thedistillers

"Typical Klong not far from my house. "

right, if tourists would see that....

so why do you say there?

Why do I stay there?

It is close to the construction project I am working on.

Do tourists go there?

dam_n right they do! close to the Oriental Hotel on the river!

Like someone else said on this thread, take away the girls and the booze and what have you got?

Shopping, food and sights, which are, surprise, exactly the factors considered.

Exactly!

and here is a typical "sight" tourists will see!

Shopping? c'mon...best in the world?

Food? you got me there. I agree cheepest and best.

1 out of three aint bad

I'm not sure if you're being (insert mean word) on purpose, but the average tourist doesn't spend 3 months in Bangkok, it is usually at most a 1 week stay, then beach or Chiang Mai. There are enough interesting sights to keep the average tourist busy for a couple of days.

Also Bangkok is not the best shopping destination in the world, but it ranks high with several shopping malls and JJ market.

And, yeah, food.

So that's 3 out of 3.

"Typical Klong not far from my house. "

right, if tourists would see that....

so why do you say there?

Why do I stay there?

It is close to the construction project I am working on.

Do tourists go there?

dam_n right they do! close to the Oriental Hotel on the river!

Like someone else said on this thread, take away the girls and the booze and what have you got?

Shopping, food and sights, which are, surprise, exactly the factors considered.

Gotta argue with those quality of life lists though, as these are utter rubbish.

Yes, for example Vancouver is vastly overrated:

1) Rent is ridiculously expensive, so what quality of life will you enjoy when you spend most of your money on housing?

2) Trafic is an issue.

3) Petty crime is an issue as well. Also, downtown eastside... Enough said.

Auckland:

1) Public transportation a joke, the city is poorly planned.

2) Boring. No decent shopping. I would think that quality of life includes entertainment and such.

3) Jobs don't pay that well.

4) Basically it's a very dull city, and there's no reason for it to be in any ranking. I find Wellington to be a real gem though, even if it shares some issues with Auckland.

The only way I can make sense of their lists is if "value" is heavly factored in their rating, which would explain Bangkok at number 1 and Chiang Mai and Oaxaca being in the top 10. Paris not being in the top 10 is absolutely ridiculous given their other criteria (food, shopping, sights, etc).

Bangkok problems are, in my opinion, vastly exagerrated by a lot of people (aside from the recent protest of course), especially from a tourist perspective. You can go to MBK, Paragon, JJ Market, etc on the BTS and MRT so bad trafic is irrelevant. Pollution is not an issue as well if you're just visiting. And I don't find the city to be dirty at all. So objectively, it's a great city in term of value, shopping, sights and of course food.

I find it to be a great area to live. By MRT you're not too far away from the JJ Market / Union Mall / Central Lat Phrao, and also not too far away from Silom and transfer to BTS Asoke as well.

It's very easy to use the BTS and MRT. It's bilingual and yes I'm pretty sure you can get a pass at any station.

The problem is that there is no such place in Thailand that can offer fast and reliable internet, especially 1) with your budget (if Internet doesn't work at times, all you'll get is a shrug, ie, you get what you pay for) 2) if you stay in a short-term place (which is going to be in a hotel/serviced apartment). Those places most of the time have a crappy Internet connection.

I went a couple of years ago and enjoyed it. I watched the finals and even though I was high up in the stands it was fun.

Most of the 'big' names don't attend though, so you should know that.

As for getting there, it's easy - by taxi. All the taxi drivers know Impact Arena.

enjoy....seeker

Thanks.

Yeah I know that it's not a Masters or a big tournament, but I don't mind.

I was planning to go a couple of days so I would prefer to go by bus.

Has anyone ever attended this tournament? www.thailandopen.org/ How to go there? The venue is Impact Arena, Muang Thong Thani. Thanks.

Pha Ngan perhaps is your best bet - the internet thing is a show stopper. BEWARE AND CARRY AL YOUR VALUABLES DO NOT LEAVE ELECTRONICS N YOUR ROOM>

That's not reasonable at all.

Only thing I've come across is california Wow at esplanade.

Why not going there?

For 3 months only, 15K seems low if you want a kitchen and a modern apartment...

Also there is no guarantee you'll find a place with a reliable, fast Internet connection. But I guess if you've been to Cambodia you're okay with a not-so-fast Internet connection.

