WinnieTheKhwai

What about kuay teow luk chin pla, fish ball noodle soup? Ok, Ok, I know, You didn't know fish had balls. They do and it beats pork blood. But where are the best shops in town? I like the one on Charoen Prathet, at about ChangKlan soi 3?, between the photo shop on the corner and the mini-mart /pharmacy. Any other favorites?

Well, Ong Thipparot comes to mind. They're the shop that opens in the evening and does booming business all through the night. They have miniature fish balls. It's on Phrapokklao Road, just South of Chang Phuak Gate on the right hand side when coming from the gate.

And of course the place at the Three Kings Monument. Yentafo Sa-Aad. (which is open only during the day, so complinents Ongฯ nicely) They do very good regular noodles soup with various types of fish balls as well. Yentafo Sa-Aad is probably the Mother of all Fish Ball Soups.. Can't go wrong bringing Thais there for a noodle lunch.

if you live in the Hang Dong / Canal Road area then the noodle shop near the corner of the Outer Ring and Canal Road does a decent fish ball noodle soup as well.

Personlly I'm not a huge fan of any kind of look chin, I prefer the pork stew with real meat in it. (The closer to Malaysian Bak Kut Teh, the better, so with the Chinese spices)

So anyway, that's at least two recommended places on the list right there.

Nak tok? Waterfall is blood?

Waterfall is also nam tok yes. Not sure if there's a relation, I wasn't in charge of naming when God created Thai noodles. It probably just means 'murky' (as in 'not clear') in this case though but I'm guessing.

So that juicy beef dish called Neua Yang Nam Tok has fresh blood in it?

I googled it for you because that's the kind of guy I am, and it doesn't appear so:

http://www.maeban.co.th/show_topic.php?id=2085&forum=8

No blood.

Where exactly is this market at Doi Kham, and what are the hours.

It's here:

And it's a shop, not a market. Doi Kham is a brand for Royal Product stuff. No relation to the mountain & temple of the same name in the Mae Hia area past the Royal Flora.

Hours are 8am to .... I dunno, 6pm or something. Open every day.

Gawd we suck. We're in Third.

I think we need to buy Kaka and David Beckham.

Yup, that one is correct. (I paid attention this morning). It's pretty much at the start of the slight bend. (when coming from the river). ( So perhaps just a couple more pixels more to the right )

Excellent, an "I have been here longer than you" argument. Old garde vs the noobs.

Seriously, in your good old days, did people also do arguments saying how long they'd been there at every opportunity? O wait, there weren't any wanke_rs then, so I guess that answer would be 'no'. So why start now?

As a side note, one of the cutest things about this topic is all the guys stating their expert knowledge on the one and only definition of the word Gik.. As if that's a set-in-stone definition, and as if Thais aren't prone to use it as a euphemism for all kinds of relationships, especially relationships with a big financial component.

(Or emotional component too if you will, where they spin it as no strings attached and then after the first night transmogrify into Mrs Velcro LaLeach. )

Maybe the good old Traveller Cheque will make a triumphant return.

Back to Newbie Sesame Street now kids.

I know what Phuket is like because I have lived there too. Plus, I have been living here for 25 years.

Just because it is about Phuket doesn't mean it is NOT about Thailand too. Maybe you need a clue....

And maybe you need to just relax or ask for a change of meds.

Nobody doubts your vast expertise but you do come across rather bullyish in your approach, sometimes even to newbies with fairly innocent posts or questions.

..and keep it clean!

It's been a while, but from what I remember the guesthouses were inside the old town. So not on any major road. (The old town area isn't that big). the bigger hotels were way out along Pahon Yothin. They weren't expensive either for a regular (somewhat worn) aircon room.

(Probably your friendly Lonely Planet travel bible can help here as well.

Some more info may be here as well : http://www.travelfish.org/location/thailan...lopburi/lopburi

As for which road you use to get there, I'm not sure you'd get there on Highway #1.. If you just stick to the main road towards Bangkok via Kamphaeng Phet and Nakhon Sawan then you find yourself on highway #32. From there you could connect to Lopburi via highway #311.

How do you make sure they don't put fresh pork blood in the soup? Or do if that's what you want?

Nam Sai+ = 'clear' soup means no pork blood innit.

Nam Tok = with pork blood in it.

This doesn't apply to all varieties though; my favorites are usually the stewed pork/beef/chicken varieties where Nam Tok thankfully isn't an option.

Love it.

In fact I had it for lunch today. The version without noodles that is; (kao-lao) It's much lower carb that way.

I think the reason that you don't see too many Westerners there is also because there are so many noodle shops! Like, how many Mexican eateries are there in this town, and how many noodle shops.. it doesn't compare.

Anyway we should do a list of the best ones in our humble opinions. If only to counter the epic hamburger debates. And we shall make sure to fight each other tooth and nail over which ones are better... I'm looking forward to it.

True sells it. 23,000 baht or so unlocked. (Assuming you don't want their shitty phone subscription. )

And i think it is pretty much on my route, for i'm heading down to trat to get to ko chang. Those guest houses sound the ticket, will we see any monkeys there?!

Yes, loads. Especially at those Khmer style corn-cob pagodas near the railway station. If anything the issue will be to keep them at bay! Don't bring food, don't bring things that are easily snatched away, like glasses.

They're an amazing sight, some have a naughty streak about them though. Most are cute and shy, others are truly obnoxious. A bit like people really. Stand your ground.

