Razzler1973

There's no conspiracy, he lost

I like Singha you miserable gits

No more big bottles though, for real?

That's just one tiny street though and there is other food stuff there on the street itself even though there seems a lot of pad thai (don't forget pancakes )

I think when talking of 'khao san' these days it's really more than just that one street, the connecting streets too and then the choice is up there with plenty of other areas in BKK, for me

KSR is a shithole. Stinks of piss/shit/vomit, middle of nowhere, tourist trap, full of backpacker cocks getting ripped off by tuk tuk drivers and fortune tellers.......dreadlock-growing, fire juggling, tye-dye wearing, naive, cheapskate backpacking f**kwits. What a shithole.

It has its positives. I quite like some of the local talent. Also, a wide range of cheap and abundant food. All in all, plenty of fun times to be had there.

Local talent? You mean Freelance Prostitutes?

You may indeed acquire a 50THB Phad Thai if that's what floats your boat. However you'll also have to endure middle class kids thinking they're on some form of spiritual crusade because they've spent a month on the same tiny stretch of Bangkok street, paying 300THB a night in some bed bug-ridden cesspit whilst drinking big Changs from 7/11 every night.

Haha, the middle classes ... oh how 'travelling' has changed from my day

Totally agree with you there. Getting by on as little money as possible all while photographer and posting on Facebook on their expensive smartphones!!

There are a lot of free lance chicks around but have seen plenty of straight up girls hanging out in the area, especially Phra Arthit and the street beyond Rambuttri the runs off that roundabout/square thing at end of Rambuttri (Tanee?)

Some girls maybe checking out the young people vibe in the area too but it's definitely changed. Phra Arthit is almost all Thai with Thai bars and eating places, big groups hanging out and that's without mentioning Samsen Road too

"Also, a wide range of cheap and abundant food."

Yes that's right: pad thai, pad thai and pad thai. Best selection ever.

Nonsense. There are tons and tons of Thai food stalls in that area, Rambuttri, Phra Arthit ... huge selection!!

They had to make room for more formeldahyde.

That sounds nasty...

It's a play on the 'ol rumours about formelfahyde being put in the Thai beers ... which is utter rubbish

I don't mind it. 6.4% is a bit much really. I prefer Singha anyway but as I get older I do pay more attention to stronger beers and not going overboard with them so I welcome it

The various powders used for cooking Thai food, cheap as anything and great

It's farang, it's an 'R' character and it's pronounced as an R

Some people may pronounce it as an L but it's spelt with an R and that's the correct way I learned and have always said it.

I only ever hear the L pronounciation hanging out in bars and stuff

I have someone reply back in English when asking something in Thai before

Never had someone shout at me though, that's ridiculous and not common at all

I can imagine Bangkokians with proper jobs (what you call 'hi-so' no doubt) not really wanting to be spoken to in Isaan dialect. I know some Bangkokians gone up to Isaan for work with their company and been over charged like a tourist and come back not happy at all

Of course they don't and when they were originally produced they were marketed as a 'game'

you should stop drinking cheap beers and start drinking tiger beer.

Stop being a cheap charlie ..... there's enough of those in thailand already !!

Ah yes, Tiger Beer ... the shining beacon of 'quality' amongst beers

Maybe he likes Chang? I love Singha, thanks

He can spend his money on whichever beer he wants, surely. Some people really go out of their way to not 'be cheap' and then think this elevates them somewhat ... you're still in Thailand it's cheap as chips so I'd climb down from that ivory tower. You're not Donald Trump

Instead of telling the OP what he should or shouldn't do I'd concentrate on the question

I am almost certain you can find that but I am not sure where. There are map boards around telling you which part of the market has what kind of products in it.

You can go and get what you want and leave if you like, not sure why that's odd to people. Up to him

However, for 'cheaper' or even more convenient I'd maybe look around Pratunam but if Chatuchak is where you want to go I am positive you will find what you like, check a few stalls out though, sell similar stuff but compare, etc

If you rent through an agent you will pay more. Better to arrange a place for a short term like for one month at an service apartment and look on your own. When I first move to Bangkok that was what I did and found a place in a couple of days just by walking around the Sois where I wanted to live. Just walk in to a place you might like and ask. Been in the same condo now for almost five years.

