for sharing!!

My last 2 rigs. Don't have a pic of my truck camper though.

Even though I can not see that picture (of your Mobile Home unit), I believe this is very much a 'do-able' thing in Thailand. For starters, there are some 127 National Parks spread-out all over Thailand in some pretty seriously beautiful locations, complete with well equipped "Camp-Sites", where one could stay for any length of time.

Just Google Thailand-National-Parks and I bet you that a new world will open to you.

Other than that; it would be a matter of "making-friends" with people who live in desirable locations and when you have their permission to stay, you don't only not have a problem, but you would be much safer. Same for small resorts, by the way.

Conclusion: Don't pay too much attention to all of the 'doom's-day-sayers' on this forum, but try to thin a little bit outside of the box.

If you want some additional information on this subject, just PM me, okay ?

Don't want to argue with you, but I'd love to see the look on the face of the admissions agent when you drove up in one of these things! Priceless.

Most campsites are in between the trees and setup for tents. And some in areas that big rigs like this could never make it. Winding roads, overhanging trees, tight corners, etc. Even in RV friendly USA, many campsites just aren't setup for rigs like this. You'd never make it in.

Don't want to be a "doom's-day-sayer", but also don't want the OP to have unrealistic expectations. Perhaps a better idea would be a pickup camper? I've heard some of these are being seen around now. Much easier for navigation, but also much smaller. For a rig like this, it would be best to find some spots, get agreement, then move forward. Pick a few spots and leave it at that.

Shopping around is a must here. Promotions come and go. We lucked out at Index when a promotion was going on for Sealy. Got a top of the line one for some 30-40% off. It wasn't cheap, but it's awesome.

Sheets are a bugger to get here. We bring them over from the US. I like the idea of having them made. Will have to research that.

It was chilly last week (I know I'm a puss) it was about 15 degrees overnight, I even put the heater on in the morning. I like this time of year, somewhat chilly nights, balmy daytime temps. Does wonders for my electric bill...

Not a puss at all. It only takes a few years of living in warm climates for the blood to thin and 15 is cold for me as well.

there's no such thing like "blood thinning" in warm/hot climates.

5555 I'd bet mine is "thinner"! 5555 Last trip back home I froze to death when it hit 2-3. Seriously, I really struggled.

Though our trip to Europe this fall was quite nice. Temps 12-15. Perfect for walking around and enjoying the outdoors. Just glad we left before it got too cold!!

My friend just rented his very nice 3br/3ba, huge garden, carport with maids room and bath, nice gated community, clean, AC in every room, for 20k per month. Only 800k to the beach, just south of town.

Sounds pretty awesome, mind sharing the village's name so I can go take a look for another available similar house?

I'll send a PM, but don't think any are available now. Best bet is to speak with the manager and leave your number so he can call when one opens up. Many of the houses have pools, so the prices would be quite a bit more for those.

Another village down the road is Baramie (spelling?). I have friends who live there and it looks quite nice. It's south of the Ambassador. So unless you have your own transport, it's a bit far.