We all know it would not make money and they would probably have to dip into their salary to fund it each month...but it would be a fun thing for a while....especially if they are young....

Nothing wrong with their dreams....

I can't think of anything "fun" about managing a restaurant or a bar in Thailand. Unless dealing with corruption, problematic staff, and all sort of other issues are considered "fun".

Why would a "troll" go to the "Health, Body and Medicine" section of thaivisa and "troll" about dengue fever and scabies? Or is "troll" the new word for "I don't like the post/person so I'm going to label him a troll because it's the only insult I can think of"?

There are many factors to consider (location, context, your personality, etc); most people answer the question without mentioning those factors.

I don't see the point to "acknowledge" other farangs in supermarkets, malls or on the streets in touristic places like Bangkok, Pattaya or Phuket. There are other contexts and / or other cities it would make more sense.

In general I'm a city person and I'm currently in Bangkok, and it wouldn't cross my mind to acknowledge people who are not Thai.

As to Asians acknowledging each other in non-Asian countries, I've never observed that. Ever been to Canada (Van, Montreal, Toronto), New Zealand (Auckland, CC), etc? There are so many Asians it wouldn't even make sense to do that.

There is already a topic: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Nut-Bomb-t367165.html

Just went to Carrefour, it's very calm everywhere. I think TESCO opened at 9 today.

Just found the answer on twitter:

@xantor1234 Lotus Sukhumvit 50 (On Nut) opened 09:00, no signs of damage, a couple of phone boots on the opposite side shattered glass.

Anyone walked around the area this morning, what does it look like? I'm assuming the TESCO is closed today?

"Thailandbluegrass" reply might be agressive, but I can't help but to suspect the OP's main motivation (besides the issue that he probably doesn't value his own life much, but that's not our problem) behind doing this kind of walk and then posting an online report is to provoke such reaction.

Good job.

Out of curiosity, are they targetting people older than 50/60, or people in their 20/30 target too?

How cheap can you go: 3000.

More realistically: between 5000 and 15 000.

I don't think Cambodia is that great for doing business compared to Thailand, it's just that the majority of people moving there were in Thailand before and left bitter, so obviously they'll claim that Cambodia >>> Thailand. I've read a lot of reports of hard it is to do business in Sihanoukville, if only because it's dead during the rainy season.

If you ask me, besides the easy to get business visa, I just don't see how can Cambodia be better than Thailand.

Cost of living is not really better (just the cost of getting an half-decent Internet connection is ridiculous; renting is often expensive and choice is limited); although not 'dangerous', walking around in PP and Sihanoukville is not entirely safe, Siem Reap is basically nothing but a package tourism town, generally infrastructures are way behind Thailand, the poverty is more obvious, medical facilities are not adequate (must go to bangkok for serious issues), etc.

I mean, if some people enjoy Cambodia, good for them... But objectively I don't see any basis to praise Cambodia while bashing Thailand.

I think most of the Christians at the farang churches would just close themselves off to you. I go to one of them and I would not recommend you going there expecting them to accept you with open arms, embarrassingly enough. Not very Christ like, eh? Like Winnie said it is sin just like all of us sin. Unfortunately, Christians have put this giant stigma on this particular sin. If you and your partner are earnestly seeking the Lord though, screw what all the other hypocrites say and how they treat you.

I'm not Christian, but just because "all of us sin" does not mean Christians have to be tolerant of X, Y, Z, and opening all people with open arms. They are not hypocrites, all of us are not always warm at the idea of interacting with people who share different values.

And people who consider homosexuality to be a sin definitely don't share the same values as those who don't consider homosexuality to be a sin.

Bangkok is a Thailand city, so it's part of the real Thailand. The issue is not real Thailand vs "fake" Thailand, or whatever you want to call it, but city vs region. It's the same thing in every country in the world.

Joints. come on now....... if you are stupid enough to go with a stranger to their house.... DOHH

In a lot of places in the world, there is nothing unusual or stupid to go to a stranger's house.

Only in some fairy tales. I wish it would be like that. Everyone on Earth without bad intention toward others.

But in reality mothers teach their children the opposite. Sad but reality, my friend.

Only in some fairy tales... And also, in about thousands and thousands of cities around the world. Travellers around the world - especially in muslims countries - visit stranger's houses without any issue.

Just because Bangkok is ScamCity doesn't mean the rest of the world is.