Do the buildings have a resident 'guard' there?

Here in Middle East there tends to be a 'watchman' living on the premises but he'd put you in touch with the landlord, etc. It that similar there cause when I hear people say walk around and ask I assume that

Update. I have now been staying in Phang-Nga town for 10 days and it's excellent for cycling. Just a bit hot between 11 and 4 a clock. No problems finding monthly rent. It varies between 5000 to 7000 per month (not including electricity) small room with AC/Fridge/TV/Toilet. Just rented a motorbike and had a look around and found a few places. Phang-Nga is small but friendly. And there is minimal amount of smoke in the air, which is a relief! It's a little bit more expensive then Chiang Rai, but not anything crazy. I would say i spend 10% more here than in Chiang Rai.

No problem with a short lease?

I used to spend a lot of time around that area 15 years or so back and it's beautiful so I imagine your cycling will be fantastic!

If we are going out of Thailand then Bagel Bake in Brick Lane London E1 , 24 hour Bagels on tap

Fantastic place

Great, fresh bagels and great salt beef bagels too

What is it with all these "Im asking for a friend" letters???

Do you really want to know or are you asking for a friend?

I don't buy into declarations of love after short meetings and also without proper means of communication

She's gone ahead and spent money on these things and not asked for anything ... yet

You really think she has 175K tucked away? His contibution is coming down the line

Once in town the terms can be re-arranged, he can be paying for who knows what but he's committed to it now

He wanted to come rent a reasonable place and hire a car if/when he fancied and now look what he got. My alarm bells would be going off. This is all happening without clear lines of communication also

The male ego, eh

as mean as this may sound i say bring it on baby!

the bubble MUST burst

last night someone told me the russians can NOT take money out of russia, true?

I am not 100% but I think there are limitations on Russian taking money out of Russia but these are relaxed a bit if they money is for 'business' and I think real estate in some way gets around this so in terms of having money in Russia and wanting it out of Russia I believe real estate is a pretty good bet, for them

It should promote to Chinese rich tourist as Russian are staying away due to internal problems, Promoted second home to vacation to Chinese buyers are many of them are rich now.

yeah well............such rich Chinese tourists were promised good deals in Portugal as well but they didn't get what they bargained for

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-03-03/chinese-rushing-to-buy-property-for-portugal-visas-get-burned

That's pretty much what they did here in Dubai when they opened up freehold property to foreigners. Said they'd be a visa. A huge Indian population here only a few hours from 'home' and no guarantees on residency the ones with money rushed out ... as usual with Dubai, announce big and slowly change the rules with no fanfare. Needless to say buying a place no longer gets you any residence visa ...

We have plenty of half finished and never started projects here as well and that's with the aid of black money from Russia, India and money from Iran flooding in during the boom years

That looks very nice.

( I haven't been to Koh Chang for 20 years. The road around the island wasn't completed at that point.

Stayed in a small hut on White Sand Beach for 60 baht a night - sea was about 20 meters away.)

Last time I visited in October last year a local was telling me that the road right around the island is now about 95% complete. But they won't finish it because the business community are worried that too many people will simply drive around the island and then leave? So they want to make it as inconvenient as possible to encourage longer stays.

Surely, people don't exactly come to Chang for day trips.

Being able to drive around the island just means easier for people to get around. You can be all the way over here and get to there without going all the way back. That's got to benefit the people over there

The queues tend to be insane but they do seem to run the ferries back and forth, back and forth rather than to a schedule at this time

Nightmare though, book well ahead as well, obviously in terms of accommodation

If I am queuing in a supermarket or mini mart and someone is ahead of me and then they open a new counter ... sorry, you got to react, if you don't move quick enough then I'm going

There is no waiting for you to take your sweet time, I am afraid

I have never had any issues with Agoda, absolutely never booked and then found a place full

If you search hotels you always get booking sites top of searchs but look down or 'hotel name telephone number' and it generally raises them up the search