Is it a big town, or pretty much an 'obvious' town centre? Any landmarks you can alert me to so i know when i'm near the old town? Or do i just wait till i get to the big roundabout?!

VERY obvious town center. More obvious than Kamphaeng Phet anyway. Lopburi is one of those places where the old ruin sites are in the same area as the current town center, like Ayudthaya (and Chiang Mai in a way). That makes it very interesting in my book, I like seeing ancient temple structures right next to a 7-Eleven and AIS Office rather than far away in a park-like environment, but I'm just weird in that way.

Outside of the old town center it really feels like the outskirts, there are many huge military compounds there along this really long road (Pahon Yothin Rd). The old town basically starts where you cross the railway line, near the monkey pagodas. Inside there are old ruins of pagodas and palaces, all very interesting to see.

Ah, forgot there are TWO big roundabouts. (or three if you count the road going around the Phra Kai shrine near the monkey pagodas.) Can't miss em. The old town is straight West from there:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source...038624&z=15

As it happens i'm about to drive down to koh chang, but i need to get further than KP or Sukothai. I'm thinking of stopping in lopburi, so while i'm on your thread, if there's any recommendations for place in the monkey city...

Four choices depending on your inclination and budget, although these days you should be able to get pretty good discounts at most places.

If you like to be near the Nightlife:

Pattaya Centre Hotel, Beach Road www.pattayacentre.com

Nautical Inn 10/10 M10 Beach Road Tel 038428110

Good Parking at both Hotels

You're excused for assuming he meant Pattaya with 'Monkey Town'.

Several post promoting another bar have been deleted as only forum sponsors can promote their business on the forum.

You just insured that I will now really visit the Olde Bell.

(Merely mentioning it is still allowed right? I don't own the place and have never even been in there. I don't even like Millwall.)

Try in towns with not so many foreigners around. Lamphun, Lampang, Phrae, etc.

Lopburi is a VERY nice town, just a but off the main route. But well worth checking it out. I stayed in a hotel a bit on the outskirts of town (big road going East from the old town (and east from the big roundabout) has some ok but unremarkable hotels on it). Inside the old town there are some guesthouse and older/small hotel options. So I can't say I have a great recommendation other than the town itself. Great evening food market there as well near the big roundabout.

> Hideaway Restaraurant off Hang Dong Road is good.

I think it's reasonable, but not really worth going out of your way for.

It's operated by Dacheeso, so the same place where you go to buy their overly bland cheese and watery yogurt.

It's located in Moo Ban Amorn-Nivet, which is on the Hang Dong road on the left side when going out of town, a left turn JUST before the big Siam Commercial Bank. Then just keep going until you see it on the left hand side.

I couldn't agree with you more.

As someone else said:

"For a city in northern Thailand, we are blessed to have these establishments, even though the nit-pickers among us will no doubt find fault."

And I feel especially blessed to have Mainland 'Vintage' cheese (167 baht / 250 grm) which is really a very decent aged cheese, as well as Makro which does 1 kg grated cheddar (frozen) for 350 baht, as well as 1 kg sliced for 370 baht (not frozen), which is just about the cheapest around, and a very good general purpose cheese such as for sandwiches and for cooking/grilling. (They also have those big logs of at least 2 kgs but I don't have a freezer so the purchase quantity is a bit too large)

Thai girls are so shy. Judging by your name, I would wager money that part or all of this is fabricated.

1. 7/11 is never quiet regardless of time of day, so it would be very weird and uncommon for a farang to sit around drinking beer and joking with the cashier. The rest of the staff is doing what?

They are very late at night. Some more than others or course. Again I have first hand experience, it's perfectly possible to have more interaction than 'sawatdee kha [...] ogaht na choen mai kha'

2. 20ish girls dont work in 711 really, and if they do, you can bet your ass they are not attractive.

Now you're really getting silly. Not much else to say except 'uhm, yes they do.'. As for 'not attractive', you mean less attractive than, say, women in bars? That'd be an achievement. Also, for many 'Falangs', having any girl notice them outisde of a bar setting automatically makes them attractive even if they're garbage collectors.

3. Again, Thai girls are shy and her grabbing your hand and cornering you sounds unrealistic.

This is a very good point, you just reach the wrong conclusion. Girls who want to jump your bones MOST DEFINITLEY touch you. In fact if you get a touch in just about ANY WAY no matter how innocent, by 'accident' or otherwise then this girl IS a serious prospect. Innocently touching your hand or your leg in Thailand is near-equivalent of throwing herself at you. Spend some more time in the real Thailand I'd say, or grow 20 years younger. (whichever applies)

> 4. If you spend all this time hitting on her why are you so scared and shocked

> now when she says she is interested in you?

Yeah, that's a valid criticism. If I had to post on Thaivisa on any girl who was interested in me then I wouldn't have a chance to meet a whole lot of girls.

> 5. Post your photo, it will give us a good laugh I am sure,

> regardless if its a true story or not.

How about posting yours, "he who never has a Thai girl touch him and considers them 'shy'? "

6. Jeez, on the internet every farang has a stunning girl friend and gik lined up, and then in real life all I see is The Swamp Thing's step-sister walking around with Mr. Beer Lao Tank Top.

Again, get out of the tourist bar scene.

I just wear them.

FYI I'm not Thai, so wearing something red is not really an issue.

Nice attempt again by the way.

And no requirement to wear orange I presume? I don't think I own anything orange.

Basically we need Thaksin back.. Then everything will get back on track with the economy and tourism, also for Chiang Mai.